Photo of the black hole, secrets of the Homo clan and quantum supremacy: the main scientific discoveries of 2019

Among the most significant scientific events of the outgoing year are space finds, including the discovery of an intergalactic comet by amateur amateur astrophysicist Gennady Borisov. In addition, scientists made several breakthrough works in the study of the past: they talked about the last day of the dinosaurs and the first day of the Cainocene, as well as recreated the appearance of Denisov’s man. The quantum computer has achieved superiority over the classic, and artificial intelligence has conquered new heights by beating eminent poker masters.

Ultima Thule - Arrocot

At the very beginning of 2019, scientists reported receiving detailed images of the farthest space object studied by people. On January 1, 2019, at a distance of 6.4 billion km from our planet, the American New Horizons and the asteroid Ultima Thule approached each other at the minimum possible distance of 3.5 thousand km. Researchers received unique data about the object, including images of various structures, which have not yet been able to find an explanation. The asteroid is nicknamed the “snowman” because of its shape and the Latin name Ultima Thule (an object at the end of the world, or a distant target).

However, under pressure from the public in November 2019, NASA was forced to rename it. The fact is that Ultima Thule has something to do with the Nazi cult: in the early twentieth century, that is how members of the Thule society, which later became the ideological core of the Hitler party, called the legendary ancestral home of the Aryans. As a result, a new name was assigned to the asteroid Arrokot, which means “heaven” in the language of the North American Algonkin Indian tribes.

The New Horizons apparatus continued its journey beyond the limits of the Solar System in search of new goals for study.

Hayabusa-2 and Voyager 2

The mission of the Japanese Hayabusa-2 space probe to the Ryugu asteroid, located at a distance of about 300 million km from Earth, began in 2014. However, the most important tasks for which scientists sent this spacecraft to space were carried out precisely in the outgoing year.

Hayabusa 2 landing on Ryugu asteroid
© JAXA

In February, Hayabusa-2 landed on Ryuga and took soil samples from the surface of the cosmic body, after which it returned to the orbit of the asteroid. In April, the probe “attacked” the object with a shell with explosives, in July it again landed, collected samples extracted from the bowels of the bowels, and in November went back to Earth. The return of the apparatus with which Japanese scientists plan to find answers to questions about the origin of the solar system and the origin of life on our planet is planned for the end of 2020. Recall that water was already detected in the samples delivered by the Hayabusa-1 probe to the Earth from the Itokawa asteroid.

NASA received and decrypted the first data sent from the Voyager 2 after it left the Solar System. The signal had to cover a distance of about 18 billion km. Voyager 2 confirmed the assumption that there is a demarcation line between the solar wind region and interstellar gas.

Nobel Prize and exoplanetary boom

The Nobel Committee named the 2019 physics laureates “who have contributed to our understanding of the evolution of the universe and the place of the earth in space.” Among them are the Swiss Michel Mayor and Didier Kelo, who were awarded for the discovery of the first exoplanet back in 1995. It is thanks to these two astronomers that a real boom began in the search for exoplanets, striking with a variety of sizes, shapes and orbits. In the Milky Way alone, more than 4,000 planets have already been found near solar-type stars, and the search for new ones is one of the most powerful directions in the development of modern astronomy.

In particular, in September, water vapor was discovered in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b in the constellation Leo. The Nobel Committee noted that thanks to the study of exoplanets, humanity will certainly be able to find the answer to the key question of whether extraterrestrial life exists.

Gravitational-wave physics and astronomy

Major and Kelo are far from the only scientists who have changed our understanding of the universe. With the discovery of gravitational waves - the ripples of space and time caused by major cosmic events - a new tool for studying the surrounding world has appeared. Not the last role in its creation was played by Soviet and Russian scientists.

Absorption of a neutron star by a black hole in the artist’s view
© OzGrav ARC Center of Excellence, Carl Knox

In 2019, modern large international collaborations working at the LIGO and Virgo observatories of laser-interferometric gravitational-wave observatories continued to study distant cosmic signals. Dozens of candidate events have been registered, some of which will definitely go into the category of confirmed phenomena. So, in mid-August, scientists recorded a surge in gravitational waves, which with a 99% probability indicates a complete absorption of a neutron star by a black hole.

Black hole photo

The first ever image of a supermassive black hole in the Messier 87 galaxy in the constellation Virgo was managed to be made by scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project. This is not an ordinary photograph, but a radio image obtained with the help of several radio telescopes scattered around the world. Mysterious cosmic body, 50 million light-years distant from Earth, draws matter in, does not radiate and does not reflect light. You can only see the shadow of the object - a round black spot in a cloud of luminous gas.

Image distortions were avoided, including due to the observations and calculations of Russian scientists. The EHT project was created specifically for the study of black holes. Astrophysicists from nearly 40 countries came together to work together. The demonstration took place at press conferences held simultaneously in six cities of the world. Scientists noted that the study of a black hole once again confirms the allegiance of Einstein's theory and deepens our understanding of space and time. They also believe that this work will sooner or later be awarded the Nobel Prize.

Comet Borisov

On August 30, the Crimean amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov discovered a large interstellar object, the first known comet to travel between stellar systems using a mirror-lens telescope of its own manufacture. Colleagues from all over the world joined Borisov’s observations of the comet. Images of the object were obtained in two colors, its first spectral analysis was carried out. The International Astronomical Union officially named the comet in honor of a Russian researcher. According to Borisov, she will forever leave the solar system in a few decades.

Space "monster" and the ninth planet

In October, astronomers discovered one of the first giant galaxies of the Universe, the light from which reached the Earth in 12.5 billion years. It was possible to establish that the “monstrous” galaxy called by scientists is extremely active: in terms of the rate of formation of new stars, it is 100 times greater than the Milky Way.

Another group of researchers discovered the farthest object of all that has ever been observed in the solar system. FarFarOut's celestial body is about 3.5 times farther than Pluto. The object was discovered as part of a program to search for a hypothetical ninth planet of the solar system.

First day of cenozoic

The Cretaceous – Paleogene extinction, which 66 million years ago destroyed most of the species on Earth, is associated with the fall of a massive meteorite in the territory of modern Mexico. In the past year, a striking work was published by American researchers who described the processes that occurred after the impact of a celestial body on the surface of our planet.

Gettyimages.ru

According to scientists, the incident triggered the occurrence of forest fires and tsunamis in vast territories. Also, due to the huge temperature during the impact, a cloud of sulfur compounds was thrown into the atmosphere. As a result, less light and heat began to reach the earth's surface and a global cooling began, which led to the extinction of a whole superorder of dinosaurs. According to scientists, it was on that ill-fated day for many species that the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era ended and the Cenozoic era began.

Secrets of the Homo clan

Scientists from Israel recreated the face of Denisov’s man, having only three teeth, a fragment of a finger and a small piece of his jaw. Researchers not only modeled the shape of the skull, but also reconstructed the appearance of the ancient Denisovans - men and women. The proposed technology can be used not only in anthropology, but also in forensics, scientists are sure. Also this year, studies of the remains of another human species, Homo luzonensis, were published. Based on seven teeth and six small bones, scientists found that this species was very stunted. This people lived in the Philippine islands 67 thousand years ago.

A third group of researchers went a step further and suggested that there are traces of crosses with an unknown species of people in our genes. And these are not Denisovans, nor Neanderthals. However, while scientists find it difficult to answer where these ancestors lived and what they were.

Computers, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics

In October 2019, Google engineers published in Nature a study according to which they achieved quantum superiority over conventional computers. The article claims that the Sycamore quantum processor solved a certain mathematical problem in 200 seconds, while it would take about 10 thousand years for a modern classic supercomputer. However, competitors questioned the results of Google.

Scientists also reported a new height that artificial intelligence (AI) managed to take. In one of the most difficult and popular versions of poker - Texas Hold'em - AI proved to be better than six eminent masters of this game. It is noteworthy that in most cases, when the enemy-man was bluffing, the computer made the right decision, which ensured victory.

Artificial intelligence was noted in a completely different direction of research - in robotics. Scientists from Switzerland and Germany uploaded AI programs with self-learning algorithms to ANYmal. With their help, the four-legged machine learned to accurately and energy efficiently execute commands of high complexity: to walk, run and quickly get up after a fall.