By Ben Mills, Senior Editor
As the new decade begins, what were the historic scientific discoveries of the 2010s which have had the biggest impact on today’s world? From new images of space to extraordinarily pushing the boundaries of gene editing, the 2010s have certainly been a pivotal decade in terms of scientific progress.
As the new decade begins, what were the historic scientific discoveries of the 2010s which have had the biggest impact on today’s world? From new images of space to extraordinarily pushing the boundaries of gene editing, the 2010s have certainly been a pivotal decade in terms of scientific progress.
Perhaps one of the most groundbreaking scientific discoveries of the last 10 years was also one of the most recent. In April 2019, astronomers working at the Event Horizon Telescope released the first ever image of a black hole. The picture was widely shared online and on social media, giving millions a glimpse of one of the universe’s most mysterious phenomena.
The image of the black hole, located at the centre of the Messier 87 galaxy almost 50 million light years away, was produced using data and images from a collection of different telescopes across the world. The picture, previously thought “unseeable”, is likely to open up a “new era of astrophysics” with the 2020s likely seeing further developments in our knowledge and understanding of our universe, something which is exciting yet unpredictable.
Also breaking new ground in space are the ambitious companies who have, over the last decade, taken enormous strides into making space travel and accommodation commercially available. Businesses like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic believe they can make a profit from flying tourists into orbit. The projects have hit many hurdles along the way, but there is now much momentum behind the idea of space flight being available to the public.
Shuttles have been developed, companies created and reportedly tickets have been purchased for the first ever commercial trip to space. This industry is yet to fully take off, but the foundations have certainly been laid for a new age of space travel. Will we be able to travel on holiday to the Moon by the end of this new decade?
Back on our own planet, and major new advances in biology have enabled scientists to begin experimenting with the ability to edit DNA precisely and effectively. They have been able to apply a technique used by some bacteria to edit genetic material, known as CRISPR, to modify DNA sequences, meaning certain genes can now be “cut” from an organism's genetic material and others added in.
The potential for this technique is huge, although not yet fully known. Expect advancements using CRISPR in the 2020s in the fields of medicine, agriculture and biotechnology among others. Of course, with these likely benefits come tricky, often complicated ethical issues. The obvious problems with effectively being able to customise an organism will raise demanding questions which will have to be answered before this technology can become more widespread globally.
The decade has also seen some other significant medical advances which are sure to revolutionise how we treat disease in the future. Successful trials of drugs to slow the onset of dementia and cancer immunotherapy mean we are now tantalisingly close to being able to offer potentially life saving or prolonging treatments to thousands of patients across the world. Currently, new research into drugs which use viruses to kill bacteria could provide us with some answers to the pressing challenges posed by antibiotic resistance, a key problem for medics today.
Meanwhile, it's not just the future that the scientific discoveries of the decade have been changing, it’s our past too. This decade, anthropologists have made some significant archaeological finds which have helped piece together more about the history of humanity. In 2010, the discovery of a single fragment of finger bone in Siberia led scientists to determine that it came from a previously unknown extinct species of human they’ve named the Denisovans.
Meanwhile another find in 2015 led to the discovery of another (now extinct) human species, homo naledi. Following this, the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome led to the discovery that, at a time when they co-existed, different species of humans interbred, resulting in modern day humans in fact having a mix of DNA from now extinct human species, and that of our own, homo sapiens.
Physicists have also been busy in the last ten years; the 2010s has seen the discovery of subatomic particle known as the Higgs Boson, which is the particle that gives mass to others in an atom such as protons, electrons and neutrons. In addition, later in the decade, there was another momentous event in physics when cosmologists finally detected gravitational waves, which are described as ripples in space, more than a century after their existence was predicted by Albert Einstein.
Nobody knows for certain what impact these historic scientific discoveries of the last decade will have on the next, but what is for sure is that they will all have far reaching implications for our future in their own ways, which is an exhilarating aspect for our scientists.
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