Down To Earth recaps the primary environment, health and developmental news from 2022
Science marched on in the year 2022, with several new discoveries in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology and other disciplines. We learnt about whether the human race would actually go extinct due to the disappearing Y chromosome. There were strides in the field of using animal organs in humans. Finally, there were developments in the field of space science.
Below is a selection of Down To Earth stories on scientific developments worldwide:
A new study found that there was hope after all, despite the rapid disappearance of the Y chromosome among humans.
A mysterious and intensely bright flash of light coming from halfway across the universe earlier in 2022 had stunned astronomers worldwide. The source of the intense beam was later identified as a supermassive black hole ripping apart a star, pointing directly at Earth.
European scientists revived an approximately 50,000-year-old ‘zombie virus’ from a frozen lake in Russia.
The world saw a rise in cases of cyclones merging to form megacyclones, courtesy warming oceans. This is known as the ‘Fujiwhara Effect’.
A 57-year-old recipient who had received a pig-to-human heart transplant in January 2022, lived for 61 days after the transplant. Doctors are slowly trying to piece together why the patient could not survive.
Scientists dug up fragments of deoxyribonucleic acid, also known as DNA, in the Scotia Sea, north of the Antarctic continent. The DNA is a million years old and makes it possible to study the responses of ocean ecosystems to climate change.
A pre-existing moon likely left Saturn with its bright rings and extreme tilt, according to a new study.
Several undiscovered ant species are likely hiding in the Western Ghats, the Himalayas and North East India, according to a global ant biodiversity map.
Experiments on mice showed that sound increases pain tolerance.
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