Contact Lenses That Give You Super Vision
Scientists have created contact lenses that can give people super-vision, according to a study published in the journal Cell, allowing people to see beyond the visible light range, picking up flickers of infrared light even in the dark — or with their eyes closed. They could potentially be a replacement for night-vision goggles. What started as a wild experiment with special materials has turned into something that could revolutionize how we see the world around us. According to Tian Xue, a neuroscientist at the University of Science and Technology of China, “There are many potential applications right away for this material,” including flickering infrared light that could be used to transmit information in security, rescue, encryption or anti-counterfeiting settings. Think about it – we might be looking at the end of expensive night vision equipment for military and emergency services. The lenses work by detecting infrared light that’s normally invisible to human eyes, opening up an entirely new spectrum of vision.
The First CRISPR Gene Therapy Gets Approved
On November 16, 2023, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approved Casgevy for the treatment of sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent thalassemia in patients aged 12, followed by US Food and Drug Administration approval for sickle cell disease on December 8, 2023 – these were the first-ever approvals of a CRISPR-based therapy. This wasn’t just another medical breakthrough; it was the moment science fiction became reality. After their bone marrow was edited, nearly all the patients who volunteered in the trial were pain free. But the expected price tag of the gene-editing treatment is $2 to $3 million, and Vertex has no immediate plans to offer it in Africa—where sickle-cell disease is most common, and where it still kills children. The technology works by editing patients’ bone marrow cells to produce healthy hemoglobin, essentially rewriting their genetic code to cure a disease they were born with. Casgevy has since been approved in the US for the treatment of TDT, approved in the EU, and given conditional approval in Bahrain.
Scientists Map a Complete Fruit Fly Brain
The journal Science has named this discovery the 2024 “breakthrough of the year” – in October 2024, researchers released a completed map of nearly 140,000 neurons in a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) brain. This wiring diagram, or connectome, could help experts understand how human minds process thoughts, make decisions, and store memories, with the mapping process taking an international research team 10 years to complete, counting neurons and mapping millions of synaptic connections. Imagine trying to map every single street, alley, and pathway in a city the size of New York – that’s essentially what these scientists did with a brain smaller than a poppy seed. To map the fruit fly brain fully, the research team removed the fly’s brain, covered it in resin and let it harden into a block, then shaved off ultra-thin pieces thinner than human hair and photographed each piece with an extremely high-resolution microscope. This painstaking work represents the most detailed brain map ever created and could unlock secrets about how consciousness itself works.
Quantum Computing Breaks Through Error Correction
The Physics World 2024 Breakthrough of the Year goes to Mikhail Lukin, Dolev Bluvstein and colleagues at Harvard University, and independently to Hartmut Neven and colleagues at Google Quantum AI, for demonstrating quantum error correction on an atomic processor with 48 logical qubits, and for implementing quantum error correction below the surface code threshold in a superconducting chip, respectively. Errors caused by interactions with the environment – noise – are the Achilles heel of every quantum computer, and correcting them has been called a “defining challenge” for the technology, but these two teams, working with very different quantum systems, took significant steps towards overcoming this challenge, making it far more likely that quantum computers will become practical problem-solving machines. Google’s announcement of its Willow chip promises reduced noise and fewer errors as the number of qubits grows — a necessary step to advance toward advanced quantum computing. This breakthrough means we’re finally moving from experimental quantum computers to ones that could actually solve real-world problems without making constant mistakes. In 2024, many quantum computing researchers and companies made great progress on quantum error corrections, including Google, QueRa, IBM and CSIRO.
Marmoset Monkeys Call Each Other by Name
Scientists “recorded spontaneous ‘phee-call’ dialogues between pairs of marmoset monkeys” and discovered that marmosets use these calls to vocally label their conspecifics, responding more consistently and correctly to calls that are specifically directed at them. This type of behavior had only been seen in humans, elephants and dolphins previously, making this the first time that we have seen this in non-human primates. It’s like discovering that your pet has been trying to have conversations with you all along, but you just couldn’t understand the language. The study raises questions as to whether this form of communication is rare or if it has simply not been researched enough, with experts suggesting that as we refine our paradigms and techniques of acoustic analysis, we will find that many other social animals have more complexity in their communication systems than we currently realize. This discovery completely changes how we think about animal intelligence and communication. These tiny monkeys have been having complex social conversations right under our noses, challenging our assumptions about what makes human communication special.
A Blood Test That Detects Alzheimer’s Disease
In 2024, a study partially funded by the NIH revealed that a simple blood test could accurately detect if a patient had Alzheimer’s, with researchers testing blood samples from over 1,200 older adults through a PrecivityAD2 test that measured amyloid beta and p-tau217 – amyloid beta accumulates in your brain due to Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease for all involved, and watching a loved one slowly lose their memories, identity, and independence is painful, but testing for the disease traditionally requires a sample of cerebrospinal fluid or a PET scan, which are usually not offered at a primary care office, creating inconvenient hurdles that prevent patients from discovering the diagnosis. Now, instead of expensive brain scans or invasive spinal taps, doctors might be able to detect this devastating disease with a simple blood draw during a routine checkup. This could mean earlier detection, better treatment planning, and potentially catching the disease before it progresses too far. The test works by measuring specific proteins that build up in the brain during Alzheimer’s disease, essentially reading the molecular fingerprints of the condition from your bloodstream.
Scientists Discover a “Super-Earth” That Might Be Habitable
In January 2024, NASA announced the discovery of a “super-Earth” about 137 light-years away from us called TOI-715 b, which may be habitable and is about one and a half times as wide as Earth, residing in a “conservative habitable zone” while it orbits its small, reddish star – the habitable zone describes a planet that is the perfect distance from its star so that water can remain in liquid form on its surface. This star may also have a smaller Earth-like planet in its orbit, and though not yet confirmed, the smaller planet, TIC 271971130.02, would be the smallest known exoplanet in a habitable zone, with both planets located using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Finding planets in the habitable zone is like discovering cosmic real estate where life as we know it could potentially exist. The fact that we found not just one but possibly two habitable worlds orbiting the same star makes this discovery even more exciting. It’s a reminder that in our vast universe, Earth-like conditions might be more common than we ever imagined.
White Rhino Pregnancy Through IVF Saves Species
Scientists were able to impregnate a southern white rhino using in-vitro fertilization (IVF), with researchers in Kenya implanting a southern white rhino embryo into another of the same species using the technique in September 2023, resulting in a successful pregnancy – the technique could be used to save the northern white rhino from total extinction. There are two species of white rhinos: northern and southern, with the northern white rhino on the verge of extinction due to poaching, with only two females remaining, but luckily, scientists have sperm preserved from the last male rhino, which could be combined with an egg from the female and implanted into a southern white rhino female to act as a surrogate. This is essentially bringing a species back from the brink of extinction using cutting-edge reproductive technology. The procedure is challenging in such a big animal, involving placing an embryo inside the reproductive tract, which is almost 2 meters inside the animal. It’s like performing microsurgery on a moving truck, but the stakes couldn’t be higher – this technology represents the last hope for preventing the complete extinction of an entire species.
Revolutionary HIV Prevention Drug Shows 100% Success Rate
In 2022, health organizations including the FDA approved the drug lenacapavir as a treatment for HIV/AIDS, but in 2024, results of two drug trials showed the drug had a 96 percent success rate in one trial, while the other trial showed a 100 percent success rate, with lenacapavir used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) administered as a subcutaneous shot given twice a year. It’s similar to Truvada — a once daily pill that can help prevent HIV/AIDS, but taking pills can sometimes be less effective since not everyone remembers to take them every day, making the shot a good alternative. Imagine having to remember to take a life-saving medication every single day versus getting a shot just twice a year – this breakthrough could revolutionize HIV prevention, especially in communities where daily medication adherence is challenging. A 100% success rate in preventing HIV transmission is unprecedented and could be a game-changer in the global fight against AIDS. This discovery transforms HIV prevention from a daily worry into a twice-yearly medical appointment.
Ancient Stone Tools Rewrite Human Evolution
In southwestern Kenya, archaeologists dug up a surprising find: stone tools buried alongside fossils from the hominin Paranthropus, an ancient non-human relative of our species, with the discovery of the tools—which may be up to three million years old—providing evidence that non-human hominins developed stone technologies and suggesting tool development occurred earlier than previously thought. Paranthropus had large teeth and jaws, so ideas about their possible stone tool use were largely dismissed because these items wouldn’t have been essential for food processing. This discovery is like finding out your distant cousin was actually a master craftsman when everyone thought they were just focused on eating. It completely overturns our understanding of when tool use began and who was smart enough to make and use these early technologies. The fact that these tools are potentially three million years old pushes back the timeline of technological development by hundreds of thousands of years, suggesting our ancestors were more sophisticated much earlier than we ever imagined.
Gravitational Waves Detected Throughout the Galaxy
For the first time, scientists detected low-frequency gravitational waves moving through the galaxy – these cosmic ripples are likely the distant echoes of supermassive black holes interacting and merging many billions of light-years away, with a consortium of international researchers discovering these cosmic waves by measuring tiny time variations in radio signals from pulsar stars. The findings suggest that there were far more behemoth black holes in the early universe than previously thought. Think of it like hearing the universe’s background music for the first time – these gravitational waves are literally the sound of spacetime itself being stretched and compressed by cosmic events so massive they defy comprehension. Scientists discovered this by using pulsars as cosmic clocks, measuring incredibly tiny changes in the timing of their radio pulses. It’s like detecting a whisper in a thunderstorm, except the whisper comes from black holes billions of light-years away, and the thunderstorm is all the noise in our universe.
Psilocybin Provides Two Years of Depression Relief
Psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, might just revolutionize how depression and anxiety are treated in cancer patients, with a groundbreaking trial showing a single dose combined with therapy providing relief. Cancer patients face a double burden – not only are they fighting for their lives, but they’re also dealing with the psychological trauma that comes with a life-threatening diagnosis. Traditional antidepressants often take weeks to work and need to be taken daily, sometimes with significant side effects. The idea that a single dose of a naturally occurring compound could provide years of relief sounds almost too good to be true, yet that’s exactly what researchers are finding. This isn’t about recreational drug use – it’s about precision medicine using compounds that have been part of human experience for thousands of years, now being studied with modern scientific rigor.
Prime Editing – The Next Generation of Gene Editing
Prime Medicine has reported promising initial clinical data from the first-ever trial of a prime-editing therapy, showing safety and efficacy. Prime editing (PE) represents emerging technologies in genome editing that are pushing the boundaries of genetic engineering, offering unprecedented precision beyond traditional CRISPR-Cas9. If CRISPR is like using molecular scissors to cut and paste genetic code, then prime editing is like having a word processor with find-and-replace functionality. BEAM-101 involves an A-G transition in the BCL11A binding site within the promoter regions of the γ-globin genes, with the most significant benefit lying in its action mechanism, excluding a double-strand cut in DNA but instead involving precise, single-letter changes, with undesired chromosomal abnormalities and genotoxic stress claimed to be prevented via this modality. This technology could make gene editing safer and more precise than ever before, potentially treating genetic diseases that were previously considered untreatable.
Sea Cucumbers Harbor Cancer-Fighting Compounds
Sea cucumbers, long known for cleaning the ocean floor, may also harbor a powerful cancer-fighting secret, with scientists discovering a unique sugar in these marine creatures that can block Sulf-2, an enzyme involved in cancer progression. These humble creatures that look like underwater pickles have been quietly sitting on the ocean floor, harboring what could be the next breakthrough in cancer treatment. The ocean has always been a treasure trove of medical compounds – aspirin originally came from willow bark, and many antibiotics came from soil fungi. Now we’re finding that these simple sea creatures have evolved sophisticated chemical defenses that could help humans fight one of our most deadly diseases. It’s a reminder that nature often holds the keys to solving our biggest health challenges, sometimes in the most unexpected places.
Scientists Create Memory-Restoring Brain Implants
The goal of this technique is to reactivate the neurons responsible for memory and prevent their degeneration, relying on tiny microchips implanted in the brain that serve as storage platforms for memories, connected to a neural network that helps retrieve emotionally linked events such as faces of loved ones or happy moments, with the technique applied to a 70-year-old patient who was able to remember his grandson, whom he hadn’t recognized in over five years – this breakthrough holds great promise for Alzheimer’s treatment. Imagine being able to restore lost memories with the precision of a computer technician fixing a hard drive. This technology represents a fusion of neuroscience and computer engineering that was pure science fiction just a few years ago. The emotional impact of helping someone recognize their grandchild again cannot be overstated – it’s not just about memory, it’s about restoring human connections and identity. This breakthrough suggests we might be on the verge of treating neurodegenerative diseases not just by slowing their progression, but by actually restoring what was lost.
What makes these discoveries so remarkable isn’t just their individual impact, but how they’re reshaping entire fields of science and medicine. From rewriting our genetic code to mapping the brain’s neural networks, from detecting diseases with a simple blood test to potentially preventing species extinction through advanced reproductive technology, we’re living through a period of unprecedented scientific advancement that would have seemed impossible just a decade ago.
