This is the second year that we see scientists in the media mainly in the context of undulating graphs showing the state of the pandemic. Science has won many battles on this front – last year’s vaccine, including covid drugs – but its achievements do not end with coronavirus.
1. The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope
The repeatedly postponed launch of the James Webb Space Telescope took place on December 25. Preparations for its start-up took as long as 25 years.
KTJW is to replace the famous Hubble telescope, which allowed scientists, among other things, to measure the atmospheres of other planets or study dark energy. A hundred times more powerful than the Webb telescope will allow us to look deep into the history of the universe and better understand how the known – and still unknown – celestial bodies were created. In addition, it will help scientists in the search for extraterrestrial life, because its instruments will allow for a thorough study of the atmospheres of extrasolar planets.
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However, we will have to wait a while for the first photos – taken from a distance of about 1.5 million km from the Earth. It will take another six months to travel to its destination and install the telescope.
2. Vaccine against malaria
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On October 6, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the first vaccine against malaria and recommended starting mass immunization of children from five months of age. Research on its production began in 1987 and consumed over USD 750 million.
Mosquirix – because that is the trade name of the preparation – will not completely combat this disease. According to the results of clinical trials, it reduces the risk of developing symptomatic malaria by 39%, and the risk of severe malaria – by 29%. By comparison, the measles vaccine is 97 percent effective. However, it is still a huge success, because malaria is the main cause of childhood diseases and death in sub-Saharan Africa, and as many as 260,000 die from it every year. children under five.
AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will be gone in 20 years – if someone pays for it
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So why was it only now possible? One of the reasons why malaria is caused by a parasite – an organism more complex than a virus. And Mosquirix is not only the first vaccine against malaria, but also against any parasite.
3. The strange behavior of muons that heralds a revolution in physics
Muons are unstable elementary particles with a mass about 200 times the mass of electrons. National Laboratory for Acceleration of Elementary Particles Enrico Fermi (known as Fermilab) discovered that they behave differently than previously assumed – that is, inconsistent with the so-called Standard Model of the structure of the universe, i.e. the current theory of particle physics.
Like any particle, muons rotate around their axis and create their own magnetic field. However, it is a field with a strength different from that which would result from standard calculations.
What does it mean? We still don’t know for sure. Some scientists speculate that there is some as yet undiscovered form of matter that interacts with muons, others that this is evidence supporting the theory that each elementary particle has a partner particle (this is called the supersymmetry theory). So we know that we know nothing? Something like that.
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4. The first drug for Alzheimer’s
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We live long in developed countries, but not necessarily happily. Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most tragic end-of-life scenarios – or rather, vegetation without cognitive abilities – which is estimated to affect 15–21 million people worldwide. Only in Poland, the number of patients exceeds 350,000.
The exact causes of Alzheimer’s disease are unknown, but it is known to be accompanied by a build-up of beta amyloid in the brain, a protein that disrupts the functioning of neurons, eventually causing them to die.
On June 7, the world got the news that the American Food and Drug Administration approved a measure that reduces the deposits of this protein – aducanumab. However, the joy may turn out to be premature – part of the medical community notes that the decision was made on the basis of uncertain data and that taking the drug is accompanied by serious side effects. Whether aducanumab will actually help cure Alzheimer’s disease or just fill the purses of greedy pharmaceutical companies – we’ll find out in the future.