Science Summary - 2023, April

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--------------------------------------- April 2023 ---------------------------------------

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

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 (WP in general) 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 ------------------

* CFCs
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41561-023-01147-w

* Food pandemic
https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.3002052

* Biological invasions
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.pecon.2023.03.002

* Brain evolution
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41467-023-37574-x

* Misinformation
https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0280902
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/sowc_2023_immunization
https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/26/twitter-disinformation-dsa-risk/
https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/17/23686661/twitter-label-hateful-tweets-restricts-shadowban

* Transport policy
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41467-023-37728-x

* AI Descartes
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41467-023-37236-y

* Innovations (see WP article)

_____

* Sugar & health
https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj-2022-071609

Water crises
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41893-023-01100-0

* Gender affirming therapies
https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11930-023-00358-x

* Earth heat inventory
https://doi.org/10.5194%2Fessd-15-1675-2023

Grey hair
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41586-023-05960-6

* Microplastics
https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fnano13081404

Ice loss
https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/15/1597/2023/essd-15-1597-2023.html

* Neuromorphic AI
https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.adg3289

* Meta-metascience
https://doi.org/10.36850%2Fmr4

Franklin's role in DNA discovery
https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fd41586-023-01313-5

* Open source LLMs (see WP article)

* Therapeutic candidates (see WP article)

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

17 items


Most/all would have been included if there was more space (9):

- * A study affirms that and shows why a moderate decrease in body temperature extends longevity.

- The NOAA reports that greenhouse gases continued to increase rapidly in 2022, and that CO2 levels in the atmosphere are now the highest in 4.3 million years.

- * A study shows neurons take up glucose (from food) and metabolize it by glycolysis. There was only limited research on how neurons get their energy in the context of links between glucose metabolism and cognition (brain health and performance).

- * A global trend towards more rapid-onset "flash droughts" hindering forecasting is reported.

- A new technique for improving the resolution of post-mortem MRI brain scans "by 64 million times" is reported by researchers, who capture the sharpest ever images of an entire mouse brain

- * Researchers show parrots can and enjoy to use a videocalling system.

- * A university reports on a demonstration (11 Mar) of multisensory motion cue integration by a neuromorphic nerve for robots.

- * An international study indicates that the contemporary domestic policy-proposal of a general speed limit on highways in Germany, the only large country in the world without such, for a quick GHG emissions reduction would also be economically beneficial. It points to a climate change mitigation law (KSG) that mandated emission reductions in this sector that was changed in 2023 so as to remove these obligations.

- The first ever global assessment of glacier mass loss from satellite radar altimetry is published. It shows that glaciers lost 2,720 gigatonnes of ice, about 2% of their volume, between 2010 and 2020.


Most/all are unlikely to be included as category-2 items (8):

- A National Hurricane Center tropical cyclone report (TCR) on Hurricane Ian officially upgrades the hurricane from a Category 4 to a Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson scale and finds it caused $112.9 billion worth of damage.

- The direct imaging of HIP 99770 b, a new exoplanet found 133 light years away, is reported by astronomers.

- Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to search for life in the Jovian system, with an expected arrival date of 2031.

- Astronomers conclude that, "... planets in the habitable zones of stars with low metallicity are the best targets to search for complex life on land."

- A bolide is observed over Ukraine and Belarus for about five seconds.

- Astronomers release close-up global images, for the first time, of the Martian moon Deimos that were taken by the Mars Hope orbiter.

- Astronomers present an image, for the first time viewed together, of the shadow of the black hole in the center of the Messier 87 galaxy, and its related high-energy jet.

- ChatGPT is shown to outperform human doctors in responding to online medical questions when measured on quality and empathy by "a team of licensed health care professionals", albeit the chatbot may have previously been trained on these reddit Q&A threads.


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

Promising results of therapeutic candidates are reported:
a gene silencing approach against Alzheimer's disease, TBA