The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2024 has been awarded to three scientists, David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper. Their work in protein structure prediction and computational protein design has not only answered questions in biology but has also opened the doors to advancements in medicine, biotechnology and more.
The discovery of body fusion among comb jellies occurred unexpectedly during routine laboratory research conducted by a team led by Kei Jokura at the University of Exeter and Japan’s National Institutes of Natural Sciences.
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their contributions to machine learning and artificial neural networks.
Victor Ambros from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Gary Ruvkun from Harvard Medical School jointly received the 2024 Nobel Prize for their discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.
Researchers from the FlyWire Consortium have mapped out every single neuron and synaptic connection in the fruit fly brain. The fruit fly brain has 130,000 neurons and 50 million intricate connections, which form the basis of this new connectome. This is the most comprehensive wiring diagram of an adult animal’s brain ever produced.
Astronomers have made a discovery by identifying a sub-Earth exoplanet orbiting Barnard’s star, the closest solo star to the solar system. This newly found exoplanet called Barnard b and it is one of the lowest-mass exoplanets ever detected.
On September 28, 2024, China Manned Space Agency revealed the exterior design of its first lunar spacesuit. The spacesuit is designed to protect astronauts from the harsh conditions of the moon including extreme temperatures, solar radiation and the near-vacuum atmosphere.
On October 2, 2024, a celestial event will take place in the skies over certain parts of South America and the Pacific. This event is known as an annular solar eclipse, more commonly referred to as a ring of fire solar eclipse.
The UK has officially closed the chapter on its 142-year history of coal power as the last coal power plant, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire was permanently shut down. Ratcliffe-on-Soar had been operational for 57 years.
SpaceX has successfully launched a mission to return two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for several months due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner capsule. The astronauts were NASA’s Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the ISS since June 2024.
