2022 in retrospect: souvenirs from science

The cosmic danger from above

A few years ago, I received a small, shimmering stone in an odd-looking plastic standee as a gift in the mail.

It was supposed to be a real meteorite, at least that was documented by an enclosed certificate of authenticity.

Even if the authenticity of the certificate of authenticity could not be confirmed without a doubt, this alleged messenger from space has adorned my desk ever since.

But never did my gaze linger on it as often as this year, because 2022 was a year of asteroids.

It all started in December 2021, when the film "Don't Look Up" sparked an interest in the risks of humanity being wiped out by an asteroid impact, even among those who otherwise considered everything cosmic to be esthetics.

It was also fueled by Elon Musk, who carries with him the primal fear that humanity could be wiped out by a cosmic impact before it has become a multiplanetary species - something that we will get a little glimpse of in 2022 with the start of the Artemis lunar mission have come closer.

And another project this year made a contribution to the fact that those suffering from anxiety could sleep a little more peacefully: as part of NASA's DART mission, it was possible in September to distract the asteroid Dimorphos from its orbit through the targeted impact of a probe.

We only recently learned again that such techniques could actually be useful one day, when a (harmless) "planet killer" was discovered at the beginning of November.

Despite extensive monitoring programs, it had remained hidden from us until now because it was moving towards us in the sky from close to the sun.

However, cosmic impacts can also have positive consequences: This year, the Insight Mars mission was finally able to register the seismic surface waves that it was looking for, which allow the large-scale structure of the Martian crust to be reconstructed.

The trigger was the impact of a meteorite on December 24, 2021. So we were able to learn a lot about the collision-prone chunks from space - I still know very little about the origin of my own small potential representative of this class.

sweet troubles

Many people demonize sugar as a consumer product that makes you fat, others see it as a blessing - not only at Christmas time.

After all, a good 200 years ago, a German doctor invented the approach of healing practically all diseases on the basis of sugar. Hahnemannian homeopathy can now be found in almost every German pharmacy.

Many studies have confirmed that the sugar globules with their highly diluted "active" substances are no more helpful than a placebo, i.e. the same globules without homeopathic magic.

From a scientific point of view, little that is new can be expected here: If it were possible to prove that the information transfer postulated by homeopaths when diluting and shaking actually exists, contrary to all scientific evidence, a Nobel Prize would be certain.

Although studies continue to emerge

who want to prove it.

But this year there was a meta-study that will be a bitter pill for supporters of globules: In spring, Austrian and US researchers wrote in the specialist journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine that there are often problems with homeopathy studies.

Apparently, negative results were rarely published, some clinical studies were not previously registered, and there were often subsequent changes in the study design.

"These results indicate serious deficiencies in scientific and ethical standards and a high risk of bias," they said.

In spring, Austrian and US researchers wrote in the specialist journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine that there are often problems with homeopathy studies.

Apparently, negative results were rarely published, some clinical studies were not previously registered, and there were often subsequent changes in the study design.

"These results indicate serious deficiencies in scientific and ethical standards and a high risk of bias," they said.

In spring, Austrian and US researchers wrote in the specialist journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine that there are often problems with homeopathy studies.

Apparently, negative results were rarely published, some clinical studies were not previously registered, and there were often subsequent changes in the study design.

"These results indicate serious deficiencies in scientific and ethical standards and a high risk of bias," they said.