Top 10 Scientific Advancements and Discoveries of 2022

Organ shortage continues to be one of the most important issues in America, and xenotransplantation might be the answer to this shortage problem despite numerous risks and ethical concerns over the course of history. While there have been similar accomplishments regarding xenotransplantation in recent years, this heart transplant from a genetically-engineered pig managed to operate well without any signs of rejection in a 57-year-old man who was denied a regular transplant.

The heart of a pig is known to share many similarities with the human heart anatomically. Although the pig heart and the human heart are not identical, this transplantation faces the problem of rejection between the foreign organ and the human body. To counter this, some of the genes that initiate the process of rejection have to be "knocked out," and certain human genes designed for "immune acceptance" were applied in the genome. Although it is not guaranteed how this treatment will affect the patient in the future, this method enables the transplantation to succeed without rejection.

Could 2022 finally shed promising light for those with Alzheimer's disease? While it is not a permanent treatment, 2022 marked a breakthrough with a drug called lecanemab, specially designed to target beta-amyloid plaques widely thought to be the cause of Alzheimer's disease. According to the study, the drug slowed the progression of Alzheimer's symptoms by 27% among early-stage patients over 18 months. However, this drug comes with consequences, including side effects such as brain swelling. Though severe side effects are rare, the positives usually outweigh the negatives. Although considered a significant breakthrough, it is important to note that this drug is not designed for other forms of dementia.

After almost a year since its launch, the DART mission successfully impacted the asteroid Dimorphos using a method called "kinetic impact." A few weeks later, it was confirmed that Dimorphos' orbit had been successfully altered. According to NASA, the asteroid needed 11 hours and 55 minutes to orbit Didymos, which Dimorphos orbits. After DART's collision with Dimorphos, its orbit was shortened by 32 minutes. As of October 2022, the investigation is still ongoing, with the team focusing on the surface composition of the asteroid, including its impact and recoil from the collision. While the effect of the collision may seem small, this is the first major step toward defending our planet, as asteroids have long been a significant threat.

Deforestation is one of the main issues when dealing with climate change. With that in mind, researchers have developed 3D-printed wood grown in a lab to counter the effects of deforestation. The process started with researchers applying "stem cell-like properties" to plant cells. They applied cells from a common zinnia plant and kept them in liquid storage to cultivate them. This was followed by administering a gel substance rich in hormones and other nutrients. These chemicals, when manipulated, can change the structure of the modified wood depending on the concentration of the hormones.

With 3D bioprinting, researchers were able to control the cells using a structure from the printer. When the cells were left to grow in the dark, the growth process was found to be twice as fast as expected during the three-month incubation period. While this discovery is still in its infancy, it is a significant step toward creating wood without the concern of waste.

2022 also marks multiple new discoveries of some of the farthest galaxy candidates in the universe, one of the earliest being HD1, currently thought to be one of the farthest galaxies in the universe. It is reported to have a high redshift of 13.27, indicating that it is seen in a much earlier timeframe of the big bang - approximately 324 million years after the big bang, out of the 13.7 billion years of the age of the universe. It is said to be 13.46 billion light years away from Earth in light-travel distance, with a present proper distance exceeding 33.2 billion light years.

The most recent discovery of what would be the farthest galaxy is CEERS-93316, with a higher redshift of 16.7, indicating that this galaxy is observed 235.8 million years after the big bang. It was discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope, which is already breaking records for the farthest galaxy ever seen. The discovery of such galaxies is not just a race to find the farthest, but it also changes our perspectives on the origin of the universe and its first stars and galaxies.

As our timeline progresses, supercomputers have become more powerful. This is true with the most recent supercomputer, Frontier, being developed. It is the first supercomputer to operate with an average of 1.1 exaflops. This means that Frontier is capable of computing a quintillion calculations within a second. At its peak, it can operate at twice that speed, equivalent to 2 quintillion calculations per second. It is even more impressive that it only cost $600 million to create this project compared to the previous fastest supercomputer, Fugaku, which cost over a billion.

Frontier should not only be known for its sheer speed, but it is also capable of using its energy efficiently due to its cooling systems and the fact that it operates at 62.68 gigaflops per watt.

Over the years, cancer has become much easier to treat, although treatments like chemotherapy can destroy normal cells along the way.

However, there is good news. The most recent treatment, called CINDELA, developed on February 21, is designed to destroy cancerous cells without causing damage to normal cells. It uses CRISPR-Cas9 technology, genetic scissors, to remove the mutated double helices.

What's special about this treatment is that it effectively applies to all types of cancers, as it is capable of treating most tumors.

2022 also marked the significant discovery of a transparent columnar crystal named after the Chinese goddess of the moon. The crystal is approximately ten microns in size.

The importance of its discovery lies in the traces of helium-3 concentrated in its samples, making it a viable component for nuclear fusion due to its stable isotope despite having more protons than neutrons.

A downside is that helium-3 is considered very rare on Earth, but its rarity is not an issue on the moon, making it a very promising source for nuclear fusion. Overall, changesite could be a solid candidate for the development of fusion power.

The Large Hadron Collider has undergone a breakthrough discovery as it detected three particles that have never been seen before. This includes a new version of a pentaquark and a tetraquark - exotic particles comprised of five quarks and four quarks respectively. In recent decades, most discoveries of tetraquarks and pentaquarks have contained either a charm quark or its antiquark variant. However, this recent discovery consists of a pentaquark made up of a strange antiquark, a charm quark, a down quark, and an up quark, making this the first pentaquark to include a strange quark.

Another notable discovery is an open-charm tetraquark, which consists of a strange antiquark, an up quark, a down quark, and a charm quark, considered to be double electrically charged. This breakthrough discovery of these exotic particles provides insight into how exactly these particles are made and clarifies the theory of other conventional particles such as protons and neutrons, according to Professor Chris Parkes.

Researchers revealed an interesting discovery that Mercury might be a much more precious planet. Since the planet is covered in graphite, it is capable of forming diamonds whenever an asteroid strikes the surface.

Given Mercury's many craters, this means the surface is covered by an abundance of diamonds, up to a whopping 16 quadrillion tons. Such a large amount could disrupt the economy. However, these diamonds are not the same as those usually seen on Earth but are more of a mixture of minerals.

2022 marks an interesting discovery that worms can be attracted to cancerous cells. Researchers took advantage of this by integrating a device composed of worms.

By this discovery, researchers situated the two types of cells - cancerous and normal - in a petri dish. They discovered that worms are more attracted to the cancer cells than to the normal cells. This could be another reliable method of diagnosing cancer cells and other tumors.

Endurance was a ship built in 1912 that was set on a mission to sail through Antarctica in the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition. However, the mission failed as it was surrounded by ice and finally sank on November 21, 1915.

Over a century later, the Endurance ship was finally found on March 5, 2022. The shipwreck is peppered by a diverse group of sea life, but more surprisingly, the ship managed to stay in excellent condition and has been preserved as a historical site for the extensive study of marine life.

Ever since the 2019 imaging of a black hole, this black hole image marks another significant advancement, providing evidence of Sagittarius A existing in the Milky Way. Most notably, the black hole aligns with Einstein's theory of general relativity.

Given this discovery, scientists will gain a more in-depth understanding of how these phenomenal black holes operate, such as the behavioral patterns of gas surrounding supermassive black holes, which may potentially play a role in forming galaxies.

May 12, 2022, also marked a significant discovery that plants are able to be grown in lunar soil, which could be viable for nourishing crew members in a sustainable manner.

However, one downside is that the growth of these plants is slower than those planted on Earth.

While the malaria vaccine was approved in 2021, researchers from Harvard were able to create a highly efficient malaria vaccine that is 80% effective against the disease.

This is a 433-qubit computer, which heavily surpasses its previous project, Eagle, which was a 127-qubit computer. This is a relatively big step towards reaching the goal of developing a 4,000+ qubit computer in 2025.

As of November 2022, this is the closest black hole, about 1,560 light years away from our solar system, discovered so far.