In 2023, the development of science and technology has made great progress in the world, and this paper systematically sorts out 100 scientific and technological achievements around the world, covering five aspects: "life, biology, medicine and health", "deep space, deep sea, new space expansion", "matter, materials, chemistry", "intelligence, information and communication", and "ecological energy, transportation and construction engineering". It shows that in the context of the new scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, many fields are giving birth to and producing group breakthroughs, which will also have a subversive impact in the future and inject strong momentum into the new quality productivity.
01
Life, biology, medicine and health
One
Genes, cells, embryos
1. The first sketch of the human pan-genome was released
The Human Pan-Genome Reference Consortium has published the first human pan-genome reference sketch, along with two new genetic findings based on this reference map. The "pan-genome" sketch is a collection of DNA from 47 people in multiple parts of the world in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, with a more geographically and ethnically diverse composition. The "pan-genome" is able to identify more structural variations in genes than using the original linear reference genome. The research results were selected as the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World in 2023" selected by the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
2. Human Y chromosome assembly and analysis completed
Two papers published in August in the journal Nature published the assembly and analysis of the human Y chromosome. The study, involving more than 100 scientists from around the world, reported the 62460029 base pair sequence of the intact human Y chromosome. This assembly corrects several errors regarding the Y chromosome in the current human reference genome assembly, while also adding more than 30 million base pairs to the reference genome, revealing the complete structure of multiple gene families, and identifying 41 new protein-coding genes. It fills many gaps in the current Y chromosome reference and brings insights into the evolution and variation of different populations.
The Y chromosome is the last of the 24 human chromosomes to be sequenced
Image Credit: National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
3. Draw the most complete map of human brain cells so far
Twenty-one papers published in the American journals Science, Science Advances, and Science-Translational Medicine have published and elaborated the most comprehensive atlas of human brain cells to date. The series of studies involving scientists from multiple countries has revealed the characteristics of more than 3,000 brain cell types, which will help to better understand the uniqueness of the human brain and advance research on brain diseases and cognitive abilities. It represents a major breakthrough in the scientific community in unlocking the mysteries of the brain and opens up new directions for future neuroscience research. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World in 2023" selected by the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The most complete human brain cell atlas to date was published in Science
4. The world's first insect brain "map" was drawn
For the first time, scientists from many countries have completely reconstructed the brain connectome of "Drosophila larvae" and drawn the first complete map of the insect brain. The study used a high-resolution electron microscope to scan thousands of brain slices of Drosophila larvae, and with the aid of computer analysis, the resulting map contained 3,016 neurons and 548,000 synapses. This is the first-ever "map" of the insect brain and a milestone achievement in the field of neuroscience. The research results were selected as the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World in 2023" selected by the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
5. Crack the key link of memory formation
Short-term memories are formed in the hippocampus, while stable long-term memories are stored in the cerebral cortex. However, the intermediate process of memory transfer from the hippocampus to the cerebral cortex is a long-standing puzzle. A team of scientists in the United States has developed a new single-cell resolution multi-region imaging technology that can observe neurons in the middle region of the hippocampus and cortex for weeks on end, enabling continuous tracking of neuronal activity in this region. Thus, this study is the first to unravel the intermediate process of long-term memory transfer, and finds that the anterior thalamus, which has been often neglected before, is a key transit station for memory processing and consolidation.
The cover of "Cell" shows the process of memory storage
绘图：Julia Kuhl；来源：Cell官网
6. Discover the existence of the "tangible" biological clock in the brain and its rhythm regulation mechanism
Chinese scientists have collaborated to discover the existence of a "tangible" biological clock in the brain. The research team found that SCN neurons in the center of the brain's circadian clock have "antenna"-like primary cilia that retract every 24 hours, like the hands of the circadian clock, through which the body's circadian clock can be regulated. Primary cilia may regulate the rhythm by regulating the "co-frequency resonance" of neurons in the SCN region, and the mechanism is closely related to the Shh signaling pathway. The discovery of this "tangible" biological clock is of great significance for understanding the structure of the biological clock and the connection between the molecular level and the cellular biological clock, and opens up a new path for the research and development of new drugs for rhythm regulation. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" in 2023.
The brain's "tangible" biological clock
Source: Creature World
7. Male mice produce functional egg cells
In a 2023 Nature paper, a Japanese research team used stem cells and chromosome engineering techniques to design a cellular "sex-to-sex" strategy that guides stem cells from male mice to switch sexes and form fertilizable egg cells. Some of the eggs are fertilized successfully, resulting in healthy and fertile offspring. This advance marks a milestone in reproductive biology and is a research that could inspire or advance future fertility.
8. Artificial synthesis of human embryos with stem cells
A number of research teams from the United Kingdom and the United States have made breakthroughs in "synthetic human embryo models". Using different strategies, scientists have been able to create tissue structures in vitro that closely resemble human embryos, using human stem cells entirely without sperm and eggs. These "synthetic embryos" mimic the developmental process and key characteristics of a human embryo during the first two to three weeks of life, providing an unprecedented opportunity to elucidate early human development, better understand the pathogenesis of birth defects and find strategies to avoid them.
The artificial embryo model from one of the studies exhibits a structure similar to that of the ectoderm of a human embryo after implantation
Source: University of Cambridge
9. Unravel the mechanism of dark matter driving aging in the human genome
By building a physiological and pathological aging research system, combined with high-throughput, high-sensitivity and multi-dimensional multidisciplinary technology, the Chinese research team revealed that the loosening of the epigenetic "seal" during the aging process will lead to the reactivation of the originally dormant ancient virus elements, and further drive the "programmed" and "infectious" of aging. This work proposes a new theory that the "resurrection" of ancient viruses drives aging and related diseases, provides a new basis for understanding the internal mechanism of aging and developing aging intervention strategies, and provides new ideas for scientific assessment and early warning of aging, prevention and treatment of aging-related diseases, and active response to population aging, which was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" in 2023.
10. Reveal a new mechanism for initiating DNA replication in human cells
The Chinese research team resolved the MCM-DH-binding DNA complex purified from a human cell line and resolved the structure of the pre-replication complex (pre-RC) with a high accuracy of 2.59 angstroms using cryo-electron microscopy. Based on the structural information, the MCM-DH complex directly reduces the stability of the DNA duplex and unwinds the double-stranded DNA located at the junction of the two hexamers to form an initial opening (IOS). While interfering with or disrupting IOS, all MCM2-7 cannot be stably bound to DNA, resulting in inhibition of DNA replication initiation. This discovery has important application value for cancer treatment. Because cancer cells have to undergo DNA replication during growth. By preventing cancer cells from assembling MCM bishimamers on DNA without affecting normal cell functioning, it will be a new, effective, and highly targeted anti-cancer therapy for cancer cells, opening up a new path for the development of anti-cancer drugs. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" in 2023.
11. The new method realizes the precise manipulation of DNA from single base to very large fragments
Chinese scientists have achieved multi-level innovation in genome editing in method establishment, technology research and development, and tool application. For the first time, the research team established a new method for protein clustering using AI-assisted structure prediction, and took the lead in introducing the concept of structural classification into the field of tool enzyme mining, and developed a series of new base editors with important application value and CyDENT, the first new tool with independent property rights in both the nucleus and organelles. In addition, the research team has developed the first precise site-directed insertion technology for large DNA fragments in plants, laying a technical foundation for efficient crop breeding and plant synthetic biology. The research team also used genome editing to achieve precise regulation of crop traits. This achievement is expected to further broaden the breeding application of genome editing and help crop germplasm innovation, and this achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" in 2023.
12. Scientists elucidate the molecular mechanism of olfactory perception
Chinese scientists used cryo-EM technology to analyze the structure of the mouse TAAR9 (mTAAR9) receptor, a member of the TAAR family, and the Gs/Golf (olfactory-specific Gα) protein trimer complex under four different ligand binding conditions, and further combined with pharmacological analysis, revealed the molecular mechanism of mTAAR9 activation after ligand sensibility. This study elucidates the molecular mechanism of odor perception by class II-specific olfactory receptors, lays a theoretical foundation for the olfactory receptor family to recognize ligands, and is also of great significance for the development of new drugs targeting olfactory receptors. The findings were published in Nature on May 24.
13. Reveal the neural mechanism of light perception regulating blood glucose metabolism
A Chinese scientific research team found that light exposure significantly reduced the ability of mice to metabolize blood sugar. Using genetic engineering, the research team found that photo-lowering blood glucose metabolism is independently mediated by ipRGC photosensitivity, and the light signal passes through retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC) to the supraoptic nucleus and paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, and then reaches the nucleus of the solitary tract and the pallilose nucleus of the middle slit in the brainstem, and finally connects to the peripheral brown adipose tissue through the sympathetic nerve. Further studies have shown that light can also use this mechanism to reduce the body's ability to metabolize blood sugar. This study discovered a new "eye-brain-peripheral brown fat" pathway, answered the long-unknown biological mechanism of photoregulation of blood glucose metabolism, expanded the new function of photosensory regulation of life processes, and provided a theoretical basis and potential intervention strategy for the prevention and treatment of glucose metabolism disorders caused by light pollution. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science" in 2023.
14. Mapping the development of the human immune system
Chinese researchers have successfully mapped the development of the human immune system with the widest range of tissues, the longest time span and the highest sampling density, which is expected to promote the development of the field of immunology and developmental biology worldwide, and the results have been published online in Cell. Researchers use automated, high-throughput synthetic biology research big scientific devices to independently build a single-cell transcriptome sequencing platform to "decode" developing immune cells, and draw a map of the development of the human immune system based on such massive data. At the same time, they also discovered two new types of immune cells: macrophages, which are widely present in multiple tissues and organs, promote angiogenesis, and microglia, which are present outside the central nervous system. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in China in 2023" selected by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Constructing a spatiotemporal map of the development of the human immune system
Image source: Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
15. Gut microbes may affect people's motivation to exercise
The researchers found that gut microbes affect the level of exercise in mice. Depleting the gut microbiome prevented the increase in dopamine in the brains of mice after exercise and also led to a decrease in exercise and greater exhaustion in mice. This study reveals how gut microbes can boost dopamine levels in the brain. If confirmed in humans, this finding could help boost motivation to exercise.
16. De novo synthesis produces the world's longest oligonucleotide
Biotech announced the successful de novo synthesis of the world's longest DNA oligonucleotide, with a sequence of 1005 bases, encoding part of an AAV vector that can be used in gene therapy. Ansa uses enzymatic DNA synthesis technology made possible by template-independent terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) linked to a single deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) molecule. The TdT-dNTP conjugate allows for the rapid and controlled addition of single nucleotides to elongated DNA molecules. This method overcomes the limitations of phosphoramidite-based DNA synthesis technology in terms of length and accuracy.
17. The main alkali tolerance genes of crops and their mechanism of action were revealed for the first time
Chinese scientists have discovered the main alkali tolerance gene AT1 and its mechanism for the first time using sorghum, a saline-alkali tolerant crop. Field experiments have proved that this gene can significantly increase the yield of sorghum, rice, wheat, corn and millet in saline-alkali land, and is expected to greatly improve the comprehensive utilization level of saline-alkali land. The results were published in Science and National Science Review on March 24. The research team conducted genome-wide big data association analysis on sorghum genetic resources and found a major alkali tolerance gene, AT1. The gene is homologous to GS3, a grain shape regulator in rice, and the research team also revealed the molecular mechanism of salinity tolerance in crops. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in China in 2023" and the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress in China" in 2023 selected by the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Photo: Baicheng, Jilin Province, an experimental field planted with AT1/GS3 improved rice
Source: Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Two
Prevention and treatment of malignant diseases
18. Antibody therapy has made progress in slowing Alzheimer's disease
U.S. regulators have approved a drug that significantly slows the cognitive decline of Alzheimer's disease patients by addressing the underlying biology of the disease. In a new pivotal 18-month trial, an anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody called lecanemab slowed cognitive loss by 27 percent compared to a placebo group. Donemumab, another antibody treatment that also targets brain amyloid, slowed the rate of cognitive decline by 35% compared with the placebo group in a slightly different patient population. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
New antibody therapies may slow neurodegeneration in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease
来源:JAMES CAVALLINI/SCIENCE SOURCE
19. Blood tests are used for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease
An early manifestation of Alzheimer's disease is the formation of toxic aggregates called β amyloid (Aβ), which can begin to form more than a decade before symptoms appear and other known disease markers form. American scientists have developed a method to detect toxic Aβ oligomers in the blood of patients, which can detect toxic Aβ aggregates before Alzheimer's symptoms appear. This finding may contribute to the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, and is considered one of several promising approaches for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's and other dementias.
20. New hope in the fight against malaria
After a large-scale evaluation, Mosquirix, the world's first antimalarial vaccine, was found to significantly reduce infant mortality. Now, with the approval of the World Health Organization, a second vaccine called R21 (or MatrixM) has also joined the fight against malaria. It has a similar design to Mosquirix, but with lower production costs and higher yields. It could help fill the huge gap between supply and demand for malaria vaccines, preventing tens of thousands of child deaths each year. R21 is expected to be widely vaccinated in 2024, WHO said. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
Photo: The maternity and paediatric ward of the Kirifi District Hospital in Kenya is home to many children suffering from malaria. Researchers conducted clinical trials of the R21 vaccine in the city
:: Luis Tato/eyevine/Redux
21. CAR-T therapy successfully cured autoimmune diseases
CAR-T cell therapy has become a revolutionary treatment for blood cancers, and now it is challenging autoimmune diseases. Antisynthetase antibody syndrome (ASS) is a severe type of myositis caused by a malfunctioning immune system that triggers interstitial lung lesions, resulting in rapid progression and high mortality. In the Lancet paper, a German research team successfully cured a patient with ASS using CAR-T cell therapy. After discontinuation of immunosuppressive drugs, the patient's symptoms continued to improve. This is also the second autoimmune disease that the team has cured with CAR-T cell therapy after being cured of systemic lupus erythematosus.
CAR-T cell therapy
Source: WuXi AppTec Content Team
22. The world's first CRISPR gene editing therapy was approved for marketing
A disease therapy based on CRISPR gene editing technology has received conditional marketing authorization from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA), becoming the world's first CRISPR gene editing therapy to be approved by regulatory agencies. The treatment, known as Casgevy, is approved for the treatment of transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia and sickle cell anemia, two inherited blood disorders. At long-term follow-up, patients treated with symptoms of related diseases disappear and no longer need blood transfusions, and gene-edited therapy gives them a new lease on life. This "genetic scissors" has become a powerful weapon for human beings to fight diseases.
Figure: CRISPR gene editing
Source: WuXi AppTec Content Team
23. The mRNA vaccine was successfully applied to pancreatic cancer
Researchers in the United States have successfully developed a personalized mRNA cancer treatment vaccine that can help immune cells recognize specific neoantigens on a patient's pancreatic cancer cells. In this study, the researchers conducted an in-depth analysis of 18 patients who had their pancreatic tumors removed, giving each patient a personalized vaccine for their specific protein. The vaccines elicited a strong anti-tumor immune response in half of the participants. More than a year later, the cancer in these patients still has not returned.
24. GLP-1 receptor agonists lead the development of new weight loss drugs
GLP-1 receptor agonists have long been approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and in recent years, the relationship between GLP-1-related drugs and obesity has begun to attract attention. GLP-1 drugs represented by semaglutide and Zepbound have been approved by the US FDA for the treatment of obesity, and a three-target drug called retatrutide has achieved an average weight loss of 24.2% in 11 months in clinical trials in 2023. These innovative weight loss therapies are expected to lead to more treatment options and better treatment outcomes. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
GLP-1 agonists were selected as the 2023 Scientific Breakthrough of the Year by Science journal
绘图:Stephan Schmitz;图片来源:Science官网
25. Hallucinogens can help in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression
Researchers from the United States have developed two new drug candidates that may be used to treat addiction and depression based on the pharmacological principles of the traditional African psychedelic plant drug ibogaine. At very low doses, the two new compounds were able to reduce the symptoms of both diseases in mice. The findings were published in the journal Cell. Researchers were inspired by the effect of ibogbase on serotonin transporter (SERT), and SERT is also a target of SSRI antidepressants such as fluoxetine (trade name Prozac). The researchers virtually screened 200 million molecular structures to find molecules that block SERT in the same way as Ibog bases. A round of computational docking has shrunk this virtual molecular library from 200 million molecules to just 49, of which 36 can be synthesized. These molecules were tested and 13 of them were found to have an inhibitory effect on SERT.
The novel SERT inhibitors are more potent than ibogain and are more conformational and target-selective
Image source: Cell's official website
26. The brain-spinal interface allows paralyzed patients to restore their motor ability
Swiss scientists have developed a brain-spinal interface (BSI) that helps quadriplegic patients with spinal cord injuries regain their ability to exercise by interpreting signals from the brain and stimulating areas of the spinal cord involved in walking. A patient who had been paralyzed for 12 years managed to regain control of the major joints of his legs through his own consciousness after implanting the device. After rehabilitation, the patient is able to stand and walk naturally, even climbing stairs and jumping over obstacles. The study also found that the device also promoted nerve recovery. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2023" by Physics World.
With the help of this device, the patient can walk naturally with the help of crutches
Photo credit: University Hospital of Lausanne/Gilles Weber
Three
Organ Transplantation and Healthy Living
27. Xenotransplantation milestones
After the U.S. research team successfully transplanted a gene-edited pig kidney into a human body, the kidney can last for a week and provide the kidney function needed for the body to function. The researchers released a phased development: after the gene-edited pig kidney was transplanted into a brain-dead person, the kidney survived and functioned for up to 32 days, which was the first time that the pig kidney worked normally in humans for more than a month. In a recent Nature paper, cynomolgus monkeys that received humanized pig kidneys survived for more than 2 years after transplantation, validating the potential for long-term survival.
The research team is removing excess tissue from pig kidneys in preparation for human transplantation
图片来源：Joe Carrotta for NYU Langone Health）
28. 3D engineered skin grafting for complex body parts
U.S. researchers have succeeded in cultivating new skin in the shape of a human hand that is stronger than standard engineered skin grafts. Compared to standard, planar culture transplants, 3D skin is more resistant to stress during exercise and has higher levels of extracellular matrix proteins to support protein discovery in mature skin. This new technology allows custom 3D grafts to be transplanted intact with as few stitches as possible, potentially helping to heal burns and other injuries to complex body parts, reducing trauma and scarring.
29. Electrodes "grow" in living tissues
For the first time, Swedish researchers succeeded in cultivating electrodes in living tissues by injecting a gel with enzymes as "assembly molecules" and then using human molecules as triggers. The researchers verified this process by injecting the gel into zebrafish and medicinal leeches. The gel polymerizes in both organisms and "grows" electrodes within the tissue. The results, published in the journal Science in February 2023, pave the way for the formation of fully integrated electronic circuits in living organisms, providing a way to treat diseases through nervous system electrical signals or modulation of neural circuits. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2023" by Physics World.
Injectable gel for electrodes grown in living tissue tested on a microfabrication circuit
Credit: Thor Bakshid/Science
30. The first transplantation of human eyeball was successful
Researchers in the United States successfully performed the world's first eye transplant. During the procedure, the surgical team extracts adult stem cells from the bone marrow of the eye donor and injects them into the recipient's optic nerve in the hope of replacing the damaged cells and protecting the optic nerve. For 6 months after surgery, the transplanted eyeball showed clear signs of health and good vascular function. Although the transplanted eyeball has not yet regained vision, this breakthrough will contribute to the development of related medical fields. The team is currently following up on monitoring and looking forward to finding all possibilities for the eyeball to regain vision. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World" by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
31. Wearable thin-film thermoelectric coolers help amputees sense temperature
Researchers in the United States have developed the world's smallest, strongest, and fastest refrigeration device, the wearable thin-film thermoelectric cooler (TFTEC). They work with neuroscientists to help amputees sense temperature through their phantom limbs. With a thickness of only about 1 mm and a weight of only 0.05 grams, TFTEC resembles a piece of tape and provides high-intensity cooling in less than 1 second. It is twice as energy efficient as today's most common thermoelectric devices, and can be easily manufactured by semiconductor tools used to make light-emitting diodes. This opens up new possibilities for a variety of applications, such as improved prosthetics, tactile modes in augmented reality, and thermal therapy for pain management. It also has a variety of potential industrial applications, such as energy harvesting on satellites. The results were published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
A prosthetic tester uses a new device to determine which can of Coke is the coldest
Image source: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
32. The first male contraceptive pill to be taken on demand
American scientists have developed a compound called TDI-11861, which can effectively inhibit soluble adenylyl cyclase (SAC) in men to trigger sperm motility, causing temporary loss of function in mouse and human sperm, related research published in the journal Nature Communications. SAC inhibitors are effective in preventing conception and male fertility returns to normal 24 hours after treatment. It can be developed as a safe, effective, temporary male contraceptive.
Fig丨A potent sAC inhibitor with a longer residence time
Image source: Nature's official website
Four
Archaeology and the Ecology of Ancient Life
33. Approaching the historical truth of ancient human settlement in the Americas
It was previously thought that the earliest American immigrants migrated from Asia via land that once connected the Bering Strait, traveling south along the Pacific coast about 16,000 years ago. But in 2023, researchers validated another striking conclusion, bringing that forward by at least 5,000 years. U.S. researchers re-dated the footprints using pollen from terrestrial plants and quartz grains embedded in sediments between and below the footprints. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
Footprints left along an ancient lake in New Mexico, USA, may prove that humans arrived in the Americas 5,000 years earlier than archaeologists believe
来源：NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
02
Deep space, deep sea, new space expansion
34. The interstellar signal generated by the merger of giant black holes is silently roaring
In 2023, astrophysicists have captured a faint cosmic roar that people have been looking for for a long time. It is in fact a gravitational wave produced by the close friction of two supermassive black holes in the universe around each other, possibly in the millions. This observation is by far the strongest support for the existence of these massive black hole binary star systems, and it also demonstrates the powerful observation of gravitational waves using signals from distant stars. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
A pair of supermassive black holes (top left) emit gravitational waves, rippling in the space-time structure (artistic image)
Image source: North American Nanohertz Gravitational-Wave Observatory
35. Conclusive evidence that early galaxies changed the universe
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the international team found strong evidence that early galaxies caused early cosmic reionization. Reionization occurred about a billion years after the Big Bang and mainly refers to the ionization of hydrogen. The researchers used JWST's near-infrared camera to look at the light emitted by ancient quasars. The light had previously passed through the ionized bubbles of the early universe. The researchers found that there is a correlation between the location of galaxies and bubbles, which means that the light emitted by these early galaxies is indeed the cause of reionization. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2023" by Physics World.
Very bright, active supermassive black hole, like a giant flashlight, with six prominent diffraction spikes
图片来源：NASA、ESA、CSA、Joyce Kang （STScI）
36. For the first time, a satellite successfully transmitted solar energy to the earth
U.S. scientists announced that a satellite launched in January had directed the energy of a microwave beam to a target in space and even sent some of the energy to Earth's probe. The microwave transmitter is an array of 32 planar antennas, and by varying the timing of the signals sent to the different antennas, researchers can control the beams of the array. As a clean, renewable energy technology, space-based solar energy utilization technology is considered a reliable way to achieve zero carbon emissions. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World" by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
37. "China's Sky Eye" found key evidence for the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves
Using the 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope, known as the "eye of China's sky", the Chinese research team found key evidence for the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves. This is an important breakthrough in the search for nanohertz gravitational waves, indicating that the research on nanohertz gravitational waves in mainland China has reached the leading level in sync with the international level. The research results were published in Astronomical and Astrophysical Research. This major scientific breakthrough has a profound impact on the evolution of galaxies and the study of supermassive black holes, and also opens a new window into gravitational-wave astrophysics. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in China in 2023" selected by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Figure: "China Sky Eye" panorama
Source: Xinhua News Agency
38. The world's first liquid oxygen methane rocket successfully put into orbit
On July 12, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, the Suzaku 2 Yao-2 carrier rocket took off. This is the world's first successful liquid oxygen methane rocket into orbit, and it is also the first domestic commercial aerospace carrier rocket based on a self-developed liquid engine to achieve successful orbit, filling the technical gap of domestic liquid oxygen methane rocket, which means that the continent's first high-thrust liquid oxygen methane engine has passed flight verification, marking a breakthrough in the application of new low-cost liquid propellants for continental launch vehicles.
The Suzaku 2 Yao-2 carrier rocket was successfully launched
Source: Photo by Wang Jiangbo (Xinhua News Agency)
39. The equipment with the strongest optical time domain survey capability in the world was officially put into observation
More than 2,000 years ago, Mozi was the first to record and explain the phenomenon of small hole imaging. Nowadays, the large-field survey telescope named after "Mozi" allows people to look up at the same sky. At present, the Mozi Survey Telescope, which has the strongest optical time-domain survey capability in the world, has been officially put into observation at the Lenghu Astronomical Observation Base in Qinghai, and can survey the entire North Celestial Sphere once every three nights. The Mozi Sky Survey Telescope can be used to carry out high-energy time-domain survey observation and near-Earth small object monitoring and early warning.
Photo: Mozi Survey Telescope
Source: University of Science and Technology of China
40. The world's deepest and largest extremely deep underground laboratory was put into scientific operation
Located 2,400 meters underground in the middle of the Jinping Mountain Tunnel in Liangshan, Sichuan, the civil works of the second phase of the Jinping Underground Laboratory of China have been completed, which means that the world's deepest and largest extremely deep underground laboratory has been officially put into scientific operation. The laboratory will contribute to the research of dark matter and nuclear astrophysics, and help mankind better understand the universe.
Photo: The PandaX-4T experimental device for particle and astrophysical xenon detection experiments in the second phase of the Jinping Underground Laboratory in China
Source: SDIC Yalong River Basin Hydropower Development Co., Ltd
41. "Lasso" discovered the extremely narrow jet stream and 10 trillion electron volts photons of the brightest gamma burst in history
LHAASO was the first to record the entire process of a gamma burst of trillion-electron-volt photons, detecting an early ascending phase, from which it was inferred that the jet has an extremely high relativistic Lorentz factor. Lasso also saw the afterglow of GRB 221009A (the brightest gamma burst ever) drop rapidly around 700 seconds, with a half-open angle of only 0.8 degrees from the time of the light bend to the jet, the narrowest gamma burst jet ever discovered. Lasso also accurately measured the spectrum of high-energy gamma rays, showing a single power law that extends to more than 10 trillion electron volts, the highest energy photon ever observed in a gamma burst. The fact that the Lasso observation did not reveal a softing of the energy spectrum challenges the standard model of gamma burst afterglow, implying that the 10 trillion electron-volt photons may be generated by more complex particle acceleration processes or that there may be new radiation mechanisms. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science in 2023".
42. Remarkable progress has been made in deep space exploration
The United States continues to explore Mars and prepares for the return of Mars samples. The Perseverance rover successfully placed the 10th Mars sample tube in an area called Three Forks, completing the construction of the Mars surface sample tube "warehouse".
In terms of asteroid exploration, NASA's first return capsule carrying rock and dust collected from the asteroid Bennu successfully landed. The launch of the Psyche probe, which will detect 16 Psyche in the asteroid belt, will be the first time that humans have approached and explored an M-type (metallic) asteroid.
In terms of astronomical observations, on December 19, NASA released the clearest image of Uranus ever taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, including 14 Uranus moons.
Aiming at the abundant aeolian and sandy landforms in the southern part of the Martian Utopia Plain, Chinese scientists have carried out high-resolution remote sensing and close-range joint detection using orbiter high-resolution cameras and meteorological surveyors, and found sequence evidence of significant changes in the wind field in the landing area, which is in good agreement with the ice and dust cover records distributed in the middle and high latitudes of Mars, revealing that the Zhurong landing area may have experienced two major climatic stages marked by changes in wind direction. The research results were published in Nature on July 7, 2023.
43. New progress in commercial aerospace
In 2023, SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy reusable launch vehicles will carry out a total of 96 launches, all of which will be successful, accounting for 43% of the world's total. The launch mass reached 1,195 tons, accounting for 80% of the world's total, and the number of satellites launched was 2,514 (including 1,948 "Starlink"), accounting for 87% of the world's total. Relying on strong launch capabilities and low launch costs, U.S. commercial aerospace is accelerating the construction of its own low-orbit satellite Internet constellation - "Starlink". This will help solve the demand for interconnection between people that are not currently covered by urban base stations, and build a more intelligent world where everything is connected.
03
Substances, Materials, Chemistry
One
The material world
44. Single-atom X-ray detection was realized for the first time
A joint team of scientists from multiple institutions has photographed a single-atom X-ray signal for the first time, and the study was published in Nature on May 31. The research team added a special detector made of a sharp metal tip located near the sample in the X-ray detector, and when the X-ray irradiates the atom, the electrons of the core energy level are excited and tunneled to the detector tip through overlapping atomic/molecular orbitals, and the obtained spectral energy reveals information about the atom. This breakthrough will open up a new world in the field of X-ray and nanoscience, and this achievement has been selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World" and "Top Ten Breakthroughs in 2023 by the Physics World" selected by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Schematic diagram of the experiment for the first detection of single-atom X-rays
Image source: Physicists.org.com
45. For the first time, neutron-rich uranium isotopes were discovered
A team of Japanese scientists has discovered a previously unknown uranium isotope, uranium-241, which has an atomic number of 92, a mass of 241, and a half-life of perhaps only 40 minutes, the first time scientists have discovered a neutron-rich uranium isotope since 1979. The team noted that the techniques used in the latest research could help them better understand the shape of atomic nuclei associated with heavy elements, and could potentially modify existing models for building nuclear power plants, as well as theories describing the explosive behavior of stars, and that the latest methods could help to discover more new isotopes.
Japanese scientists have created oxygen-28 for the first time, which has 8 protons and 20 neutrons
Image Credit: Carlos Clariván/Science Photo Library
46. The smallest particle accelerator so far was introduced
The German research team has succeeded in creating the world's smallest particle accelerator, which is only 0.2 millimeters long and can be mounted on the tip of a pen. The findings have been published in the journal Nature. The device is the first fast, well-focused electron-generating miniature accelerator capable of accelerating electrons to 100,000 kilometers per second. The accelerator uses light waves to accelerate the particles, forming a narrow beam of electrons through thousands of 2-micron-high silicon columns arranged in two parallel lines. This new technology is expected to be applied in the medical field, providing doctors with new treatment tools or small disinfection tools for biological laboratories. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World" by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
47. Use neutrinos to study proton structure
Scientists in the United States and Canada have shown how to collect information about the internal structure of protons from neutrinos scattered by plastic targets. Neutrinos are subatomic particles that are best known for their low interaction with matter. How to observe the signal of neutrinos scattered by a single proton (hydrogen nucleus) – know that this signal is drowned in the vast background of neutrinos scattered by protons trapped in the carbon nucleus. To solve this problem, the research team simulated the signals of the neutrinos scattered by carbon atoms and carefully subtracted these background signals from the experimental data. This study not only helps us to understand the structure of protons, but also provides a new technique to further understand the way neutrinos interact with matter. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2023" by Physics World.
48. For the first time, the anti-aromatic molecular ethylene oxide was manufactured in the laboratory
Ethylene oxide, the smallest anti-aromatic heterocyclic compound and a key active ingredient in the interstellar environment, is considered one of the most mysterious organic transient molecules, previously thought to be unsynthesizable by scientists. German-American scientists have discovered a new method to process extremely low-temperature ice and use the resonance energy transferred to the ice matrix to create ethylene oxide under laboratory conditions that simulate deep-sky molecular clouds and star-forming regions, and the molecule is observed by a high-tech mass spectrometry tool. The research team pointed out that the discovery of ethylene oxide in such an extreme environment is of great significance, and it is worth searching for it in the universe using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array and the James Webb Space Telescope, among others.
49. For the first time, a quantum computer identified a single nucleotide
Japanese scientists used a quantum computer to distinguish adenosine monophosphate nucleotide from three other nucleotide molecules, which is the first time that a quantum computer has been applied to single-molecule measurements, proving its potential in genomic analysis. The latest research is expected to enable ultra-fast genomic analysis in areas such as drug discovery, cancer diagnostics, and infectious disease research. The paper was published in the journal Physical Chemistry B.
Schematic diagram of the identification of a single molecule using a quantum computer
Visit: Osaka University
50. Antimatter does not violate gravitational effects
International cooperation organizations have demonstrated that antimatter responds to gravity in a very similar way to normal matter. For the first time, physicists have been able to directly observe falling antimatter atoms – antihydrogen atoms made up of an antiproton and an antielectron – using the ALPHA-g experimental device. The research team found that annihilation occurs at a lower location than when antihydrogen atoms are cast. Even taking into account the thermal motion of the anti-hydrogen atoms, it is possible to draw conclusions about the fall of the anti-hydrogen atoms. This research opens the door to entirely new theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2023" by Physics World.
51. Research discovers a new family of molecular magnets
A single-molecule magnet (SMM) is a material that a single molecule or atom is capable of maintaining the spin moment-magnetization direction. Their state can be switched by an external magnetic field. Russian researchers have found that atypical complex compounds of cobalt, iron and nickel may exhibit the properties of single-ion magnets. The results of this research contribute to the use of such substances to create high-efficiency electronic components that store ultra-dense information with a capacity of a thousand times that of modern devices. This will make it possible to develop and design molecules with the desired properties, find ways to enhance the desired technical properties, and develop new technologies based on the properties of electron spins, such as quantum computing devices.
52. New metallocene compounds
Scientists from Japan, Germany, and Russia have succeeded in developing a new type of metallocene compound. The groundbreaking findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications. Metallocene, known for its versatility and special "sandwich" structure, is an organometallic compound. This compound is unique in its ability to "sandwich" many different elements to form a variety of compounds. Due to its unique chemical properties and wide application prospects, metallocene was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1973. Metallocene versatility stems from its ability to "sandwich" multiple elements in the molecule. This makes them valuable for applications in polymer production, blood glucose meters, and perovskite solar cells. In addition, due to its stable chemical structure, metallocene can also be used as a catalyst. Although complexes of up to 20 electrons can theoretically be formed, the structure of 18 electrons is the most stable and common. However, the researchers succeeded in adding two electrons to the 19-electron metallocene to create a new metallocene with 21 electrons. This is an unprecedented feat because once 18 electrons are exceeded, the chemical bonds of the metallocene begin to elongate, break, and change the structure. However, the newly developed 21-electron metallocene is stable not only in solution, but also extremely stable in the solid state, with a long storage time.
The new research opens up new possibilities for scientists to use this new type of metallocene to create new materials for use in medicine, catalysis and energy. This will help solve some of the world's major problems and improve the quality of life for humanity.
Crystal structure of a newly synthesized 21-electron metallocene compound, showing nitrogen (blue), cobalt (red), hydrogen (green), and carbon (gray) atoms
Source: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
53. Simulating the expansion of the universe in Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC).
Scientists from many countries have used Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) to conduct experiments to simulate the expansion of the universe and the quantum fields in it. By adjusting the scattering length of atoms in the BEC, the research team successfully simulated the situation when the universe expands at different speeds and studied the density fluctuations caused by phonons in it. This research is important for understanding the formation of the early universe and the evolution of the universe, as cosmological theories suggest that the large-scale structure of the early universe may have been caused by similar effects. By simulating the processes and properties of the universe, researchers can gain insights into the evolution of the real universe, which has potential value for our understanding of the formation and development of the universe. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2023" by Physics World.
54. The shortest electron pulse ever created
German scientists have created the shortest short electron pulse to date, with a duration of only 53 attoseconds, which allows the electron microscope to focus on the shorter slice in time, similar to reducing the shutter speed of a camera, thus revealing the movement of particles more clearly. According to the researchers, if an electron microscope were created using the attosecond electron pulses obtained this time, it would not only have enough resolution to look at atoms in motion, but even see how electrons jump between them. According to the research team, the latest breakthrough has the potential to lead to more precise electron microscopes that capture clear images at the atomic scale and speed up the transfer of data in computer chips. The detected electron pulse of 53 attoseconds is even shorter than the optical pulse that triggered it. According to Bohr's model of the hydrogen atom, this duration is only 1/5 of the time it takes for electrons in a hydrogen atom to orbit its nucleus.
55. A new mechanism of interfacial charge storage and aggregation reaction of lithium-sulfur batteries was discovered
Chinese scientists have developed high-resolution electrochemical in-situ transmission electron microscopy technology to realize real-time observation and research of atomic-scale dynamics of interfacial reactions of lithium-sulfur batteries by coupling the real electrolyte environment and the applied electric field. It is found that the molecules on the surface of the battery active material are aggregated into molecular clusters for reaction, and the charge transfer can be stored in the aggregated molecular clusters first, and the molecular clusters get electrons but do not undergo conversion until they obtain enough electrons for transient crystallization transformation. The surface of the inactive material follows the classical single-molecule reaction pathway, where the lithium polysulfide molecule gradually obtains electrons, converts them step by step, and finally converts them into Li2S. Simulation calculations show that the electrostatic interaction between the active center and lithium polysulfide promotes the aggregation of Li+ and polysulfide molecules, and confirms that the charge in the molecular aggregates can be transferred freely. In the past 100 years, electrochemical interfacial reactions have generally been thought to exist only in the "endosphere" and "outer sphere" single-molecule pathways. This study revealed the existence of a third mechanism of "charge storage aggregation reaction" in electrochemical interface reactions, deepened the understanding of the evolution of polysulfides and their influence on the kinetics of battery surface interface reactions, and provided guidance for the design of next-generation lithium-sulfur batteries. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science in 2023".
Two
New materials
56. The first discovery of nickel oxide superconductors in the temperature zone of liquid nitrogen
For the first time, Chinese scientists have discovered a nickel oxide superconductor that reaches the temperature zone of liquid nitrogen at a pressure of 14 GPa. This is a new high-temperature superconducting system first independently discovered by mainland scientists, and it is the second unconventional superconducting material in the liquid nitrogen temperature region discovered by mankind, which is an important breakthrough in the field of basic research. The research results, which have been published in the journal Nature, are expected to promote the cracking of the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity, make it possible to design and predict high-temperature superconducting materials, and enable superconductivity to achieve a wider range of applications in information technology, industrial processing, electric power, biomedicine, and transportation.
Nickel oxide sample preparation
Image source: Sun Yat-sen University
57. A new type of hydrogen storage composite alloy was introduced
An international team led by German scientists has developed a new family of composite alloys based on titanium-magnesium-lithium. This alloy has an extremely low density and considerable hydrogen storage capacity at room temperature, promising to be the cornerstone of future hydrogen storage facilities.
58. New color coatings help buildings warm in winter and cool in summer
American scientists have invented a new type of paint that keeps homes and other structures cool in the summer and warm in the winter, significantly reducing energy use and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Tests have shown that the new paint reduces the amount of energy used for heating by about 36 percent in cold experiments and nearly 21 percent in warm environments. The coating is waterproof on both coats and can be applied to wet environments. Rinse with a damp cloth or water to clean the paint surface. In addition, the performance and aesthetics of the coating are not compromised after one week of continuous exposure to high temperatures (80°C), low temperatures (-196°C) and high acidity.
Picture: Objects of various shapes and materials coated with new paint
Source: Stanford University
59. The fastest and most efficient semiconductor to date
In a paper published Oct. 26 in the journal Science, American scientists describe the fastest and most efficient semiconductor to date — a superatomic material called Re6Se8Cl2. In terms of energy transfer, Re6Se8Cl2 is the best known semiconductor, at least so far, the researchers said. Re6Se8Cl2 can be peeled into atomic flakes, a feature that means they may be combined with other similar materials to reveal more unique properties. However, Re6Se8Cl2 is unlikely to be commercially available because the first element in its molecule, rhenium, is one of the rarest elements on Earth and is therefore extremely expensive.
The electrons of silicon materials are jumping around like rabbits, and the acoustic excitons-polarons of Re6Se8Cl2 materials are moving forward steadily like turtles
Source: Columbia University
60. 3D printing made the most elastic new alloy so far
Scientists in the United States have developed a 3D printing process to create the most elastic new alloy to date, called GRX-810, which has superior resistance to heat, oxidation and stress and can be used to make high-temperature parts for airplanes and spacecraft. Fabricated through 3D printing technology and oxide dispersion technology, the alloy is twice as strong, 1000 times more durable, and 600 times more stress-resistant than existing alloys. The study was published in the journal Nature. GRX-810 is an oxide dispersion strengthened alloy, that is, particles containing oxygen atoms are dispersed in the alloy, thereby increasing its strength. This alloy is suitable for use in the manufacture of high-temperature parts in the aerospace sector, such as those inside aircraft and rocket engines, as they can withstand greater pressure in harsher conditions. Currently, 3D-printed superalloys can withstand temperatures of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit (about 1100 degrees Celsius), while GRX-810 can withstand higher temperatures and is less susceptible to oxidation. Using computer simulations and laser powder bed melting, the researchers quickly found the ideal composition for GRX-810. They use nickel, cobalt, and chromium-based alloys as raw materials, and in the 3D printing process, yttrium oxide powder is added layer by layer, and then heated with a laser to fuse the oxide particles with the alloy. This creates layers of alloys containing ceramic materials.
61. New nickel-molybdenum catalyst
In May 2023, a South Korean research team developed a new nickel-molybdenum catalyst. As an electrode material for ion exchange membrane fuel cells, it has the advantages of low cost and high catalytic rate. The research team said that nickel catalysts have been studied internationally before, but their performance as an electrode material for ion exchange membrane fuel cells is less than 1% of that of platinum catalysts, and there are great technical problems in practical application. In order to solve the performance problem of nickel catalysts, the researchers successfully used molybdenum oxide to change the electronic structure of nickel after many experiments, which significantly improved the catalytic performance of nickel. The results show that the performance of the platinum catalyst is 1.0 mA/cm2, while the performance of the nickel-molybdenum catalyst is 1.1 mA/cm2, showing better catalytic performance. In addition, the cost of nickel-molybdenum catalysts is only 80 times that of platinum catalysts, and it also has great advantages in large-scale production, and it is expected to become the main electrode material for ion exchange membrane fuel cells in the future.
62. A new generation of chloride electrolyte materials for all-solid-state batteries
In November 2023, a South Korean research team developed a new generation of chloride electrolyte materials for all-solid-state batteries. The team demonstrated for the first time that the composition and configuration of metal ions affect the conductivity of lithium ions in the structure of trigonal chloride solid electrolytes, and developed a new generation of zirconium ion chloride solid electrolytes. The commercial use of new materials will extend the stability and life of solid-state batteries. The paper has been published in the journal Science.
63. A record-breaking carbon-based supercapacitor material
Guided by machine learning, U.S. researchers have designed a record-breaking carbon-based supercapacitor material that stores four times more energy than the best currently available commercial materials, pushing the energy storage boundaries of carbon supercapacitors to a new level. Supercapacitors made with this new material can store more energy, improving regenerative braking systems, power electronics, and auxiliary power supplies. The researchers designed a very porous doped carbon that provides a large surface area for interfacial electrochemical reactions. Subsequently, they synthesized a new material for storing and transporting electrical charges, an oxygen-enriched carbon framework. The paper was published in the journal Nature Communications.
64. New sustainable aerogel sealing materials
German scientists have developed a new sustainable aerogel sealing material. The key to the new process is the preparation of aerogels with supercritical (between gas and fluid) carbon dioxide instead of the traditional acidic material used to dissolve silicone gels. Traditionally, 1 kg of aerogel requires 6 kg of acids to dissolve and synthesize, and these acids are harmful to the environment. The new process uses carbon dioxide to prepare aerogel in the whole process, and the raw material for the preparation of silicone gel also adopts a newly discovered new silicone gel material that is easy to obtain, low cost and non-toxic by comparing more than 20 kinds of materials. The new aerogel material is a solid particle with a diameter of 2-4 mm, and is molded into building sealing material products of different shapes and sizes through molds.
65. The first solid-state electrochemical thermal transistor
Japanese scientists have developed the first solid-state electrochemical thermal transistor, which is roughly composed of an active material and a switching material, the thermal conductivity of the active material changes, and the switching material controls the thermal conductivity of the active material. They fabricated the latest solid-state thermal transistors on yttrium-oxide-stabilized zirconia substrates. The substrate is also used as a switching material, cobalt strontium oxide is used as the active material, and the platinum electrode provides the power needed to control the transistor. It was found that the thermal conductivity of the active material in the "on" state was comparable to that of some liquid thermal transistors. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of the active material in the "on" state is 4 times higher than in the "off" state. In addition, the transistor remains stable after 10 cycles of use, which is better than some liquid thermal transistors currently in use. The team tested on more than 20 individually manufactured solid-state thermal transistors, ensuring repeatable results. This latest study shows that solid-state electrochemical thermotransistors have the potential to be as effective as liquid electrochemical thermotransistors.
66. The double-slit experiment was reconstructed in the time dimension
With the help of a "metamaterial" that can change properties in femtoseconds (trillions of a second), British scientists have recreated the famous double-slit experiment in time rather than space. The latest experiments have revealed more of the fundamental properties of light and laid the groundwork for the creation of ultimate materials that can finely control light on spatial and temporal scales. This experiment originally involved the diffraction of light through a pair of "slits" in space, but new research suggests that it is possible to achieve equivalent effects in time using double slits. The research team used a thin film of indium tin oxide in their experiments, and on ultrafast time scales such as femtoseconds, the material's reflectivity is altered by lasers to create a "slit" for light. The researchers achieved this by turning on and off the reflectivity of the semiconductor mirror twice in quick succession and recording the interference fringes along the spectrum of the light reflected from the mirror. Their experiments found that interference occurs between waves of different frequencies, rather than between different spatial locations. This achievement may have a variety of applications in the future, such as optical switches for signal processing and communication or optical computing. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2023 by Physics World".
Figure: Original double-slit experimental art
Image source: Nature website
04
Intelligence, information, communication
One
chip
67. The new memristor memory and computing integrated chip was successfully developed
Based on the integrated computing paradigm, the Chinese research team has developed the world's first memristor memory-computing integrated chip with full system integration and support for efficient on-chip learning (machine learning can be done directly on the hardware side). The findings were published online in the journal Science. The chip contains all the circuit modules necessary to support complete on-chip learning, and successfully completes a variety of on-chip incremental learning functions such as image classification, speech recognition, and control tasks, demonstrating the characteristics of high adaptability, high energy efficiency, high versatility, and high accuracy, and effectively strengthening the learning and adaptability of smart devices in practical application scenarios. Under the same task, the energy consumption of the chip to achieve on-chip learning is only 3% of that of the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) system under the advanced process, showing excellent energy efficiency advantages, and has great application potential to meet the high computing power requirements in the artificial intelligence era, providing an innovative development path for breaking through the energy efficiency bottleneck under von Neumann's traditional computing architecture. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in China in 2023" selected by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Memristor memory and computing integrated chip and test system
Image source: Tsinghua University
68. The two-dimensional transistor that surpasses the limit of silicon-based is introduced
The Chinese research team has constructed a 10nm ultra-short channel ballistic two-dimensional indium selenide transistor. He creatively put forward the "rare earth yttrium element doping induced two-dimensional phase transition theory", and invented the "atomic-level controllable precision doping technology", which for the first time made the actual performance of the two-dimensional transistor exceed the silicon limit predicted by the industry's silicon-based 10-nanometer node Fin transistor and the international semiconductor roadmap, and the working voltage of the two-dimensional transistor was reduced to 0.5V, and the room-temperature ballistic rate was increased to 83% of the highest record of all transistors, and the fastest and lowest energy consumption two-dimensional transistor in the world was developed. The results were published in Nature on March 22, 2023.
Rare earth element yttrium-induced phase transition ohmic contact theory and atomic-level controllable precision doping technology
Image source: Peking University
69. The thinnest chip-level optical circuit to date
American scientists have developed the thinnest chip-scale optical circuit ever made, a two-dimensional (2D) waveguide. This glass crystal, which is only a few atoms thick, has the ability to capture and carry light, and is amazingly efficient, capable of propagating light over a distance of up to a centimeter. This breakthrough technology is expected to open up a new path in the field of optical-based computing. Optical-based computing is an emerging technology that uses light to transmit and process information, which is considered to be an important direction in the field of computing in the future. Compared with traditional electronic computing, optical-based computing has higher speed and lower energy consumption. However, the transmission of light over long distances has always been a problem in this field due to the limited distance of light propagation. The advent of this two-dimensional waveguide provides new possibilities for solving this problem. The advent of this research result has brought a new breakthrough in the field of optical-based computing. The ultra-thin design and efficient transmission capability of the two-dimensional waveguide provide more possibilities for the practical application of optical-based computing. In the future, this technology is expected to play an important role in data centers, communication networks, and quantum computing, promoting scientific and technological progress and social development.
Researchers holding this material
Image credit: Jean Lachat/Physicists.org
70. The first chip-level titanium-doped sapphire laser
U.S. researchers have developed the first chip-scale titanium-sapphire laser, which offers the widest gain spectrum ever seen on a chip, a breakthrough that spans applications from atomic clocks to quantum computing and spectral sensors, and the results were published in the journal Nature Photonics. The key to the new research lies in the low threshold of the laser. The threshold for conventional titanium-doped sapphire lasers is over 100 milliwatts, while the new system has a threshold of about 6.5 milliwatts, and with further adjustments, the researchers believe the threshold can be reduced to 1 milliwatt. In addition, the new system is compatible with GaN optoelectronics, which are widely used in blue LEDs and lasers.
71. The highest storage density device to date was launched
Researchers in the United States published a paper in the journal Nature that they have developed new devices and chips with the highest storage density to date for edge AI (artificial intelligence within portable devices), which is expected to enable powerful AI in portable devices, such as making the functions of a mini-version of ChatGPT "bloom everywhere" in personal portable devices. Researchers have combined silicon with metal oxide memristors to create a powerful new chip with very low energy consumption. This technology uses the position of atoms rather than the number of electrons (the technology currently used in chips) to represent information, and given that the electrons manipulated in traditional chips are "light" and tend to move around and lose information, the new chips can store more information stably and compactly by analogue rather than digital. Information can also be processed in a stored place without having to be sent to a dedicated "processor", eliminating the "von Neumann bottleneck" that exists in current computing systems, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of AI computing as well as data throughput.
72. The 3D integration technology has reached the highest performance to date
Japanese scientists have designed a new three-dimensional technology that integrates processors and memory, called "BBCube 3D", to achieve the world's highest performance, paving the way for faster and more efficient computing. The most notable aspect of BBCube 3D is the three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional connection between the processing unit and the DRAM. The team uses an innovative stacking structure in which the processor die sits on top of multiple layers of DRAM, and all components are interconnected via through-silicon vias. The team evaluated the speed of the new architecture and compared it to two state-of-the-art memory technologies, DDR5 and HBM2E. According to the researchers, BBCube 3D has the potential to achieve a bandwidth of 1.6 megabytes per second, which is 30 times higher than DDR5 and 4 times higher than HBM2E. In addition, the thermal management and power supply issues that can arise from 3D integration can be mitigated due to BBCube's low thermal resistance and low impedance, and the new technology significantly increases the bandwidth while the bit access energy is 1/20 and 1/5 that of DDR5 and HBM2E, respectively.
The newly proposed integration technology is designed using a stacking method
Source: Tokyo Institute of Technology
Two
Quantum and Communication
73. The basic building blocks of large-scale quantum networks
Austrian and French scientists have built a quantum repeater that enables the transmission of quantum information over 50 kilometers via standard telecommunications fibers, enabling all the key functions of a long-range quantum network in a single system. The research team used a pair of calcium-40 ions, which emit photons when irradiated by laser pulses, to create a quantum repeater. The entangled photons and their "parent" ions are converted into telecommunication wavelengths and transmitted along multiple independent 25-kilometer-long optical fibers. Finally, the repeater exchanges the entangled states of the two ions so that the two entangled photons are 50 kilometers apart – 50 kilometers is roughly the distance needed to create a large-scale quantum network with multiple nodes. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs in 2023" by Physics World.
The preparation of 74 and 51 superconducting qubits set a new world record
Following the preparation of 10-bit, 12-bit, and 18-bit truly entangled states, Chinese researchers have made another important breakthrough - the successful preparation and verification of 51 superconducting qubit cluster states, setting a new world record for the number of truly entangled bits in all quantum systems. This study greatly breaks the record of the number of truly entangled bits in a quantum system from 24 to 51, which fully demonstrates the excellent scalability of superconducting quantum computing systems, and is of great significance for the study of many-body quantum entanglement, the realization of large-scale quantum algorithms, and measurement-based quantum computing. The relevant results were published online in the journal Nature on July 12, and were selected as the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in China in 2023" selected by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The development history of the number of bits in quantum true entanglement
Image source: University of Science and Technology of China
75. Bose coding error correction prolongs the life of qubits
Theoretically, quantum computers have computing power that surpasses that of classical computers, but they are prone to quantum decoherence after noise interference, resulting in an error rate at least ten orders of magnitude higher than that of classical computers. Quantum error correction is an important way to solve this problem, and the coherence lifetime of a protected logical qubit is exceeded by quantum encoding, which exceeds the coherence lifetime of the best physical bits in quantum circuits. At this point, it means that the error correction process has gone beyond the break-even point of quantum entanglement, which is a necessary condition for building logical qubits. However, the quantum state is unclonable, and the quantum computer cannot correct the error through backup, and the quantum error correction process will introduce new errors, resulting in the accumulation of errors, and even the situation of more and more errors. Based on the Bose-coded quantum error correction scheme, the Chinese research team has developed a low-error rate cosmic symmetry detection technology based on frequency comb control, which greatly extends the coherence lifetime of logical qubits, and the break-even point reaches 16%, achieving quantum error correction gain. This achievement is an important achievement on the road to fault-tolerant quantum computing, and was selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science in 2023".
76. The construction of the quantum computing prototype "Jiuzhan No. 3" set a new world record in optical quantum information technology
The Chinese research team successfully built a 255-photon quantum computing prototype "Jiuzhan No. 3", which once again set a new world record in optical quantum information technology, and researchers designed a new photon detection method for spatiotemporal demultiplexing, and built a high-fidelity quasi-photon number resolution detector, which improved the level of photon manipulation and the complexity of quantum computing. According to the officially published optimal classical accurate sampling algorithm, the processing speed of Gaussian boson sampling is 1 million times faster than that of the previous generation Jiuzhan 2. The highest complexity of samples processed by Jiuzhan 3 in a millionth of a second would have taken more than 20 billion years for Frontier, the most powerful supercomputer available today. This achievement further consolidates Continental's leading position in the field of optical quantum computing. This achievement further consolidates Continental's leading position in the field of optical quantum computing. This achievement further consolidates Continental's leading position in the field of optical quantum computing. This achievement further consolidates Continental's leading position in the field of optical quantum computing.
Schematic diagram of the experimental device of the quantum computing prototype "Jiuzhan No. 3".
Source: University of Science and Technology of China
77. The first microwave-based quantum radar
French scientists have succeeded in developing the first microwave-based quantum radar, which has 20% higher performance than existing conventional radars, achieving so-called "quantum superiority". The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Physics. This research result is of great significance for the development of the field of microwave quantum metrology, and is expected to bring revolutionary changes to radar sensing technology in the future. Quantum radar is a new type of radar system that uses the principles of quantum mechanics for information transmission and processing. Compared with traditional radar systems, quantum radar has higher sensitivity and accuracy, which can achieve long-range and higher-resolution target detection and tracking. The microwave-based quantum radar developed in this research achieves quantum superiority in the microwave frequency band, bringing new possibilities to the field of microwave quantum metrology. The key to achieving quantum superiority lies in the development of superconducting circuits. A superconducting circuit is a circuit capable of entanglement, storage, and manipulation of microwave quantum states, and can count the number of photons in a microwave field. In this study, scientists have invented a new type of superconducting circuit, which can achieve quantum superiority in the microwave frequency band, which provides strong support for the research and development of microwave quantum radar.
The application prospects of quantum radar are very wide. In addition to its applications in the military field, quantum radar can also be applied to civilian fields, such as aerospace, transportation, environmental monitoring, and more. For example, in the field of aerospace, quantum radar can achieve high-precision target detection and tracking, providing strong support for the safety control of aircraft, and in the field of environmental monitoring, quantum radar can achieve high-precision detection and monitoring of air pollution sources, providing a scientific basis for environmental protection. The study was published in the journal Nature Physics.
Optical images of superconducting circuits are at the heart of quantum radar experiments
Source: École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
78. Two quantum light sources realize quantum entanglement for the first time
In a paper published in the journal Science, Danish and German scientists have worked together to solve a problem that has puzzled quantum scientists for years – for the first time, two quantum light sources can be controlled at the same time on two nanochips and made to achieve quantum mechanical entanglement. The latest advances are critical for breakthrough applications of quantum hardware, will facilitate the development of quantum technology to a higher level, and are a key step in accelerating the "quantization" of computers, encryption, and the Internet, and will open the door to commercial exploitation of quantum technology. Researchers have been working on the development of stable quantum light sources and the realization of quantum mechanical entanglement, that is, two quantum light sources can affect each other immediately and over long distances. Entanglement is the foundation of quantum networks and the core of developing efficient quantum computers.
79. For the first time, arbitrary sons were "manufactured" on quantum processors
For the first time, the American quantum computing company has "fabricated" anyon on a quantum processor, which is expected to promote the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers. The researchers used a new quantum processor called H2, which uses ytterbium and barium ions to create qubits through magnetic fields and laser capture. The research team weaved these qubits into a cage pattern (a network of interlaced triangles) and obtained that the quantum mechanical properties of the qubits are the same as those of the predicted anyon, which is the topological quantum state that physicists have been looking for for a long time. The findings have been published in journals such as Nature and Quantum Physics.
80. The first computer with over 1000 qubits came out
American quantum computer manufacturers have developed the world's first quantum computer capable of running 1,000 qubits, breaking the previous record of 433 qubits set by IBM's Osprey, which may help improve the accuracy of quantum computers. This quantum computer with ultra-thousand qubits uses a very special and innovative technology: the neutral atom . A neutral atom is a type of atom that has no electric charge and can be trapped within a two-dimensional grid by a laser and control over its state and interaction is achieved by adjusting the laser intensity and frequency. In this way, each neutral atom can act as a qubit, and the entire grid can act as a quantum computer. The research team noted that although a higher number of qubits does not necessarily mean better machine performance, any future fault-tolerant quantum computer will require at least tens of thousands of dedicated error-correcting qubits to work with programmable qubits.
81. The most logical qubit computers have been developed so far
The new quantum computer built by the American company Quantum Computing has the largest number of logical qubits ever made – 48, more than 10 times the number of previous logical qubits. Unlike standard qubits, logical qubits are more fault-tolerant. Scientists use the force of lasers and magnets to cool thousands of rubidium atoms in a vacuum container to near absolute zero, making the quantum properties of the atoms stand out at their best. Subsequently, they again irradiated the atoms with lasers to precisely control their quantum states. They created 280 qubits from atoms, and then used another laser pulse to entangle one of the qubits (e.g., seven qubits at a time) to make a single logical qubit. With this approach, researchers can make up to 48 logical qubits at a time, more than 10 times the previous number. The research team implemented several computer operations on the new quantum computer to test the performance of logic qubits, and found that they were more fault-tolerant. The team estimates that a fully fault-tolerant or error-free quantum computer will require thousands of logical qubits. This achievement is an important step towards building a practical quantum computer, and the paper was published in the journal Nature.
QuEra's new quantum computer is a key step towards building a practical quantum computer
Image source: New Scientist website
82. Excitons were detected for the first time in topological insulators
For the first time, a German research team has detected excitons (electrically neutral quasiparticles) in topological insulators. This discovery is attributed to the intelligent material design in Würzburg, the birthplace of topological insulators, which can achieve lossless conduction of electric current and powerful information storage, and are expected to be candidates for new materials for quantum technology in the future. A qubit is a unit of computing for a quantum chip. Using light instead of voltage allows quantum chips to be processed much faster. As a result, the latest discoveries pave the way for the development of a new generation of light-driven devices for the future in quantum technology and microelectronics. Excitons are electron quasiparticles that appear to be separate particles, and they are also an excited electronic state that can only be obtained in certain types of quantum matter. Their topological insulating layer contains three excitons (pairs consisting of one electron and one electron hole). Because of the atomic structure of the honeycomb, electrons cannot just flow along the edges. Excitons have been used in other 2D semiconductors and are being regarded as light-driven information carriers for the first time. The interaction between light and excitons means that we can predict new phenomena in such materials, such as qubits. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
83. The first measurement of electron spin in a quantum material
For the first time, an international team of researchers has successfully measured the electron spin in a new class of quantum materials, an achievement that is expected to revolutionize the way quantum materials are studied in the future, opening up new avenues for the development of quantum technology and finding applications in many fields such as renewable energy, biomedicine, electronics, quantum computers, and many others. Electron spin is one of the fundamental properties of electrons, which refers to the curvature of electrons moving through space. In the latest study, researchers from Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States have successfully measured the spin of electrons in a new and promising topological quantum "kagome" material for the first time through advanced experimental techniques, using the light generated by the particle accelerator synchrotron and with the help of modern techniques for modeling the behavior of matter, which is also the first time that scientists have measured the electron spin related to the concept of topology. "Kagome" refers to a traditional woven bamboo pattern, which means a woven eyelet pattern. In the latest study, to measure the spin of electrons in the "cage material", the researchers used a special effect called circular dichroism, a special experimental technique that can only be used with synchrotron light sources, taking advantage of the material's ability to absorb different light based on different polarizations. Using a powerful supercomputer, theoretical researchers were able to achieve complex quantum simulations, which were used by the experimental team to achieve measurements. The results of the research on "Kagome Materials" will help people to understand more about the special magnetic, topological and superconducting properties of these materials, and open up a new path for the research of quantum materials and quantum mechanics. The research paper has been published in the journal Nature Physics.
The left side is the experimental results, and the middle and right sides are the theoretical modeling. Red and blue indicate the velocity of the electron.
Source: University of Bologna, Italy
84. The entangled quantum light source is integrated on the chip
For the first time, an international scientific research team composed of German and Dutch scientists has fully integrated a quantum light source that can emit entangled photons on a chip, reducing the size of the quantum light source to less than 1/1000 of the current device, achieving longer stability, scalability, and large-scale production, which is expected to become a basic component of programmable optical quantum processors and reduce the cost of quantum technology applications. The core of this new quantum light source is the use of a polarization generator in a microcavity to realize the generation and control of light source entanglement. Through sophisticated optical design and microfabrication techniques, scientists were able to integrate a polarization generator on a chip, resulting in a separate and efficient light source. Compared to traditional light sources, this new quantum light source is more stable and scalable, able to remain entangled over longer time intervals, and can be mass-produced on the chip, significantly reducing the cost required. The experimental results show that the quantum light source has a high and stable entangled light yield and a long entanglement time on the chip, which can lay the foundation for quantum information processing and expand the application prospects in the fields of quantum computer and quantum communication. The study was published in the journal Nature Photonics.
85. A new generation of 6G terahertz waves
The South Korean research team has developed a technology that can generate terahertz waves (THz) with a stability of 1/1000 trillion, which can be used as a 6G mobile communication frequency band, suitable for the new generation of 6G wireless communication, quantum spectroscopy technology and other fields. The research team extracted and synthesized two lasers from the femtosecond laser optical frequency comb with a time standard of 1 gigabit of stability to generate terahertz waves, and experimentally verified the stability of the time standard level (1 part per gigadigone) in all frequency bands. This technology achieves the highest level of optical clock stability in the terahertz band, and the resulting terahertz waves can be modulated in real time with accuracy at the millihertz (mHz) level. The findings were published in Nature Communications.
86. Standard optical fiber data transmission set a record for the fastest
A joint international team has set a new record for the industry-standard fibre transmission speed: up to 1.7 petabytes per second on 67 kilometers of fiber. The new fibers comply with global standards, so they can be used without major infrastructure modifications. At the same time, the latest methods use fewer digital processes, significantly reducing the power required to transmit each byte of data. Researchers say that one petabyte is equivalent to 1 million gigabytes, and today's home internet connections are lucky to reach speeds of 1 gigabyte per second. As a result, the latest research means that a single hair-thick fiber can carry more than 1 million home Internet connections at full speed, and there is still room for it. The technology has far-reaching implications and can be used in a wide range of applications, including finding planets orbiting distant stars, detecting disease, identifying damage to sewage pipes, and more.
Figure: 19-core optical fiber
Source: NICT
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intelligent
87、OpenAI正式发布GPT-4
OpenAI has released GPT-4, a multimodal pre-trained large model, which is a multimodal large model (accepting image and text input, generating text). GPT-4 can solve puzzles more accurately than the previous generation, with a wider range of common sense and problem-solving skills: more creative and collaborative, and the ability to process more than 25,000 words of text, allowing for use cases such as long-form content creation, extended conversations, and document search and analysis. In addition, GPT-4's advanced reasoning capabilities surpass ChatGPT. In the vast majority of professional tests such as the SAT and related academic benchmark evaluations, GPT-4 scores higher than ChatGPT. OpenAI spent 6 months making GPT-4 safer and more consistent. In internal assessments, GPT-4 was 82% less likely to respond to disallowed content and 40% more likely to give a factual response than GPT-3.5. GPT-4 introduces more human feedback data for training, constantly drawing lessons from real-world use to improve. The release of GPT-4 is a milestone in the application of artificial intelligence, which can achieve more and more functions, and may become a handy tool for humans in the future. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten News of Scientific and Technological Progress in the World" by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
88. For the first time, artificial intelligence has successfully generated raw proteins from zero
U.S. researchers have created an artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of generating artificial enzymes from scratch. In laboratory tests, some of these enzymes are as effective as those found in nature, despite the fact that the artificially generated amino acid sequences differ significantly from any known natural protein. The experiment shows that natural language processing, although developed for reading and writing language texts, can learn at least some basic principles of biology. Salesforce Research has developed an AI program called ProGen that assembles amino acid sequences into artificial proteins using the next marker prediction. Scientists say the new technology could be more powerful than the Nobel Prize-winning protein design technique directed evolution and will breathe life into the 50-year-old field of protein engineering by accelerating the development of new proteins that can be used for almost anything from therapeutics to degrading plastics. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World" by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
89. Artificial intelligence models bring new breakthroughs to accurate weather forecasting
Huawei's team has made new breakthroughs in the field of weather forecasting. Based on artificial intelligence methods, the researchers built a three-dimensional deep neural network model, called the Pangea Meteorological Model. The large model surpasses the traditional numerical method in the prediction accuracy of some meteorological elements, and the reasoning efficiency is improved by tens of thousands of times. On the global high-resolution reanalysis data, the Pangu meteorological model has achieved more accurate prediction results in important weather elements such as temperature, air pressure, humidity, and wind speed, and improved the forecast time of the world's most advanced European Meteorological Center Integrated Forecasting System by about 0.6 days. The research results were selected as one of the "Top Ten Advances in Chinese Science in 2023".
After using 40 years of weather data and model training, AI can now predict the path of hurricanes with astonishing accuracy
来源:ALEX GERST/NASA
90. The advent of the era of exascale supercomputing
The U.S. Frontier computer became the first recognized exascale computer to be opened to scientific users, solving challenges in fields ranging from climate to materials at a rate of 10 exascale operations per second. With Frontier, researchers were able to combine two theoretical frameworks to predict the behavior of up to 600,000 electrons in a material with near-perfect accuracy, compared to about 1,000 electrons that previous calculations could only process. This allowed the team to simulate the formation, growth, and movement of defects in magnesium alloys, a development that could help advance the development of ultra-light materials for more energy-efficient cars and aircraft. Researchers also used Frontier to improve the resolution of the U.S. Department of Energy's global climate model. This is the first-ever physical model that can be integrated into the formation of clouds across the Earth, and this progress is expected to greatly improve weather predictions. The exploration of supercomputing has only just begun. Next year, new exascale supercomputers are expected to come online in California and Germany, followed by other supercomputers in France and Japan, opening the doors of science on an unprecedented scale. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
Exascale computers like Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Frontier in the United States have brought unprecedented computing power to many fields of science
来源：Oak Ridge National Laboratory
91. The world's first non-human primate interventional brain-computer interface experiment
On May 4, 2023, the world's first non-human primate interventional brain-computer interface trial was successfully conducted in Beijing. This experiment realized an interventional brain-computer interface brain-controlled robotic arm in the monkey brain, marking that the mainland brain-computer interface technology has become one of the world's leading ranks. This experiment is a further achievement on the basis of the previous interventional brain-computer interface animal (sheep) experiment, which realizes the technological leap of interventional EEG signal from passive acquisition to active control, and breaks through the core technologies such as intravascular EEG signal acquisition and interventional EEG signal recognition. Brain-computer interface technology can convert EEG signals into control commands, thereby helping patients with motor dysfunction (such as stroke, ALS, etc.) to interact with external devices and improve their quality of life. In the process of research on this technology, it was found that invasive brain-computer interfaces are highly traumatic, for example, many monkeys have died in the invasive brain-computer interface test monkeys of Musk in the United States, and non-invasive brain-computer interfaces are susceptible to the influence of cerebral volume conductor effect, and the long-term stability of EEG signals is poor. The interventional brain-computer interface developed by the Chinese research team attaches the interventional EEG sensor to the blood vessel wall of the monkey brain through interventional surgery, and can collect intracranial EEG signals without craniotomy, which takes into account the safety and recognition stability compared with the traditional invasive and non-invasive brain-computer interface.
The research team is conducting an intervention brain-computer interface control robotic arm trial
Source: Nankai University
92. Neural networks design new proteins
Proteins have always been difficult to model, especially when people want to "do it the other way around"—translating the desired function into a protein structure—which is a difficult challenge. U.S. researchers announced in August 2023 that attention neural networks will be combined with graph neural networks to better understand and design proteins. This approach combines the two advantages of geometric deep learning with language models to not only predict the properties of existing proteins, but also to envision new proteins that have not yet been designed in nature. The new model recombines the building blocks of nature by modeling the fundamentals and taking everything that nature has invented as the foundation. When the team trained the model, they predicted the sequence, solubility, and amino acid components of different proteins based on their function. Then, after receiving the initial parameters for the function of the new protein, the model unleashed its creativity and generated entirely new structures.
Visualization example of designing protein biomaterials
Credit: Markus Buehler / Journal of Applied Physics
93. AI analog chips
Research published in Nature on August 23, 2023, reports on an artificial intelligence (AI) analog chip that is 14 times more energy efficient than traditional digital computer chips. This technology may be able to break through the bottlenecks encountered in current AI development due to insufficient computing performance and low efficiency. The research team has developed a 14nm analog chip containing 35 million phase-varying memory cells in 34 tiles. The research team tested the efficiency of the chip in terms of language processing capabilities with two speech recognition software, one for a small network (Google voice commands) and one for a large network (Librispeech speech recognition), and compared them with industry standards for natural language processing tasks. The performance and accuracy of small networks are comparable to current digital technologies. For the larger Librispeech model, the chip can achieve 12.4 trillion operations per watt per second, and the system performance is estimated to be up to 14 times that of traditional general-purpose processors.
A 14nm analog AI chip on a detection plate
Source: Rainne Levine/Nature
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Ecological energy, transportation and construction projects
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Ecology and energy
94. The world's largest experimental nuclear fusion reactor began operation
The JT-60SA nuclear fusion reactor, jointly built and operated by Europe and Japan, was officially put into operation. The JT-60SA is a tokamak device located in Japan, 15.5 meters high and capable of holding 135 cubic meters of plasma. Before the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) was built, it was currently the world's largest fusion reactor. Nuclear fusion is the process by which light atomic nuclei (such as deuterium and tritium) combine to form heavier nuclei while emitting enormous amounts of energy, with abundant raw materials and no polluting emissions. Therefore, controlled nuclear fusion has always been regarded as an important way out for mankind to solve the energy problem, and is regarded as the "ultimate energy source" for mankind. At present, there are three main technical routes of controllable nuclear fusion, namely gravitational field confinement nuclear fusion, laser inertial confinement nuclear fusion and magnetic confinement nuclear fusion. Among them, the current research devices of magnetic confinement nuclear fusion include tokamaks, stellarators, reverse field pinching and magnetic mirrors. Known as the "artificial sun", the center of the device is a circular vacuum chamber with coils wound around the outside, and when energized, a huge spiral-shaped magnetic field is generated inside, and the plasma in it is heated to a very high temperature to achieve the purpose of nuclear fusion. The JT-60SA uses only hydrogen and deuterium to carry out ionic control experiments, with the goal of heating the gas to 200 million degrees Celsius to become plasma, which is then confined to the plasma for about 100 seconds using a powerful magnet system consisting of 28 superconducting coils. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in the World in 2023" selected by the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
95. The world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant was put into operation
On December 6, 2023, China's world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant with completely independent intellectual property rights, the Huaneng Shidaowan High-temperature Gas-cooled Reactor Nuclear Power Plant Demonstration Project, was officially put into operation at a stable electric power level and transferred to commercial operation, marking that the mainland has taken a global leading position in the field of high-temperature gas-cooled reactor nuclear power technology. At present, there are more than 2,200 sets of first equipment and more than 600 sets of innovative equipment in the Shidaowan high-temperature gas-cooled reactor nuclear power plant, and the localization rate of equipment has reached 93.4%. The commercial operation and commissioning of nuclear power plants is of great significance and positive impact on promoting the safe development of nuclear power in the mainland and enhancing the innovation capacity of nuclear power science and technology in the mainland. This achievement was selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Progress News in China in 2023" selected by academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Exterior view of Huaneng Shidaowan high-temperature gas-cooled reactor nuclear power plant demonstration project
Image source: China Huaneng, photo by Sun Wenzhan
96. The craze for finding natural hydrogen sources
In 2023, we are witnessing the beginning of an energy boom. Unlike oil, the boom is based on naturally occurring hydrogen in the Earth's interior, a gas that could be an antidote to the climate, not a poison. Exploration teams are now finding signs of significant hydrogen reserves on every continent except Antarctica. In September, the United States launched a research consortium and a $20 million natural hydrogen research and development program. At the same time, an unpublished study by an American research institute suggests that there may be 1 trillion tons of hydrogen stored on Earth, enough to meet the growing demand for fuel and fertilizer for thousands of years to come. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
The lidar map off the coast of North Carolina in the United States has a circular depression several kilometers wide, which may contain hydrogen leakage from the ground
来源:Viacheslav Zgonnik; JAMES CAVALLINI/SCIENCE SOURCE
97. The earth's carbon pump is slowing down
In 2023, the Antarctic bottom was found to be warmer and less in size, two signs that ocean currents are slowing down and allowing warmer bodies of water above to invade. More direct evidence comes from a study published in March 2023 in the journal Communications Earth and Environment. The researchers fed limited records of historical vessel measurements in the region into climate models, and the results showed that the circulation velocity had slowed by as much as 20 percent since the '70s. Then, in May, a study published in Nature Climate Change used measurements from boats and buoys to conclude that deep water currents slowed by nearly 30% from 1992 to 2017. The research results were selected as one of the "Top 10 Breakthroughs of Science" in 2023.
The dense salty waters of the Weddell Sea help to circulate water deeper in the Southern Ocean. However, glacial meltwater from Antarctica appears to be slowing down the flow of ocean currents.
来源:A. Trayler-Smith/Greenpeace/Panos/Redux
98. The world's first full-link full-system ground verification system for space solar power stations was completed and put into use
Space Solar Power Plant (SSPS) is one of the ultimate answers to the energy crisis and sustainable development. On November 30, 2023, Engineering, the flagship journal of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, systematically reported on the day-by-day project completed by the Chinese scientific research team - the world's first full-link, full-system SSPS ground verification system Omega SSPS. SSPS innovative design schemes, theoretical innovations, technological breakthroughs, engineering implementations and experimental results. The long-distance high-power microwave wireless energy transmission efficiency (distance 55m, transmission 2081 watts, beam collection efficiency 87.3%, DC-DC transmission efficiency 15.05%) and power-to-quality ratio are world-leading. The long-distance high-power microwave wireless energy transmission technology that has been broken through in the daily project has broad application prospects. In space, it can help build space energy networks and space charging piles, and solve the power supply problems of space computing power, on-board information processing, space attack and defense, and ultra-long-range detection. In land, sea and air, it can provide wireless power supply for airships, drone swarms, marine mobile platforms, disasters and remote areas.
99. For the first time, hydrogen-boron fusion experiments were realized in magnetic confinement fusion plasma
Japanese and American scientists have joined forces to achieve the first hydrogen-boron fusion experiment in a magnetically confinement fusion plasma. Although the latest test did not produce a net energy gain, it demonstrated the feasibility of neutron-free nuclear fusion, making it possible to make cleaner fusion reactors, the research team said. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications. Scientists carried out hydrogen-boron fusion in a large helical device and, with the help of detectors, measured the product of the reaction: helium nuclei (α particles). The research team believes that hydrogen-boron is the cleanest and most cost-competitive fusion fuel because it is not only rich in raw materials, but also "enables the concept of a cleaner fusion reactor with only three α particles of reaction products." The research team noted that the compact linear device they designed uses an advanced accelerator beam drive field inversion (FRC). FRC is versatile and adapts to all currently available fusion fuels, including hydrogen-boron, deuterium-tritium, and deuterium-helium-3, among others. The device has a compact footprint and has the potential to utilize a more efficient method of magnetic confinement. The new method will achieve up to 100 times the power output compared to tokamak units. The research team pointed out that the latest study did not produce a net energy gain, but it demonstrated the feasibility of neutron-free fusion and the potential of hydrogen-boron fusion reactions. Although the challenge of building a hydrogen-boron fusion core is greater than that of deuterium-tritium, the engineering of the reactor will be much simpler. It is expected that the net energy gain will be demonstrated on its next reactor, Copernicus, around 2025, and the first hydrogen-boron fusion power plant will be built and connected to the grid in the 30s of this century.
TAE's Norman reactor
Source: TAE Corporation
In the twisted "gut" of Japan's large spiral plant, trillions of hydrogen-boron fusion reactions occur every second
Source: National Institute of Scientific Research, Japan/SCIENCE SOURCE
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Construction works
100. Constitute the world's largest clean energy corridor
Located on the main stream of the lower reaches of the Jinsha River in China, the Baihetan Hydropower Station is a 300-meter-class ultra-high concrete double-curved arch dam, which is the first in the world to use low-heat cement concrete. The power station installed the world's first batch of 16 hydro-generator units with a single capacity of one million kilowatts, leading the hydropower generation into a new era of single million kilowatts. The Baihetan Hydropower Station, along with the Three Gorges Project, the Gezhouba Project, the Wudongde Hydropower Station, the Xiluodu Hydropower Station and the Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station, constitute the world's largest clean energy corridor spanning 1,800 kilometers on the Yangtze River in China.
Li Wan, Director of the Science and Technology Development Department of the Shanghai Academy of Sciences, Researcher, Zou Yun (Shanghai Academy of Sciences), Qi Xin (Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences).
Source | Three Thinkers