2021 in science
A number of significant scientific events that occurred or are scheduled to occur in 2021.
| Years in science: | 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
| Centuries: | 20th century · 21st century · 22nd century |
| Decades: | 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s |
| Years: | 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 |
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Events
January
- 5 January – Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, use deep learning to identify gene regulation at the single-cell level, having previously been limited to tissue-level analysis.[1]
- 6 January
- Scientists report the successful use of gene editing in mice with progeria, a premature aging disease.[2][3]
- Researchers at the University of Edinburgh describe how the damage to nerve cells caused by motor neurone disease could be repaired by improving the energy levels in mitochondria.[4][5]
- 7 January – A potential mRNA vaccine for multiple sclerosis is presented by a collaboration including BioNTech, with a study in mice showing great promise for improving symptoms and stopping disease progression.[6][7]
- 11 January – Using theoretical calculations, a team including scientists from the Max Planck Institute show that humans would be unable to control a superintelligent AI.[8]
- 12 January – Scientists at the John Innes Centre use CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to produce a tenfold increase in super-bug targeting formicamycin antibiotics.[9]
- 13 January
- A new record high temperature of the world's oceans is reported, measured from the surface level down to a depth of 2,000 metres.[10]
- In Lyon, France, the first transplant of both arms and shoulders is performed on an Icelandic patient at the Édouard Herriot Hospital.[11]
- 16 January – COVID-19 pandemic: Medical scientists in Norway report concerns about the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting that the vaccine may be "too risky for the very old and terminally ill".[12][13][14]
- 17 January – LauncherOne becomes the first successful all-liquid-fuelled air-launched rocket to reach orbit.[15]
- 22 January – WASP-62b is confirmed to be the first hot Jupiter exoplanet without clouds or haze in its observable atmosphere.[16]
- 25 January
- Global ice loss is found to be accelerating at a record rate, matching the worst-case scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.[17][18]
- Astronomers report the discovery of TOI-178, a rare system of six exoplanets locked in a complex chain of Laplace orbital resonances.[19][20]
- 28 January – COVID-19 pandemic: Medical scientists report the first detection of a South African strain, named 501.V2 variant, which current COVID-19 vaccines may not well mitigate.[21]
February
- 1 February – Australian scientists develop a new cryogenic computer system called Gooseberry, which has potential for scaling up quantum computers from dozens to thousands of qubits.[22][23]
- 2 February
- COVID-19 pandemic: Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is shown to be 92% effective against COVID-19, according to late stage trial results published in The Lancet.[24]
- COVID-19 pandemic: Medical scientists in the United Kingdom report the detection of E484K (in 11 out of 214,000 samples), a mutation of the U.K. coronavirus variant that may compromise current vaccine effectiveness.[25][26]
- Astronomers report that Tabby's Star, observed to dim in very unusual ways, has been found to be a binary stellar system.[27]
- 5 February – A study by the University of Cambridge suggests that climate change may have driven the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, by increasing the growth of forest habitats favoured by bats carrying the virus.[28][29]
- 8 February – Scientists report an updated status of studies considering the possible detection of lifeforms on Venus (via of phosphine) and Mars (via methane).[30]
- 9 February – The UAE's Hope spacecraft becomes the first Arabian mission to successfully enter orbit around Mars.[31]
Predicted and scheduled events
- July – Sloan Digital Sky Survey's final data release of SDSS-IV including final data products and catalogs.[32]
- October 31 – The James Webb Space Telescope, "NASA’s most powerful and complex space telescope,"[33] is scheduled to launch.[34]
- November – Planned launch of NASA's Artemis 1 mission to the Moon, the first integrated flight of the agency's Orion MPCV and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.[35]
- November 1–November 12 – The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference is scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. It was rescheduled from November 9, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[36]
- Plan S, an initiative for open-access science publishing launched in 2018,[37][38] requires that from 2021 papers from over 10 European countries that resulted from research funded by public grants must be published under an open licence in compliant journals or platforms, available to all.[39][40]
Date unknown
- Early-2021 – The Large Hadron Collider will recommence operations in early 2021;[41][42][43][44] the collider was shut down in December 2018 "to enable major upgrade and renovation works."[41]
- Early/mid-2021 – SATCON2, a workshop to bring astronomers and satellite constellation operators together.[45]
- Mid/late-2021 – Science first light of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is anticipated for 2021 with full science operations to begin a year later.[46][47][48]
- The Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission in late 2021 or early 2022.[49]
- The race to lower launch costs in spaceflight continues with the planned maiden flights of Ariane 6 by Arianespace,[50] New Glenn by Blue Origin,[51] Vulcan by United Launch Alliance[52] and various smaller rockets.
- Lucy, a planned NASA space probe that will flyby five Jupiter trojans, asteroids which share Jupiter's orbit around the Sun, orbiting either ahead of or behind the planet and one main belt asteroid,[53] is scheduled for launch.[54]
- Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a planned space probe that will demonstrate the kinetic effects of crashing an impactor spacecraft into an asteroid moon for planetary defense purposes, intended to test whether a spacecraft impact could successfully deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth, is scheduled for launch.[54]
- China plans to begin construction of a large modular space station.
Astronomical events
- May 26 – a total lunar eclipse will occur.[55]
- June 10 – an annular solar eclipse will occur.[56]
- November 19 – a partial lunar eclipse will occur.[57]
- December 4 – a total solar eclipse will occur.[58]
See also
2021 in space | |
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Space probe launches  | |
| Impact events |
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| Selected NEOs | |
| Exoplanets | |
| Discoveries |
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| Comets | |
| Space exploration |
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- Category:Science events
- Category:Science timelines
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on science and technology
- List of technologies
- List of emerging technologies
- List of years in science
References
- "UCI researchers use deep learning to identify gene regulation at single-cell level". University of California, Irvine. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- "'Incredible' gene-editing result in mice inspires plans to treat premature-aging syndrome in children". Science. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- "DNA-editing method shows promise to treat mouse model of progeria". National Human Genome Research Institute. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- "Motor neurone disease: Edinburgh scientists reveal breakthrough". BBC News. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- "MND study provides exciting new focus for potential drug treatments". University of Edinburgh. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- "BioNTech Publishes Data on Novel mRNA Vaccine Approach to Treat Autoimmune Diseases in Science". BioNTech. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- "Treating an autoimmune disease in mice with an mRNA vaccine". EurekAlert!. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- "Computer scientists: We wouldn't be able to control super intelligent machines". Science Daily. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- "Gene-editing produces tenfold increase in superbug slaying antibiotics". EurekAlert!. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- "Upper ocean temperatures hit record high in 2020". EurekAlert!. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- "Double greffe des bras et des épaules à Lyon, une première mondiale". Sciences et Avenir (in French). Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- Staff (15 January 2021). "Covid-19 vaccination associated with adverse drug reactions in elderly people who are frail - 23 deaths associated with covid-19 vaccination of which 13 have been assessed. Common adverse reactions may have contributed to a severe course in elderly people who are frail". Norwegian Medicines Agency. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- Torjesen, Ingrid (15 January 2021). "Covid-19: Norway investigates 23 deaths in frail elderly patients after vaccination". The BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.n149. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- Taraldsen, Lars Erik (16 January 2021). "Norway Raises Concern Over Vaccine Jabs for the Elderly". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
- Burghardt, Thomas (17 January 2021). "LauncherOne reaches orbit on second attempt with NASA CubeSats". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
- "Astronomers discover first cloudless, Jupiter-like planet". Science Daily. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- "Global ice loss accelerating at record rate, study finds". The Guardian. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- "Global ice loss increases at record rate". EurekAlert!. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- "Puzzling six-exoplanet system with rhythmic movement challenges theories of how planets form". ESO. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
- "ESA's exoplanet watcher Cheops reveals unique planetary system". ESA. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
- Chappell, Bill (28 January 2021). "South Carolina Reports 1st Known U.S. Cases Of Variant From South Africa". NPR News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
- "Scientists Achieve 'Transformational' Breakthrough in Scaling Quantum Computers". Science Alert. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- "Beyond qubits: next big step to scale up quantum computing". EQUS. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- "Russia's Sputnik V vaccine has 92% efficacy in trial". BBC News. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- Rettner, Rachael (2 February 2021). "UK coronavirus variant develops vaccine-evading mutation - In a handful of instances, the U.K. coronavirus variant has developed a mutation called E484K, which may impact vaccine effectiveness". Live Science. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- Achenbach, Joel; Booth, William (2 February 2021). "Worrisome coronavirus mutation seen in U.K. variant and in some U.S. samples". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
- Prostak, Sergio (2 February 2021). "Milky Way's 'Most Mysterious Star' Has a Companion - KIC 8462852, a mysteriously dimming star located about 1,480 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus, is, in fact, a binary stellar system, made up of a main-sequence F-type star and a smaller red dwarf star". Sci-News.com. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
- "Climate Change May Have Driven Emergence of Covid". Courthouse News Service. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Climate change may have driven the emergence of SARS-CoV-2". EurekAlert!. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- Chang, Kenneth; Stirone, Shannon (8 February 2021). "Life on Venus? The Picture Gets Cloudier - Despite doubts from many scientists, a team of researchers who said they had detected an unusual gas in the planet's atmosphere were still confident of their findings". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
- "Emirates Mars Mission: Hope spacecraft enters orbit". BBC News. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
- "The Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Mapping the Universe". Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- Chan, DM (September 2019). "Most powerful space telescope set for 2021 launch". Asia Times. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- "James Webb Space Telescope to launch in October 2021". www.esa.int. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
- Hambleton, Kathryn (20 February 2018). "Artemis I Overview". NASA. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- "HOME". UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) at the SEC – Glasgow 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
- "Coalition of European Funders Announces 'Plan S' to Require Full OA, Cap APCs, & Disallow Publication in Hybrid Journals". SPARC. 4 September 2018.
- "Plan S: Accelerating the transition to full and immediate Open Access to scientific publications" (PDF). Science Europe. 4 September 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- "European countries demand that publicly funded research should be free to all". The Economist. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- "'Plan S' and 'cOAlition S' – Accelerating the transition to full and immediate Open Access to scientific publications". www.coalition-s.org. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- CERN. "LHC prepares for new achievements". Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- Hays, Brooks. "CERN reveals plans for new experiment to search for dark matter particles". United Press International. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- Tech2 News Staff (3 September 2019). "CERN'S LARGE HADRON COLLIDER GETS MAJOR UPGRADE, EXPERIMENTS TO RESUME IN 2021". Tech2. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- Wetzel, James. "USCMS completes phase 1 upgrade program for CMS detector at CERN". Fermilab. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- Zhang, Emily. "SpaceX’s Dark Satellites Are Still Too Bright for Astronomers". Scientific American. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- "Vera C. Rubin Observatory". AURA Astronomy. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- Wu, Katherine J. "For the First Time, a National U.S. Observatory Has Been Named for a Female Astronomer: Vera Rubin". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- "What Does the Future of Astronomy Hold? We'll Find Out Soon". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- Singh, Surendra (5 December 2020). "Cyclones can stall last sat launch of this year; Chandrayaan-3 cams will provide live feed during final descent: Isro chief". The Times of India. TNN. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
- "Ariane 6 maiden flight likely slipping to 2021". SpaceNews. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- Boyle, Alan (10 October 2018). "Blue Origin resets schedule: First crew to space in 2019, first orbital launch in 2021". GeekWire. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Will Launch Private Moon Lander in 2021. Mike Wall, Space.com. 2 October 2019. Quote: "But Peregrine will fly on a different rocket, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur, which is still in development. The 2021 Peregrine mission will be the first for both the lander and its launch vehicle."
- Chang, Kenneth (6 January 2017). "A Metal Ball the Size of Massachusetts That NASA Wants to Explore". The New York Times.
- "NASA's planetary science program shifts priority to asteroid missions". SpaceNews. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
- NASA. "Total Lunar Eclipse of 2021 May 26" (PDF). Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- NASA. "Annular Solar Eclipse of 2021 Jun 10". Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- NASA. "Partial Lunar Eclipse of 2021 Nov 19" (PDF). Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- NASA. "Total Solar Eclipse of 2021 Dec 04". Retrieved 10 September 2019.
External links
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