Emerging science stories that hit the headlines in 2024

A total solar eclipse watched by millions, a lost jungle city discovered by accident and the prospect of the near-extinct northern white rhino – science has given us a lot to get excited about this year.

One of the biggest news stories was about making space travel cheaper and easier, with Elon Musk’s Starship taking a giant step towards humanity with a reusable rocket.

Of course, it has not all been positive. In bad news for the planet, for example, it is now virtually certain that 2024 will be the world’s hottest year on record.

But there has been much to celebrate. Here are seven of our favorite emerging science stories of the year.

In October, Elon Musk’s Starship rocket completed the first round of the world after part of it seized up on its return to the launch pad.

The lower booster rocket of the SpaceX vehicle flew back to its launch tower instead of falling into the ocean. It was held in a large pair of mechanical arms, or “copsticks”, as part of its fifth test flight.

This furthered SpaceX’s desire to develop a fully reusable and rapidly deployable rocket to go to the Moon and perhaps Mars.

“A day for the history books,” SpaceX engineers announced as the booster landed safely.

you can Read more about the ‘Cop Sticks’ moment here.

They can walk, spin and males can even sing love songs to attract mates – all with a brain that’s smaller than a pinhead.

But it wasn’t until October that scientists studying the fruit fly’s brain mapped the position, shape and connections of each of its 130,000 cells and 50 million connections.

This was the most detailed analysis of the brain of an adult animal. ever developed, and a leading neuroscientist called the breakthrough a “giant leap” in our understanding of our own brains.

One of the research leaders said it would shed new light on the “mechanism of thought”. Read more about the story here.

Imagine you Googled something, you get to page 16 of results and: “Wait, is that a lost Mayan city?”

That’s what happened to Luke Owald Thomas, a PhD student at Tulane University in the US, who came across a laser survey conducted by a Mexican organization for environmental monitoring.

When he processed the data with methods used by archaeologists, he saw what others had missed. A huge ancient city which may have been home to 30-50,000 people at its peak from 750 to 850 AD.

In the city, which disappeared under the jungle canopy in Mexico, archaeologists found pyramids, sports arenas and amphitheatres.

The complex – which the researchers named valeriana – was discovered using lidar, a type of laser survey that maps structures buried beneath vegetation.

There are only two northern white rhinos left in the world, but we have reported a fertility breakthrough that offers hope for saving the species.

The scientists succeeded. World’s first IVF rhinoceros pregnancySuccessfully transferring a lab-created rhinoceros embryo into a surrogate mother.

The procedure was performed on southern white rhinos, closely related to a subspecies of northern whites that still number in the thousands, and took 13 attempts to accomplish.

The mother eventually died of an infection, but an autopsy revealed that the 6.5 cm male fetus was developing well and had a 95 percent chance of being born alive, indicating that the rhinoceros A viable pregnancy is possible through IVF.

There are 30 precious northern white rhino embryos, and the next step is to try IVF using them.

With human activities causing what the conservation charity Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) has described as “catastrophic” species loss, sometimes such It feels like we don’t hear much good news about nature.

But a 10-year study shows that conservation measures are effective in reducing the loss of global biodiversity.

Scientists from dozens of research institutions reviewed 665 trials of conservation measures in different countries and oceans and found that they had a positive effect in two out of every three cases.

Those measures ranged from culling Chinook salmon to eradicating invasive algae, and the study’s authors said their findings offered a “beam of light” to those working to protect endangered animals and plants. do

Read more about the story here.

Tens of millions of people in Mexico, the United States and Canada had their heads turned, literally a A total solar eclipse.

This is where the Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, shedding its light.

A total solar eclipse occurs somewhere on Earth about every 18 months, but it often occurs in unpopulated areas, with major cities including Dallas in its path.

The path of totality — the area where people could see the moon completely block the sun — was also much wider than this year’s spectacular total solar eclipse of 2017.

Read more on the story here.

Millions of people once visited Sycamore Gap, the famous sycamore tree located in a gap in Hadrian’s Wall.

So when it was Deduction in 2023Naturally, there was a wave of national shock and despair.

But in March, new life sprouted from the tree’s saved seeds and twigs, raising hopes that the iconic tree has a future.

BBC News saw the new shooting. On a rare visit to the secretive National Trust center that protects the plant.

Young shoots and seeds thrown to the ground when the tree fell were rescued by the National Trust, which looks after the site with Northumberland National Park Authority.

The plants are now being donated to charities.groups and individuals as “trees of hope”.