When the bubonic plague spread through England in the 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton left Cambridge, where he was studying, and sought safety at the family home in Lincolnshire. The Newtons did not live in a cramped apartment; they enjoyed a large garden with numerous fruit trees. In those uncertain times, distanced from the usual lifestyle, his mind was freed from routine and social distractions. It was in this context that one apple, which fell from the tree, had a more intriguing effect on him than all the apples he had seen before. Gravity was a gift of plague in a way.
The year 2020, which humanity can't wait to see off as if it will send all the bad things to history with a magic wand, did not bring many gifts. The pandemic claimed lives and brought fear and pain to millions of people. However, a year that is hard to love had its good sides.
Vaccines for the future
Since the dawn of human civilization, those societies that have embraced science have had a significant advantage over those that have rejected it in favor of ideologies. Perhaps more than ever, in the past year, science has shown the full force of its power and at lightning speed. Starting from the rapid identification of the genetic sequence of the coronavirus, to the development of tests and then vaccines, the world began to recognize researchers, epidemiologists, biologists and virologists as real heroes. While the world of entertainment and sports was on a "break" they were getting star status.
If the coronavirus is the main villain, then science and technology are its greatest enemies and allies of humanity. It was they who made life easier and provided hope in difficult times.
In less than a year, scientists managed to develop at least three vaccines, two of which are the ones with the highest degree of efficiency based on the new mRNA technology.
For decades, scientists have been excited about the possibility of creating mRNA that can help treat disease. That technology is considered a revolution in vaccine development and saving lives, and the covid-19 vaccines have been shown to work. This could be one of the greatest gifts of the new scourge, if skeptical humanity accepts it.
Currently, mRNA vaccines for HIV, herpes, and Zika virus are in the phase of clinical testing, and work is underway to include them in immunotherapy for the treatment of cancer. Research into personalized cancer vaccines based on mRNA is also ongoing.
"One day we'll look at 2020 and say that's when science really stepped forward," said Jeremy Farrar, director of clinical research at Oxford University.
The response of the scientific community to covid-19 is undoubtedly historic, but it is not the only reason to be proud. During 2020, there were more breakthrough discoveries, which may have flown under the radar, but show the power of science to improve the post-pandemic world.
Half a century old mystery solved
In December, one of the biggest mysteries in biology was solved with the help of artificial intelligence. Predicting how proteins fold into unique three-dimensional shapes has puzzled scientists for half a century and represents a huge advance in genetics, pharmacology and medicine. DeepMind, a London laboratory that uses artificial intelligence, has largely solved this problem, which could play a key role in the development of new drugs to treat various diseases.
Dr Andrej Krishtafovich, from the University of California, one of the panel of scientific arbitrators, described the achievement as "truly extraordinary". "Being able to explore protein shapes quickly and accurately has the potential to revolutionize scientific life," he said.
The fourth, and least known, company of entrepreneur and innovator Ilon Musk - Neuralink, held a presentation in August where, for the first time, it introduced the public to the technology it is working on and the goals it wants to achieve. The main goal of their work is to connect the computer directly to the human brain. Musk's engineers and scientists want to test the first device that would connect the human brain to a computer system through a direct physical bridge. Tests on animals have already been conducted, as confirmed by Musk himself, and "one monkey managed to control a computer through its own mind."
Human testing could begin as early as 2021. Once the devices are connected to a human, the possibilities are endless. The first goal, however, is to ease the condition of patients with a damaged spine and people with cognitive problems.
This year, scientists also managed to reverse the process of aging and deterioration of vision by injecting genetically modified cells into the optic nerve. It is impressive that they managed to do this by making the optical cells rejuvenate.
While much of the world has turned to China this year, accusing it of the scourge, a team of scientists there has built the world's first photon-based quantum computer that is 100 trillion times faster than the most powerful conventional supercomputer. It is able to do calculations in seconds that would take other computers two billion years.
Digital medicine
Thanks to technology, we managed to stay in touch with friends, relatives, colleagues and even doctors even in quarantine conditions, getting used to meetings via Zum and Facetime. Faced with closures and chaos, doctors have embraced digital communication and analytics that have been commonplace in other industries for years. Patients have become more receptive to computer-assisted remote diagnoses and treatment.
Entrepreneurial firms ranging from startups, hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals and tech giants like Amazon, Apple and Google are now scrambling to enable such services.
While there's no substitute for a live doctor's appointment, wedding reception, and graduation party—advances in digital medicine, working from home, and online gatherings will outlive the epidemic.
Success in the cosmos
Reports from beyond our planet and news from space are also among the few bright spots in 2020. Astronauts traveled safely into space, despite the pandemic, setting an example of how to deal with isolation. We learned something new about our part of the universe, three countries sent spacecraft to Mars, the Chinese flag flew on the moon, and the Chinese brought back the first oysters from the moon since the 1970s. The Japanese brought back sand from asteroid Ryugu, and more asteroid samples are on their way to Earth: NASA's Osiris-Rex spacecraft sent a handful of sand from asteroid Benu in October, which should reach Earth in 2023.
Ilona Maska's Space X worked at full steam in 2020. In May, it became the first private company to send humans into orbit, an achievement previously only boasted by three global superpowers. Two more flights followed after that. Until the SpaceX flights, Russian Soyuz capsules were the only way for astronauts to reach the space station after NASA shut down the shuttle program in 2011.
Our unusual neighbors
The Moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter have made headlines thanks to new scientific discoveries. Research has shown that there may be more water on the moon than previously thought, including on the sunward surface. That water can be used as a resource during future missions - like NASA's plan to send humans back to the surface of the moon as part of the Artemis program.
The first results of the robotic space probe InSight sent by NASA to Mars showed that the planet is seismically active and is subject to numerous "Marsquakes".
One of the biggest stories from space happened in September, when it was announced that the toxic gas phosphine was found in the atmosphere of Venus, which can be an indicator of the presence of life. Phosphine binds to life, to microbes that live in the guts of animals such as penguins or in low-oxygen environments such as wetlands.
Phosphine can also be made industrially, but there are no factories on Venus; and most certainly no penguins.
No one had seriously considered the possibility of life on Venus before, considering that it is such a hellish place (at least for Earthlings). Space probes that managed to land on this planet survived only a few minutes before disintegrating.
Nature "pleased" the curfew
On Earth, thanks to the pandemic, people got a precious opportunity to look into what life would look like if we made systemic changes and helped the environment in the long term. In some cities, due to the reduction in traffic, the air briefly became cleaner. In the spring, when expressions like "curfew" and "quarantine" became part of our everyday life, a 17 percent drop in harmful gas emissions was recorded. Although the recession is the most responsible for the "refining", some scientists believe that the drop in the prices of renewable energy sources should not be ignored.
While most people were surprisingly conciliatory about restrictions on movement and basic freedoms, scenes in the media and on social networks showed us that animals are actually bolder during curfews. A feature of that period on social networks were photos of rare birds or animals wandering the deserted streets of the city, with the caption: "Nature heals". As traffic and construction noise died down, urban birds adapted to the new sound environment by doubling their communication distance and increasing the complexity of their song, a study found.
Some, however, say that it is possible that humans are just beginning to notice nature. Maybe a red cardinal chirps near our home every morning, only now that we are "socially distanced" we notice it.
People turned and admired the nature they had previously ignored - plants and animals they would have just hurriedly passed by before.
The coronavirus is the "slap" of humanity
Perhaps, as in Newton's orchard, the pandemic, in addition to scientific discoveries, also gave people the opportunity to finally see clearly what they had ignored so many times. In a painful way, she made it possible for us to know who we are through what we lack. Life without the possibility of going to a cafe, theater, cinema, concert, hangout, conversation over dinner with friends, a few hours with parents or simply a hug - is empty and difficult.
The pandemic has taken so many lives, but it has also reminded us what life is for: to enjoy being with other people, close enough to touch them and be touched. Like a magnifying glass over each of us, the virus has shown our greatest weakness, but also our most precious strength: our need for each other.
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