The following
scientific events occurred or are scheduled to occur in
2024.
Events
January
2 January – The
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) publishes its JRA-55 dataset, confirming 2023 as the warmest year on record globally, at 1.43 °C (2.57 °F) above the 1850–1900 baseline. This is 0.14 °C (0.25 °F) above the previous record set in 2016.[1][full citation needed]
Scientists report the
extinction of Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest
primate to ever inhabit the Earth, that lived between 2 million and 350,000 years ago, was largely due to the inability of the ape to adapt to a diet better suited to a significantly changed environment.[12][13]
11 January
Biologists report the discovery of the oldest known
skin, fossilized about 289 million years ago, and possibly the skin from an ancient reptile.[14][15]
A
graphene-based implant on the surface of mouse brains, in combination with a two-photon microscope, is shown to capture high-resolution information on neural activity at depths of 250 micrometers.[19]
A review of genetic data from 21 studies with nearly one million participants finds more than 50 new genetic loci and 205 novel genes associated with
depression, opening potential targets for drugs to treat depression.[20]
12 January
Global warming: 2023 is confirmed as the hottest year on record by several science agencies.[21]
NASA reports a figure of 1.4 degrees Celsius above the late 19th century average, when modern record-keeping began.[22]
NOAA reports a figure of 1.35 degrees Celsius.[23]
17 January – A study in Nature finds that the
Greenland ice sheet is melting 20% faster than previous estimates, due to the effects of calving-front retreat. The current loss of 30m tonnes of ice an hour is "sufficient to affect ocean circulation and the distribution of heat energy around the globe."[29][30][31]
18 January
NASA reports the end of the Ingenuity helicopter's operation, after 72 successful flights on
Mars, due to a broken rotor blade.[32][33]
A potential candidate for the first known radio
pulsar-
black hole binary is reported by astronomers. The heavier of the two lies in the "mass gap" between neutron stars and black holes. The pair are located in the
globular clusterNGC 1851.[34][35]
Two insect-like
robots, a mini-bug and a water strider, are reported by
Washington State University as being the smallest, lightest, and fastest fully-functional micro-robots ever created.[36]
Bottom trawling is found to release 340 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere each year, nearly 1 per cent of all global CO2 emissions.[37][38]
19 January – Japan becomes the fifth country to achieve a soft landing on the
Moon, with its
SLIM mission.[39][40]
24 January – The discovery of 85
exoplanet candidates based on data from the
TESS observatory is reported by the
University of Warwick. All have orbital periods of between 20 and 700 days, with temperatures similar to those of our own
Solar System planets.[43]
A robotic sensor able to read
braille with 87.5% accuracy and at twice the speed of a human is demonstrated by the
University of Cambridge.[48]
31 January – NASA reports the discovery of a
super-Earth called TOI-715 b, located in the
habitable zone of a red dwarf star about 137 light-years away.[49]
A battery based on
calcium, able to charge and discharge fully 700 times at room temperature, is presented by scientists at
Fudan University in China. It is described as a potential alternative to
lithium, being 2,500 times more abundant on Earth.[60][61]
19 February – Astronomers announce the most luminous object ever discovered, quasar
QSO J0529-4351, located 12 billion light years away in the constellation
Pictor.[66]
20 February – The
northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayima), a new species of the giant snake, is described for the first time.[67]
4 March – Astronomers report that the surface of
Europa, moon of the planet
Jupiter, may have much less
oxygen than previously inferred, suggesting that the moon has a less hospitable environment for the existence of
lifeforms than may have been considered earlier.[75][76]
9 March – Biochemists report making an
RNA molecule that was able to make accurate copies of a different type of RNA molecule, moving closer to an RNA that could make accurate copies of itself, and, as a result, providing support for an
RNA world that may have been an essential way of starting the
origin of life.[78]
12 March – Geologists identify a 2.4-million-year cycle in deep-sea sedimentary data, caused by an orbital interaction between Earth and Mars.[79][80]
14 March –
SpaceX successfully launches the
Starship spacecraft, but loses the rocket upon re-entering the atmosphere.[82]
19 March – Scientists at
Brown University demonstrate a wireless network of 78 tiny sensors able to gather data from the brain, with potential to be scaled up to thousands of such devices.[83]
20 March – The removal of
HIV from infected cells using
CRISPR gene-editing technology is reported by a team from the
University of Amsterdam.[84]
27 March – The
Event Horizon Telescope team confirms that strong
magnetic fields are spiralling at the edge of the Milky Way’s central black hole,
Sagittarius A*. A new image released by the team, similar to
M87*, suggests that strong magnetic fields may be common to all
black holes.[85]
1 April – An entirely new class of
antibiotics with potent activity against multi-
drug resistant bacteria is discovered. These compounds target a protein called LpxH, and are shown to cure bloodstream infections in mice.[88][89]
4 April – A study in Nature finds that
global CO2 emissions increased by only 0.1% in 2023, suggesting that a plateau may have been reached.[91]
5 April – A numerical toolkit designed for modelling
warp drivespacetimes is released by Applied Physics.[92]
9 April – A rare genetic variation in a gene that makes
fibronectin is shown to reduce the odds of developing
Alzheimer's disease by over 70%.[93]
12 April
Biologists report that
bonobos behave more aggressively than thought earlier.[94][95]
Scientists report studies suggesting that
tardigrades are protected from massive radiation exposure and damage by unique biochemicals, particularly, the
Dsup protein.[96][97]
16 April – Scientists at the
Riken institute demonstrate "advanced dual-chirped optical parametric amplification", which provides a 50-fold increase in the energy of single-cycle
laser pulses. This new technique may advance the development of
attosecond lasers.[100]
23 April – The world's largest
3D printer, dubbed Factory of the Future 1.0 (FoF 1.0), is presented by the
University of Maine. Using
thermoplastic polymers, the machine can print objects as large as 96 feet (29 m) long by 32 feet (9.8 m) wide by 18 feet (5.5 m) high, at a rate of 500 pounds (230 kg) per hour.[101][102]
24 April – Demonstration of
synthetic diamond created at 1 atmosphere of pressure in around 150 minutes without needing seeds.[103][104]
US: Various requested changes to budgets of science-related US institutions have been described with some information about the respective planned research programs.[109][110]
^Osmanov, Z.N. (7 February 2024). "The possibility of panspermia in the deep cosmos by means of the planetary dust grains".
arXiv:2402.04990 [
astro-ph.EP].
^Gong, Yan; Luo, Da; Choe, Myeonggi; Kim, Yongchul; Ram, Babu; Zafari, Mohammad; Seong, Won Kyung; Bakharev, Pavel; Wang, Meihui; Park, In Kee; Lee, Seulyi; Shin, Tae Joo; Lee, Zonghoon; Lee, Geunsik;
Ruoff, Rodney S. (24 April 2024). "Growth of diamond in liquid metal at 1 atm pressure". Nature.
doi:
10.1038/s41586-024-07339-7.
The following
scientific events occurred or are scheduled to occur in
2024.
Events
January
2 January – The
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) publishes its JRA-55 dataset, confirming 2023 as the warmest year on record globally, at 1.43 °C (2.57 °F) above the 1850–1900 baseline. This is 0.14 °C (0.25 °F) above the previous record set in 2016.[1][full citation needed]
Scientists report the
extinction of Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest
primate to ever inhabit the Earth, that lived between 2 million and 350,000 years ago, was largely due to the inability of the ape to adapt to a diet better suited to a significantly changed environment.[12][13]
11 January
Biologists report the discovery of the oldest known
skin, fossilized about 289 million years ago, and possibly the skin from an ancient reptile.[14][15]
A
graphene-based implant on the surface of mouse brains, in combination with a two-photon microscope, is shown to capture high-resolution information on neural activity at depths of 250 micrometers.[19]
A review of genetic data from 21 studies with nearly one million participants finds more than 50 new genetic loci and 205 novel genes associated with
depression, opening potential targets for drugs to treat depression.[20]
12 January
Global warming: 2023 is confirmed as the hottest year on record by several science agencies.[21]
NASA reports a figure of 1.4 degrees Celsius above the late 19th century average, when modern record-keeping began.[22]
NOAA reports a figure of 1.35 degrees Celsius.[23]
17 January – A study in Nature finds that the
Greenland ice sheet is melting 20% faster than previous estimates, due to the effects of calving-front retreat. The current loss of 30m tonnes of ice an hour is "sufficient to affect ocean circulation and the distribution of heat energy around the globe."[29][30][31]
18 January
NASA reports the end of the Ingenuity helicopter's operation, after 72 successful flights on
Mars, due to a broken rotor blade.[32][33]
A potential candidate for the first known radio
pulsar-
black hole binary is reported by astronomers. The heavier of the two lies in the "mass gap" between neutron stars and black holes. The pair are located in the
globular clusterNGC 1851.[34][35]
Two insect-like
robots, a mini-bug and a water strider, are reported by
Washington State University as being the smallest, lightest, and fastest fully-functional micro-robots ever created.[36]
Bottom trawling is found to release 340 million tonnes of
carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere each year, nearly 1 per cent of all global CO2 emissions.[37][38]
19 January – Japan becomes the fifth country to achieve a soft landing on the
Moon, with its
SLIM mission.[39][40]
24 January – The discovery of 85
exoplanet candidates based on data from the
TESS observatory is reported by the
University of Warwick. All have orbital periods of between 20 and 700 days, with temperatures similar to those of our own
Solar System planets.[43]
A robotic sensor able to read
braille with 87.5% accuracy and at twice the speed of a human is demonstrated by the
University of Cambridge.[48]
31 January – NASA reports the discovery of a
super-Earth called TOI-715 b, located in the
habitable zone of a red dwarf star about 137 light-years away.[49]
A battery based on
calcium, able to charge and discharge fully 700 times at room temperature, is presented by scientists at
Fudan University in China. It is described as a potential alternative to
lithium, being 2,500 times more abundant on Earth.[60][61]
19 February – Astronomers announce the most luminous object ever discovered, quasar
QSO J0529-4351, located 12 billion light years away in the constellation
Pictor.[66]
20 February – The
northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayima), a new species of the giant snake, is described for the first time.[67]
4 March – Astronomers report that the surface of
Europa, moon of the planet
Jupiter, may have much less
oxygen than previously inferred, suggesting that the moon has a less hospitable environment for the existence of
lifeforms than may have been considered earlier.[75][76]
9 March – Biochemists report making an
RNA molecule that was able to make accurate copies of a different type of RNA molecule, moving closer to an RNA that could make accurate copies of itself, and, as a result, providing support for an
RNA world that may have been an essential way of starting the
origin of life.[78]
12 March – Geologists identify a 2.4-million-year cycle in deep-sea sedimentary data, caused by an orbital interaction between Earth and Mars.[79][80]
14 March –
SpaceX successfully launches the
Starship spacecraft, but loses the rocket upon re-entering the atmosphere.[82]
19 March – Scientists at
Brown University demonstrate a wireless network of 78 tiny sensors able to gather data from the brain, with potential to be scaled up to thousands of such devices.[83]
20 March – The removal of
HIV from infected cells using
CRISPR gene-editing technology is reported by a team from the
University of Amsterdam.[84]
27 March – The
Event Horizon Telescope team confirms that strong
magnetic fields are spiralling at the edge of the Milky Way’s central black hole,
Sagittarius A*. A new image released by the team, similar to
M87*, suggests that strong magnetic fields may be common to all
black holes.[85]
1 April – An entirely new class of
antibiotics with potent activity against multi-
drug resistant bacteria is discovered. These compounds target a protein called LpxH, and are shown to cure bloodstream infections in mice.[88][89]
4 April – A study in Nature finds that
global CO2 emissions increased by only 0.1% in 2023, suggesting that a plateau may have been reached.[91]
5 April – A numerical toolkit designed for modelling
warp drivespacetimes is released by Applied Physics.[92]
9 April – A rare genetic variation in a gene that makes
fibronectin is shown to reduce the odds of developing
Alzheimer's disease by over 70%.[93]
12 April
Biologists report that
bonobos behave more aggressively than thought earlier.[94][95]
Scientists report studies suggesting that
tardigrades are protected from massive radiation exposure and damage by unique biochemicals, particularly, the
Dsup protein.[96][97]
16 April – Scientists at the
Riken institute demonstrate "advanced dual-chirped optical parametric amplification", which provides a 50-fold increase in the energy of single-cycle
laser pulses. This new technique may advance the development of
attosecond lasers.[100]
23 April – The world's largest
3D printer, dubbed Factory of the Future 1.0 (FoF 1.0), is presented by the
University of Maine. Using
thermoplastic polymers, the machine can print objects as large as 96 feet (29 m) long by 32 feet (9.8 m) wide by 18 feet (5.5 m) high, at a rate of 500 pounds (230 kg) per hour.[101][102]
24 April – Demonstration of
synthetic diamond created at 1 atmosphere of pressure in around 150 minutes without needing seeds.[103][104]
US: Various requested changes to budgets of science-related US institutions have been described with some information about the respective planned research programs.[109][110]
^Osmanov, Z.N. (7 February 2024). "The possibility of panspermia in the deep cosmos by means of the planetary dust grains".
arXiv:2402.04990 [
astro-ph.EP].
^Gong, Yan; Luo, Da; Choe, Myeonggi; Kim, Yongchul; Ram, Babu; Zafari, Mohammad; Seong, Won Kyung; Bakharev, Pavel; Wang, Meihui; Park, In Kee; Lee, Seulyi; Shin, Tae Joo; Lee, Zonghoon; Lee, Geunsik;
Ruoff, Rodney S. (24 April 2024). "Growth of diamond in liquid metal at 1 atm pressure". Nature.
doi:
10.1038/s41586-024-07339-7.