Science Summary - 2023, February

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-------------------------------------- February 2023 --------------------------------------

Image: https://imgur.com/gallery/glTEDKJ

Monthly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/359cae84aa22/science_summary

----------------- Selection -----------------

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_in_science

Items which I added to the Wikipedia list are marked with a star (*) below.

Criteria info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Prototyperspective/Year_in_science/Inclusion_criteria
Nonincluded items: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Prototyperspective/Year_in_science/List_of_nonincluded_items_for_2023

------------------ Sources ------------------

* Dark energy
Black holes
https://doi.org/10.3847%2F2041-8213%2Facb704
Cyclic
https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.03710

* Rationing
https://doi.org/10.1080%2F21550085.2023.2166342

* Organoid intelligence
https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffsci.2023.1017235

* One Health
2050 superbugs
https://www.unep.org/resources/superbugs/environmental-action
Livestock antibiotics
https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pgph.0001305
Superpigs
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/20/us-threat-canada-super-pig-boar

_____

Jupiter moons
https://cnn.com/2023/02/06/world/jupiter-new-moons-scn/index.html

* Coal phase-out
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41558-022-01570-8

* Bio-hybrid robots
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.bios.2022.114919

Dust shield
https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pclm.0000133

* Chronic fatigue
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.chom.2023.01.001

* Holographic printing
https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.adf6182

* Biosafety
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.isci.2023.106165

* CALERIE results
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs43587-022-00357-y

* Microbot
https://doi.org/10.1109%2FLRA.2023.3243801

* Health knowledge
School meals
https://doi.org/10.1001%2Fjamapediatrics.2022.5828
Processed foods
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.eclinm.2023.101840
Exercise & mental issues
https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbjsports-2022-106195
https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbjsports-2022-106282
Air pollution & late depression
https://doi.org/10.1001%2Fjamanetworkopen.2022.53668
Air pollution & bones
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.eclinm.2023.101864

* Male contraception
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41467-023-36119-6

* Aerial seeding
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41586-022-05656-3

* Medication costs
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/117809/1/HIGHDRUG_manuscript_24NOV_clean.pdf

* Military AI norms
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-issues-declaration-responsible-use-ai-military-2023-02-16/

* Energy crisis
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41560-023-01209-8

* Psychedelics
https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.adf0435

* Bacterial printing
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.mattod.2023.02.001

* Gender equality
Sex
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367325876
In science
https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.2212421120

Dark microbiome
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41467-023-36172-1

* Non-human consciousness
Dimensions of consciousness
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cognition.2023.105409
Octopus brains
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.cub.2023.02.006

* Aging clocks
mDNA indicators
https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.2215840120
Project Blueprint
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/bryan-johnson-age-18-blueprint-surgery-b2280122.html

* Bird flu
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/develop-vaccines-all-animal-influenza-strain-says-incoming-who-chief-scientist-2023-02-20/
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bird-flu-mammals-influenza-pandemic

* Bow and arrow
https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.add4675

* Bioelectronics
https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.adc9998

* PFAS pollution
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2023/02/23/forever-pollution-explore-the-map-of-europe-s-pfas-contamination_6016905_8.html

* Erythritol
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41591-023-02223-9

------------------ Not included ------------------

15 items


Most/all would have been included if there was more space (11):

- An article examines Leonardo da Vinci's experiments on gravity in the Codex Arundel and presents a solution using Newtonian mechanics to confirm Leonardo's "equivalence principle".

- A previously unknown cell mechanism involved in aging is discovered, which explains how cells 'remember' their identity when they divide – the cells' so-called epigenetic memory.

- * A study quantifies and maps threats of glacial lake outburst floods caused by climate change, finding ~15 million people to be at risk.

- The minor planet Quaoar is found to have a ring system, following observations by the CHEOPS space telescope.

- A new record low Antarctic sea ice extent is reported by the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the US, beating the previous record set a year earlier.

- Two joint studies by the British Antarctic Survey and the US Antarctic programme finds that glaciers on the icy continent may be more sensitive to changes in sea temperature than previously thought. Researchers used sensors and an underwater robot beneath the Thwaites glacier to study melting.

- Scientists report that the possible sounds that ankylosaur dinosaurs may have made were bird-like vocalizations based on a finding of a fossilized larynx from the ankylosaur Pinacosaurus grangeri.

- The engineering of metastructures at the sub-wavelength scale is shown to be a viable approach for developing ultra-fast electronics in 6G communications.

- * News reports on a study that investigates a subset of the well-being effects of dating app use. A study reviews data on polygyny as a potential way for increasing fertility in developed countries. A review shows that investigated gender differences in basic skills are larger in more gender-equal countries, the gender-equality paradox.

- Soft, 3D-printed heart replicas that can be personalised for individual patients are demonstrated by engineers for applications in device development, procedural planning, and outcome prediction.

- The world's first COVID-19 drug designed by generative AI is approved for human use, with clinical trials expected to begin in China. The new drug, ISM3312, is developed by Insilico Medicine.



Most/all are unlikely to be included as category-2 items (4):

- C/2022 E3 (ZTF), a green-coloured comet from the Oort cloud, is observed in the night sky making its closest approach to Earth.

- The first direct transfer of qubits between quantum computer microchips is demonstrated, with a 99.999993% accuracy rate and connection speed of 2424/s. The research team suggests their work has "the potential to scale-up by connecting hundreds or even thousands of quantum computing microchips."

- An effective new method for carbon dioxide removal from the ocean is described. It could be implemented by ships that would process seawater as they travel, at offshore drilling platforms or aquaculture fish farms.

- The channelling of ions into defined pathways in perovskite materials is shown to improve the stability and operational performance of perovskite solar cells. A research team claims this could boost their efficiency from 25 to 40%.



------------------ Candidates ------------------

Promising results of therapeutic candidates are reported:
a phase 3 trialed pegylated interferon lambda against COVID-19 (and other viruses), a monkey-tested potential first Marburg virus vaccine, lamotrigine for recovering MYT1L-caused autism in human neurons and mice, phase 3 trial results for one of the three late-stage and near-FDA-approval RSV vaccines in elderly, one of two phase 2 trialed RSV vaccines, a trialed electrical stimulation of cervical spinal circuits against post-stroke hemiparesis, a phase 3 trialed MPC stem cell therapy against cardiac events in people with HFrEF heart failure

Progress in disease screening or diagnosis:
a news-reported possibly inexpensive high-throughput static droplet microfluidic device against cancer that isolates and metabolomically analyzes of circulating tumor cells in blood, retinal eye screening and monitoring biomarkers against Alzheimer's disease (AD), autoantibody biomarkers in blood for inexpensively detecting AD