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2021The new crown pneumonia epidemicContinue globallyRaging withrepeatedlyAt the end of the year, the latest mutant strain of Omicron (Omicron) spread globally with a “lightning trend”, and the number of infections increased sharply, triggering a new round of epidemic peaks and remarks and actions for a large-scale epidemic prevention blockade.。
However, humansThe pace of technological developmentBut notDue to the epidemicStagnant——Stars、In the human world, in the virtual space, human beings continue to climb technologically.BBC Chinese for you to take stock of 2021, the worldObtained in the field of science and technologySome ofMajor achievementAnd breakthrough.
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New Crown Epidemic-Vaccines, Variant Strains, New Drugs
The new crown epidemic has caused permanent and fundamental changes in the world. The first to bear the brunt is the field of science and technology, especially biotechnology and life sciences, which have received unprecedented attention and resource input, providing a large amount of data and experience accumulation for vaccine and drug research and development, which has promoted Technological breakthroughs in the fields of detection, diagnosis, treatment and vaccine research and development have promoted the overall progress of the industry.
New crown detection methods are more, faster and cheaper. There are three main methods for COVID-19 testing: PCR gene testing, blood antibody testing, and lateral flow antigen testing. In the past year, fast and simple lateral flow antigen testing has rapidly become popular. Experts point out that innovations in this field can also be used to detect other viruses.
Vaccine development and vaccination continue to accelerate. As of this writing, eight vaccines have been approved for use by the World Health Organization, and the other six are in the approval process.
It is worth noting that in the past year, the great progress of new coronavirus vaccines and treatments based on mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid). The mRNA vaccine is made by extracting part of the ribonucleic acid coded protein from the virus. Currently, Pfizer and Modena vaccines are the most vaccinated.
Körchen’s Kellife is an inactivated vaccine, made from killed pathogens, and mainly induces the production of cellular immunity through the antigens in it. Oxford-AstraZeneca developed an adenovirus vector vaccine.
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Gene editing and gene therapy
Non-traditional drugs based on genetic research are still in their infancy, but the advent and rapid popularity of the mRNA new crown vaccine has opened the door to the development of vaccines against other viruses, such as dengue vaccine and Ebola vaccine.
Many scientists had predicted that cell and gene therapy will play a major role in 2021, especially because two scientists who pioneered CRISPR gene editing technology won the Nobel Prize in 2020.
This technology has been limited to the laboratory for more than a decade, but now the first CRISPR therapies are changing the fate of patients with congenital debilitating genetic diseases.
Gene therapy is usually used to treat rare genetic diseases. They work by replacing defective, dysfunctional genes with the correct DNA code. This technique is not precise and may cause DNA deletion or rearrangement.
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In 2011, French scientist Emmanuel. Charpentier (left, Emmanuelle Charpentier) and American scientist Jennifer. Jennifer A. Doudna (Jennifer A. Doudna) began to work together to create gene scissors, the “CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology“, which can be used to precisely change the DNA of animals, plants, and microorganisms. In 2020, he also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The BBC “Technology Focus” magazine stated that before most people were aware, human beings were already “at the foot of a profound medical and technological revolution. This revolution not only brought prospects for new therapies and treatments, but also It also brings up huge questions about ethics, equality, and health justice.”
In terms of its game-changing all-round and earth-shaking impact, the upcoming wave of gene editing applications can be compared with the industrial revolution or the birth of the Internet.
Climate change-COP26, net zero emissions, environment
After difficult negotiations, the “Glasgow Climate Agreement” was finally signed at the last minute. The signatory countries promised to work together to accelerate climate action in the next 10 years. During the meeting, they also signed specific agreements on carbon emission reduction and methane emissions. Whether the C goal can be achieved still leaves many unresolved doubts and uncertainties.
British Zhihua Expert Talks about the Possibility of Sino-Western Opposition on China’s Climate Cooperation
The UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated bluntly in his closing remarks, “We have taken an important step, but the magnitude is not enough.”
The “1.5°C target” refers to the control of global warming within a range of 1.5°C higher than the pre-industrial level. Take the shrinking and accelerating ice sheet of Antarctica as an example to illustrate the urgency of controlling temperature rise: The temperature in the inland of Antarctica ranges from minus 89.2°C to minus 56°C, and the regional average temperature has risen nearly 3 times since industrialization. °C; a 2°C rise in ocean temperature is enough to cause the ice to melt.
China’s Tianwen No. 1 rover’s landing process on Mars is public
Stories in the sky-Mars, moon and space travel
The UAE, China, and the United States Mars probes that set off on Mars in 2020 will arrive at their respective destinations in February 2021, begin exploration, scientific research, and specimen collection missions, and will soon begin to “hand over operations” one after another. Mars is the most similar planet in the solar system to the earth’s environment. Understanding Mars is of great value for studying the early history of the earth and the origin of life.
The main task of China’s “Tianwen No. 1” is geological survey. It uses radar to “perspect” the stratum several kilometers deep, collect samples of rock and soil, draw a map of the Martian geological structure, and detect the Martian magnetic field, thereby unlocking the evolutionary history of the Martian magnetic field. ；
The US “Perseverance” plans to spend two years searching for signs of life on Mars and testing the conditions and possibilities of low-altitude flights on Mars.
The main mission of the UAE “Hope” is to make a near-equator orbit around Mars and conduct research on the climate and weather of Mars.
NASA’s “Perseverance” successfully landed on Mars and sent the first photo
“Perseverance” landed safely on the Jezero crater near the Martian equator on February 18, and sent back an image of the surface of Mars in a few minutes. In the following months, it completed helicopter test flights and surveys on the surface of Mars. Tasks such as the internal structure of Mars, the production of oxygen from local materials, and the detection of life signs clues. In October, “Perseverance” determined the range of locations for further exploration of signs of life based on the results of fieldwork.
In late June, China’s National Space Administration released the landing and detection images of the “Tianwen-1” Mars exploration mission. At that time, the “Zhurong” rover had spent 42 Martian days on Mars and had travelled 236 meters in total. China hopes that “Zhurong” can operate 90 days of Mars.
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully completed its historic first flight on Mars and landed safely.
During the “Zhurong” mission on Mars, the core module of the Chinese Tiangong space station named “Tianhe” was successfully launched on April 29, marking the latest step in China’s space program. “Tianhe” was launched by the Long March 5B rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Site. It is a core part of China’s new space station and has a living room for three astronauts.
“Tiangong” is a large-scale resident space station independently built by China, with a total weight of 66 tons, and it will orbit 340 to 450 kilometers (210-280 miles) from the earth. The official media said it will be a “national space laboratory and space homeport” and is expected to be operational in 2022, becoming the second space station after the International Space Station (ISS). China is not involved in ISS operations.
In addition, China and Russia signed a contract in March to jointly build a lunar research station, which is one of the measures to strengthen cooperation in space projects between the two countries. In December 2020, the lava samples collected by Chang’e from the moon were found to be more than 3 billion years old; the research report was published in the journal Science in October 2021.
In addition to Mars and Moon exploration, what other space news are worth mentioning in 2021?
Launch: James Webb Space Telescope launch live (English video)
The “successor” of the Hubble Telescope-the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)-was launched during Christmas. Its mission is to record the first luminous star in the universe with images.
The research and development of this telescope cost 10 billion U.S. dollars, and it is 100 times as powerful as the Hubble Telescope. It is regarded as one of the most ambitious scientific explorations of the 21st century.
The telescope it uses is 6.5 meters in diameter, the largest ever sent into space, and it takes two weeks to open in space.
The farthest galaxy it can see is expected to include some of the earliest stars. The Webb telescope was sent into space by an Ariane rocket in French Guiana, and it entered orbit about half an hour later.
2020 was once described as the first year of commercial space travel, but starting in 2021, space may become the newest playground for the rich; more launch plans are scheduled for 2021.
On July 11, Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Airlines, and five crew members took off in a small rocket plane operated by Virgin Galactic, which he founded, and flew briefly in space. , Became the first person to successfully experience commercial space travel using a civilian space vehicle.
On December 8, Japanese tycoon Yusaku Maesawa and his assistant Hirano Yozo were arranged by SpaceX to fly with Russian astronauts on the Russian Soyuz to the International Space Station (ISS), where they planned to stay for 12 days. This trip is to prepare for his journey to the moon on a SpaceX spacecraft in 2023. He is the first group of tourists to board the ISS in the past ten years. The journey to the moon in 2023 will be the first private paid trip around the moon.
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The private space company Axiom Space and NASA are cooperating and are preparing to use SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule to send a former NASA astronaut and three general public to the International Space Station as early as January 2022, where they are expected to stay 8 days.
SpaceX will also conduct space travel for the first time this year, although not to Mars. 38-year-old billionaire Jared Isaacman (Jared Isaacman) chartered a rocket and spacecraft from SpaceX for a three-day earth orbit trip in September.
Axiom plans to manufacture and launch a special “space tourism module”, initially using ISS power to maintain equipment operations, and then gradually adding its own power and life-sustaining equipment to separate and operate independently from the ISS.
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Laura Shepard Churchley (first from left, Laura Shepard Churchley)’s father entered space in 1961 and was one of the first astronauts in the United States.
Towards the end of the year, Bezos’ “Blue Source” commercial spacecraft flew for the third time in 2021, carrying a special passenger-74-year-old Laura Shepard Churchley. Her father Alan Shepard (Alan Shepard) performed the US “Mercury-Redstone 3” space mission in 1961 and became the first American astronaut to enter space. He also entered space after the Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin. The second person.
This commercial space vehicle named after Shepard (New Shepard) has six seats. In addition to Laura, there are also former NFL star Michael Strahan (Michael Strahan) and four other paying passengers. The flight time is approximately It takes 10 minutes to reach an altitude of 100 kilometers.
This type of commercial space travel business is also controversial and criticized. In November, Prince William of the United Kingdom warned that activities such as space tourism are exacerbating the “climate anxiety” of the younger generation. He said that the earth’s elites should work hard to repair this planet, not to find another one.
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Virtual Space-Meta Universe and Facebook
In the past year, the evolution of the virtual world has also been dizzying as always, such as the high-profile appearance of “metaverse”.
The concept of “meta universe” is praised by many technology companies, technology professional analysts and marketers as the future of the Internet. In essence, it can be seen as an upgrade and expansion of virtual reality (VR).
People use wearable devices to enter the meta universe, which is a virtual world connected with various digital environments. Unlike VR games, Metaverse is more all-encompassing. For example, you can work in Metaverse, meet with friends, watch a concert, watch a movie, or just stroll around in it.
Related to this but did not stir up a huge wave is Facebook (Facebook) changed its name to Meta, announcing that it will hire 10,000 people in Europe to develop “Meta Universe”. It is reported that it will occupy an important position in Meta Universe in five years’ time, but so far There are not many users of this new name.