2020 in science on:
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A number of significant
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**Astronomers announce spectroscopic confirmation of a web-like structure containing galaxies and
* 7 October
**The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, Jennifer A. Doudna for their work on genome editing.
**Researchers reveal a new high-temperature superconducting cable, named ''VIPER'', capable of sustaining higher levels of electric current and magnetic fields than previously possible.
**Researchers demonstrate the first passive radiative cooling, radiative device that absorbs heat from the hotter inside of an enclosure and emits it on the outside. The system has potential to cool vehicle and building interiors, and solar cells, without using electricity.
**Medical researchers conclude the Available unde
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**Scientists present a comprehensive quantification of global sources and sinks of Nitrous oxide#Greenhouse effect, the greenhouse gas N2O and report that human-induced emissions increased by 30% over the past four decades and is the main cause of the increase in atmospheric concentrations, with recent growth exceeding some of the highest projected IPCC emission scenarios. * 8 October **In an unprecedented move, all 34 editors of top medical journal, ''The New England Journal of Medicine'', condemn President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 pandemic. **Scientists release the largest and most detailed 3D cosmography, maps of the Universe, called "PS1-STRM". The data of the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, MAST was created using neural networks and combines data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and others. Users can query the dataset online or download it in its entirety of ≈300GB. * 12 October – Medical scientists report, for the first time in the U.S. and fifth worldwide, confirming evidence of COVID-19#Immunity, reinfection with the
* 14 October
**A Multi-objective optimization, multicriteria optimization shows Restoration ecology, restoration of degraded terrestrial ecosystems to be up to 13 times more cost-effective when applied in prioritized locations, with major improvements in terms of biodiversity and climate goals, at low cost. Their estimated cost-benefit ratio is based on contemporary assignments of value for labor, material input, and yield losses – such as of beef – on the costs-side and biodiversity conservation, local nature benefits, poverty-reduction, and climate-stabilization on the benefits-side. They note that gains are highest when restoration is combined with Deforestation#Control, protection of remaining ecosystems.
**Report that a high pressure room-temperature superconductor able to work at 15 °C is demonstrated by the University of Rochester. Although requiring 260 GPa (2.6 million times the atmospheric pressure), Carbonaceous sulfur hydride, this new compound of hydrogen, carbon and sulfur is a 35 °C improvement on the previous record. In 2022 the article was Retraction in academic publishing, retracted by Nature journal editorial board due to a non standard, user-defined data analysis calling into question the scientific validity of the claim.
**A study reports major shifts in the colony size structure – the demographics – of the Great Barrier Reef's coral populations compared to 1995/1996. The reef is known to have coral bleaching, lost more than half of its overall coral cover since then.
**Researchers report that antibiotic resistance genes can spread into bacterial populations without the respective natural selection, selection pressure via horizontal gene transfer.
**Scientists report, based on near-real-time activity data, an 'unprecedented' abrupt 8.8% Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment, decrease in global CO2 emissions in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, larger than during previous economic downturns and World War II. Authors note that such decreases of human activities "cannot be the answer" and that structural change, structural and Transformation in economics, transformational changes in human economy, economic management and Behavioral economics, behaviour systems are needed.
* 15 October
**A preprint, preliminary report by the World Health Organization, WHO's Solidarity trial concludes that its four tested, COVID-19 drug repurposing research, repurposed, treatments "appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized COVID-19, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay".
** NASA scientists announce Cyclopropenylidene#Titan (Moon of Saturn), the discovery of small amounts of unprotonated cyclopropenylidene – a possible precursor to more complex Life on Titan, astrobiological compounds – in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan (moon), Titan via Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA.
** Researchers report that two ''Homo'' species lost more than half of their climate Ecological niche, niche space just before extinction and that climate change played a substantial role in extinctions of past ''Homo'' species.
* 16 October – The shortest timespan ever is measured via photoionization: ≈247 zeptoseconds, during which a particle interaction occurs – a photon traveling through a hydrogen molecule.
* 19 October
**Scientists reconstruct the mechanisms, integrating them in a Biogeochemical cycle#Important cycles, biogeochemical model, that led to the largest known extinction event, the Permian–Triassic extinction event 252 Mya, and report that it can be traced back to volcanic CO2 emissions.
**Researchers report that polypropylene Baby bottle, infant feeding bottles with contemporary preparation procedures were found to cause microplastics#Humans, microplastics exposure to infants ranging from 14,600 to 4,550,000 particles per capita per day in 48 regions. Microplastics release is higher with warmer liquids and similar with other polypropylene products such as lunchboxes.
* 20 October – NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touches down on 101955 Bennu, Bennu, becoming the agency's first probe to retrieve samples from an asteroid, with its cargo due for Sample-return mission, return to Earth in 2023.
* 21 October – Scientists analyze the COVID-19 pandemic deaths, all-cause mortality effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic for 21 industrialized countries – including its timing, demographics and Mortality displacement, excess deaths per capita – and assess determinants for substantial death rate variations such as the countries' disaster management, pandemic preparedness and management.
* 23 October – Scientists illustrate that and how quantum clocks could experience a possibly experimentally testable Quantum superposition, superposition of proper times via time dilation of Einstein's theory of relativity by which time passes slower for one object in relation to another object when the former moves at a higher velocity. In "quantum time dilation" one of the two clocks moves in a superposition of two localized momentum wave packets, resulting in a change to the classical time dilation.
* 26 October
**Astronomers report detecting Water, molecular water Lunar water, on the sunlit surface of the Moon outside of the lunar south pole by data from three independent spacecraft and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA.
**Astronomers confirm, based on new observations, Yarkovsky effect, Yarkovsky acceleration of asteroid (99942) Apophis, Apophis, which is relevant to asteroid impact avoidance as the asteroid is currently thought to have a very small chance of Earth impact in 2068.
*27 October – The largest clinical trial – aiming to Patient recruitment, recruit over 5,000 participants – to investigate effects of Vitamin D supplementation – including with a dosage regime near the Reference Daily Intake, RDI – on risk and/or severity of COVID-19 and other acute respiratory infections, ''CORONAVIT'', is launched. Another such trial's proposal was published in a journal on 10 October and is reported aiming to recruit 2,700 people across the United States.
* 28 October
**Scientists report finding a coral reef measuring 500 m in height, located at the northern tip of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the first discovery of its kind in 120 years.
**Scientists publish estimates of the occurrence rates of rocky habitable zone planets around Sun-like stars with updated data and criteria for habitable zones – including ≈4 such exoplanets around G8 star, G and K dwarf stars within 10 Parsec, pc of the Sun and ≈300 million in the Milky Way.
**Scientists report in a preprint that a variant of SARS-CoV-2, ''20A.EU1'', was first observed in Spain in early summer and has become the most frequent variant COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, in multiple European countries. They also illustrate the emergence and spread of other frequent clusters of sequences using Nextstrain.
**A systematic, and possibly first large-scale, cross-sectoral analysis of water security, water, energy security, energy and land degradation, land in security in 189 countries that links national and sector consumption to sources shows that countries and sectors are highly exposed to over-exploited, insecure, and degraded such resources with economic globalization having decreased security of Global supply chain management, global supply chains. The study finds that most countries exhibit greater exposure to resource Risk management, risks via international trade – mainly from remote production (economics), production sources – and that diversifying trading partners is unlikely to help countries and sectors to reduce these or to improve their resource self-sufficiency.
* 29 October – Scientists assess four preparation procedures of rice for their capacity to reduce Arsenic#Legal limits, food, and drink, arsenic content and preserve nutrients, recommending a procedure involving Parboiling#Parboiled rice, parboiling and water-absorption.
* 31 October – Slovakia starts COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia#List of measures, implementation of a short-period mass-testing programme to COVID-19 testing, test two-thirds of its citizens for COVID-19.
*4 November
**Astronomers determine that magnetars are a prime source of fast radio bursts (FRBs).
**Scientists announce the discovery of ''Kylinxia'', a five-eyed ≈5 cm long shrimp-like animal living Cambrian, ~520 Mya that appears to be a key 'transitional fossil, missing link' of the evolution from ''Anomalocaris'' to arthropods and could be at the evolutionary root of arthropods.
**Further evidence – based on paired Coronene#Occurrence and synthesis, coronene-mercury spikes – for a volcanic combustion cause of Permian–Triassic extinction event, the largest known mass extinction of life 252 Mya is published.
*6 November
**Astrophysicists report the first X-ray emissions measurement of baryonic matter of cosmic web filaments, strengthening empirical support for a recent solution to the missing baryon problem of missing detections of ≈40% of ordinary matter.
**Researchers report the development of superconductivity, superconducting Bose-Einstein condensate.
**Scientists report that reducing emissions from the global food system is critical to achieving the Paris Agreement's climate change mitigation, climate goals.
**Scientists begin collecting living fragments, tissue and DNA samples of corals from the Great Barrier Reef for a biobank for potential future ecosystem restoration, restoration and rehabilitation activities.
*9 November – The first successful Phases of clinical research, phase III trial of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, is announced by drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech, Pfizer claims a reduction of infections by "over 90%", specified to be 95% later.
*10 November
**Scientists show why concentrations of radionuclides in rocky planet mantles may be critical for the Planetary habitability, habitability of Earth-like planets as such planets with higher abundances likely lack Dynamo theory, a persistent dynamo for a significant fraction of their lifetimes and those with lower abundances Earth's internal heat budget#Radiogenic heat, may often be geologically inert. Planetary dynamos create strong magnetic fields which may often be necessary for life to develop or persist and radionuclides are thought to be produced by rare stellar processes such as neutron star mergers.
**Scientists show, with an experiment with different gravity environments on the ISS, that biomining, microorganisms could be employed to mine useful elements from basalt rocks via bioleaching in space.
**A scientist releases visualizations that show Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic#Face masks with exhalation valves, why face masks meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 should not have valves under a free license.
*11 November
**Astronomers report newly found evidence for Volcanism on Mars, volcanic activity as recently as 53–210 kya on the Mars, planet Mars. Such activity could have provided the environment, in terms of energy and chemicals, needed to support life forms.
**Scientists report the detection of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain antibody, antibodies in 111 (11.6%) of 959 asymptomatic individuals of a lung cancer screening clinical trial, trial in Italy, starting from 3 September 2019, apparently establishing a substantially earlier COVID-19 pandemic#History, start time of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the journal published an expression of concern in March 2021 due to possible issues with the peer review.
*12 November – Scientists report the development of a microalgae-based fish-free Commercial fish feed, aquaculture feed with substantial gains in sustainable food production, sustainability, performance, economic viability, and Food#Healthy food, human health.
*13 November – Scientists report that Mars' current loss of atomic hydrogen Water on Mars, from water is largely driven by seasonal processes and Climate of Mars#Dust storms, dust storms that transport water directly to the upper atmosphere and that this has influenced the planet's climate.
*16 November
**Results of phase III trials of Moderna's mRNA vaccine are announced, the company claims to 94.5% reduction of COVID-19 cases based on interim results, including severe illnesses. The vaccine is easier to distribute than BNT162b2 as no ultra-cold storage is required.
**Atacama Large Millimeter Array, ALMA staff release a corrected version of the data used by other scientists in a study published on 14 September that claimed an apparent detection of Life on Venus#Phosphine, phosphine in Venus' atmosphere. On the same day authors of this study publish a re-analysis as a preprint using the new data that concludes the planet-averaged PH3 abundance to be ≈7 times lower than what they detected with data of the previous ALMA processing, to vary by location and to be reconcilable with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, JCMT detection of ≈20 times this abundance if substantially varying in time. They also respond to points raised in a preprint that challenged their conclusions in October and find that so far no other compound can explain the data. ALMA is reported to be expected to restart in early 2021 after a shutdown due to the COVID-19 crisis and may enable further observations that could provide insights for the ongoing investigation.
*18 November – Researchers report that CRISPR/Cas9, using a solid lipid nanoparticle, lipid nanoparticle delivery system, has been used to treat cancer effectively in a living animal for the first time.
*21 November – Copernicus Sentinel-6, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is launched into orbit, to monitor sea levels in higher detail than ever before. The satellite's resolution will allow measuring of water depths closer to the shore, which has long been an area of uncertainty.
*23 November
**Medical researchers report that during COVID-19#Transmission, human-to-human transmission, an average of about 1000 infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions is thought to initiate a new infection. Available unde
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**Preliminary test results for AstraZeneca's AZD1222 vaccine, developed in collaboration with Oxford University are released. The company claims 70% efficacy in the overall study, and 90% in a subsample where the first dose was reduced by accident. **A small randomized controlled trial suggests that an additional increase in plant-based diet, plant-based, protein-rich foods alongside additional restriction of Meat#Health, meat intake can amplify the known Healthy diet, beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet.
*24 November
**A study shows that bottlenose dolphins can learn – apparently via instrumental conditioning – to rapidly and selectively slow down their heart rate during diving for conserving oxygen depending on external signals. In humans regulating heart rate by methods such as listening to music, meditation or a vagal maneuver takes longer and only lowers the rate to a much smaller extent.
**A scientific review summarizes current scientific knowledge about product design, optimal design of Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, face mask products with goals such as thermal comfort and suppression of COVID-19 spread as indicated by Fluid dynamics, fluid flow dynamics, and about the efficacy of their use for the prevention of COVID-19 spread.
**Neuroscientists report that a small Randomized controlled trial, randomized Blinded experiment, double-blind Repeated measures design, within-subject study of healthy young adults shows that dietary flavanols from Cocoa solids, cocoa powder can improve brain oxygenation at suboptimal baseline cerebrovascular reactivity to CO2 and – when cognitive demand is high – Cognitive skill#Cognitive functioning, cognitive performance.
*25 November
**The Borexino collaboration reports the detection of Solar neutrinos produced by the CNO cycle, carbon–nitrogen–oxygen cycle, confirming prior predictions about a mechanism – dominant in stars heavier than the Sun – that Nuclear fusion#Nuclear fusion in stars, fuses hydrogen into helium.
**Scientists report the development of micro-droplets for algae, algal cells or synergistic algal-bacterial multicellular spheroid microreactor, microbial reactors capable Hydrogen fuel#Production, of producing oxygen as well as biohydrogen, hydrogen via photosynthesis in daylight under air, which may be useful as a hydrogen economy biotechnology.
*29 November – A team of international scientists create a study which suggests that the primeval atmosphere of the early Earth was much different than the conditions used in the Miller–Urey experiment, Miller-Urey studies considering the Abiogenesis, origin of life on Earth and more similar to the current atmosphere of Venus.
*30 November – An artificial intelligence company demonstrates a new deep learning-based approach for protein folding, one of the biggest problems in biology, achieving a high protein structure prediction accuracy in tests of the biennial Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction, CASP assessment with AlphaFold, AlphaFold 2.
*2 December
**The World Meteorological Organization reports that 2020 is likely among the three warmest years on record globally, at 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial level. The ten years from 2011 to 2020 are also reported to be the warmest decade on record.
**Scientists report finding microplastics in the placentas of women with unborn babies for the first time. These may have negative effects on the Prenatal development#Factors influencing development, fetal development.
**The world's first regulatory approval for a cultivated meat product is awarded by the Government of Singapore. The chicken meat was grown in a bioreactor in a fluid of amino acids, sugar, and salt. Eat Just#Food products, The chicken nuggets food products are ≈70% lab-grown meat, while the remainder is made from mung bean proteins and other ingredients. The company pledged to strive for price parity with premium "restaurant" chicken servings.
**Scientists confirm 2020 SO to be rocket booster space junk.
*3 December
**Chinese researchers claim to have achieved quantum supremacy, using a Linear optical quantum computing, photonic up to 76-qubit system known as ''Jiuzhang (quantum computer), Jiuzhang'', which performed calculations at 100 trillion times the speed of classical supercomputers.
**Scientists report that COVID-19 drug repurposing research, repurposed Molnupiravir can completely suppress SARS-CoV-2 transmission within 24 hours in ferrets whose COVID-19 transmission they find to closely resemble SARS-CoV-2 spread in human young adult populations.
*8 December
**Samples preserved for an estimated 4.6 bn years collected from asteroid 162173 Ryugu with the Japanese spacecraft ''Hayabusa2'' are retrieved on Earth. The capsule containing the two samples becomes the second retrieved pristine asteroid sample a decade after ''Hayabusa'' collected the first and includes sub-surface dust. It was sent off from 220 million km away with the spacecraft proceeding on a 1998 KY26#Exploration, 2026 and 2031 route to two asteroids.
**
*9 December
**''The Washington Post'' reports a serious warning for people with a "significant" history of Allergy, allergies and the possibility of "Anaphylaxis, anaphylactoid reactions" regarding the Pfizer#2020: COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
**Scientists report the detection of large-scale Fermi bubbles, X-ray bubbles in the Galactic halo, Milky Way halo.
**A study finds there to be no direct causal relationship between the proportionally most comparable mass Adaptive radiation#Conditions, radiations and mass extinction, extinctions, substantially challenging the hypothesis of such creative mass extinctions.
*10 December
**A proof of concept study – Scientific literature, published as a preprint and sent to a journal in June – indicates that sniffer dogs are highly effective in COVID-19 testing, detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in samples of human sweat with two colon-cancer trained dogs achieving success rates of 100% in their 68 tests. Research projects on dogs in COVID-19 screening were reported as early as July and also indicated potential efficacy. At least one trial with publication of results scheduled for early 2021 is ongoing.
**Scientists report that four months old ravens can have Corvidae#Intelligence, physical and social cognitive skills similar to that of adult great apes in tests.
*11 December
**Astronomers report that orbital motion for HD 106906 b was detected. This may be useful for Planet Nine#Attempts to predict the semi-major axis, attempts to predict the semi-major axis of the hypothetical Solar System object called Planet Nine.
**A human thymus rebuilt using stem cells and a Tissue engineering#Scaffolds, bioengineered scaffold is demonstrated.
**A supercomputer simulation of planetary climate feedbacks vaguely suggests that Luck, chance – in terms of likeliness after known initial conditions – played a Planetary habitability#Other considerations, substantial role in Earth's thermal habitability lasting over 3 bn years.
**The first Comparative genomics, whole-genome comparison between chimpanzees and Bonobo#Genomic and cognitive comparisons to chimpanzees, bonobos is published and shows genomic aspects that may underlie or have resulted from their divergence and behavioral differences, including selection for genes related to diet and hormones.
*14 December
***Authorities of the United Kingdom report the Pandemic prevention#Surveillance and mapping, detection and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variant of Concern 202012/01 with an apparent increased transmissibility to the WHO.
***On 18 December South African officials announce the detection of the 501.V2 variant with an apparent increased transmissibility.
***These two variants of SARS-CoV-2 are reported to have spread worldwide as of December 30.
***On 23 December Malaysian officials announce the detection of similar variant 'A701B' (A701V).
***On 24 December African Union officials announce the detection of non-similar variant B.1.1.207 in Nigeria without a confirmed association with COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria#December, increased transmission of the virus in the country at the time.
*15 December – An analysis of Externality#Negative, external climate costs of foods indicates that external greenhouse gas costs are typically environmental impact of meat, highest for animal-based products – conventional and organic to about the same extent within that ecosystem subdomain – followed by conventional dairy products and lowest for organic food, organic Plant-based diet#Sustainability, plant-based foods and concludes contemporary monetary evaluations to be "inadequate" and policy-making that lead to Sustainable food system, reductions of these costs to Externality#Scientific calculation of external costs and their reflection in contemporary valuations, be possible, appropriate and urgent.
*16 December
**For the first time, astronomers may have detected Radio wave, radio emissions from a Exoplanet, planet beyond the Solar System. According to the researchers: "The signal is from the Tau Boötis, Tau Boötes system, which contains a binary star and an exoplanet. We make the case for an Cyclotron radiation, emission by the planet itself." Radio wave emissions may become a new way for examining exoplanets.
**The Chinese Chang'e 5 spacecraft return a lunar sample, which marks the first lunar sample-return mission conducted since 1976. The Orbiter proceeded on a mission to carry out observations at Sun-Earth Lagrange point List of objects at Lagrange points#L1, L1 after dropping the sample off to Earth.
*18 December
**Media outlets report that astronomers detected a radio signal, BLC1 (''Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1''), apparently coming from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Astronomers have stated that this and other, yet unpublished, signals, "are likely interference that we cannot fully explain" and that it could be the strongest candidate for an extraterrestrial radio signal since the "Wow! signal" of 1977.
***A paper by other astronomers released 10 days before the news report about BLC1 reports the detection of "a bright, long-duration optical flare, Radio star, accompanied by a series of intense, coherent radio bursts" from Proxima Centauri also in April and May 2019. Their finding has not been put in direct relation to the BLC1 signal by scientists or media outlets so far but implies that planets around Proxima Centauri and other red dwarfs are likely to be space weather, rather uninhabitable for humans and other currently known organisms.
**Ecologists report that the driest and warmest sites of 32 tracked Brazilian non-Amazon tropical forests have moved from carbon sinks to carbon sources overall 2013.
**Researchers report a deep learning approach to identify Regulation of gene expression, gene regulation at the single-cell level, which previously had been limited to tissue-level analysis.
*21 December
**Jupiter and Saturn come within a 6' arc (called a great conjunction), giving a rare telescopic view of the two so close together. As the two planets have an apparent size smaller than one arc minute, occultations are extremely rare: this is the closest approach since 1623 and the next occultation will happen in the 8th millennium, year 7541.
**Publication of research of "Interaction-free measurement#Counterfactual quantum communication, counterfactual quantum communication" – whose first achievement was reported in 2017 – by which information can be exchanged without any physical particle traveling between observers and without quantum teleportation. The research suggests that this is based on some form of relation between the properties of modular angular momentum.
**Researchers publish projections and models of potential impacts of policy-dependent modulation of food system, how, where, and what food is produced.
*22 December
**More than 109,000 new List of craters on the Moon, craters are identified in the low- and mid-latitude regions of the Moon using artificial intelligence.
**A new mineral, dark green in colour and named kernowite, is discovered in Cornwall, South West England.
*23 December – A study finds that Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks reduce the risk of spreading large COVID-19-linked droplets when speaking or coughing by up to 99.9 percent.
*30 December – Scientists report finding microvascular Blood vessel#Disease, blood vessel damage in tissue samples of brains without any detected SARS-CoV-2 as well as olfactory bulbs from patients who died from COVID-19.
*31 December – Scientists determine that Desalination, desalination membranes are inconsistent in density and mass distribution, and show a way to increase efficiency in the membranes by up to 40%.
Science Summary 2020
monthly images for entries of this list {{Authority control 2020 in science, 2020s in technology, 2020-related lists 21st century in science 2020, Science Science timelines by year de:2020 in der Wissenschaft und Technik
A number of significant scientific
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
events occurred in 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
.
Events
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
* 1 October ** Researchers report the discovery of a noveloverlapping gene
An overlapping gene (or OLG) is a gene whose expressible nucleotide sequence partially overlaps with the expressible nucleotide sequence of another gene. In this way, a nucleotide sequence may make a contribution to the function of one or more ge ...
(OLG) (a gene partially overlapping with a sequence of another gene), named '' ORF3d'', in the SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
genome
In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding g ...
, that may be a factor in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. They found the gene has been identified before, but only in a variant of coronavirus that infects pangolins. Available undeCC BY 4.0
**Astronomers announce spectroscopic confirmation of a web-like structure containing galaxies and
dark matter
Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not a ...
around, and likely fueling, a quasar at an age of the Universe of 0.9 bn years, which contributes to an explanation of how such supermassive black hole
A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical ob ...
s could have grown rapidly so early.
* 2 October – A rippling graphene
Graphene () is an allotrope of carbon consisting of a single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure.
-based Brownian ratchet
In the philosophy of thermal and statistical physics, the Brownian ratchet or Feynman–Smoluchowski ratchet is an apparent perpetual motion machine of the second kind (converting thermal energy into mechanical work), first analysed in 1912 as a ...
-related energy-harvesting circuit with the potential to deliver "clean, limitless, low-voltage power for small devices" if adequately incorporated into a chip is demonstrated.
* 5 October
**The 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...
is awarded to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for their work on the hepatitis C virus
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family '' Flaviviridae''. The hepatitis C virus is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer (hepatoc ...
.
**Scientists announce the first global estimate of sea-floor microplastics: 14 million tonnes of microplastic on the ocean floor
The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as 'seabeds'.
The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...
in terms of overall weight. Their estimate was created by averaging the microplastic mass per cm3, is about double their estimate using earlier data and 1-1.7 times the amount of plastic thought to annually enter the oceans .
* 6 October
**The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
is awarded to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel
Reinhard Genzel http://royalsociety.org/people/reinhard-genzel/ Professor Reinhard Genzel ForMemRS (; born 24 March 1952) is a German astrophysicist, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, a professor at LMU and a ...
and Andrea Ghez for their work on black holes.
**Scientists report the direct visualization of neuronal tissue of extraordinarily well-preserved ≈2,000 years-old Brain research, human neuronal tissue – whose discovery was reported in January – of a victim of the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy, Vitrification, vitrified by hot ash.
* 7 October
**The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, Jennifer A. Doudna for their work on genome editing.
**Researchers reveal a new high-temperature superconducting cable, named ''VIPER'', capable of sustaining higher levels of electric current and magnetic fields than previously possible.
**Researchers demonstrate the first passive radiative cooling, radiative device that absorbs heat from the hotter inside of an enclosure and emits it on the outside. The system has potential to cool vehicle and building interiors, and solar cells, without using electricity.
**Medical researchers conclude the SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
can remain on common surfaces for up to 28 days in laboratory conditions that include darkness. Available undeCC BY 4.0
**Scientists present a comprehensive quantification of global sources and sinks of Nitrous oxide#Greenhouse effect, the greenhouse gas N2O and report that human-induced emissions increased by 30% over the past four decades and is the main cause of the increase in atmospheric concentrations, with recent growth exceeding some of the highest projected IPCC emission scenarios. * 8 October **In an unprecedented move, all 34 editors of top medical journal, ''The New England Journal of Medicine'', condemn President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, COVID-19 pandemic. **Scientists release the largest and most detailed 3D cosmography, maps of the Universe, called "PS1-STRM". The data of the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes, MAST was created using neural networks and combines data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and others. Users can query the dataset online or download it in its entirety of ≈300GB. * 12 October – Medical scientists report, for the first time in the U.S. and fifth worldwide, confirming evidence of COVID-19#Immunity, reinfection with the
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
.
* 13 October
**The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is shown to be 530 light years away, about 25% closer than previously thought. Additionally, its estimated size is revised downwards, from the semi-major axis of Jupiter to around two-thirds of this diameter.
**Scientists report in a preprint the possible detection of glycine in the atmosphere of Venus with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, ALMA radio telescope. The amino acid may be relevant to the origin of life and was found on meteorites earlier.
**On 15 October BepiColombo conducts a fly-by of Venus, having instruments possibly sensitive enough to detect the gas, without a detection or non-detection being declared by 10 November.
**A data analysis released as a preprint on 19 October shows no statistical evidence for Life on Venus#Phosphine, an apparent detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus reported in September and that "at least a handful of spurious features" which can be obtained with the data processing method that was used in the study.
**On 27 October scientists release a preprint according to which the detection via James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, JCMT can be explained by the presence of other gases and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, ALMA Interferometry, interferometric data is invalid due to calibration issues of the used data processing scripts. Independent processing of the ALMA data by several teams varied from the original study's authors'. They also claim to have found an inconsistency between the proposed photochemical model and data about the altitude of the gas in the original study.
**On the same day, other researchers publish a paper according to which no phosphine was discovered between 2012 and 2015 at the cloud tops and the lower mesosphere above, putting an upper limit of PH3 abundance there.
**On 28 October science journalists reported that ESO ALMA scientists found separate, unspecified issues – later reported to be a calibration error that was found as a result of the study "No phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus" – with the data that was used by authors of the study that claimed an apparent detection of phosphine in September, and took those data off the observatory's public archive so that the European ALMA Regional Centre Network, who originally calibrated the data, scrutinises it in detail and reprocesses it.
* 14 October
**A Multi-objective optimization, multicriteria optimization shows Restoration ecology, restoration of degraded terrestrial ecosystems to be up to 13 times more cost-effective when applied in prioritized locations, with major improvements in terms of biodiversity and climate goals, at low cost. Their estimated cost-benefit ratio is based on contemporary assignments of value for labor, material input, and yield losses – such as of beef – on the costs-side and biodiversity conservation, local nature benefits, poverty-reduction, and climate-stabilization on the benefits-side. They note that gains are highest when restoration is combined with Deforestation#Control, protection of remaining ecosystems.
**Report that a high pressure room-temperature superconductor able to work at 15 °C is demonstrated by the University of Rochester. Although requiring 260 GPa (2.6 million times the atmospheric pressure), Carbonaceous sulfur hydride, this new compound of hydrogen, carbon and sulfur is a 35 °C improvement on the previous record. In 2022 the article was Retraction in academic publishing, retracted by Nature journal editorial board due to a non standard, user-defined data analysis calling into question the scientific validity of the claim.
**A study reports major shifts in the colony size structure – the demographics – of the Great Barrier Reef's coral populations compared to 1995/1996. The reef is known to have coral bleaching, lost more than half of its overall coral cover since then.
**Researchers report that antibiotic resistance genes can spread into bacterial populations without the respective natural selection, selection pressure via horizontal gene transfer.
**Scientists report, based on near-real-time activity data, an 'unprecedented' abrupt 8.8% Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment, decrease in global CO2 emissions in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, larger than during previous economic downturns and World War II. Authors note that such decreases of human activities "cannot be the answer" and that structural change, structural and Transformation in economics, transformational changes in human economy, economic management and Behavioral economics, behaviour systems are needed.
* 15 October
**A preprint, preliminary report by the World Health Organization, WHO's Solidarity trial concludes that its four tested, COVID-19 drug repurposing research, repurposed, treatments "appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized COVID-19, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation and duration of hospital stay".
** NASA scientists announce Cyclopropenylidene#Titan (Moon of Saturn), the discovery of small amounts of unprotonated cyclopropenylidene – a possible precursor to more complex Life on Titan, astrobiological compounds – in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan (moon), Titan via Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, ALMA.
** Researchers report that two ''Homo'' species lost more than half of their climate Ecological niche, niche space just before extinction and that climate change played a substantial role in extinctions of past ''Homo'' species.
* 16 October – The shortest timespan ever is measured via photoionization: ≈247 zeptoseconds, during which a particle interaction occurs – a photon traveling through a hydrogen molecule.
* 19 October
**Scientists reconstruct the mechanisms, integrating them in a Biogeochemical cycle#Important cycles, biogeochemical model, that led to the largest known extinction event, the Permian–Triassic extinction event 252 Mya, and report that it can be traced back to volcanic CO2 emissions.
**Researchers report that polypropylene Baby bottle, infant feeding bottles with contemporary preparation procedures were found to cause microplastics#Humans, microplastics exposure to infants ranging from 14,600 to 4,550,000 particles per capita per day in 48 regions. Microplastics release is higher with warmer liquids and similar with other polypropylene products such as lunchboxes.
* 20 October – NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touches down on 101955 Bennu, Bennu, becoming the agency's first probe to retrieve samples from an asteroid, with its cargo due for Sample-return mission, return to Earth in 2023.
* 21 October – Scientists analyze the COVID-19 pandemic deaths, all-cause mortality effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic for 21 industrialized countries – including its timing, demographics and Mortality displacement, excess deaths per capita – and assess determinants for substantial death rate variations such as the countries' disaster management, pandemic preparedness and management.
* 23 October – Scientists illustrate that and how quantum clocks could experience a possibly experimentally testable Quantum superposition, superposition of proper times via time dilation of Einstein's theory of relativity by which time passes slower for one object in relation to another object when the former moves at a higher velocity. In "quantum time dilation" one of the two clocks moves in a superposition of two localized momentum wave packets, resulting in a change to the classical time dilation.
* 26 October
**Astronomers report detecting Water, molecular water Lunar water, on the sunlit surface of the Moon outside of the lunar south pole by data from three independent spacecraft and the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA.
**Astronomers confirm, based on new observations, Yarkovsky effect, Yarkovsky acceleration of asteroid (99942) Apophis, Apophis, which is relevant to asteroid impact avoidance as the asteroid is currently thought to have a very small chance of Earth impact in 2068.
*27 October – The largest clinical trial – aiming to Patient recruitment, recruit over 5,000 participants – to investigate effects of Vitamin D supplementation – including with a dosage regime near the Reference Daily Intake, RDI – on risk and/or severity of COVID-19 and other acute respiratory infections, ''CORONAVIT'', is launched. Another such trial's proposal was published in a journal on 10 October and is reported aiming to recruit 2,700 people across the United States.
* 28 October
**Scientists report finding a coral reef measuring 500 m in height, located at the northern tip of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the first discovery of its kind in 120 years.
**Scientists publish estimates of the occurrence rates of rocky habitable zone planets around Sun-like stars with updated data and criteria for habitable zones – including ≈4 such exoplanets around G8 star, G and K dwarf stars within 10 Parsec, pc of the Sun and ≈300 million in the Milky Way.
**Scientists report in a preprint that a variant of SARS-CoV-2, ''20A.EU1'', was first observed in Spain in early summer and has become the most frequent variant COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, in multiple European countries. They also illustrate the emergence and spread of other frequent clusters of sequences using Nextstrain.
**A systematic, and possibly first large-scale, cross-sectoral analysis of water security, water, energy security, energy and land degradation, land in security in 189 countries that links national and sector consumption to sources shows that countries and sectors are highly exposed to over-exploited, insecure, and degraded such resources with economic globalization having decreased security of Global supply chain management, global supply chains. The study finds that most countries exhibit greater exposure to resource Risk management, risks via international trade – mainly from remote production (economics), production sources – and that diversifying trading partners is unlikely to help countries and sectors to reduce these or to improve their resource self-sufficiency.
* 29 October – Scientists assess four preparation procedures of rice for their capacity to reduce Arsenic#Legal limits, food, and drink, arsenic content and preserve nutrients, recommending a procedure involving Parboiling#Parboiled rice, parboiling and water-absorption.
* 31 October – Slovakia starts COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia#List of measures, implementation of a short-period mass-testing programme to COVID-19 testing, test two-thirds of its citizens for COVID-19.
November
*1 November – Scientists report that ''Sahelanthropus tchadensis'', presumed to be an extinct hominin earlier, is not a hominin after all. *3 November – Statens Serum Institut, A Danish state-owned independent research institute reports the discovery of mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2 that humans can be infected by and could have dangerous effects, called "Cluster 5", in the Mink industry in Denmark, mink population in the country's mink industry. A day afterwards officials of the nation announce that minks would be Culling, culled in order to pandemic prevention, prevent possible spread of this mutation and reduce the risk of new mutations happening. Lockdown and Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions were implemented on 6 November. On 19 November SSI announced that cluster 5 in all probability had become extinct.
*4 November
**Astronomers determine that magnetars are a prime source of fast radio bursts (FRBs).
**Scientists announce the discovery of ''Kylinxia'', a five-eyed ≈5 cm long shrimp-like animal living Cambrian, ~520 Mya that appears to be a key 'transitional fossil, missing link' of the evolution from ''Anomalocaris'' to arthropods and could be at the evolutionary root of arthropods.
**Further evidence – based on paired Coronene#Occurrence and synthesis, coronene-mercury spikes – for a volcanic combustion cause of Permian–Triassic extinction event, the largest known mass extinction of life 252 Mya is published.
*6 November
**Astrophysicists report the first X-ray emissions measurement of baryonic matter of cosmic web filaments, strengthening empirical support for a recent solution to the missing baryon problem of missing detections of ≈40% of ordinary matter.
**Researchers report the development of superconductivity, superconducting Bose-Einstein condensate.
**Scientists report that reducing emissions from the global food system is critical to achieving the Paris Agreement's climate change mitigation, climate goals.
**Scientists begin collecting living fragments, tissue and DNA samples of corals from the Great Barrier Reef for a biobank for potential future ecosystem restoration, restoration and rehabilitation activities.
*9 November – The first successful Phases of clinical research, phase III trial of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, is announced by drug companies Pfizer and BioNTech, Pfizer claims a reduction of infections by "over 90%", specified to be 95% later.
*10 November
**Scientists show why concentrations of radionuclides in rocky planet mantles may be critical for the Planetary habitability, habitability of Earth-like planets as such planets with higher abundances likely lack Dynamo theory, a persistent dynamo for a significant fraction of their lifetimes and those with lower abundances Earth's internal heat budget#Radiogenic heat, may often be geologically inert. Planetary dynamos create strong magnetic fields which may often be necessary for life to develop or persist and radionuclides are thought to be produced by rare stellar processes such as neutron star mergers.
**Scientists show, with an experiment with different gravity environments on the ISS, that biomining, microorganisms could be employed to mine useful elements from basalt rocks via bioleaching in space.
**A scientist releases visualizations that show Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic#Face masks with exhalation valves, why face masks meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 should not have valves under a free license.
*11 November
**Astronomers report newly found evidence for Volcanism on Mars, volcanic activity as recently as 53–210 kya on the Mars, planet Mars. Such activity could have provided the environment, in terms of energy and chemicals, needed to support life forms.
**Scientists report the detection of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain antibody, antibodies in 111 (11.6%) of 959 asymptomatic individuals of a lung cancer screening clinical trial, trial in Italy, starting from 3 September 2019, apparently establishing a substantially earlier COVID-19 pandemic#History, start time of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the journal published an expression of concern in March 2021 due to possible issues with the peer review.
*12 November – Scientists report the development of a microalgae-based fish-free Commercial fish feed, aquaculture feed with substantial gains in sustainable food production, sustainability, performance, economic viability, and Food#Healthy food, human health.
*13 November – Scientists report that Mars' current loss of atomic hydrogen Water on Mars, from water is largely driven by seasonal processes and Climate of Mars#Dust storms, dust storms that transport water directly to the upper atmosphere and that this has influenced the planet's climate.
*16 November
**Results of phase III trials of Moderna's mRNA vaccine are announced, the company claims to 94.5% reduction of COVID-19 cases based on interim results, including severe illnesses. The vaccine is easier to distribute than BNT162b2 as no ultra-cold storage is required.
**Atacama Large Millimeter Array, ALMA staff release a corrected version of the data used by other scientists in a study published on 14 September that claimed an apparent detection of Life on Venus#Phosphine, phosphine in Venus' atmosphere. On the same day authors of this study publish a re-analysis as a preprint using the new data that concludes the planet-averaged PH3 abundance to be ≈7 times lower than what they detected with data of the previous ALMA processing, to vary by location and to be reconcilable with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, JCMT detection of ≈20 times this abundance if substantially varying in time. They also respond to points raised in a preprint that challenged their conclusions in October and find that so far no other compound can explain the data. ALMA is reported to be expected to restart in early 2021 after a shutdown due to the COVID-19 crisis and may enable further observations that could provide insights for the ongoing investigation.
*18 November – Researchers report that CRISPR/Cas9, using a solid lipid nanoparticle, lipid nanoparticle delivery system, has been used to treat cancer effectively in a living animal for the first time.
*21 November – Copernicus Sentinel-6, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is launched into orbit, to monitor sea levels in higher detail than ever before. The satellite's resolution will allow measuring of water depths closer to the shore, which has long been an area of uncertainty.
*23 November
**Medical researchers report that during COVID-19#Transmission, human-to-human transmission, an average of about 1000 infectious SARS-CoV-2 virions is thought to initiate a new infection. Available undeCC BY 4.0
**Preliminary test results for AstraZeneca's AZD1222 vaccine, developed in collaboration with Oxford University are released. The company claims 70% efficacy in the overall study, and 90% in a subsample where the first dose was reduced by accident. **A small randomized controlled trial suggests that an additional increase in plant-based diet, plant-based, protein-rich foods alongside additional restriction of Meat#Health, meat intake can amplify the known Healthy diet, beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet.
*24 November
**A study shows that bottlenose dolphins can learn – apparently via instrumental conditioning – to rapidly and selectively slow down their heart rate during diving for conserving oxygen depending on external signals. In humans regulating heart rate by methods such as listening to music, meditation or a vagal maneuver takes longer and only lowers the rate to a much smaller extent.
**A scientific review summarizes current scientific knowledge about product design, optimal design of Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, face mask products with goals such as thermal comfort and suppression of COVID-19 spread as indicated by Fluid dynamics, fluid flow dynamics, and about the efficacy of their use for the prevention of COVID-19 spread.
**Neuroscientists report that a small Randomized controlled trial, randomized Blinded experiment, double-blind Repeated measures design, within-subject study of healthy young adults shows that dietary flavanols from Cocoa solids, cocoa powder can improve brain oxygenation at suboptimal baseline cerebrovascular reactivity to CO2 and – when cognitive demand is high – Cognitive skill#Cognitive functioning, cognitive performance.
*25 November
**The Borexino collaboration reports the detection of Solar neutrinos produced by the CNO cycle, carbon–nitrogen–oxygen cycle, confirming prior predictions about a mechanism – dominant in stars heavier than the Sun – that Nuclear fusion#Nuclear fusion in stars, fuses hydrogen into helium.
**Scientists report the development of micro-droplets for algae, algal cells or synergistic algal-bacterial multicellular spheroid microreactor, microbial reactors capable Hydrogen fuel#Production, of producing oxygen as well as biohydrogen, hydrogen via photosynthesis in daylight under air, which may be useful as a hydrogen economy biotechnology.
*29 November – A team of international scientists create a study which suggests that the primeval atmosphere of the early Earth was much different than the conditions used in the Miller–Urey experiment, Miller-Urey studies considering the Abiogenesis, origin of life on Earth and more similar to the current atmosphere of Venus.
*30 November – An artificial intelligence company demonstrates a new deep learning-based approach for protein folding, one of the biggest problems in biology, achieving a high protein structure prediction accuracy in tests of the biennial Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction, CASP assessment with AlphaFold, AlphaFold 2.
December
*1 December **The Arecibo telescope collapses after several hurricanes, storms, and earthquakes over the 2010s raised concerns over the stability Arecibo Telescope#2020 damage, decommissioning plans, and collapse, of the Arecibo observatory and two cable breaks in August and November led teams of engineers to assess a high risk of collapse. One of the three teams determined there to be no safe way to repair the damage due to which the National Science Foundation, NSF announced the decision for a controlled decommissioning of the telescope on November 19, a few days before the collapse, which was challenged by scientists worldwide who, with a public petition subsequent to this announcement, asked for it to be repaired instead. The telescope built in 1963 was Earth's largest single-aperture telescope until 2016 and the Arecibo Telescope#Research and discoveries, source technology for many significant scientific discoveries, Search for extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI as well as of the 1974 Arecibo message. **The Chinese experimental nuclear fusion reactor HL-2M is turned on for the first time, achieving its first plasma discharge.
*2 December
**The World Meteorological Organization reports that 2020 is likely among the three warmest years on record globally, at 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial level. The ten years from 2011 to 2020 are also reported to be the warmest decade on record.
**Scientists report finding microplastics in the placentas of women with unborn babies for the first time. These may have negative effects on the Prenatal development#Factors influencing development, fetal development.
**The world's first regulatory approval for a cultivated meat product is awarded by the Government of Singapore. The chicken meat was grown in a bioreactor in a fluid of amino acids, sugar, and salt. Eat Just#Food products, The chicken nuggets food products are ≈70% lab-grown meat, while the remainder is made from mung bean proteins and other ingredients. The company pledged to strive for price parity with premium "restaurant" chicken servings.
**Scientists confirm 2020 SO to be rocket booster space junk.
*3 December
**Chinese researchers claim to have achieved quantum supremacy, using a Linear optical quantum computing, photonic up to 76-qubit system known as ''Jiuzhang (quantum computer), Jiuzhang'', which performed calculations at 100 trillion times the speed of classical supercomputers.
**Scientists report that COVID-19 drug repurposing research, repurposed Molnupiravir can completely suppress SARS-CoV-2 transmission within 24 hours in ferrets whose COVID-19 transmission they find to closely resemble SARS-CoV-2 spread in human young adult populations.
*8 December
**Samples preserved for an estimated 4.6 bn years collected from asteroid 162173 Ryugu with the Japanese spacecraft ''Hayabusa2'' are retrieved on Earth. The capsule containing the two samples becomes the second retrieved pristine asteroid sample a decade after ''Hayabusa'' collected the first and includes sub-surface dust. It was sent off from 220 million km away with the spacecraft proceeding on a 1998 KY26#Exploration, 2026 and 2031 route to two asteroids.
**
*9 December
**''The Washington Post'' reports a serious warning for people with a "significant" history of Allergy, allergies and the possibility of "Anaphylaxis, anaphylactoid reactions" regarding the Pfizer#2020: COVID-19 vaccine, Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
**Scientists report the detection of large-scale Fermi bubbles, X-ray bubbles in the Galactic halo, Milky Way halo.
**A study finds there to be no direct causal relationship between the proportionally most comparable mass Adaptive radiation#Conditions, radiations and mass extinction, extinctions, substantially challenging the hypothesis of such creative mass extinctions.
*10 December
**A proof of concept study – Scientific literature, published as a preprint and sent to a journal in June – indicates that sniffer dogs are highly effective in COVID-19 testing, detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in samples of human sweat with two colon-cancer trained dogs achieving success rates of 100% in their 68 tests. Research projects on dogs in COVID-19 screening were reported as early as July and also indicated potential efficacy. At least one trial with publication of results scheduled for early 2021 is ongoing.
**Scientists report that four months old ravens can have Corvidae#Intelligence, physical and social cognitive skills similar to that of adult great apes in tests.
*11 December
**Astronomers report that orbital motion for HD 106906 b was detected. This may be useful for Planet Nine#Attempts to predict the semi-major axis, attempts to predict the semi-major axis of the hypothetical Solar System object called Planet Nine.
**A human thymus rebuilt using stem cells and a Tissue engineering#Scaffolds, bioengineered scaffold is demonstrated.
**A supercomputer simulation of planetary climate feedbacks vaguely suggests that Luck, chance – in terms of likeliness after known initial conditions – played a Planetary habitability#Other considerations, substantial role in Earth's thermal habitability lasting over 3 bn years.
**The first Comparative genomics, whole-genome comparison between chimpanzees and Bonobo#Genomic and cognitive comparisons to chimpanzees, bonobos is published and shows genomic aspects that may underlie or have resulted from their divergence and behavioral differences, including selection for genes related to diet and hormones.
*14 December
***Authorities of the United Kingdom report the Pandemic prevention#Surveillance and mapping, detection and analysis of SARS-CoV-2 variant of Concern 202012/01 with an apparent increased transmissibility to the WHO.
***On 18 December South African officials announce the detection of the 501.V2 variant with an apparent increased transmissibility.
***These two variants of SARS-CoV-2 are reported to have spread worldwide as of December 30.
***On 23 December Malaysian officials announce the detection of similar variant 'A701B' (A701V).
***On 24 December African Union officials announce the detection of non-similar variant B.1.1.207 in Nigeria without a confirmed association with COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria#December, increased transmission of the virus in the country at the time.
*15 December – An analysis of Externality#Negative, external climate costs of foods indicates that external greenhouse gas costs are typically environmental impact of meat, highest for animal-based products – conventional and organic to about the same extent within that ecosystem subdomain – followed by conventional dairy products and lowest for organic food, organic Plant-based diet#Sustainability, plant-based foods and concludes contemporary monetary evaluations to be "inadequate" and policy-making that lead to Sustainable food system, reductions of these costs to Externality#Scientific calculation of external costs and their reflection in contemporary valuations, be possible, appropriate and urgent.
*16 December
**For the first time, astronomers may have detected Radio wave, radio emissions from a Exoplanet, planet beyond the Solar System. According to the researchers: "The signal is from the Tau Boötis, Tau Boötes system, which contains a binary star and an exoplanet. We make the case for an Cyclotron radiation, emission by the planet itself." Radio wave emissions may become a new way for examining exoplanets.
**The Chinese Chang'e 5 spacecraft return a lunar sample, which marks the first lunar sample-return mission conducted since 1976. The Orbiter proceeded on a mission to carry out observations at Sun-Earth Lagrange point List of objects at Lagrange points#L1, L1 after dropping the sample off to Earth.
*18 December
**Media outlets report that astronomers detected a radio signal, BLC1 (''Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1''), apparently coming from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Astronomers have stated that this and other, yet unpublished, signals, "are likely interference that we cannot fully explain" and that it could be the strongest candidate for an extraterrestrial radio signal since the "Wow! signal" of 1977.
***A paper by other astronomers released 10 days before the news report about BLC1 reports the detection of "a bright, long-duration optical flare, Radio star, accompanied by a series of intense, coherent radio bursts" from Proxima Centauri also in April and May 2019. Their finding has not been put in direct relation to the BLC1 signal by scientists or media outlets so far but implies that planets around Proxima Centauri and other red dwarfs are likely to be space weather, rather uninhabitable for humans and other currently known organisms.
**Ecologists report that the driest and warmest sites of 32 tracked Brazilian non-Amazon tropical forests have moved from carbon sinks to carbon sources overall 2013.
**Researchers report a deep learning approach to identify Regulation of gene expression, gene regulation at the single-cell level, which previously had been limited to tissue-level analysis.
*21 December
**Jupiter and Saturn come within a 6' arc (called a great conjunction), giving a rare telescopic view of the two so close together. As the two planets have an apparent size smaller than one arc minute, occultations are extremely rare: this is the closest approach since 1623 and the next occultation will happen in the 8th millennium, year 7541.
**Publication of research of "Interaction-free measurement#Counterfactual quantum communication, counterfactual quantum communication" – whose first achievement was reported in 2017 – by which information can be exchanged without any physical particle traveling between observers and without quantum teleportation. The research suggests that this is based on some form of relation between the properties of modular angular momentum.
**Researchers publish projections and models of potential impacts of policy-dependent modulation of food system, how, where, and what food is produced.
*22 December
**More than 109,000 new List of craters on the Moon, craters are identified in the low- and mid-latitude regions of the Moon using artificial intelligence.
**A new mineral, dark green in colour and named kernowite, is discovered in Cornwall, South West England.
*23 December – A study finds that Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, face masks reduce the risk of spreading large COVID-19-linked droplets when speaking or coughing by up to 99.9 percent.
*30 December – Scientists report finding microvascular Blood vessel#Disease, blood vessel damage in tissue samples of brains without any detected SARS-CoV-2 as well as olfactory bulbs from patients who died from COVID-19.
*31 December – Scientists determine that Desalination, desalination membranes are inconsistent in density and mass distribution, and show a way to increase efficiency in the membranes by up to 40%.
Awards
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine – Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of thehepatitis C virus
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family '' Flaviviridae''. The hepatitis C virus is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer (hepatoc ...
* Nobel Prize in Physics
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, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
– Roger Penrose (1/2) for the discovery that Black hole#Formation and evolution, black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativityReinhard Genzel
Reinhard Genzel http://royalsociety.org/people/reinhard-genzel/ Professor Reinhard Genzel ForMemRS (; born 24 March 1952) is a German astrophysicist, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, a professor at LMU and a ...
(1/4) and Andrea Ghez (1/4) for the discovery of Sagittarius A*, a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry – Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the development of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, a method for genome editing
* 20 December – VinGroup announced the launch of the global VinFuture Prize for authors of breakthrough research or technology inventions that have been shown to make people's lives better and improve a sustainable living environment.
Deaths
*2 October Victor Zalgaller, Russian and Israeli mathematician (b. 1920) *4 October Louis Fortier, Canadian biologist and oceanographer (b. 1953) *5 October **Dirk Bootsma, Dutch geneticist (b. 1936) **Joshua N. Goldberg, American physicist (b. 1925) *6 October Arthur P. Shimamura, American psychologist (b. 1954) *7 October **Mario Molina, Mexican chemist (b. 1943) **Peter Sleight, British cardiologist (b. 1929) *10 October **Amnon Freidberg, Israeli entomologist (b. 1945) **Dolores Cooper Shockley, American pharmacologist (b. 1930) *11 October **Ilya Moiseev, Russian chemist (b. 1929) **Michael D. Morley, American mathematician (b. 1930) *12 October Sadegh Malek Shahmirzadi, Iranian archeologist and anthropologist (b. 1940) *14 October **Audrey Smedley, American anthropologist (b. 1930) **Joyce Wallace, American physician and AIDS researcher (b. 1940) *17 October Zhang Lina, Chinese physical chemist (b. 1940) *18 October Robert Coleman (geologist), Robert Coleman, American geologist (b. 1923) *19 October Val Curtis, British scientist (b. 1958) *20 October **Yuri Mochanov, Russian archeologist (b. 1934) **Carl E. Thoresen, American psychologist (b. 1933) *21 October J. Michael Lane, American epidemiologist (b. 1936) *24 October Betty Ida Roots, British and Canadian zoologist (b. 1927) *26 October **Chris Abell, British biological chemist (b. 1957) **Albert Medwin, American electrical engineer (b. 1925) *28 October **Anthony van den Pol, American neurosurgeon (b. 1949) **Wen Fubo, Chinese engineer (b. 1925) *29 October **Valentin Pokrovsky, Russian epidemiologist (b. 1929) **Watt W. Webb, American biophysicist (b. 1927) *30 October Chen Haozhu, Chinese cardiologist (b. 1924) *31 October Rudolf Zahradník, Czech chemist (b. 1928) *4 November Moncef Ouannes, Tunisian sociologist (b. 1956) *5 November **Jacques Glowinski, French biologist (b. 1936) **Janine Puget, Argentianian psychiatrist (b. 1926) **Gordon Van Wylen, American physicist (b. 1920) *7 November **Hou Feng, Chinese engineer **Anatoly Mikhailovich Stepin, Russian mathematician *11 November Robert Lue, American biologist (b. 1964) *12 November Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1926) *13 November **Robert Byron Bird, American chemical engineer (b. 1924) **Noah Hershkowitz, American physicist (b. 1941) *14 November Peter Pagé, German computer scientist (b. 1939) *15 November **Rudolf Kippenhahn, German astrophysicist (b. 1926) **Anne Rasa, British ethologist (b. 1940) *17 November William A. Clemens Jr., American paleontologist (b. 1932) *19 November **Roger J. Phillips, American geophysicist (b. 1940) **Gennady Zdanovich, Russian archeologist (b. 1938) *20 November Antonio Ambrosetti, Italian mathematician (b. 1944) *22 November Otto Hutter, British physiologist (b. 1924) *23 November Konrad Fiałkowski, Polish engineer (b. 1939) *24 November Erik Galimov, Russian geochemist (b. 1936) *27 November Jin Zhanpeng, Chinese chemist (b. 1938) *29 November Vladimir Fortov, Russian physicist (b. 1946) *30 November Herman van Bekkum, Dutch organic chemist (b. 1932) *1 December **Norman Abramson, American engineer and computer scientist (b. 1932) **Li Guanxing, Chinese nuclear materials engineer (b. 1940) *4 December **Narinder Singh Kapany, Indian and American physicist (b. 1926) **Anatoly Samoilenko, Ukrainian mathematician (b. 1938) *7 December Akito Arima, Japanese nuclear physicist (b. 1930) *9 December Brian H. Murdoch, Irish mathematician (b. 1930) *10 December Bryan Sykes, British geneticist (b. 1947) *11 December Lev Shcheglov, Russian sexologist (b. 1946) *13 December Leith Mullings, American anthropologist (b. 1945) *14 December **Claudio Baiocchi, Italian mathematician (b. 1940) **Benjamin Abeles, Austrian and Czech physicist (b. 1925) **Michael F. Land, British neurobiologist (b. 1942) *15 December Feng Duan, Chinese physicist (b. 1923) *16 December Wacław Szybalski, Polish and American oncologist (b. 1921) *21 December Arnold Wolfendale, British astronomer (b. 1927) *22 December Edmund M. Clarke, American computer scientist (b. 1945) *24 December Tho. Paramasivan, Indian anthropologist (b. 1950) *26 December Cirilo Nelson, Honduran botanist (b. 1938) *28 December Zou Deci, Chinese engineer (b. 1934) *30 December Alexander Spirin, Russian biochemist (b. 1931)See also
* :Science events * :Science timelines * Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on science and technology ** COVID-19 apps ** COVID-19 vaccine ** Face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic ** Open-source ventilator#COVID-19 pandemic * List of technologies * List of emerging technologies * List of years in scienceReferences
External links
*Science Summary 2020
monthly images for entries of this list {{Authority control 2020 in science, 2020s in technology, 2020-related lists 21st century in science 2020, Science Science timelines by year de:2020 in der Wissenschaft und Technik