The European spallation neutron source will welcome the first batch of researchers next year.
Tunnel located in underground nuclear waste storage facility in Olkiloto Island, Finland.
The "Jupiter Ice Moon Explorer" mission will study Jupiter and its satellites Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.
A technician installs an optical cable at the Vera Rubin Observatory, which will take the first image in 2023.
Image source of this article: Nature website
[Today’s Viewpoint]
◎ reporter Liu Xia
The calendar is about to turn to 2023, and scientists will write new legends in the new year. The website of the British magazine Nature pointed out in a report on the 19th that landing on the moon, mRNA vaccine and exceeding the standard model will be the most important scientific events in 2023.
The next generation of vaccines is coming one after another.
During the COVID-19 epidemic, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine was a blockbuster, and a series of mRNA vaccines to prevent other diseases were also being developed.
Biontech is expected to launch the first human trials of mRNA vaccines against malaria, tuberculosis and genital herpes in the next few weeks. The company also cooperated with Pfizer to test a candidate mRNA vaccine aimed at reducing the incidence of herpes zoster. Moderna is also developing candidate mRNA vaccines against genital herpes and herpes zoster.
In November, Biontech and Pfizer launched the first phase trial of an mRNA vaccine, which aims at preventing COVID-19 and influenza, and contains mRNA chains encoding the original strain of Covid-19, BA.4/BA.5 of Omicron and binding proteins of four influenza variants.
Other teams are investigating the possibility of COVID-19 vaccination by rapid nasal spray. These sprays are effective for animals, but the road to human trials may be long.
Space exploration is brilliant.
The first photograph taken by the james webb Space Telescope amazed the world. This year, scientists also published some new discoveries about the early universe with the help of the Webb space telescope. In the coming year, they will speed up their exploration and continue to share the results and new discoveries about the evolution of galaxies photographed by the telescope.
The Euclidean space telescope being developed by the European Space Agency will be launched in 2023, which will orbit the sun for six years and take photos to create a three-dimensional map of the universe. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s X-ray imaging and spectroscopy mission also embraces the same mission, which is an earth-orbiting satellite that will detect X-rays from distant stars and galaxies.
The Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile will also start shooting images in July 2023. The telescope adopts a special three-mirror design with a resolution of 3.2 billion pixels, which can patrol the whole southern sky in just three nights.
In addition, the world’s largest operational radio telescope — — Xinjiang, China Qitai Radio Telescope (QTT) will enter the intensive construction stage. This giant sky observation device is a circular spherical radio telescope with a diameter of 110 meters, which can observe 75% of the stars in the sky at any given time.
The mission of exploring the moon has been accelerated.
On December 11th, this year, while the Orion spacecraft carrying out the unmanned mission of "Al themis 1" by NASA splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near California, the lunar rover Rashid from the United Arab Emirates, the lunar flashlight from NASA and the Japanese "White Rabbit -R" lander headed for the moon. "White Rabbit -R" will attempt a soft landing on the moon in April next year. In addition, the Indian Space Research Organization’s "Moon Ship -3" will land near the South Pole of the Moon in the middle of next year. The first folk trip to the moon will also be launched next year — — Eleven people will take the "Starship" rocket of American Space Exploration Technology Company for a six-day private space flight.
In April next year, the European Space Agency will launch the Jupiter Ice Moon Explorer (JUICE) mission to study the environment of Jupiter, a giant gaseous planet and its three satellites.
Pathogen observation list
In 2023, the World Health Organization will publish a new priority list of pathogens. About 300 scientists will evaluate more than 25 virus and bacteria families to determine the pathogens that may cause a pandemic in the future. They will also develop a research and development roadmap for each priority pathogen, outline the cognitive gap, determine the research focus, and guide the development of vaccines, treatments and diagnostic testing technologies.
CRISPR therapy is expected to be approved
In view of using CRISPR-Cas9 system to treat β Clinical trials of thalassemia and sickle cell disease have achieved satisfactory results, and the first CRISPR gene editing therapy may be approved next year.
American Vertex Pharmaceutical Company and CRISPR Pharmaceutical Company are currently developing exa-cel therapy, which works by collecting patients’ own stem cells, editing defective genes with CRISPR-Cas9 technology, and then returning the cells to the human body. Vertex is expected to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval to suffer from β -exa-cel therapy for people with thalassemia or sickle cell disease.
Details of climate agreement finalized
At the end of November, the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) finally came to an end in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. One of the achievements was the establishment of a fund to ask developed countries to pay for the losses suffered by poor countries due to climate change, which marked an important step for countries all over the world to be energetic and just. According to the agreement, rich countries that have historically been responsible for high emissions will economically compensate poorer countries, which bear the brunt of climate change. But the relevant details still need to be finalized. It is expected that a "transition committee" will meet before the end of March next year and make suggestions on how to arrange these funds. These suggestions will be submitted to delegates from all over the world during the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai in November next year.
Beyond the standard model or dawn
Physicists have published μ The first results of meson g-2 experiment are expected to be more accurate in 2023. In this experiment, we studied a new method called μ The behavior of short-lived particles of mesons in magnetic field is tested.
The underground neutrino experimental observation station in Jiangmen, China will also accurately measure the oscillation of neutrinos through a detector located 700 meters underground, so as to find physical phenomena outside the standard model.
Another event highly anticipated by particle physicists is that the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Lund, Sweden will welcome its first researchers in 2023. Scientists will use the most powerful linear proton accelerator to produce intense neutron beams to study the structure of materials.
New Hope for Alzheimer’s Disease
In early January next year, American regulators will announce whether lecanemab can be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Previously, a large trial showed that lecanemab could significantly slow down the cognitive decline of patients.
Lecanemab, developed by Japanese Weicai Pharmaceutical and American Bojian Biotechnology Company, is a monoclonal antibody that can remove β Amyloid protein. This clinical trial recruited 1795 patients with early Alzheimer’s disease, and the results showed that lecanemab could significantly slow down the cognitive decline of patients by 27% compared with placebo. However, some scientists believe that the benefits brought by the drug are limited, while others are worried about the safety of the drug.
American Anavex Life Sciences Company will continue to carry out clinical trials on its drug blarcamesine for Alzheimer’s disease, which can activate a protein that can improve the stability of neurons and their interconnection ability.
The first nuclear waste repository began to operate
In 2023, the world’s first nuclear waste storage facility will start operation in Olkiloto, Finland. The Finnish government approved the construction of this deep underground repository in 2015 to safely dispose of spent nuclear fuel. Up to 6500 tons of radioactive uranium will be packed in copper cans, which will be covered with clay and buried in granite bedrock tunnels located 400 meters underground. Nuclear waste will be stored there for hundreds of thousands of years, when radiation will become harmless to people and animals.