Editor's note: In 2012, the scientific community was full of tears. Higgs, 83, burst into tears. After he predicted the existence of the "God Particle" for more than 40 years, scientists discovered it. This historic day "can be incredible in my lifetime."
At the same time, the scientific community is also full of joy. "Wheels! This is the wheels!" A few minutes after the Mars Rover "Curious" landed safely on the Red Planet, the first image sent back appeared on the large screen of the laboratory.
One scientific breakthrough after another, leaving exciting memories. "Science" magazine counted the important breakthroughs that led science in 2012.
1 Discover the God Particle
No scientific progress can cause so much noise.
On July 4, scientists operating the world ’s largest atomic particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), announced that they had discovered a particle that everyone seems to have been looking for-the Higgs particle, the standard model The last kind of undiscovered particles.
Eventually, the seminar became the stage of the media, and related news attracted the attention of the world for a while. The discovery of Higgs particles deservedly became the most outstanding scientific breakthrough this year.
More than 40 years ago, British physicist Peter Higgs predicted the existence of a boson that attracts other particles and produces mass. He regarded this boson as the source of the mass of matter. The discovery of Higgs particles completely complements the standard model. This particle solves a fundamental problem in the standard model.
The standard model theory describes the particles that make up ordinary matter: electrons, quarks, neutrinos, and the other two "kins" of these particles. At first glance, the standard model seems to be a massless particle theory. Because the simple setting of particle aggregation limits the theory to mathematical confusion. The arrival of Higgs particles repaired the defects of the above theory. But for a long time, Higgs particles have not appeared.
To find the Higgs particles, the European Commission for Nuclear Research (CERN) invested $ 5.5 billion to build a 27-kilometre LHC. In addition, they also used the large particle detector "Toroidal Instrument" (ATLAS)-25 meters high and 45 meters long-and a "compact muco coil" (CMS) with a weight of 125,000 tons. More than 100 countries participated in the LHC project.
Hard work pays off. In July, two related research groups announced that after obtaining data through the Large Hadron Collider, they discovered a particle likely to be a Higgs boson.
In fact, an important question that remains unresolved is whether the discovery marks the beginning of a new era of particle physics or is it the last effort in this field?
However, in any case, this discovery fills in the final piece of the standard model puzzle of particle physics. Although it is unclear where the discovery will lead particle physics research, its great significance to the physics community is beyond doubt.
2 Ancient genes "home run"
Two years ago, paleontologists entered the annual breakthrough list because they completed the sequencing of Neandertal nuclear genomes.
In 2011, the experimental team shared the genes of the Denisovans they pieced together. The Denisovans are ancient humans who lived in Siberia 50,000 years ago. The DNA sequence of this ancient human has been obscured, leaving only a finger bone and two molar fossils. Usually the fragile DNA stripped from the fossil will degenerate into a single strand, and the automatic sequencer cannot replicate it. Researchers can only decrypt parts of ancient genes from ancient humans, animals, and pathogens.
But this year, a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany invented a remarkable new method that allowed his research team to "revisit" Denisovan DNA. This new technology can combine specific molecules with a single strand of DNA.
Using this technology, the researchers used a phalanx fragment from 74,000 to 82,000 years ago to obtain high-density sequencing data of the genome of Denisowa girls found in the ancient site of Denisowa Cave in Altai Mountains in southern Siberia. And realize the reconstruction of the complete sequence of its genome.
All along, DNA sequencing instruments are suitable for measuring the DNA of living humans. The sample is usually double-stranded DNA. In order to study ancient DNA, MatthiasMeyer intends to design a single-stranded DNA sequencing tool. After many failures, Meyer and colleagues finally used Dennisova girls' 6 mg finger bones to reconstruct the complete Denisovan gene sequence.
Genetic analysis results show that the Denisovans seem to have contributed to the modern human genome to a certain extent, and the Southeast Asian island population inherited about 3% of the nuclear genes from the Denisovans. Moreover, Denisovans carry alleles associated with the dark skin, brown hair, and brown eyes of today's humans.
The Meyer research team also hopes to use the new method to analyze the fossil samples that failed to be sequenced before, and looks forward to completing the genetic comparison of Neanderthals and Denisovans in 2013.
3 human brain-machine interface to grasp the future
Not long ago, American scientists claimed that with their help, a 53-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease and paralysis below the neck can use a robotic arm to move objects to a target location.
The surgeon implanted two 4 × 4 mm microelectrode devices on the motor cortex on the left side of her brain. This part of the motor cortex plays a key role in controlling human limb movements. These electrodes are connected to the robotic arm through a computer. The computer converts the electrical waves emitted by the brain into digital signals to control the robotic arm. The experiment demonstrated a technique that allows a paralyzed patient to move a robotic arm with ideas through the brain-machine interface (BMI) and engage in complex three-dimensional motion.
Earlier this year, studies confirmed that paralyzed patients can use BMI to perform complex movements. In the experiment, a 58-year-old female patient—she could not speak or move her limbs—operated a mechanical arm with her mind, grabbed a bottle, and took a sip of coffee.
However, this technology is still experimental and extremely expensive. Scientists hope to develop more advanced computing programs to improve this neuroprosthetic limb to help patients paralyzed by stroke, spinal cord injury, etc. This kind of "human brain-machine" interface research has a broad application space in the future. In addition to helping the disabled, it also has very high practical value in the fields of military and space exploration.
4 eggs from stem cells
For more than a decade, researchers have been trying to make egg cells in the laboratory.
This year, this research took an important step. The experimental mice gave birth to the first living pups derived from mouse embryonic stem cells. However, this new technology invented by Japanese researchers still requires mice to conceive fertilized eggs, and has not yet achieved complete in vitro reproduction.
But the results of this research confirmed that embryonic stem cells can form fertile oocytes, and it allows scientists to better understand how these complex and powerful cells develop.
Eggs and sperm usually go through a complex development process, they undergo meiosis-a special type of cell division that makes their chromosomes half the normal value; they also reset the genome imprint to determine which genes are on or closed. Although pluripotent cells—including embryonic stem cells—can develop into any kind of cells, experiments have shown that it is very difficult to turn them into germ cells.
In 2011, the research team reported that they could turn embryonic stem cells into fertile sperm. In 2012, researchers stated that a similar process can produce eggs. First, they mixed stem cells with growth factors and proteins to form so-called primordial germ cells—a kind of precursor egg and sperm cells similar to those found in early embryos. The scientists then mixed these cells with ovarian tissue and implanted these mixtures into the ovaries or kidneys of mice. A few weeks later, they extracted mature oocytes.
Scientists fertilize oocytes with normal mouse sperm in vitro, and then implant the embryos into female experimental mice. The experimental rats gave birth to normal mice that can continue to reproduce. However, this technique has not been applied to human cells-ovarian tissue and living hosts are required for experiments, which is unrealistic and faces ethical issues. Although the experimental results failed to reach the ultimate goal of scientists-to obtain egg cells completely in the laboratory, it provides a powerful tool for studying genes and other factors that affect fertility and egg cell development.
5 open the door to neutrino physics
This year, physicists described the last unknown parameters of a model by measurement. This model describes how elusive particles called neutrinos can transform from one type to another as they travel at near the speed of light.
Beginning in 2011, heavy news of neutrinos came out one after another, and European researchers "bumped" out of "neutrino superluminal speed". Immediately after the European Nuclear Research Center announced that the so-called "neutrino super light speed" may be an oolong incident, the culprit is only the loose experimental optical cable.
Soon after, exciting good news came out of Daya Bay, Guangdong, China: the neutrino experiment discovered the disappearance of electron antineutrinos, which is consistent with the expected neutrino oscillation, and the energy spectrum distortion is also oscillated The expectations are consistent, which means that a new neutrino oscillation mode has been found, whose signal significance is 5.2 times the standard deviation, and the measured amplitude sin22θ13 is 0.092.
There are three types of neutrinos, and they can change from one type to another during flight, namely neutrino oscillation. In principle, there should be three modes of oscillation, two of which have been confirmed before, and the corresponding mixing angles θ12 and θ23 have been accurately measured. In view of the special importance of θ13 in revealing neutrino oscillations, the American Physics Society reported in 2004 that it would use reactor experiments to measure sin22θ13 as the "first priority" for future experiments.
The results of the Daya Bay neutrino experiment not only show that neutrinos and antineutrinos may change their characteristics in different ways, but also suggest that neutrino physics may one day help researchers explain why the universe contains so much material and so little Antimatter. If physicists cannot discover new particles beyond the Higgs boson, then neutrino physics may represent the future of particle physics.
6 Gene Cruise Missile
In 2012, genetic engineers set out to create some powerful new tools to help biologists more easily change the DNA of various organisms, including yeast and humans. A tool called "transcription activator-like effector nucleases" (TALENs) is one of them.
Using TALENs, researchers can change or eliminate specific genes in live zebrafish, Xenopus laevis, livestock, and even patient cells. In addition, there are researchers using this technology to create miniature pigs used to study heart disease.
The study found that the crystal structure of these effector proteins attached to DNA revealed how the protein found their target. In the end, scientists confirmed that this technology is as effective as gene targeting technology, but cheaper, and can help scientists confirm the specific role of genes and mutations in healthy people and patients. In other words, TALENs are like genetic cruise missiles-low cost and high operational efficiency.
Such a breakthrough in genetic engineering was unimaginable in the past. For most advanced organisms, changing or deleting DNA is usually an unplanned proposition, and researchers have little control over the relevant experiments.
Ten years ago, a technique called "zinc finger nuclease" helped scientists achieve a higher success rate in gene targeting. In 2012, using TALENs, scientists could get the same accurate results as "zinc finger nucleases", but simpler and cheaper. Some researchers began to view TALENs as a standard procedure in molecular biology laboratories.
7 Landing on Mars
On August 6, the American "Curious" rover landed on Mars. During the entire course of the Curiosity's landing, the most thrilling course was the "terror 7 minutes" that entered the Martian atmosphere, descended and then landed. In these 7 minutes, the "air crane" landing system specially designed for the "Curious" rover is a well-deserved hero.
After a long journey of 563 million kilometers, the Curiosity landed only 2.4 kilometers from the expected landing point. Although it is not possible to test all of the "entry, descent, and landing" (EDL) systems of its probes under Martian conditions, the engineers on the mission to explore Mars at the NASA Jet Power Laboratory in Pasadena, California It is still safe and accurate to send the "Curious" to the destination Mars.
The Curiosity was not the first probe to enter Mars, but the smaller and lighter early Mars landers such as Courage and Opportunity were wrapped in airbags and landed on the surface of Mars. This method is not applicable to the "Curious" ship weighing 3.3 tons. Therefore, the development of new landers is imminent.
Engineers took inspiration from cranes and helicopters to create the "air crane" landing system. When the "Curiosity" was about 11 kilometers away from the surface of Mars, the parachute started. After the speed of the Mars was reduced, it was gradually separated from the parachute, and the recoil propulsion engine of the "Sky Crane" started at the same time. After that, 3 cables were extended, and the "Curious" was lifted from the "Sky Crane". As the cable was further lowered, the cable was continuously elongated. The wheels and anti-seismic system of the "Curious" rover started immediately when they touched the ground. , The cable is cut automatically immediately.
The flawless landing process gave NASA confidence. They hope that one day another Mars rover will land on Mars, and the samples collected by Curiosity will be recovered and returned to Earth.
8 Genomics beyond genes
With 10 years, a cost of $ 288 million, and 30 papers, these show that the human genome is more bustling and more "functional" than researchers once thought. This project, called "Encyclopedia of DNA Elements" (ENCODE), has obtained the most detailed human genome analysis data to date.
The "Encyclopedia of DNA Elements" project also found that about 80% of the genes in the genome are biochemically active, which can help turn genes on or off. Some of these DNA bases serve as protein landing sites that affect gene activity, while others can be converted into RNA strands to perform functions on their own, such as gene regulation.
Scientists claim that this research will not only help researchers understand the link between genetics and disease, but also change the way people think and actually use the human genome.
In any case, the ENCODE project aimed at figuring out what each of the 3 billion bases that make up the genome is another major progress made by the international scientific community in the field of genetic research after the Human Genome Project. These new details are expected to help researchers understand how genes are controlled and determine the genetic risk factors for certain diseases.
9 Laser illuminates protein structure
A hundred years ago, physicists discovered how X-rays flew across a crystal and revealed the crystal's atomic-scale structure. This year, scientists used an "X-ray laser" to determine the structure of a protein for the first time. This new research progress proves that X-ray lasers have the potential to decipher protein structures, which is not possible with traditional X-ray sources.
Biologists used hundreds of thousands of protein structures identified by X-rays produced by a ring-shaped particle accelerator called synchrotron. However, some proteins, especially those in the cell membrane, are difficult to form large enough crystals and be studied by synchrotrons. Therefore, scientists hope to use new lasers to overcome this difficulty.
Researchers from Germany and the United States used the linear continuous accelerator light source (LCLS) of the National Accelerator Laboratory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in the United States to confirm the enzyme structure necessary for a single cell worm, this parasite called Trypanosoma brucei Insects are the main cause of sleeping sickness in Africa.
To make micron-scale enzyme crystals, the researchers overexpressed them in cultured cells. In the end, the research team used X-ray lasers that were 1 billion times brighter than traditional synchrotron radiation sources and found that they contained a molecular helmet. This information helps scientists find effective therapeutic drugs to curb the activity of this enzyme, thereby treating sleeping sickness.
10 Majorana fermions appear
In 2012, scientists from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands observed for the first time reliable evidence of the existence of Mayorna fermions. The Majorana fermion is an anti-particle or its own particle, which is expected to form stable bits in quantum computing.
In 1937, the Italian physicist Etore Maiorana rewrote the equations describing the behavior of fermions and bosons, and predicted that there might be a special class of fermions in nature, which is its own antiparticle. In other words, they are their own twin brothers, and people call them Majorana fermions. The debate in the physics community about its existence has continued for more than 70 years.
If the new research results stand up to the test, it will not only be the first to produce Majorana fermions, but also a major advancement in the field of physics. The current qubit technology is very difficult to achieve computer operation, the very slight temperature or other external factors will eliminate the information stored in the standard qubit. The new discovery has prompted scientists to work hard to integrate Mayorana fermions into quantum computing, because "qubits" composed of these mysterious particles will store and process data more efficiently than the bits currently possessed by digital computers.
At present, the Dutch research team and other researchers are busy verifying the existence of Majorana fermions. If it is true, nanoscience will soon have the capital to show off.
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