A number of significant scientific events occurred in 2019.
Events
January
1 January The New Horizons space probe flies by Kuiper belt object 486958 Arrokoth (nicknamed Ultima Thule), the outermost close encounter of any Solar System object. 2 January A study finds that tons of methane, a greenhouse gas, are released into the atmosphere by melting ice sheets in Greenland. 3 January China's National Space Administration (CNSA) achieves the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon with its Chang'e 4 mission. Scientists report the engineering of crops with a photorespiratory "shortcut" to boost plant growth by 40% in real-world agronomic conditions. 4 January Researchers at Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) report a way to control properties of excitons and change the polarisation of light they generate, which could lead to transistors that undergo less energy loss and heat dissipation. Researchers design an inhalable form of messenger RNA aerosol that could be administered directly to the lungs to help treat diseases such as cystic fibrosis. 6 January A partial solar eclipse occurred. 8 January Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) report a new way to stabilise the "tearing modes" in fusion reactors, using radio waves to create small changes in the temperature of the plasma, allowing it to be controlled more easily. IBM unveils IBM Q System One, its first integrated quantum computing system for commercial use. 9 January Astronomers announce the discovery of a second repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source, named FRB 180814. The first SD card with a storage capacity of 1 terabyte (TB) is announced by Lexar. Astronomers at the University of Warwick present the first direct evidence of white dwarf stars solidifying into crystals.
10 January Astronomers propose that AT2018cow, a very powerful astronomical explosion, 10–100 times brighter than a normal supernova, may have been a white dwarf being pulled apart by a black hole; or, a supernova leaving behind a black hole or a neutron star, the creation of a compact body being observed for the first time. 11 January Researchers at the University of Michigan demonstrate a new approach to 3D printing, based on the lifting of shapes from a vat of liquid, which is up to 100 times faster than conventional processes. 14 January A study in the journal PNAS finds that Antarctica experienced a sixfold increase in yearly ice mass loss between 1979 and 2017. 16 January A study in Ecological Monographs suggests there may be sustained foraging specialization, fasting and omnivory in the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the world's largest fish. 17 January Scientists report that Australopithecus sediba is distinct from, but shares anatomical similarities to, both the older Australopithecus africanus, and the younger Homo habilis. Astronomers report that a day on the planet Saturn has been determined to be , based on studies of the planet's C Ring. 21 January Scientists report that the Greenland ice sheet is melting four times faster than in 2003, with its largest sustained ice loss coming from the southwest region. Lunar eclipse 22 January Alphabet's Waymo subsidiary announces that it will later in 2019 begin construction in the US State of Michigan on the World's first factory for mass-producing autonomous vehicles. 23 January Scientists in China report the creation of five identical cloned gene-edited monkeys, using the same cloning technique that was used with Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua the first-ever cloned monkeys and Dolly the sheep, and the same gene-editing CRISPR-Cas9 technique allegedly used by He Jiankui in creating the first-ever gene-modified human babies Lulu and Nana. The genetically modified monkey clones were made in order to study several medical diseases. Astronomers report the first-ever detection of glycolonitrile, another possible building block of life among other such molecules, in outer space.
24 January NASA announces that the Opportunity rover has been on the planet Mars for 15 years. NASA scientists report the discovery of the oldest known Earth rock on the Moon. Apollo 14 astronauts returned several rocks from the Moon and later, scientists determined that a fragment from one of the rocks contained "a bit of Earth from about 4 billion years ago." The rock fragment contained quartz, feldspar, and zircon, all common on the Earth, but highly uncommon on the Moon. The complete axolotl genome is reported to have been sequenced by the University of Kentucky. 25 January AlphaStar, a new artificial intelligence algorithm by Alphabet's DeepMind subsidiary, defeats professional players of the real-time strategy game StarCraft II in ten rounds out of eleven. 29 January Researchers at Purdue University's College of Engineering release a paper in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering detailing a new process to turn plastic waste in hydrocarbon fuels. 30 January Scientists report that several types of humans, including Denisovans, Neanderthals and related hybrids, may have inhabited the Denisova Cave in Siberia over thousands of years, but it is unclear whether they ever shared the cave. 31 January Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, demonstrate a new form of 3D printer, which uses light exposure to transform a viscous liquid into complex solid objects. A new AI developed by RMIT at University of Melbourne and trained to play the 1980s video game Montezuma's Revenge is reported to be 10 times faster than Google DeepMind and able to finish the game.
February
1 February NASA scientists report that the Mars Curiosity rover determined, for the first time, the density of Mount Sharp in Gale crater, thereby establishing a clearer understanding of how the mountain was formed. 3 February Medical scientists announce that iridium attached to albumin, creating a photosensitized molecule, can penetrate cancer cells and, after being irradiated with light (a process called photodynamic therapy), destroy the cancer cells. 4 February A study by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development concludes that 36% of glaciers along the Hindu Kush and Himalaya range will disappear by 2100, even if carbon emissions are cut rapidly. Without emission reductions, the loss could reach two-thirds. 5 February NASA reports that the two small communication CubeSats, that accompanied the InSight lander to the planet Mars, went silent, and are unlikely to be heard from again. 6 February NASA and NOAA confirm that 2018 was the fourth hottest year on record globally, at 0.83 degrees Celsius (1.5 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 1951 to 1980 mean. Scientists from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias publish the first evidence of a collision between exoplanets, which is believed to have occurred in the Kepler-107 system, approximately 1,670 light years from Earth. 7 February Medical scientists working with Sangamo Therapeutics, headquartered in Richmond, California, announce the first-ever "in body" human gene editing therapy to permanently alter DNA in a patient with Hunter syndrome. Clinical trials by Sangamo Therapeutics involving gene editing using Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZFN) are ongoing. The ExoMars rover, scheduled to launch in July 2020 and search for the existence of past life on the planet Mars, has been officially named the Rosalind Franklin rover after DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin. Scientists announce the discovery of a new type of magnet that might benefit the performance of data storage technologies.
8 February NASA scientists, studying the latest returned images and data, report that 486958 Arrokoth, the remote Kuiper Belt Object visited by the New Horizons spacecraft, was determined to be more flattened than thought earlier; and has been described to be more like a large "pancake" (larger lobe) and a "walnut" (smaller lobe), rather than two ellipsoids. 11 February Scientists find evidence, based on genetics studies using artificial intelligence (AI), that suggest the existence of an unknown human ancestor species, not Neanderthal, Denisovan or human hybrid (like Denny (hybrid hominin)), in the genome of modern humans. 13 February NASA officials declare that the Mars rover Opportunity has ended its mission, after failing to respond to repeated transmitted wake-up signals. Its last contact was on 10 June 2018 (Click here for the last panorama image.) 18 February A British woman becomes the first person in the world to have gene therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Scientists use gene therapy to restore hearing in an adult mouse model of DFNB9 deafness. 19 February Researchers at Oxford Martin School publish evidence that, in the longer term, some forms of cultured meat could be worse for the environment than traditional farmed meat. Scientists report evidence, based on isotope studies, that at least some Neanderthals may have eaten meat.
21 February Scientists announce a new form of DNA, named Hachimoji DNA, composed of four natural, and four unnatural nucleobases. Benefits of such an eight-base DNA system may include an enhanced ability to store digital data, as well as insights into what may be possible in the search for extraterrestrial life. Scientists report that the purportedly first-ever germline genetically edited humans, the twin babies Lulu and Nana, by Chinese researcher He Jiankui, may have inadvertently (or perhaps, intentionally) had their brains enhanced. SpaceX launches SpaceIL's Beresheet probe, the world's first privately financed mission to the Moon. Astronomers led by Scott S. Sheppard announce the discovery of FarFarOut, the most distant object yet found in the Solar System, at an estimated distance of 140 AU (21 billion km) from the Sun. 25 February Scientists report evidence that Neanderthals walked upright much like modern humans. The first microSD card with a storage capacity of 1 terabyte (TB) is announced by Micron. 26 February Researchers at RMIT University demonstrate a method of using a liquid metal catalyst to turn carbon dioxide gas back into coal, potentially offering a new way to store carbon in solid form. 28 February Scientists report the first-ever evidence of a former planet-wide groundwater system on the planet Mars. Scientists report the creation of mice with infrared vision, using nanoparticles injected into their eyes.
March 3 March An uncrewed demonstration flight of the new crew capable version of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, intended to carry American astronauts into space, achieves successful autonomous docking with the International Space Station. It returned to Earth a few days later.
4 March Scientists report that asteroids may be much more difficult to destroy than thought earlier. In addition, an asteroid may reassemble itself due to gravity after being disrupted. 5 March A second case of sustained remission from HIV-1 is reported, ten years after the 'Berlin Patient.' Astronomers report the discovery of unusual dimming in EPIC 204376071, a star that has been observed to dim in brightness by up to 80%, much more deeply than the 22% dimming of Tabby's star. 7 March Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) demonstrate a new optical imaging system that could enable the discovery of tiny tumours, as small as 200 cells, deep within the body. 8 March Astronomers report that the mass of the Milky Way galaxy is 1.5 trillion solar masses within a radius of about 129,000 light-years, over twice as much as was determined in earlier studies, and suggesting that about 90% of the mass of the galaxy is dark matter. 11 March A team of Japanese and Russian scientists report that cell nuclei from woolly mammoth remains showed biological activity when transplanted into mouse cells.