The biggest science news stories of 2023 as chosen by New Scientist

From extraordinary warmth to beautiful house imagery, New Scientist has introduced you intensive protection of the largest developments, discoveries and occasions in science, expertise, well being and surroundings in 2023. Right here is our recap of among the greatest tales this 12 months.

Setting

The variety of warmth information damaged in 2023 is solely astounding. Whereas we are able to’t say for positive till official figures are in subsequent month, this 12 months was almost certainly the hottest ever recorded. In an indication of how extraordinary temperatures have been, New Scientist was already reporting this possibility in mid-June, effectively earlier than the northern hemisphere summer season had acquired into gear.

Just a few weeks later noticed a very surreal string of occasions. The common international air temperature recorded 2 metres above Earth’s floor – primarily, a manner of taking the temperature of the complete planet – hit its highest ever determine on 3 July, however this report was immediately broken on 4 July, which was then matched on 5 July and broken again the next day. By the top of August, we had seen the hottest three-month period on record, and it was adopted by the hottest September ever. In November, researchers declared the hottest 12 months on record.

Towards this backdrop, negotiations on the COP28 local weather summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, had been a fraught affair. Whether or not the world would finally take action against fossil fuels was a key level of disagreement, and at one level seemed set to scupper the summit. Ultimately, the world agreed to start “transitioning away” from fossil fuels – which was the primary time they’ve been talked about in a COP textual content – however many questions remain about what that means in practice.

Well being

The demand for Wegovy, the weight-loss formulation of semaglutide, this 12 months has been like almost no other drug in history. In addition to being extremely efficient for weight reduction, early trials this 12 months have proven that it might cut the risk of heart attack or stroke and will additionally assist treat addiction. Regardless of some moralising about a “quick fix” for obesity, together with shortages and difficulty in accessing the drug, it’s clear a well being revolution has begun.

The previous 12 months has additionally been the primary since 2019 that covid-19 wasn’t on the forefront of everybody’s minds. With the World Well being Group saying on 5 Could that the viral sickness was no longer a public health emergency, in some sense the coronavirus pandemic has come to an end – no less than for some. Thousands and thousands of persons are still experiencing the lingering symptoms of long covid, a situation that continues to be poorly understood.

Synthetic intelligence

By a tough depend, New Scientist has revealed virtually 150 stories about artificial intelligence this year. Tech companies had been falling over one another to compete, from OpenAI claiming “human level performance” for its GPT-4 giant language mannequin to Google saying its Gemini model is even better. There have been considerations concerning the rise of AI-driven misinformation, from a picture of the Pope in a puffer jacket to the chance of a feedback loop of bias, together with makes an attempt at detecting AI-generated text.

AI was additionally the topic of high-level discussions throughout politics and enterprise. It grew to become a huge sticking point within the Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes, whereas world leaders, researchers and businesspeople convened at Bletchley Park within the UK in November to signal a declaration on the dangers of the brand new expertise. Actually, this was the 12 months AI went mainstream.

Area

The most important house mission of the 12 months was additionally one of many least costly, with India’s low-budget Chandrayaan-3 moon landing costing just £60 million. India’s success made it simply the fourth nation to securely contact down on the moon, after the US, the Soviet Union and China. It additionally got here simply days after a Russian probe crash-landed on the lunar floor in an try and recapture that Soviet-era glory.

Additional out in house, the James Webb Area Telescope continued to shine, offering fantastic images and advancing our understanding of the universe, from the fastest growing galaxy to the most distant black hole ever seen.