Scientists and engineers are constantly pushing boundaries and making new discoveries that may one day drive the future. Here are five such innovations from 2024.
When you think of Albert Einstein, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the Theory of Relativity, which he played a key role in developing. So it may come as a surprise to learn that this isn’t what he won the Nobel Prize for. That honor went to his discovery of the photoelectric effect. You may not have heard of that one, but you see its impact every day–it underlays technology ranging from solar panels to medical imaging to digital cameras.
Many of the technologies we rely upon today stem from smaller breakthroughs in science and engineering that preceded it by years or decades. All around the world, scientists and engineers are constantly pushing boundaries and making new discoveries that may one day drive the future. Here are five such innovations in 2024 that are among them.
One step closer to DNA computers
Since the 1990s, researchers have been investigating the possibility of using DNA for computing, which would theoretically provide advantages in power requirements, parallel processing and data storage. (For example, a gram of DNA could hold about 10 million hours worth of video–something that currently requires a whole server rack.) A practical DNA computer is still a ways off, but there have been some interesting developments this year that could bring it a few steps closer.
In August, a research team from Johns Hopkins University and North Carolina State University published a paper demonstrating essentially a first-of-its-kind DNA computer that’s capable of not only computation but also accessing, adding and changing data. The researchers were able to use their prototype to solve simple problems in games like chess and sudoku.
Another interesting development for DNA computation happened this year, too. In October, researchers at Peking University published a paper demonstrating using DNA to store information in binary code, making it more compatible with conventional programming languages. An even more practical application of this technique? It doesn’t require the trained lab researchers and specialized equipment that are typically needed for this type of computing, making DNA an easier storage medium to work with.
Scientists made a real-life version of Spider-Man’s web fluid
In the comics, Spider-Man’s web fluid is an incredibly versatile substance, capable of being stored as a liquid, sticking to objects and able to carry heavy weights. In October, researchers at Tufts University developed a real-life version of the substance by extracting fibers from silk moth cocoons and adding chemical additives to create liquid that begins to solidify when squeezed from a needle and exposed to air. The adhesive substance is capable of sticking to objects and carrying over 80 times its own weight.
The web fluid developed by Tufts researchers here seen suspending a beaker in air.
Marco Lo Presti/Tufts
The next step for the researchers is to improve the strength of the material (real spider silk, for example, is about 1,000 times stronger). But it could potentially be used for a variety of different applications as its properties are refined, just as silk is used for many industrial and commercial products today.
Manufacturing drugs in space and bringing them back to Earth
In March of this year, California-based startup Varda Space Industries published a paper showing that it had successfully manufactured HIV drug ritonavir in a small, automated laboratory in space. The company also successfully brought the drugs back, a milestone in demonstrating that drugs created in microgravity are still stable when they return to Earth.
Varda’s automated laboratory after its landing on Earth. Image: John Kraus/Varda
Manufacturing drugs in orbit allows for finer control over a crystallization process that’s common to how many drugs are made. That level of control can make a difference between turning a medicine into a pill or having to deliver it using an IV, which is why pharmaceutical giants have been conducting a variety of similar experiments on board the International Space Station.
Varda’s spacecraft offer an advantage over the ISS because they’re automated and don’t require astronauts to be on board. That means they aren’t tied to NASA’s crewed flight schedule, which significantly reduces the costs involved, the company’s president Delian Asparouhov told Forbes earlier this year. In April, the company raised a $90 million series B round to accelerate production of its spacecraft
Mapping this cellular process could lead to new disease treatments
It took a decade, but in October scientists at Barcelona’s Center for Genomic Regulation published a map of the human “spliceosome.” This is the part of the cell that reads and edits your DNA to create different proteins. Over 90% of your genes are edited through this mechanism, which has turned out to be significantly more complicated than previously thought.
These blueprints to one of the cell’s most vital processes is a monumental step towards new medicines. Errors in the spliceosome are linked to a wide variety of diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, genetic disorders and most types of cancer. Now that scientists have access to an accurate map of how each component of it works, it may be possible to find new targets for drug development.
Your EV’s next battery might be partially made from coal
One of the most crucial components of lithium-ion batteries is graphite, a material that’s expected to face shortages in the 2030s due to demand from electric vehicles. Currently, the world is dependent on China, which produces nearly 80% of the material. The country has both mines and manufacturing facilities that can produce graphite artificially, currently an expensive process.
Coal particles being superheated as part of the graphite manufacturing process. Image: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
In December, researchers at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory may have found a solution to stave off these potential shortages: they’ve developed two new processes that can turn coal into graphite. One process takes solid forms of coal and uses an electrochemical reaction to transform it. The other filters a liquified form of coal called a slurry, then electrochemically treats it to make graphite. In both cases, the process uses less energy than conventional methods, making them a potentially lower-cost alternative.
Project leader Edgar Lara-Curzio told Forbes that this innovation highlights the possibilities that coal, which remains abundant around the world, could still hold in the 21st century. “You could make things like carbon fibers and electrodes for energy storage devices and construction materials,” he said. The breakthrough heralds a promising future for places where coal still dominates the economy as the world transitions to renewable forms of energy.
This article was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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