The Year of Science: what advancements have been made in 2023, and what did Nationalworld cover?

This year has been filled with a range of scientific breakthroughs that have caused controversy, and intrigue as well as being world firsts. In 2023, we saw coloured images from deep space, rooted for successful transplants and heard major stories of UFOs being spotted. 

But the year has been littered with massive breakthroughs that may even change the way we live. So, for 2023, what are the biggest science and space stories we have covered? Here's what you need to know. 

The UK's first womb transplant

In August 2023, a 34-year-old woman received the UK’s first womb transplant in an operation which lasted nine hours and 20 minutes.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Professor Richard Smith, clinical lead at the charity Womb Transplant UK said the experience had been “quite remarkable”, adding that the operation had been a “massive success”.

World's first eye transplant 

On 27 May, US veteran has received the world's transplant of an entire human eye, although it is not certain he will regain vision. Aaron James suffered an accident with high-voltage power lines that destroyed most of his face and one eye - but his right eye still works.

Mr James, 46, of Hot Springs, Arkansas, is recovering well from the dual transplant last May and the donated eye looks remarkably healthy. 

First embryos in space 

Mouse embryos made it to an early stage of development on board the International Space Station (ISS), which means humans may be able to be safely pregnant in space. Scientists from the University of Yamanashi and the Riken Research Institute in Japan designed a device that allowed astronauts to handle and thaw the embryos over four days, which were then sent back to Earth for testing after the experiment was conducted in 2021, after more than 700 embryos were extracted from pregnant mice in August 2021 and taken up to the ISS on a SpaceX rocket. 

Oldest ever black hole found in space

The oldest black hole has been spotted in the depths of the universe, being formed just 470 million years after the Big Bang. There is strong evidence it was born massive, with an estimated mass of roughly 10 million and 100 million suns when calculating the X-rays' brightness and energy. Further research on black holes has been revolutionary, with the discovery that black holes could be hiding in “perfectly balanced pairs”, mimicking a single black hole, a new theory, suggests. Another find is that the famous black hole, M87, is actually spinning. 

Big year for AI

Collins dictionary named AI the word of the year - and rightly so as Artificial Intelligence has made waves in every aspect of life. For example, it has provided some monumental additions to certain lifestyles such as advanced web search engines (e.g., Google Search), recommendation systems (used by YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix), understanding human speech (such as Siri and Alexa), self-driving cars (e.g., Waymo), generative or creative tools (ChatGPT and AI art), and competing at the highest level in strategic games (such as chess and Go).

UFO findings

In July, explosive claims about alien technology came to light during a hearing called “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency” took place when three whistleblowers talked about unexplained object sightings and government possession of “nonhuman” biological matter. The fallout saw the Pentagon launch a website for declassified UFO information as well as setting a head of research. 

India's historic moon landing 

India made history on 23 August after it successfully landed Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar south pole, and became the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.

Later on, Pragyaan, the moon rover, confirmed the presence of sulphur and other elements near the lunar south pole.

It conducted experiments over 14 days, as it searched for signs of frozen water that could help future astronaut missions, as a potential source of drinking water or to make rocket fuel.

The probe to Psyche and the sample from Bennu

Nasa launched a probe to one of the strangest objects in the universe - an asteroid called 16 Psyche, which telescopic observations have suggested is made from up to 60% iron and nickel. Scientists believe the asteroid may be the battered remains of an early planet’s core, and could shed light on the inaccessible centres of Earth and other rocky planets.

Samples of a 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid, Bennu, on the other hand, could help shed light on some of the biggest questions about how Earth formed and hold vital clues to the formation of the planets and our solar system, experts say. The team also believe it could have extra-terrestrial water trapped within its minerals, and analysis of these minerals will help the team test the theory that asteroids delivered water to our planet 4.5 billion years ago.

The 'textbook' human embryos grown in a lab

The Weizmann Institute team say their “embryo model” was created using stem cells, and looks like a textbook example of a real 14-day-old human embryo, which even released hormones that turn a pregnancy test positive in the lab.

The research published in Nature demonstrates that the synthetic embryo models have all the structures and compartments characteristic of human embryos, including the placenta, yolk sac, chorionic sac and other external tissues.

The marvels of the James Webb Telescope 

The James Webb Telescope has pictured some fantastic findings this year as space exploration delves deep into the mystery of space. The telescope has begun measuring the most distant star ever detected, as well as one of the most distant galaxies ever observed. The Webb turned one, and as a tribute, Nationalworld looked back at five of the best pictures it took of deep space.