Top 5 New Scientific Discoveries in 2024
In the ever-evolving landscape of scientific research, humanity's brightest minds continue to push the boundaries faster than ever before. The year 2024 has been no exception, and while we're only a few months into it, there have already been several fascinating discoveries across a wide variety of fields. Today, we’ll dive into five of the most exciting scientific breakthroughs of the year.
1. The Discovery of the "Big Ring" in the Universe
PhD student Alexia Lopez, while analyzing data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, made an astonishing discovery that challenges our understanding of the universe. Located 9.2 billion light-years away, this massive structure, dubbed the "Big Ring," is composed of galactic clusters and spans an incredible 1.3 billion light-years in diameter with a circumference of 4 billion light-years. This makes it potentially the largest structure in the observable universe.
However, the existence of the Big Ring poses a significant problem for existing cosmological principles. According to current models of baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO), the upper limit for cosmic structures should be around 1.2 billion light-years. The discovery of the Big Ring, along with the previously discovered Giant Arc (3.3 billion light-years long), defies this limit and suggests that our understanding of the universe’s formation and structure may need to be reevaluated.
To put this into perspective, the Laniakea Supercluster, which contains our Milky Way galaxy, is only about 520 million light-years in diameter. The sheer size and proximity of the Big Ring and the Giant Arc present a "big cosmological mystery," as Lopez herself puts it. Their immense sizes, distinct shapes, and surprising proximity might be telling us something crucial about the universe—but what exactly remains unclear.
2. Breakthroughs in Sustainable Battery Technology
Batteries are critical to modern life, powering everything from smartphones to electric vehicles. However, traditional battery technologies, particularly lithium-ion batteries, come with significant environmental costs due to the extraction of materials like lithium and the chemical processes involved.
In 2024, two separate research teams—one in Australia and the other in China—developed innovative battery technologies that promise to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Recyclable Water Batteries (Australia)
Researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology developed a prototype of what they call "recyclable water batteries." These batteries use water with a bit of salt as the electrolyte, replacing hazardous materials like sulfuric acid typically found in batteries. The advantage is that once the water-based electrolyte is depleted, it can easily be removed and replaced, potentially prolonging the battery's lifespan indefinitely.
The Australian team’s use of rust to prevent the formation of metal spurs (dendrites) on the anode is particularly innovative. These spurs usually reduce a battery’s effectiveness over time, but the rust coating prevents their formation, ensuring the battery retains 80% of its capacity even after 700 charging cycles.
Calcium-Based Batteries (China)
Meanwhile, scientists from Fudan University in China announced the creation of calcium-based batteries that can handle 700 recharging cycles. Calcium is about 2,500 times more abundant than lithium, making it a much cheaper alternative. Additionally, calcium batteries are highly flexible, with potential applications in wearable devices and other cutting-edge technologies.
These breakthroughs in water and calcium batteries suggest a promising future for energy storage, potentially reducing our reliance on environmentally damaging lithium-ion batteries and paving the way for more sustainable technologies.
3. The Oldest Known Black Hole Discovered in GN-z11 Galaxy
In January 2024, astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) revisited the galaxy GN-z11, which was first identified in 2016 as the oldest known galaxy in the universe. What they discovered this time was even more intriguing—the oldest known black hole at the center of this galaxy.
The black hole’s massive size, despite the galaxy being only 400 million years old (just after the Big Bang), doesn't align with current models of black hole formation. According to these models, it should have taken about a billion years for a black hole to reach this size, yet the one in GN-z11 managed it in just 400 million years.
This anomaly suggests that either black holes in the early universe grew at a faster rate than those today, or they started out larger than previously thought. Alternatively, it may mean our estimates of time—either for the age of the galaxy or the universe as a whole—are incorrect. This discovery adds yet another layer of mystery to the already enigmatic nature of black holes.
4. The First Cloned Rhesus Monkey: Retro
In 1996, Dolly the sheep became the first animal to be successfully cloned using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Since then, various animals have been cloned, but primates have proved particularly challenging. That is, until 2024, when researchers at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences successfully cloned a rhesus monkey named Retro.
The breakthrough came when the researchers solved the problem of defective placentas, which had plagued previous attempts. By using healthy cells from a non-cloned monkey to grow the placenta, they were able to successfully nurture Retro to term.
Cloning rhesus monkeys is seen as a crucial step for medical research, as genetically identical monkeys can lead to more reliable testing results with fewer animals needed. However, this progress also raises ethical concerns, particularly about the potential for human cloning and the treatment of animals in research.
5. The World’s Smallest Insect-Like Robots
Robotics continues to advance rapidly, and in January 2024, Washington State University announced the creation of the world’s smallest insect-like robots. The smaller of the two, dubbed "MiniBug," weighs just 8 milligrams, while the other, modeled after a water strider, weighs 55 milligrams. Despite their tiny size, both robots are capable of moving at 6 millimeters per second, making them much faster than any other micro-robots developed so far.
The secret to their speed lies in their tiny actuators, which operate using shape memory alloys—a type of metal that changes shape when heated and returns to its original shape upon cooling. This allows the robots to move quickly and efficiently, with the water strider robot able to flap its fins more than 40 times per second.
These tiny robots have numerous potential applications, including robot-assisted surgery, environmental monitoring, and materials manufacturing. There’s also hope that swarms of such micro-robots could one day be used for artificial pollination, helping to address the challenges of pollinating certain types of plants.
These five discoveries from 2024 highlight the incredible pace of scientific advancement and the ongoing quest to understand and improve our world. As we continue to explore the mysteries of the universe and develop new technologies, the future looks increasingly bright—filled with endless possibilities for discovery and innovation.