2021 in science

This is a list of several significantscientificevents that occurred or were scheduled to occur in2021.

Years in science:	2018201920202021202220232024
Centuries:	20th century·21st century·22nd century
Decades:	1990s2000s2010s2020s2030s2040s2050s
Years:	2018201920202021202220232024

Events

January

Main article:Q1 2021 in science § January

February

Main article:Q1 2021 in science § February

March

March 2021 in science

Science Summary for this section 1 March: A review classifiesSETItechnosignatures. 1 March Ascientific reviewproduced by the i.a. NASA-sponsoredonline workshopTechnoClimes 2020about mission concepts for the search oftechnosignaturesis published. They classify signatures based on a metric about the distance of humanity to the capacity of developing the signature's required technology, associated methods of detection and ancillary benefits of their search. The study's conclusions include robust rationales for searching artifacts within the Solar system. 2 March Scientists report substantially more precise and regionally subdivided end times of theAcheulean,finding that it persisted long after the diffusion ofMiddle Palaeolithictechnologies in multiple continental regions and ended over 100,000 years apart. A study of data on half a million U.K. citizens shows associations between meat intake with risks of some of 25 common conditions, includingischaemic heart diseaseand diabetes, as well as a lower risk ofiron deficiency anaemia.A study published on 31 March finds higher intake of processed meat was associated with "a higher risk of mortality and major CVD". 3 March COVID-19 pandemic:Scientists report that a much more contagiousSARS-CoV-2 variant,Lineage P.1,first detected in Japan, and more recently found in Brazil, as well as in several places in the United States, may be associated withCOVID-19 disease reinfectionafter recovery from an earlier COVID-19 infection. Scientists demonstrate abioinspiredself-poweredsoft robotfor deep-sea operationat the deepest part of the ocean at theMariana Trench.The robot features artificial muscles and wings out of pliable materials and electronics distributed within its silicone body and could be used forexplorationandenvironmental monitoring. Scientists report the discovery of anendosymbiont,bacteriaAzoamicus ciliaticola,of ananaerobicciliateto which it provides energy in the stored form ofATP.Unlikemitochondria,which play the same role ineukaryotes,it enables its host tobreathe nitrateinstead of oxygen. 4 March –COVID-19 pandemic:Scientists report a problematicCOVID-19 variant,less susceptible to vaccines, a combination of BritishB.1.1.7and South AfricanE484K(Eeek) mutations, in the state ofOregon. 5 March – NASA names the landing site of thePerseveranceroverinJezero crateras "Octavia E. Butler Landing". 8 March Astronomers report the discovery of aquasarknown as P172+18, the most distantsource of radio emissionsknown to date, some 13 billion light years away. Scientists propose storingDNAand other biological reproductive structures in a "lunar ark" on theMoonof all 6.7 million species of plants, animals andfungiknown on Earth – to help assure their survivability over the years. Study results indicate thatlimiting global warmingto 1.5 °C would prevent most of the tropics from reaching thewet-bulb temperatureof the human physiological limit. A new global foodemissions databaseindicates thatfood systemsare responsible for one third of the global anthropogenicGHG emissions. Scientists report that some ofElysia marginatasea slugs canshed and regeneratetheirparasitisedwhole body from their head which is capable of photosynthesis. 9 March: Erik Lentz describes a waywarp drivessourced from known and familiar purely positive energy could exist. 9 March Physicists report that according to their theoretical model traversable microscopicwormholesmay be possible and not require anyexotic matter.Another study published on the same day finds that humanly traversable wormholes may be possible if reality can broadly be described by theRandall–Sundrum model2, which is abrane-based theory consistent withstring theory. A physicist describes a waywarp drivessourced from known and familiar purely positive energy could exist – warp bubbles based on superluminal self-reinforcing "soliton"waves. It may allow for up toFaster-than-lightspeed travel, transfers andcommunicationwith the large energy requirements possibly being reducible. Scientists use novellipid nanoparticlesto deliverCRISPR genome editinginto the livers of mice, resulting in a 57%reduction of LDL cholesterol levels. 10 March Researchers describe aCRISPR-dCas9epigenome editingmethod for apotential treatment of chronic pain,ananalgesiathat repressesNav1.7and showed therapeutic potential in three mouse models of pain. COVID-19 pandemic: Acohort studyof patients matched by similarity finds that the probability of increased mortality fromVOC-202012/01is high, increasing from 0.25 to 0.41% in the low-risk group of the database without controlling for U.K. vaccination campaign effects.A study published on 15 March estimates the strain's mortality-risk to be ~61% (42–82%) higher than that of pre-existing variants. An analysis of theleakedand allegedly manipulated data aboutCOVID-19 vaccinesindicates concerns over percentage of intact mRNA in early commercial batches of mRNA vaccines, possibly reflecting a lack of certainty that relates to their efficacy at the time. A new microscopy technique using a hyperbolicmetamaterialis shown to boost imaging resolutions, from 200 nanometres down to 40 nanometres. 11 March: A review finds that theAmazon basincurrently emits moregreenhouse gasesthanit absorbsoverall. 11 March – Results of ascientific synthesisindicate that, in terms of global warming, theAmazon basinwith theAmazon rainforestnow emits moregreenhouse gasesthanit absorbsoverall due to climate change impacts and human activities in the area – mainlydeforestation. 15 March – Scientists report the discovery of a new unknown bacteria species, for the first time, ofMethylobacterium,tentatively namedMethylobacterium ajmalii,associated with three new strains, designated IF7SW-B2T, IIF1SW-B5, and IIF4SW-B5, on theInternational Space Station. 16 March – Scientists present evidence that theinterstellar object‘Oumuamuamay likely be a piece of aplanetsimilar toPlutofrom beyond theSolar System,ejected ~0,5 bn years ago. 17 March – A study finds that an optimized globally coordinatedmarine conservationcould be "nearly twice as efficient as uncoordinated, national-level" planning and estimates thatbottom trawlingreleases as much CO2-emissions as pre-COVID-19 aviation. 18 March – A study finds that the severity ofheatwave and drought impacts on crop productionroughlytripledover the last 50 years in Europe. 24 March: A view of theM87*supermassive black hole in polarised light 19 March NASA reports, based on measurements of over 500Marsquakesby theInSightlanderon the planetMars,that thecoreof Mars is between 1,810 and 1,860 km (1,120 and 1,160 mi), about half the size of thecoreof Earth, and significantly smaller – suggesting a core of lighterelements– than thought earlier. Physicists confirm the first detection of anodderon,based on data collected fromCERN'sLarge Hadron Collider. 22 March – Astronomers report, for the first time, that the area producing pulses of a repeatingfast radio burst(FRB), particularlyFRB 180916,is about 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) in scale, based on studies at extremely short timescales. 23 March News media announces the public release, for the first time, of a comprehensive report ofUFO eventsaccumulated by the United States over the years. COVID-19 pandemic: A study finds that the snapshot mass-testingfor COVID-19of ~80% ofSlovakia's population during a weekend at the end of October 2020 was highly efficacious, decreasing observed prevalence by 58% within one week and 70% compared to a hypothetical scenario of no snapshot-mass-testing. 24 March A collaboration of scientists using theEvent Horizon Telescopepresent the firstpolarized-based imageof ablack hole,at the center ofMessier 87,revealing the forces giving rise toquasars. Scientists report that a delayed change in the shape ofearly brain cellscauses thedistinctly large human forebraincompared to other apes and identify a genetic regulator of it,ZEB2. 26 March – A collision between the asteroid99942 Apophisand Earth is ruled out, for at least the next hundred years, based on new observations by NASA. 29 March Tokamak Energyannounces "first plasma" with its newly-upgraded prototypefusion reactor,the ST40. A study estimates that the nationaltrade-,production- and consumption-patterns of theG7drive an average annualloss of 3.9 trees per capita. Acase-control studyof cities finds that redistributing street space forcycling infrastructure– for so-called "pop-up bike lanes"–during the COVID-19 pandemiclead to large additional increases in cycling. The extensivepesticide pollution risksworldwide are estimated with a new environmental model. 30 March – Scientists report evidence of subglacial sediment stored since 1966 that indicates thatGreenlandwasice-freeand vegetated at least once within the last million years. 31 March The first high-bandwidth, wirelessbrain-computer interfaceis demonstrated, with 200 electrodes providing 48 megabits per second (Mbit/s) of neural signals. The first 3D atomic imaging of anamorphous solidis presented, showing the 18,000 atoms in a particle ofmetallic glass. A report about theleading causes of deathin the U.S. for 2020 is published.

April

April 2021 in science

Science Summary video for this section 2 April: Scientists describe how thedinosaur-killing impactis an origin of neotropicalrainforestslike the Amazonia and replaced its species composition. 2 April – Scientists report that theevent that caused the mass-extinction of dinosaursgave rise toneotropicalrainforestbiomeslike theAmazonia,replacing species composition and structure of local forests. During~6 million years of recoveryto former levels of plantdiversity,theyevolvedfrom widely spacedgymnosperm-dominated forests to the forests with thickcanopieswhich block sunlight, prevalentflowering plantsand highvertical layeringas known today. 6 April: A study finds that carbon emissions fromBitcoin miningwithin China are about to exceed the total annual carbon emissions of countries likeItaly(within an estimated ~3 years). 6 April A study finds that carbon emissions fromBitcoin miningin China – where a majority of theproof-of-workalgorithm that generates currenteconomic valueis computed, largely fueled by nonrenewable sources – have accelerated rapidly, would soon exceed total annual emissions of European countries likeItalyandSpainin 2016 and interfere withclimate change mitigationcommitments. COVID-19 pandemic:Scientists report the "estimated incidenceof a neurological or psychiatric diagnosisin the following 6 months "after diagnosedCOVID-19infection was 33.62% with 12.84% "receiving their first such diagnosis" and higher risks being associated with COVID-19 severity. 12 April: The construction of the first(eco-)house 3D printedfromclay,Tecla,is completed. 7 April Physicists report that results frommuon g-2studies involving themuonsubatomic particlechallenge theStandard Modeland, accordingly, may require an updating of currently understood physics. NOAAreports the largest annual increase inmethane emissionssince records began, with a rise of 14.7 parts per billion (ppb) in 2020. A study finds that humans engaged inproblem-solvingtend to overlook subtractive changes, including those that are critical elements of efficient solutions. This tendency to solve by creating or adding elements is shown to intensify with highercognitive loadsin the case ofindividuals. Scientists report one of the twooldest known reconstructed modern human genomesto date (~45.000 ya) which was found inKoněprusy Caves,Czech Republic, includes longNeanderthalsegments and considered to be close to a population that later branched to present-day Europeans and Asians. Scientists confirm, with new genomic data, that initial Europeanmodern humans mixed with Neanderthalswith continuity to later people in Eurasia and report that such admixture appears to have been more common than previously thought. 8 April – Scientists report rough spectral signatures of 958 molecules that may be involved in the atmospheric production or consumption of phosphine, which could prevent misassignments and, if accuracy is improved, be used in future detections and identifications of molecules on other planets such as Venus.On 10 April, a news report informs about a launched NASA-funded mission to design and testrobotic balloonsfor futurescientific exploration of Venus.On 19 April scientists who reported the detection of well-established or likelybiosignature,monophosphine, on Venuspublish apreprintrecovering the detection of PH3in the Venusian atmosphere – which was challenged by critical studies – with the proposed SO2-attribution alternative being inconsistent with the available data. 9 April Neuralinkreveals a malemacaquewithchips embedded on each side of its brain,playing a mind-controlled version ofPong. Scientists show that thebrains of earlyHomofrom Africa andDmanisi,Western Asia "retained primitive,great ape-like organization of thefrontal lobe"until ~1.5 million years ago and therefore long afterHomoemerged andfirst dispersed from Africa– much later than previously thought (~2.5 Mya). Scientists present a tool forepigenome editing,CRISPRoff,that can heritably silence thegene expressionof "most genes" and allows for reversible modifications. 12 April The magazineScientific Americanannounces that it will stop using the term "climate change"in articles about human-caused global warming and substitute"climate emergency"instead. News outlets report that the firstprototype3D printed housemade out ofclay,Tecla,has been completed. Thelow-carbon housingwas printed by two large arms from a mix that includes locally sourced soil and water.Such buildingscould be highly cheap, well-insulated, stable, get produced rapidly,require only very little easily learnable manual labor,mitigate carbon emissions from concrete,require less energy, reducehomelessness,help enableintentional communities,and enable the provision of housing for victims of natural disasters as well as formigrantsto Europe near their homes, rather than political facilitation of their influx. Scientists develop a prototype anddesignrules for both-sides-contactedsiliconsolar cellswith conversion efficiencies of 26% and above, Earth's highest for this type of solar cell. 13 April Scientists report the discovery of a billion-years-old, likelyholozoan,protist,Bicellum brasieri,showing that the evolution ofdifferentiatedmulticellularity– such as ofanimallineages –occurred at least 1 bn years agoand possibly mainly infreshwater lakesrather than the ocean. In apreprint,an astronomer describesfor the first timehow one could search forquantum communicationtransmissionssent byETIusing existing telescope and receiver technology. He also provides arguments for why future searches ofSETIshould also target interstellar quantum communications. COVID-19 pandemic:Scientists report that patients who consistently met scientific guidelines of 150+ min/weekexerciseor similarphysical activityhad a smaller risk of hospitalisation and death due to COVID-19, even when considering likely risk factors such as elevatedBMI. 14 April – Astronomers report that thesupermassive black hole M87*,first, and to date, the onlyblack holeto be imaged, will be further studied by many observatories from around the world and present results of simultaneous observations and their subsequent analysis. 19 April: The semi-autonomousIngenuityperforms the first powered aircraft flight on another planet in human history. 29 April: The first, core module of the ChineseTiangong space stationis put into orbit. 15 April COVID-19 pandemic:TheCDC,according to numerous media sources, reports that there were 5,800COVID-19 breakthrough infections,and 74deaths,in peoplefully vaccinatedfor theCOVID-19 virus.On 21 April, scientists report that in acohortof 417 vaccinated persons 2 women had vaccine breakthrough infections and identify theirvariants' viral mutations. Scientists report the creation, for the first time, ofhuman-monkey hybrid embryos. Biologists report that an estimated 2.5 billion adultTyrannosaurus rexdinosaursroamed the Earth over the 2.4 million years of their existence. A study assesses that only 3% of the planet's terrestrial surface is ecologically andfaunally"intact", with low human footprint and healthy populations of native animal species. Researchers demonstrate thewhitestever paint formulation, which reflects up to 98.1% of sunlight and could be used in place ofair conditioners. 16 April – Scientists report that in the case ofAlaskanforests, suchboreal forestsrecovered fromwildfiresby shifting to adeciduous-coniferousmix, which could offset the carbon emitted during the fires. 17 April –New Horizonsreaches a distance of 50astronomical units(AU) from the Sun, while remaining fully operational. 19 April – NASA'sIngenuityhelicopter, part of theMars 2020mission, performs the first powered aircraft flight on another planet in history. The test location is named"Wright Brothers Field". 20 April Perseveranceperforms a test of itsMOXIEinstrument to convertcarbon dioxideintooxygenfor the first time on Mars. TheIvanti Pulse Connect Secure data breachof unauthorized access to the networks of high-value targets since at least June 2020 viaCVE-2021-22893across the U.S. and some E.U. nationsdue to their use ofvulnerable,proprietarysoftware is reported. Scientists show that a class ofwarp drivesthat are slower than light, could control the rate oftimewithin the spaceship and are sourced from positive energy could in principle possibly be constructed based on known physical principles. Furthermore, they provide a new argument "whysuperluminalwarp drive solutions may always violate weak energy conditions "and that the concept proposed in a study published in March (seeabove) "likely forms a new class of warp drive spacetimes". 23 April Amalaria vaccinewith 77% efficacy after 1 year – and first to meet theWHO's goal of 75% efficacy – is reported by theUniversity of Oxford. Scientists report that of ~39 milliongroundwater wells6-20% are athigh risk of running dryif local groundwater levels decline by a few meters, or – as with many areas and possibly more than half of majoraquifers– continue to decline. 27 April – Astronomers report the discovery of TOI-1431b, an "ultra-hot Jupiter"with a dayside temperature of ~3,000K (2,700 °C), making it one of the hottestexoplanetsfound to date. 29 April – The first, core module of the ChineseTiangongspace station,Tianhe,is placed in low Earth orbit. It is one of three permanent modules intended to be fully assembled in 2022 for a designed lifespan of 10–15 years, is 16.6 m in size and could host three astronaut scientists.

May

May 2021 in science

Science Summary video for this section 1 May A study that follows up on therandomizedAbecedarian Early Intervention Projectshows that 5 years ofcognitively and linguistically stimulatingcenter-based carestarting between 3 and 21 weeks of age canresult in significant changes in midlife brain structurein males. Ameta-analysisofrandomized trialssuggests that loweringblood pressureat normal or high-normal blood pressure ranges is effective for prevention of majorcardiovascular disease. 4 May Genetic signatureslinked to extremelongevityin humansare identified by researchersand include genes forefficient DNA repair. A study assesses benefits of fast action to reducemethane emissionswhen compared to slowerclimate change mitigationof this form.On 6 May a U.N. report assesses benefits and costs of rapidly mitigating methane emissions. 5 May – Scientists report thatMediterranean dietsprotect against memory decline andmediotemporal atrophysuch as inAlzheimer'sby decreasingamyloidosisandtau-pathology. 6 May Researchers find thatChina's CO2emissionssurpassed that of allOECDcountries combined for the first time in 2019.On 20 May China's CO2emissions are found to be 9% higher than pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels in 2021-Q1 with CO2emissions from fossil fuels and cement production having grown by 14.5% compared to 2020. Researchers report that bees were successfullytrained to detect COVID-19 infectionsvia samples. Researchers publish the first in-depth study ofWeb browsertabinterfacesin over a decade and provideUI designconsiderations. 7 May Operation of the U.S.Colonial Pipeline is interruptedby aransomwarecyber intrusion. Researchers address a key problem ofperovskite solar cellsby increasing their stability and long-term reliability with aform of "molecular glue". Two studies complement research published September 2020 byquantum-entanglingtwo mechanical oscillators. 10 May – A pan-coronavirusmRNA nanoparticle vaccinewith activity against all majorSARS-CoV-2variantsis described inNature,showing potent effect inmacaques. 11 May NASA reports on the continuous measurement, for the first time, of thedensityof material ininterstellar spaceby theVoyager 1space probeand the detection of interstellar sounds of vibrations ofdense interstellar plasma. A new record for the smallest single-chip system is achieved, occupying a total volume of less than 0.1 mm3. Scientists estimate, with higher resolution data, thatland-use changehas affected 17% of land in 1960–2019, or when considering multiple change events 32%, "around four times" previous estimates and investigate its drivers. News reports inform aboutopen sourceoxygen concentratorsof which some are developed, locally manufactured – with prices below imported products – and used duringa COVID-19 pandemic wave in India. Scientists report thatdegrowthscenarios, where economic output either "declines" or declines in terms of contemporaryeconomic metricssuch as currentGDP,have been neglected in considerations of1.5 °C scenariosreported by theIPCC,finding that investigated degrowth scenarios "minimize many key risks for feasibility and sustainability compared to technology-driven pathways" with a core problem of such being feasibility in the context of contemporarypoliticaldecision-making and rebound- and relocation-effects. 12 May Scientists report to theUnited States Congressof the continuing threat ofCOVID-19 variantsandCOVID-19 escape mutations. The first use of abrain-computer interfaceto decode neural signals forhandwritingis demonstrated and shows a character output speed of more than double the previous record. 14 May TheChina National Space Administrationlands itsZhurongmission spacecraft atUtopia Planitiaon Mars, making China the second nation to deliver a rover to the planet. Archivistsinitiate a rescue mission to secure enduring access to humanity's largest publiclibraryof scientific articles,Sci-Hub,due to the site's increasedlegaltroubles, using Web andBitTorrenttechnologies. 17 May – The largest,UK Biobank-based,genome-wide association studyofmitochondrial DNAunveils 260 new associations withphenotypesincludinglifespanand disease risks for e.g. type 2 diabetes. 18 May – Google demonstrates a research project called LaMDA, anautomatic language generation systemdesigned tosustain a conversationwith a person on any topic. 19 May –CRISPR gene editingis demonstrated to decreaseLDLcholesterolin vivo inMacaca fascicularisby 60%. 20 May – A new record high resolution foratomic imagingis reported, with instrumental blurring reduced to less than 20picometres. 21 May – A study finds that papers in leadingjournalswith findings thatcan't be replicatedtend to becitedmore thanreproducible science.Results that are published unreproducibly are more likely to be wrong, may slow progress and, according to an author, "a simple way to check how often studies have been repeated, and whether or not the original findings are confirmed" is needed. 24 May – Researchers partially restoreeyesightof a patient withRetinitis pigmentosausing eye-injectedviral vectorsfor genesencodingthe light-sensingchannelrhodopsinprotein ChrimsonR found in glowing algae, andlight stimulation of themvia engineered goggles that transform visual information of the environment. 25 May Scientists at Japan'sRIKENinstitute demonstrate a "dry transfer technique" enabling the precise positioning of optical-qualitycarbon nanotubes,without the need for a solvent. Themaximum lifespanfor humans is placed at between 120 and 150, according to a longitudinal analysis ofblood markers. Scientists elaborate mechanics ofmemory consolidationduringsleepwhich may allow purposely enabling or strengthening this reactivation of experiences and information. 26 May Scientists develop a light-responsive days-lasting modulator ofcircadian rhythmsof tissuesvia Ck1 inhibitionwhich may be useful forchronobiologyresearch and repair of organs that are "out of sync". 27 May – The U.S. Department of Energy launchesPerlmutter,a next-generationsupercomputerwith fourexaflopsof AI performance, the world's fastest when measured by16-bitand32-bitmixed-precision math. 28 May Biologists report the development of a new updated classification system forcell nucleiand find a way of transmuting onecell typeinto that of another. China'sEASTtokamak sets a new world record for superheated plasma, sustaining a temperature of 120 million °C for 101 seconds and a peak of 160 million °C for 20 seconds. 29 May – Medical scientists inVietnamreport a new, more contagious, form of theCOVID-19 virus,that may be a mixture of thevariantsfirst detected in India and Britain. 30 May – The most comprehensive3D map of the human brain– of a 1 mm3sized millionth of a brain and requiring 1.4petabytesof storage space – is published.

June

June 2021 in science

Science Summary podcast based on this section 2 June NASA selectsDAVINCI+andVERITAS,two proposed spacecraft to study the atmosphere and surface ofVenus,as the next missions in itsDiscovery Program. A new study provides experimental evidence of asymmetric response of interfacialwaterto applied electric field by using a single layer graphene electrode and a novel surface-sensitive non-linear spectroscopy technique with implications for various water-related processes such as in water purification. Scientists report thatCOVID-19caused substantial changes toblood cells,sometimes persisting for months after hospital discharge, with implications forCOVID-19 diagnosticsand treatment. 3 June – Scientists report that due to decreases in power generation efficiency of wind farms downwind ofoffshore wind farms,cross-national limits and potentials for optimization need to be considered instrategicdecision-making. 7 June: Astronomers report detecting substantial amounts ofmethane,a possiblesignofmicrobial life,onEnceladus. 7 June Astronomers report detecting substantial amounts ofmethane,a possiblesignofmicrobial life,onEnceladus,amoonof the planetSaturn. Biologists report the restoration ofbdelloid rotifersafter being frozen for ~24,000 years in theSiberianpermafrost. TheJunospacecraft performs its only flyby ofJupiter's moonGanymede,the first flyby of the moon by any spacecraft in over 20 years. 8 June –Toshibaachievesquantum communicationsover optical fibres exceeding 600 km in length, a new world record distance. 9 June Astronomers at theCanadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment(CHIME) report the detection of over 500Fast Radio Burstsfromouter space. Researchers from Google report a machine learning approach formicrochip floorplanningthat can outperform human designers. Researchers report the development ofquantumnonlinear light microscopy with higher sensitivity and beyond the biological photodamage limit. 10 June: Researchers report the development of a plant proteins-basedbiodegradablepackaging alternative to plasticmolecularly similar to high-strengthspider silk. 10 June A trial of mosquitoes infected withWolbachiabacteria results in a 77% reduction ofdengue feverincidence and 86% reduction of hospitalisations inYogyakarta,Indonesia. A Venus-orbiting spacecraft,EnVision,is chosen by theEuropean Space Agencyas the fifth Medium-class mission in itsCosmic Visionplan, targeting a launch in the early 2030s. Researchers report the development of the first quantum brain scanner which uses magnetic imaging and could become a novelwhole-brain scanningapproach. Researchers report the development of a plant proteins-basedbiodegradablepackaging alternative to plasticmolecularly similar to high-strengthspider silk. 11 June: Biologists report thatDNA polymerases,long thought to only transcribe DNA into DNA or RNA, can also writeRNAsegments intoDNA. 11 June – Biologists report thatDNA polymerases,long thought to only transcribe DNA into DNA or RNA, can also writeRNAsegments intoDNA.Polθwas found to promote RNA-templatedDNA repair,with large implications for many fields of biology. 14 June – Astronomers describe the largest known spinning structures in the Universe, consisting of "tendrils"ofgalaxiesspanning hundreds of millions of light-years in length. 15 June: Scientists complement extensive evidence thatcosmeticsare widelydesignedwith formulations and disposals that are known to be harmful to human health and ecosystems, often containingPFAS. 15 June Scientists report measurements of the rapidly increasing rate of theEarth's energy budgetimbalance ofglobal warming. Scientists complement extensive evidence thatcosmeticsare widelydesignedwith formulations and disposals that are known to be harmful to human health and ecosystems, often containingPFAS. 16 June – Astronomers report that theGreat DimmingofBetelgeuse,ared supergiant star,resulted from expulsion of a substantial amount of dust from the star, and not a sign of its destruction. 17 June The first, three-person crewis sentto the Chinesespace station Tiangong,which to date consists of the first and core moduleTianhe. Researchers present aquantum computing demonstratorthat fits inside two 19-inchracks,the world's first quality standards-meeting compact quantum computer. 18 June – The existence of a "pulse" in Earth's geological activity, occurring approximately every 27.5 million years, is reported. The next pulse is due in about 20.5 million years. 19 June – A previously unknown comet,2014 UN271,is reported by astronomers at theDark Energy Survey.The object is estimated at between 100 and 200 km in size, potentially making it the largest comet ever discovered, and will pass as close asSaturnin January 2031. 23 June Astronomers report the determination of 1,715 stars (with likely relatedexoplanetary systems) within 326light-years(100parsecs) that have a favorable positional vantage point—in relation to the Earth Transit Zone (ETZ)—ofdetecting Earth as an exoplanettransitingtheSunsince the beginnings of human civilization (about 5,000 years ago). A study finds that over half of acohortof home-isolated young patients (16–30 y.) infected withCOVID-19still hadsymptoms after 6 months,includingfatigue(21%). 24 June – Astronomers provide a new calculation for when thefirst starsformed, placing this event between 250 and 350 million years after theBig Bang. 25 June Chinese archaeologistsreport that a skull discovered inHarbinin 1933 by aManchukuo National Railwaybridge, known asHomo longior "Dragon Man", belongs to a previously undiscovered species ofearly humansclosely related toHomo sapiensdating back 146,000 years ago. The first comprehensive analysis of aNesher RamlaHomoindividual (120–140 kya) suggests an unrecognized group of hominins may have existed and, admixed withNeanderthals,was involved in the evolution ofMiddle PleistoceneHomoinEuropeandEast Asia. Scientists report that naturalimmunitytoCOVID-19via forms of prior infection combined with vaccination synergizes to extraordinarily large immune responses. 26 June – The first, smallclinical trialofCRISPR gene editingin which a –lipid nanoparticleformulated – CRISPR (with mCas9) gene editing therapeutic is injectedin vivointo bloodstreamof humans concludes with promising results. 28 June Scientists publish calculations ofwater activitylevels in Venusian clouds based on data from space probes, concluding these to be two magnitudes too low at the examined places for a natural microbioticexplanation for potentially detected phosphine on Venus. Researchers report the development of embeddedbiosensorsfor pathogenic signatures – such as ofSARS-CoV-2– that arewearablesuch asface masks. 29 June The first detection of aneutron star–black holecollision is reported, with a second such event following 10 days later. A study concludes thatpublic servicesare associated with higher humanneedsatisfaction and lower energy requirements while contemporary forms ofeconomic growthare linked with the opposite. Authors find that the contemporaryeconomic systemis structurally misaligned with goals ofsustainable developmentand that to date no nation can provide decentliving standardsat sustainable levels of energy and resource use. They provide analysis about factors in social provisioning and assess that improving beneficial provisioning-factors and -infrastructure would allow for sustainable forms of sufficient need satisfaction. Scientists report thatsolar-energy-driven production ofmicrobial foodsfromdirect air capturesubstantially outperforms agricultural cultivation of staple crops in terms ofland use. 30 June The smallest and most massivewhite dwarfever seen is reported. The star, namedZTF J1901+1458,has a diameter of just 4,300 km but is 1.35 times the mass of the Sun. A study of theLaacher Seevolcano usesdendrochronologyandradiocarbon datingto narrow the time of the eruption to 13,006BPwith anerrorof just 9 years, and shows that the onset of theYounger Dryashappened synchronously over the entire North Atlantic and Central European region.

July

Science Summary podcast based on this section

• 1 July
  • Construction begins on theSquare Kilometre Array,with first light planned for 2027.
  • In the debate about the cognitive impacts ofsmartphonesand digital technology a group reports that, contrary to widespread belief, scientific evidence doesn't show that these technologiesharm biological cognitive abilitiesand that they instead only change predominant ways ofcognition– such as a reduced need to remember facts or conduct mathematical calculations by pen and paper outside contemporaryschools.However, some activities – like reading novels – that require longattention spansand don't feature ongoing rewarding stimulation may become more challenging in general.
  • A study finds that ~9.4% of global deaths between 2000 and 2019 – ~5 million annually – can be attributed toextreme temperaturewith cold-related ones making up the larger share and decreasing and heat-related ones making up ~0.91 % and increasing.
• 2 July
  • The firstscientific reviewin the professional academic literature about globalplastic pollutionin general finds that the rational response to the "global threat" would be "reductions in consumption of virgin plastic materials, along with internationally coordinated strategies forwaste management"– such as banningexportofplastic wasteunless it leads to betterrecycling– and describes the state of knowledge about "poorly reversible" impacts.
  • Researchers report that a mix of microorganisms fromcow stomachscould break down three types ofplastics.
  • Scientists identifyGPR75variants as allelesprotectiveagainstobesityin ~640,000 sequencedexomes.
• 5 July
  • Scientists report the discovery of abone carving,one of the world'soldest works of art,made byNeanderthalsabout 51,000 years ago.
  • Ascientific reviewsummarizes evidence fromnutrition researchfordiets for atherosclerosis prevention.
• 7 July
  • Apreprintfinds theSARS-CoV-2 Delta variantto cause a ~108 % increased – or more than twice as large – risk for hospitalization, a ~234 % increase for ICU admission and 132% for death compared to non-VOCvariants.
  • Researchers present a programmablequantum simulatorthat can operate with 256qubits.
• 8 July – Scientists report that in the past – with little relevance to future evolution – lower temperatureswere associatedwith largerHomobody sizesand that long-term variability in precipitation was correlated withbrain size.

10 July: Scientists report the discovery of longextrachromosomal DNAstructures, they call "borgs",which appear to incorporategenesfrom organisms they encounter in or neararchaeain mud.

• 10 July – Scientists report in apreprintthe discovery of longextrachromosomal DNAstructures, they callborgs,which appear to incorporategenesfrom organisms they encounter. These structures, which could turn out to be an unknown form ofgiant virusesor "giant linearplasmids",co-occur with a species ofarchaeonwhich may host them, shares many of their genes, whose mainchromosomeis only three times larger and whose capacity foranaerobic oxidation of methaneas well as other biological functions – such as production of proteins – the borgs may augment.
• 12 July – Scientists report in apreprintthat theviral loadin the first positive test of infections with theSARS-CoV-2 Delta variantwas on average ~1000 times higher than with compared infections during 2020.
• 14 July
  • Researchers report finding theearliest known fossil lifeonEarth,in the form of "putative filamentous microfossils", possibly ofmethanogensand/ormethanotrophs,that lived about 3.42-billion-year-old in "a paleo-subseafloorhydrothermal vein systemof theBarberton greenstone beltinSouth Africa."
  • Astronomers report the detection, for the first time, of anisotopein theatmosphereof anexoplanet.In specific, the isotopeCarbon-13(¹³C) was found in the atmosphere of a gas giant exoplanet namedTYC 8998-760-1 b.
  • Researchers used abrain-computer interfaceto enable a man who was paralyzed since 2003 to produce comprehensible words and sentences by decoding signals from electrodes in the speech areas of his brain.
  • Researchers describe effects ofdeforestationand climate change in a transformation ofAmazoniafromcarbon sinkto carbon source (seeabove).
• 15 July – Scientists report that theChicxulub impactorlikely was anouter main-belt asteroid,acarbonaceous chondriteC-type asteroid.
• 16 July
  • Recently thought subglacial lakes under the Southern Polar cap of Mars based on a 2018MARSISmeasurement could also be clay minerals and frozen brine.
  • Japan achieves a newworld record Internet speedover ~3.000 km: 319Tbit/s,beating a previous record of 178 Tbit/s.
  • A study concludes only 1.5-7 % of "regions"of the modern human genome to be specific to modern humans. These regions have neither been altered byarchaic homininDNA due toadmixturenor are shared with Neanderthals or Denisovans according to their used genomic datasets. They also found two bursts of changes specific to modern human genomes which involve genes related tobrain development and function.
  • A study using whole-genome resequencing indicates thatCannabissativawas firstdomesticatedabout 12,000 years ago in the earlyNeolithicperiod inEast Asia,with the results being consistent with a single domestication origin.
• 18 July – Journalists and researchers report the discovery ofspyware,called "Pegasus",developed and distributed by a private company which can and has widely been used to infectiOSandAndroidsmartphonesoften – partly based on0-day exploits–without the need for any user-interactionor significant clues to the user andthen be usedto exfiltrate data, track user locations, capture film through its camera, and activate the microphone at any time.

22 July:DeepMind'sAlphaFoldAI predicts the 3D structures of ~350,000 proteins.

• 19 July
  • Researchers review 217analysesof on-the-market products and services as well as existing alternatives to mainstream food, holidays, and furnishings, and conclude that totalgreenhouse gas emissions by Swedes could be loweredby to date up to 36–38 % if consumers – without a decrease in total estimated expenditure or considerations of self-interest rationale – insteadwere toobtain those theycould assessto be more sustainable.
  • Researchers report that higher exposure towoodlandurban green spacesis associated with improved cognitive development and risks of mental problemsfor urban 15-16 years old adolescents.
  • Scientists report thatwild pigsare causing soil disturbance that, among other problems, globally results in annual carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to that of ~1.1 million passenger vehicles, implying that wild pig meat – unlike other meat products – hasbeneficial effects on the environment.

28 July: The first direct observation of light from behind ablack hole.

• 20 July
  • Researchers conclude that a previously rejected abiotic origin ofphosphine concentrations on Venus reported in September 2020– high rates of activeplumevolcanism – could be plausible.
  • Ascientific reviewconcludes that, except for poultry, at 50 g/day unprocessed red (~9 % increase) and processedmeat(~18 %) appear to be risk factors forischemic heart disease.
  • Scientists report that worldwideadolescentlonelinessand depression increased substantially after 2012 and that loneliness in contemporaryschoolsappears to be associated withsmartphoneaccess andInternet use.

28 July: Scientists publish an update to theWorld Scientists' Warning to Humanity.

• 22 July
  • Astronomers using theAtacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array(ALMA) report the first clear detection of amoon-forming discaround an exoplanet; in this case, the Jupiter-like planetPDS 70c.
  • DeepMindannounces that itsAlphaFoldAI haspredictedthe structures of over 350,000proteins,including 98.5% of the ~20,000 proteins in the human body. The 3D data along with their degrees of confidence for accuracy is made freely available with a new database, doubling the previous number of protein structures in the public domain.
• 26 July
  • The Galileo Project,headed byAvi Loeb,is launched. The project seeks to gather and report scientific evidenceof extraterrestrialsor extraterrestrial technology – such as ofUFOs/UAPwith alien origins – on or near Earth via telescope technology.
  • Scientists report to have created the first complete neuron-level-resolution3D map of a monkey brainwhich they scanned within 100 hours.
  • A study finds that the increasing probability of record week-longheat extremesoccurrence depends on warming rate, rather than global warming level and provides projections.
  • Ascientific reviewsummarizes studies aboutlong COVID.
• 28 July
  • The first direct observation oflightfrom behind ablack holeis reported, further confirming Einstein's theory ofgeneral relativity.
  • Metallicwateris prepared for the first time in an ordinary Earth lab.
  • In an update to theWorld Scientists' Warning to Humanity,scientists report that evidence of nearing or crossedtipping pointsof critical elements of theEarth systemis accumulating, that 18 of 31 planetary vital signs have reached record values, that 1990 jurisdictions have formallyrecognized a state of climate emergency,that frequent and accessible updates on theemergencyare needed, that COVID-19 "green recovery"has been insufficient and thatroot-cause system changesabove politics are required.
• 29 July – A study indicatesgut microbiomeswith large amounts of microbes capable of generating unique secondarybile acidsare a key element ofcentenarians'longevity.
• 31 July – A kitchenrobot– one of the first of its kind – forautonomous preparationofschool mealprogram or delivery-service level amounts of discrete meals is demonstrated.

August

9 August: TheIPCCbegins releasing its latest major report onclimate change.

• 2 August – Engineers report the development of a prototypewave energy converterthat is twice as efficient as similar existing experimental technologies, which could be a major step towards practical viability of tapping into thesustainable energysource.
• 4 August
  • Scientists identify genetic determinants ofovarian ageingand possible effects of extending fertility in women.
  • Scientists describe the molecular mechanisms by whichinsectolfactory systemsare sensitive enough to recognize and discriminate a vast number of molecules with very few smell receptors.
• 5 August
  • New observations of theM-type starL 98-59and its surrounding system reveal three new bodies: a planet in thehabitable zone,anocean world,and a planet with half the mass of Venus, making it the lightest exoplanet ever to be measured using theradial velocity method.
  • A study introduces anearly-warningindicator for critical transitions of theAtlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation(AMOC) and finds early-warning signals in eight independent AMOC indices. A, possibly abrupt,likely irreversible collapse from the current strong to a weak mode is thought to have severe impacts onEarth systemcomponentsand global climate.TheSixth IPCC reportassesses a 'medium confidence' that such a collapse won't happen by 2100.
• 8 August – TheNational Ignition Facilityachieves a 70% yield, compared to the laser energy required to sustain fusion, frominertial confinementfusion energy,an 8X improvement over previous experiments in spring 2021 and a 25X increase over the yields achieved in 2018.
• 9 August
  • TheIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) releases the first part of itsSixth Assessment Report,which summarizes the state of physical science on climate change based on over 14,000 papers and concludes that effects of human-causedclimate changeare now "widespread, rapid, and intensifying".
  • Neuroscientists show thattransplantationoffecal microbiotafrom young donor mice into aged recipient mice substantiallyrejuvenatesthebrainsof the latter,complementing similar results of a 2020 study.
  • Ascientific reviewassesses the long-term effects ofCOVID-19,including in prevalent cases oflong COVID.
  • A researcher reports thatsolar superstormswould cause global months-longInternet outages.She describes potential mitigation measures and exceptions – such as user-poweredmesh networks,relatedpeer-to-peerapplications and new protocols – and the robustness of the currentInternet infrastructure.
• 10 August
  • A study based onOSIRIS-RExdata concludes there to be a 1:1750 chance of an impact of asteroid(101955) Bennuby 2300, with the highest chance of impact being in 2182.
  • A small-scale study suggests that persistentblood clottingis a cause oflong COVID.
• 11 August – Researchers report promising results of ongoing testing and development of an engineeredmonoclonal antibodiesbased femalecontraception.
• 12 August – Scientists report that theAyta Magbukun peoplein thePhilippineshave the highest level ofDenisovanancestryin the world and describe the relatedgenetic historyin the region.
• 13 August – Researchers demonstrate thatprobioticscan helpcoral reefsmitigate heat stress, indicating that such could make themmore resilient to climate changeand mitigatecoral bleaching.
• 16 August
  • Scientists conclude thatpersonal carbon allowancescould be a component ofclimate change mitigation.They find that theeconomic recovery from COVID-19and novel digital technology capacities open a window of opportunity for first implementations of such monetary/credit feedback and decreasing default levels of emissions concessions.
  • Researchers assess regionally-differentiated drivers and risks associated with worldwidepollinator decline,informing globally-relevant policy responses.
• 17 August – Scientists report ofhuman brain organoidsthat could intrinsically develop eye-type sensory structures.
• 18 August – A study suggests that the globalpolicyMontreal Protocolintended to control the production ofozone-depleting substanceshas also substantiallymitigated climate change.
• 20 August – Medical scientists confirm thathormoneirisinconfersneurobiological effects of physical exerciseand, when its circulating levels are increased, can be an exercise mimetic in mice which may be useful for interventions to improve cognitive function or alleviateAlzheimer's disease.
• 22 August – Astronomers conclude in apreprintthat – controversially due to there being only few data points – there is high confidence "Planet 9"exists, that it likely has a mass of ~6.2 Earths and is closer than thought previously and report its likely orbit.

Researchers present abioprintingmethod to produce steak-likecultured meat.

• 24 August
  • Cerebrasannounces a new hardware and software platform that can supportAImodels of 120 trillion parameters, enablingneural networksgreater than the equivalent number ofhuman brainsynapses.
  • Researchers present abioprintingmethod to produce steak-likecultured meat,composed of three types of bovine cell fibers.
• 26 August – Astronomers report a new class ofhabitable exoplanets,namedhycean planets(fromhydrogenandocean), which are described as hot,water-covered planetswith ahydrogen-rich atmospherethat are possibly capable of harboringlife.
• 27 August – Scientists report about vaccine effectiveness, pandemic severity impacts and regional prevalence ofSARS-CoV-2 Delta variant overall and its newly subdivided subvariantsnamed from AY.1 onwards,the first two of which were differentiated like so – also termed "Delta Plus" – in June.On 10 August apreprintreports a case of asymptomatictransmissionsassociated with high viral load among vaccinated patients infected by AY.3.
• 28 August – The world's northernmost island, a small patch of land measuring 60 x 30 metres, is reported by scientists off the coast ofGreenland.The nameQeqertaq Avannarleqis proposed, which means "the northernmost island" inGreenlandic.
• 30 August
  • The comprehensive 2021ESCGuidelinesoncardiovascular disease preventionis published.On 27 August the 2021 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronicheart failureis published.
  • Apreprintstudy of nationwide data ofIsrael's vaccination programmefinds a strong effect of waning immunity from thePfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccineafter 6 months.
• 31 August – Scientists report that thePaleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum~56 million years ago was directly preceded by volcanism and that data about the event supports the existence of substantialclimate-shifting tipping points in the Earth system.

September

• 1 September
  • NASA reports thesuccessful sampling of a rock on Mars,named"Rochette",after a less successful first attempt.
  • Scientists report the development of a new solar-energypassiveoff-gridchemically stored on-demand cooling systemfor housesand/or refrigeration without electrical components which may be useful forclimate change mitigationandadaptation.

2 September: TheWHOadjusts itsair quality guidelinesafter studies found that i.a.air pollutionis associated with substantiallyincreased mortalityeven below current WHO guideline values.

• 2 September
  • Observation of a new class ofsupernovatriggered by a black hole or neutron star crashing into thecoreof a companion star is reported by astronomers, based on studies of an extremely luminous source of radio waves called VT 1210+4956.
  • Astronomers report the detection of peculiar radio wavesfrom near the galactic centerwhoseunidentified sourcecould represent a new class of astronomical objects.
  • A study finds that outdoorair pollutionis associated with substantiallyincreased mortality"even at low pollution levels below the current European and North American standards and WHO guideline values".On 22 September, for the first time since 2005, theWorld Health Organization(WHO), after a systematic review of the accumulated evidence, adjusted theirair quality guidelineswhose adherence could save millions of lives, protect against future diseases and help meet climate goals.
• 3 September
  • Bioengineers report the development of a viableCRISPR-Cas gene-editingsystem, "CasMINI", that is about twice as compact as the commonly usedCas9andCas12a.
  • Researchers report thatautoantibodiesagainst one's ownACE2 enzymes(the major entry point receptors for COVID-19),autoimmune disease,may be a (main) cause oflong COVID.Earlier studies suggested this may explain unusual pattern of organ damage by COVID-19.
  • Scientists report that theaccelerated, higher-variability warmingof theArcticcancause(more frequent)extremely cold winter weatheracross parts of Asia and North America – including theFebruary 2021 North American cold wave– via a, observed and modeled, stratosphericpolar vortex disruption.
• 6 September – Experts report that one-third of allchondrichthyesfish species are threatened with extinction, mainly caused by overfishing.
• 8 September
  • Cysteamine,an antioxidant drug already approved for human use, is shown to reverseatherosclerosis,the process responsible for heart attacks and strokes, in mice.
  • Scientists provide the first scientific assessment of the minimum amount of fossil fuels that would need to besecuredfrom extractionper region as well as globally, to allow for a 50% probability oflimiting global warmingby 2050 to 1.5 °C.
  • Scientists report that Earth is reflecting less light – a dimming of ~0.5% inreflectanceover two decades may have both been co-caused by climate change as well as substantially increase global warming.
• 10 September
  • Scientists report what could be the discovery of the oldestrock art,likely dating back to~169–226,000 years ago,much older than what was previously thought to be the earliest known drawing, made ~73,000years ago. Children likely intentionally placed a series of hands and feet in mud. The findings could also be the earliest evidence ofHomininson the above 4000 m a.s.l. highTibetan plateau.
  • 43 expert scientists publish the first scientific framework version that – via integration,review,clarifications andstandardization– enables the evaluation of levels of protection ofmarine protected areasand can serve as a guide for improving, planning and monitoringmarine protection-quality and -extents such as in efforts towards the 30%-protection-goal of the "Global Deal For Nature"andthe UN's SDG 14.
  • TheCDCreports that despite prevalence of theDelta variantpeoplevaccinated against COVID-19are ~11 times less likely to die from COVID-19 (age-standardized rates of 1.6 versus 0.1 and 1.1 versus 0.1 weekly deaths per 100,000 U.S. citizens), showing vaccines' effectiveness at preventingsevere disease.

22 September: Astronomers report the discovery of the Per-Tau Shell, a giantstar-formingspherical shell.

24 September: Projectingeffectsofgreenhouse gas emissionsonly for up to 2100 is found to be short-sighted. New models forclimate change scenariosfor up to 2500 are published.

• 13 September – Ascientific reviewconcludes that accumulating data suggests dietary restriction (DR) – mainlyintermittent fastingandcaloric restriction– results in many of the same beneficial changes in adult humans as in studied organisms, potentiallyincreasing health- and lifespan.A review published on 22 September provides an overview of DR as an intervention and develops a framework for a proposed field of "precisionnutrigeroscience ".A study published on 29 September identifiescircadian-regulatedautophagyas a critical contributor to intermittent time-restricted fasting-mediated lifespan extension inDrosophilaand suggests that only certain forms of and/or combinations with intermittent fasting – intervals during which no food but only e.g. water and tea/coffee are ingested– may be effective beyond the benefits of healthy body weight.
• 15 September
  • Physicists report candidatedark energyparticles, Sun-produced local environment-adjusted "chameleon particles",at the dark matter detectorXENON1Texperiment.
  • Scientists confirm that widespreadphytoplankton bloomscan be afeedback effectof wildfires. The climate change-exacerbated2019–2020 Australian wildfirescaused oceanic deposition of wildfire aerosols, enhancingmarine productivityand thereby increased oceanic carbon dioxide uptake.A study usingsatellite datacomplements these findings, constraining the amount of CO₂emissions of the fires from November 2019 to January 2020 to around 715 million tons.
  • Media outlets report that the world's firstcultured coffeeproducts have been created by two biotechnology companies, still awaiting regulatory approval for near-termcommercialization.Such products, for which multiplecompanies' R&Dhave acquired substantial funding, may have equal or highly similar effects, composition and taste as natural products but use less water, generate less carbon emissions, require less laborand causeno deforestation.
• 16 September – Scientists report evidence ofclothesbeing made120,000 years agobased on findings in deposits inMorocco,a country in the northwestern part of Africa.
• 17 September
  • Scientists report thatharmful algal blooms,which have been linked todeforestation,global warmingandsoil erosion,are proliferating in lakes and rivers around the globe. They add that such toxic algal blooms were a prominent feature of previous massextinction events,in particular of theEnd-Permian Extinction.
  • Researchers report in apreprintthe discovery of i.a. the so far closest known relative virus, with a 96.8% similarity, toSARS-CoV-2in samples from wildhorseshoe batsin northernLaos– 0.7% more similar than the virusRaTG13discovered in China in 2013. Their findings indicate that, as of 2021, SARS-CoV-2-like virusespotentially infectiousfor humans circulate in bats in theIndochinese peninsulaand that the pandemic virus may notoriginatefromWuhan.Other scientists complement these findings, reporting in a preprint published on 20 September, that they could not find any SARS-CoV-2 related viruses in any samples collected in China, including from the only two domestic caves where RaTG13 andRmYN02were detected, indicating such viruses may currently not circulate in bats in the country.
• 22 September – Astronomers report the discovery of a nearby spherical structure, a 'superbubble', on the edges of which giant molecular clouds (PerseusandTaurus) with regions ofstar formationare being formed, the Per-Tau Shell.
• 23 September
  • Scientists report the discovery ofhuman footprintsin the state ofNew Mexicothat are understood to be ~23,000 years old, around the time of thelastIce Age.
  • Researchers report the world's firstartificial synthesisofstarch.The material essential for many products and the most commoncarbohydratein human diets was made from CO₂in a cell-free process and could reduce land, pesticide and water use as well as greenhouse gas emissions while increasing food security.
  • After commissioning two impact assessment studies and atechnology analysisstudy, theEuropean Commissionproposes the implementation of astandardization– for versions ofUSB-C– ofphone chargerproducts, which may increase device-interoperability,convergence and convenience for consumers while decreasing resource-needs, redundancy andelectronic waste.

24 September: The firstCRISPR-editedfood, tomatoes, goes on public sale.

28 September: Researchers developmachine learningmodels for genome-basedearlydetection and prioritization of high-risk potentialzoonoticviruses.

• 24 September
  • Researchers conclude that projectingeffects– such as regional inhabitability,human migrationand food insecurity – ofgreenhouse gas emissionsonly for up to 2100, as widely practiced in research andpolicy-making,is short-sighted and modelclimate change scenariosfor up to 2500.
  • Media outlets report that in Japan the firstCRISPR-editedfood has gone on public sale. Tomatoeswere genetically modifiedfor around five times the normal amount of possibly calmingGABA.CRISPR was first applied in tomatoes in 2014.
  • Biomedical researchers demonstrate a switchableYamanaka factors-reprogramming-based approach forregenerationof damaged heart without tumor-formation in mice.
• 26 September – Researchers estimate that children born in 2020 (e.g. "Generation Alpha") will experience 2–7 times as many extreme weather events, particularly heat waves, compared to people born in 1960 (e.g."Baby Boomers"and"Generation X") under current climate policy pledges over their lifetimes, raising issues ofintergenerational equity.
• 27 September
  • Landsat 9,described as the world's most important satellite, is launched by NASAto study the Earth and its environment.
  • Biochemists and space scientists report that sunlight-, acidity- and water activity-levels inVenus' clouds may have the potential to supportEarth-likephototrophysuch asphotosynthesis.
• 28 September
  • Medical scientists report thatCOVID-19 measuresmay have, apparently, caused the global extinction of theinfluenza B viruslineage B/Yamagata.
  • Pathogen researchers report the development ofmachine learningmodels for genome-basedearlydetection and prioritization of high-risk potentialzoonoticviruses in animals prior tospilloverto humans. They conclude that their tool could be used for virus surveillance forpandemic preventionvia (i.a.) measures of "early investigation and outbreak preparedness" and would have been capable of predictingSARS-CoV-2as a high-risk strain.

October

• 1 October – A company conducting a preliminary small (~380 patients × 2)clinical triallaunched a year agoreports thatmolnupiravirsubstantially reduced the risk of hospitalization (7.3% to 14.1%) and death (8 to 0)from COVID-19.
• 4 October
  • The 2021Nobel Prize in Medicineis awarded toDavid JuliusandArdem Patapoutianfor their findings about how heat, cold and touch can initiate signals in the nervous system.
  • Metascientistsreport, based on acitation analysis,that "structures fostering disruptive scholarship and focusing attention on novelideas"could be important as in a growingscientific fieldcitation flowsdisproportionately consolidate to citing already well-cited papers, possibly slowing and inhibiting canonicalprogress.
• 5 October
  • The 2021Nobel Prize in Physicsis awarded toSyukuro Manabe,Klaus HasselmannandGiorgio Parisifor their work onclimate change,resulting from the role of humanity.
• 6 October
  • The 2021Nobel Prize in Chemistryis awarded toBenjamin ListandDavid W.C. MacMillanfor their work in creating a tool to build molecules, that may be useful for studies on developing new drugs and reducing the effect of chemicals on the environment.
  • The WHO endorsesthe first malaria vaccine.
  • A studyof data trafficby popularsmartphonesrunning variants of theAndroidsoftware finds substantial by-default data collection and sharing with no opt-out and implications for users'privacy,control and security.
  • With 17 studies a consortium ofMICrONSresearchers concludes the first phase of a long-term project (BICCN) to generate an atlas of the entire mouse (mammalian) brain, releasing anatlas and census of cell typesin theprimary motor cortex.
• 7 October – Scientists show experimentally, withbrain organoidsgrown from stem cells, howdifferences between humans and chimpanzeesare also substantially caused by the 98% of DNA outside the protein-coding genes, often discarded as "junk DNA"– in particular viaCRE-regulatedexpressionof the ZNF558 gene for atranscription factor.
• 8 October – A new eco-friendly way of extracting andseparatingrare earth elementsis described, using a bacteria-derived protein called lanmodulin, which binds easily to the metals.

11 October: Scientists project public health impacts of an imminent Red Seaoil spillfrom theFSOSafer.

• 11 October
  • Scientists report more precise dating of what appear to be the earliestbipedalfootprints withhominin-like characteristics, theTrachilos footprints.They are found to be~6.05 million years old,which is around the time ofOrrorin– the previously earliest theorized species ofHomininaeuntil these footprints were controversially dated in 2017,despite being discoveredoutside of AfricainCrete,Greece. However, these apes are not necessarily associated with human evolution.
  • The pilot project of the "world's firstautomated, driverless train"is launched in the city ofHamburg,Germany. The conventional, standard-track, non-metro train technology could theoretically be implemented for rail transport worldwide and is reported to also be substantially moreenergy efficient.
  • Scientists project public health impacts, along with some of the environmental damage, of a, simulated, imminent Red Seaoil spillfrom theFSOSafer.
• 12 October – Scientists report that for 13,115 citiesextreme heatexposure of awet bulb globe temperatureabove 30 °C tripled between 1983 and 2016. It increased by ~50% when thepopulation growthin these cities is not taken into account. Urban areas are oftensignificantly warmerthan surrounding rural areas.
• 13 October – Astronomers report the detection of hundreds ofFast Radio Bursts(FRBs) from a single system.
• 15 October – The first brainmetabolomeatlasof the mouse brain– and of an animal (a mammal) across different life stages – is released.
• 16 October
  • ThespacecraftLucyis launched by NASA, the first mission to explore theTrojan asteroids.
  • A comprehensive study byScientists for Futureconcludes thatnuclear fission energycannot meaningfully contribute toclimate change mitigationas it is "too dangerous,too expensive,and too sluggishly deployable "as well as" an obstacle to achieving the social-ecological transformation ".
• 18 October – A study shows for the first time howimmunityis inherited,via epigenetic changes,in mice (mammals).
• 19 October – Media outlets report about novel technologies for virtual try-ons of clothes for moresustainable fashionand improved online shopping, which increased relativelydue to the COVID-19 pandemic.

20 October: Scientists report that, according to their genetic analysis, today'sdomestichorsesdescend from the lowerVolga-Don region,Russia.

• 20 October
  • Astronomers report the first evidence of a giant impact between twoexoplanets,which occurred in theHD 172555system, based on analysis of gas and dust concentrations.
  • Scientists report that, according to their analysis, today'sdomestichorsesdescend from the lowerVolga-Don region,Russia. 273ancient horse genomesfurther indicate that these populations replaced almost all local populations as they expanded rapidly throughout Eurasia from about 4200 years ago, that certain adaptations were strongly selected for byhorse riding,and that equestrian material culture – includingSintashtaspoke-wheeledchariotsand in the case of AsiaIndo-Iranian languages– spread alongside.
  • Researchers report on the first naturalproteinthat, using lanmodulin, complexesactinium,a natural but radioactive element used incancer therapy,alongsideyttrium-90.
• 21 October
  • Medical researchers announce that on 25 September the first successfulxenotransplantationof a genetically engineered pigkidney,along with the pigthymus glandto make the immune system recognize it as part of the body, to a brain-dead human with no immediate signs ofrejection,moving the practice closer toclinical trialswith living humans.
  • A study shows howCOVID-19 may inflict long-term brain damage,including in cases of 'long COVID', viaendothelial cell-death disrupting theblood–brain barrier.
• 22 October
  • Researchers describe and substantiate the hypothesis that a recentdecreaseinbrain size"in the last 3,000 years" (previously thought to instead have occurred during the last ~28,000 years) has resulted fromexternalization of knowledgeandgroup decision-making,partly viasocial systemsof distributed cognition andsharing of information.Astudy by Villmoare et al. (2022)that reanalyzes the used data refutes their findings. It concludes that "the samples need to be specific enough to test the hypothesis across different times and populations".
  • A study shows that mandatoryface masksand social distancing can allow for relatively safepublic transport during the COVID-19 pandemic,reducing infection ratesby 93.5% and 98.1% in tracking-based simulations of common contemporary forms of public transport during congestion peak-hour.
• 25 October
  • Astronomers report, with two studies, that 'BLC1' does not appear to be atechnosignatureor extraterrestrial radio transmission because 15 similar observations were made between 2019 and 2020 that did not originate from aroundProxima Centauri– and hence are likely results of forms of localradiofrequency interference– and propose a sequence of "verification checks for narrowband technosignature signals".
  • Another, clearer case ofquantum advantagewithZuchongzhiis reported.A third study reported thatZuchongzhi 2.1completed a task of classically simulating random circuit sampling that "is about 6 orders of magnitude more difficult than that ofSycamore".

27 October: Researchers release a "policysequencing "framework, in particular for policies of polycentricgovernancefor completely halting and preventingdeforestation.

• 27 October
  • Astronomers propose a "Confidence of Life Detection"scale (CoLD) for reporting evidence oflife beyond Earth.
  • Astronomers report that the orbits of the detectedexoplanetshosted by the starHD 3167are unusual: two planets (HD 3167 c; HD 3167 d) revolve around thepolesof the star, whereas the third planet (HD 3167 b) orbits around theequatorof the star instead.
  • Researchers release a "policysequencing "framework, in particular for policies of polycentricgovernancefor completely halting and preventingdeforestationbased on data about already implemented government-designed policies, UN-decidedREDD+initiatives and voluntary private sector initiatives of recent deforestation interventions.
  • The world's first urbanautonomous vessels,'Roboats', are deployed in thecanals of Amsterdam,Netherlands. The ships developed by three institutions could carry up to five people,collect waste,deliver goods,and provide "on-demand infrastructure".
  • A potentials-assessment study proposes hypothetical portable solar-poweredatmospheric water harvesting deviceswhich are under development, along with design criteria, finding they could help a billion people to accesssafe drinking water,albeit suchoff-the-gridgeneration may sometimes "undermine efforts to developpermanent piped infrastructure".
• 28 October
  • An open letter byalmost 300scientists asks theWTOto eliminate increasing harmfulfisheries subsidies.
  • One year after India and South Africa called on WTO to temporarily waiveTRIPSvaccinepatentsfor accelerateddeployment of COVID-19 vaccinesaround the world, the WTO reportedly fails to find an accord for doing so.No mechanisms of alternative medicalresearch and developmentincentive-systemsor technical details of proposed "sharing" after certain amounts of profitwere reported and some argue that, instead of intellectual property rights, manufacturing know-how is the main barrier to expanding capacity.
  • Scientists discover that up to about 20,000 metric tons ofmicroplasticsmay be stored incoralskeletons worldwide every year, marking the first time that a living microplastic "sink", or long-term storage site, has been quantified.
• 30 October – A comprehensivereviewsummarizes scientific research and data abouthealth impacts of climate change.

November

• 1 November – Astronomers report detecting, in a "first-of-its-kind" process based onSAM instruments,organic molecules,includingbenzoic acid,ammoniaand other related unknown compounds, on theplanet Marsby theCuriosityrover.

2 November: A study concludes that PM_2.5air pollutioncaused by thetradeand consumption by the19G20 nations causes two million premature deaths annually.

• 2 November – A study concludes that PM_2.5air pollutioninduced by contemporary forms of freetradeand consumption by the 19 G20 nations (the EU as a whole is not included) causes two million premature deaths annually, suggesting that the average lifetime consumption of about ~28 people in these countries causes at least one premature death (average age ~67) while developing countries "cannot be expected" to implement or be able to implement countermeasures without external support or internationally coordinated efforts.

3 November: Scientists report that many wilddeer in the U.S. got infected with SARS-CoV-2.

• 3 November
  • Astronomers using theALMAreport the presence ofwaterin SPT0311-58, a galaxy nearly 12.9 billion light-years from Earth. This is the most distant detection of a required element for life in a regular star-forming galaxy.
  • Scientists report that large shares of wilddeer in the U.S. have been infected with SARS-CoV-2.The test results showed one "mismatch" for 2019, low inhibition values in 2020 and 152 positive samples (40%) in 2021.Apreprintpublished on 1 November found that ~80% of samples between late November 2020 and January were positive.Such spillovers may cause reservoirs for mutating variants that spill back to humans – a possible source for variants of concernother than immunocompromised people.
  • Areviewoutlines research and data aboutCOVID-19 vaccinationsfor children – recommended in the U.S. a day previously (for 5–11 years olds) by theCDC– including about populations-levels factors.

24 November: Launch of NASA'sDouble Asteroid Redirection Test(DART)

• 4 November
  • Astronomers report, in theAstronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Surveyfor the 2020s, recommended scientific priorities and investments for the next decade to help achieve the following primary goals: search forhabitable exoplanetsandextraterrestrial life,studyblack holesandneutron starsand study thegrowth and evolution of galaxies.
  • A study contributes to a disentangling of the currentgeopoliticaland economic implications of and incentives for a swiftrenewable energy transition,suggesting i.a. that how fast fossil energy markets decline is primarily decided by the major energy importers China, India, Japan and the EU and that transition dynamics may reverse thefree-rider problemin the case of energy sectors, specifically from strategic national standpoints which are not short-term.
  • Researchers demonstrate a novelX-ray imaging technique,"HiP-CT", for 3D cellular-resolution scans of whole organs, using theESRF's EBF. The published online Human Organ Atlas includes the lungs from a donor who died with COVID-19.
• 5 November – A company reports that a phase 2/3 clinical trial shows thatPaxlovidcan reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations of high-risk adults by 89% when given within three days after symptom onset.
• 8 November – Scientists prove that the brain (theinsular cortexof mice/mammals) also"remembers"immune activity against past infections, with reactivation – or stimulation –of the neuronsbeing able to cause – or shape – the inflammatoryimmune response.
• 9 November
  • Astrophysicists report the discovery of unexplained blockage of high-energy cosmic rays entering theGalactic Center,such as a strong magnetic field.
  • Scientists report the detection of coronaviruses closely related toSARS-CoV-2(92.6% nucleotide identity) in two bats sampled inCambodiain 2010,complementing i.a. a study published on 17 September.
• 10 November – Researchers report the development ofchewing gumsthat couldmitigate COVID-19 spread.The ingredients –CTB-ACE2proteins grown via plants – bind to the virus.
• 11 November
  • Astronomers using theVery Large Telescopereport the discovery of a black hole inNGC 1850by viewing its influence on the motion of a star in close proximity, the first direct dynamical detection of a black hole in a young massive cluster.
  • The first-ever simulation ofbaryonson a quantum computer is reported by a university.
  • Astronomers identify a long filament of cold, dense gas connecting two of theMilky Way'sspiral arms,the first known observation of such a galactic structure in the Milky Way.
  • Bionanoengineersreport a novel therapy forspinal cord injury– an injectable gel of nanofibers that contain moving molecules that cause cellular signaling and mimic the matrix around cells in mice.
  • A study investigates howtidal energycould be best integrated into theOrkneyenergy system.On 3 November, areviewassesses the potential of tidal energy in the UK's energy systems, finding that it could, according to their considerations that include economic cost-benefit analysis, deliver 34 TWh/y or 11% of its energy demand.
• 14 November – A time-allocation study estimates that in 2020 over 130 million hours of researchers' time were spent onpeer review.
• 16 November
  • A study reports the second case of a person whose immune system apparently cleared theHIVonits own without a therapy.
  • Biochemists report one of thefirst supercomputational approaches for the development of newantibioticderivativesagainst antimicrobial resistance.
  • Scientists report a large extent ofalternative splicing– cases of a single gene (a template) being used to create instructions (mRNAs) for building differentproteins– in the mouse and human cortex and release thetranscriptomeson a public database.
  • A tech company reveals a new 127 quantum bit processor named 'IBM Eagle', which is the most powerful quantum processor ever made.

26 November: The WHO reports theOmicron variantas aSARS-CoV-2 variant of concern.
The image shows oneNextstrain-based visualization ofgenetic distanceof several such variants.

• 17 November
  • A systematic review and meta-analysis finds thatmask-wearingcuts the incidence ofCOVID-19by 53%.
  • The first 256-qubitquantum computeris announced, by a startup company, founded by scientists and funded byDARPA.
  • The largest publicdataset of whole genomesis made available through a Web platform. The entiregenomesof 200,000UK Biobankparticipants, linked to anonymized medical information, are made more accessible for biomedical research than prior, less comprehensive datasets.
  • Scientists call for the creation ofspacebiosecurity measures and inform the creation ofplanetary protectionpolicies that aim to prevent forwardcontaminationof extraterrestrial bodies as well as backward contamination.
  • Scientists report the development of avaccineof mRNAs for the body build 19 proteins in tick saliva which, by enabling quick development oferythema(itchy redness) at the bite site, protects guinea pigs againstLyme diseasefromticks.
• 19 November
  • The firstautonomous cargo ship,MVYara Birkelandis launched in Norway. The fullyelectric shipis expected to substantially reduce the need for truck journeys.
  • A report by Brazil'sINPEbased onsatellite datafindsdeforestationof theAmazon rainforesthas increased by 22% over 2020 and is at its highest level (13,235 km²) since 2006.
• 21 November –Sri Lankaannounces that it will lift its import ban onpesticidesand herbicides,explainedby both a lack of sudden changes to widely applied practices or education systems and contemporary economics and, by extension, food security, protests and high food costs. The effort to become the world's first completelyorganic farmingnation was challenged by effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 22 November
  • Scientists detect aquantumeffect that blocksatomsfrom scattering light.
  • A study using data on ~30,000 patients, for the first time, indicates thataspirinmay be associated with an increased (26%) risk for heart failure in persons with at least one cardiovascular risk factor.An author notes that the findings require confirmation and the link with heart failure to be clarified.
• 24 November –NASAlaunches theDouble Asteroid Redirection Test(DART), the first attempt to deflect anasteroidfor the purpose of learning how to protect Earth.
• 25 November – Researchers systematically assess impacts ofclimate change mitigationoptions on 18 constituents ofwell-being,finding largely beneficial effects of demand-side solutions based on inputs from 604 studies.
• 26 November – The WHO announces the classification of theOmicron variantas aSARS-CoV-2 variant of concern.The variant, that became dominant (74% of samples) in South Africa in November, was detected by the NGS-SAgenomic surveillanceon 8 Novemberand reported to the WHO on 24 November.It has a large number ofmutationsthat, according to early preliminary evidence, appear to increase risk of reinfection,may increase transmissibility compared to Delta and may affect vaccines' efficacies with a key question being whether it causes less severe prognoses.
• 29 November – A team of scientists reports a new form of biological reproduction inxenobotsthat are made up of and are emersed in frog cells.

December

• 1 December
  • Scientists discover the footprint of an ancient hominid that lived alongsideLucy.
  • Researchers develop anenergy systemmodel for 100%renewable energy,examiningfeasibilityandgrid stabilityin the U.S.
• 2 December
  • A method ofDNA data storagewith a hundred times the density of previous techniques is announced.
  • Astem cell-based treatment fortype 1 diabetesis announced.
• 3 December – Scientists demonstrate thatgrown brain cellsintegratedinto digital systemscan carry out goal-directedtaskswithperformance-scores.In particular, playing a simulated (via electrophysiological stimulation)Pongwhich the cells learned to play faster than known machine intelligence systems, albeit to a lower skill-level than both AI and humans. Moreover, the study suggests it provides first empirical evidence of information-processing capacity differences between neurons from different species.
• 4 December – Atotal solar eclipseoccurs in theAntarcticregion.
• 5 December – Researchers report the development of a system of machine learning andhyperspectral camerathat can distinguish between 12 different types of plastics such as PET and PP for automatedseparation of wasteof, as of 2020, highlyunstandardizedplastics products andpackaging.
• 6 December
  • Scientists show that andhowtheflavonoidProcyanidin C1of the antioxidantgrape seed extractincreases thehealth- and lifespanof mice and increases the efficacy of mice'chemotherapy.
  • Sloan Digital Sky Survey's final data release of SDSS-IV including final data products and catalogs.

7 December: Results from theReproducibility Project:Cancer Biologysuggest most studies of thecancerresearch sectormay not be replicable and may contain wrong results.

• 7 December
  • A study suggests that when two people wearsurgical masks,while the infectious one is speaking, the risk ofCOVID-19infection at a distance of 1.5 m remains below 30% after one hour, but when both wear a well-fittingFFP2mask,it is 0.4%.
  • Researchers investigating sources of urbanPAHsair pollutionin Athens report thatwood-burningcould be causing a third (31%) of such urban air pollution, like diesel and oil combined or gasoline, and, especially during winter days, is responsible for nearly half of PAH cancer-risk.
  • A study suggests that mutations that promotebreakthrough infectionsor antibody-resistance could be a new mechanism forviral evolutionsuccess of SARS-CoV-2 and that such may become a dominating mechanism of its evolution.On 27 December, apreprintfinds that "the rapid spread of theOmicron VOCprimarily can be ascribed to theimmune evasivenessrather than an inherent increase in the basic transmissibility ".Studies also showed the variant to escape the majority of existing SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, including of sera from vaccinated and convalescent individuals.
  • Ascientific reviewsummarizes research and data abouttelemedicine.Its results indicate that, in general, outcomes of suchICT-use are as good as in-person care with health care use staying similar.
  • The Reproducibility Project:Cancer Biologyshows that of 193 experiments from 53 top papers aboutcancerpublished between 2010 and 2012,only 50 replication experiments from 23 papers could be completedwith effect sizes of that fraction being 85% smaller on average than the original findings. None of the papers had its experimentalprotocols fully describedand 70% of experiments required asking for key reagents.
• 8 December
  • Researchers report the development offace masksthat glow under ultraviolet light if they contain SARS-CoV-2 when the filter is taken out and sprayed with a fluorescent dye that contains antibodies from ostrich eggs.
  • Studies, some of which using large nationwide datasets from either Israel and Denmark, find thatvaccine effectivenessof multiple common two-dosedCOVID-19 vaccinesis substantially lower against the SARS-CoV-2Omicron variantthan for other common variants including theDelta variant,and that a new (often a third) dose – abooster dose– is needed and effective, with it i.a. substantially reducing deaths from the disease compared to cohorts who received two doses.
  • Applied behavioural scientistsdemonstrate a novel type of intervention studies, a "megastudy", and investigate the efficacy of 54 different designed by separate teams interventions to increase weeklygym-visits of ~60,000 members of a fitness chain, such as digital feedback in the form of redeemable points that are rewarded for returning to the gym after a missed workout.
• 9 December
  • TheImaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer,a collaboration betweenNASAand theItalian Space Agency,is launched bySpaceX.It is the first satellite capable of measuring the polarisation ofX-raysthat come from cosmic sources, such asblack holesandneutron stars.
  • TheLog4Shellsecurity vulnerabilityin aJava logging frameworkis publicly disclosed two weeks after its discovery. Because of the ubiquity of the affected software, experts have described it as a most serious computer vulnerability.In a high-level meeting, the importance of security maintenance of open-source software – often also carried out largely by few volunteers – to national security was clarified.
  • A study reviews modernanalyticprocedures, includingmass spectrometrytechniques, for characterization, analysis, and identification of unknown materials and how such were applied to study materials that, according to witnesses, dropped from hoveringunknown aerial objects (or UFOs).It suggests that the full range of current capabilities of materials analysis have not been applied so far and, after reviewing a range of proposed explanations, that these materials' purposes and characteristics, such as theirisotope ratios,are very odd and remain unexplained.
  • Scientists report the development of agenome editingsystem, called "twin prime editing", which surpasses the originalprime editingsystem reported in 2019 in that it allows editing large sequences of DNA, addressing the method's key drawback.
  • AnmRNA vaccineagainst HIVwith promising results in tests with mice and primates is reported.

25 December: TheJames Webb Space Telescope,the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is launched.

• 10 December –A vaccineto removesenescent cells,a key driver of theagingprocess, is demonstrated in mice by researchers from Japan.
• 13 December
  • Astronomers report thatAT 2018cow,an extremeFBOT,"could be aneutron starorblack holewith a mass less than 850 solar masses, "based onhigh-time-resolution X-ray observationstudies.
  • Scientists studying the hugeThwaites GlacierinWest Antarcticareport evidence that it could "shatter like a car windscreen" within five to ten years, potentially adding 65 cm toglobal sea levelsin the long term.
  • Observations of 16 years of timing data from the double pulsarPSR J0737−3039are reported to be in agreement withgeneral relativityby studying the loss of orbital energy due togravitational waves.
  • Researchers report the development of a database and analysis tool aboutperovskite solar cellswhich systematically integrates over 15,000 publications, in particular data about over 42,400 photovoltaic devices.
• 14 December –Sagittarius A*,thesupermassive black holeat the centre of theMilky Way,is imaged with 20 times greater detail than ever before, by astronomers using the GRAVITY instrument on theVery Large Telescopein Chile.
• 15 December
  • Scientists call for accelerated efforts in the development of broadly protective vaccines, especially auniversal coronavirus vaccinethat durably protects not just against allSARS-CoV-2 variantsbut also othercoronaviruses,including already identified animal coronaviruses with pandemic potential.
  • Researchers report thatNOX4facilitates certain beneficialadaptive responses to exercisemediated byROS(the opposite ofantioxidants), which may be relevant to aging, diabetes, muscle-related and obesity interventions.
• 16 December
  • Tokamak Energyannounces a more efficient design for the cryogenic electronics infusion reactors.This provides a 50% reduction in the power needed for the cooling ofhigh-temperature superconductingmagnets.
  • Researchers propose buffer-zones aroundnature reserveswhere pesticide-use is drastically reduced, based on Germany-wide field study data which i.a. foundinsect samplesin such areas tobe contaminated with ~16 pesticideson average.
  • Researchers report the development ofperovskite solar cellsbased on self-constructedhigh-throughput screeningof mixtures and contact layers, that – based on the stability tests – are estimated to last for over two years under normal circumstances.
  • In two separate studies, researchers, usingvanadium dioxide,report the development of a "smart-roof coating" forradiative coolingthat switches to warming during cold temperaturesand "smart windows" that self-adapt to heat or cool forenergy conservation in buildings.
• 20 December – The first knownmagnetospherearound an exoplanet is reported, surrounding thehot NeptuneHAT-P-11b.
• 22 December – Japanese scientists announce a key step in the development of aquantum computerusingphotons,which eliminates the need for anultracoldenvironment used to cool existing machines.
• 23 December – An international team reports the use of anelectron microscopeto change thechiralityof acarbon nanotube,creating atransistorwith a length of just 2.8 nanometres.
• 24 December – A study suggests that, based on the strength of positive selection pressure, the molecular spectrum of mutations and known mutations for adaptation to mouse hosts, the SARS-CoV-2Omicron variantmay have evolved in mice and thenspilled backto humans.
• 25 December – TheJames Webb Space Telescope,"NASA's most powerful and complex space telescope"and successor to theHubble Space Telescope,launches successfully.
• 26 December – A thirdconvergentgraphicalshellandUI framework,based onKDE/Kirigami, for theLinuxoperating systemon phones,desktopsand other devices, is released.
• 28 December – Scientists report thatproduction of ammoniain the clouds of Venus, possibly by life, may make the environment less acidic and suitablefor life,with the atmospheric model matching observations better than earlier ones.
• 30 December
  • China'sEAST tokamaksustains 120 million °Cplasmafor 17 minutes (1,056 seconds) for the development offusion energy(which requires i.a. temperatures over 150 million °C).
  • Researchers report the development of "nanoantennas"made out of DNAthat attach toproteinsand produce a signal via fluorescencewhen these perform their biological functions,in particular for distinctconformational changes,i.a. enabling monitoring their motion.
  • The firstCRISPR-gene-editedmarine animals/seafoodand second set ofCRISPR-edited foodhas gone on public sale in Japan: two fish of which one species grows to twice the size of natural specimens due to disruption ofleptin,which controls appetite, and the other grows to 1.2 the natural size with the same amount of food due to disabledmyostatin,which inhibitsmuscle growth.

Predicted and scheduled events

See also:2021 in spaceflight

Date unknown

• Engineeringfirst lightof theVera C. Rubin Observatory's camera was anticipated for 2021 with full science operations to begin a year later.Delayed to October 2022and later to February 2023due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards

Main article:Lists of science and technology awards

• Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine–David JuliusandArdem Patapoutianfor their discoveries of receptors for [i.a.] temperature and touch[the discovery/mechanicsofTRPV1andPIEZO2]
• Nobel Prize in Physics–Syukuro ManabeandKlaus Hasselmann(1/2)"for thephysical modelling of Earth's climate,quantifying variability and reliably predictingglobal warming"andGiorgio Parisi(1/2)"for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations inphysical systemsfromatomic to planetary scales"– all of which" for groundbreaking contributions toour understandingofcomplex systems"
• Nobel Prize in Chemistry–Benjamin ListandDavid W.C. MacMillan"for the development ofasymmetric organocatalysis"

Deaths

• 4 January –Martinus J. G. Veltman,Dutch theoretical physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1931)
• 28 January –Paul J. Crutzen,Dutch meteorologist and atmospheric chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
• 16 February –Bernard Lown,Lithuanian-born American inventor and cardiologist (b. 1921)
• 1 April –Isamu Akasaki,Japanese engineer and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1929)
• 4 April –Robert Mundell,Canadian economist (b. 1932)
• 4 June –Richard R. Ernst,Swiss physical chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
• 6 June –Ei-ichi Negishi,Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1935)
• 23 July –Toshihide Maskawa,Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
• 23 July –Steven Weinberg,American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)

See also

• Category:Science events
• Category:Science timelines
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on science and technology
• List of technologies
• List of emerging technologies
• List of years in science

External links

• Rise of the preprint: how rapid data sharing during COVID-19 has changed science forever,Nature
• Nature 2021 tables
• Science Summary infographics based on this article
• Altmetric Top 100 for 2021:'Feat. Subject Areas','Techno Remix','Old School Remix'
• 2021 BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEARdoi:10.1126/science.acx9810