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Strange Radio Waves, The Crash Near The Milky Way, Percy’s Wonders – List Of The Most Interesting Science News Of 2021

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By on Radio waves

New Delhi: The year 2021 has been a wonderful year for groundbreaking scientific research and many important works have been completed in the field of science, especially space exploration, astronomy and biological research. The year was dedicated to news such as the race for space tourism which accelerated to several commitments made at the climate change conference in Glasgow.
Here is the list of the most interesting scientific news and research work completed in 2021:

1. Launch of the most powerful space observatory ever built

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the most powerful space observatory ever built, is not only the biggest science news of the year, but also one of the biggest news for several years. After years of waiting, the JWST, which is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, lifted off into space on Christmas Day. JWST, also called Webb, is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope which will unlock the secrets of the universe and look at the first stars and galaxies.
James Webb Space Telescope (Photo: NASA)

2. Einstein’s theory of general relativity faced its toughest test yet

Researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) have helped conduct a 16-year experiment to challenge Einstein’s theory of general relativity, by looking at the stars. A pair of extreme stars called pulsars were observed through seven radio telescopes around the world as part of the study. The scientists used their observations to challenge Einstein’s most famous theory, which states that gravity is a curvature or distortion of spacetime, and that gravity affects spacetime.
The study revealed new relativistic effects that were observed for the first time.
Representative image of an abstract gravity wave background (Photo: Getty)

3. Sun in a state of agitation

This year, there have been several instances of powerful bursts of radiation, or solar flares, erupting from the surface of the Sun.
In early November, a strong G3 class geomagnetic storm occurred, which was triggered by the solar outbursts. This resulted in auroras in the lower latitudes of Earth.
In late October, a sunspot triggered an X1-class solar flare, creating a massive plasma tsunami that moved across the entire solar disk. Plasma and magnetized particles blew up the sunspot on the same day and resulted in a coronal mass ejection (CME).
The Sun’s restless state in 2021 is surprising as the star has had a weaker solar cycle in the past decade, compared to the previous decade, according to a study by Indian scientists. This resulted in weaker Solar Storms or CMEs during Solar Cycle 24, which lasted from 2008 to 2019. Additionally, the Sun was weakest in 2019.
In a new study, astronomers from India have found that the changing structure of the magnetic field on the Sun’s surface determines whether the Sun emits a solar flare or a CME, which is believed to be helpful in improving solar weather forecasting.
Sun with solar flares
Sun with solar flares (Photo: NASA)

4. Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company’s Blue Origin case against NASA

Blue Origin had filed a lawsuit against NASA in August over a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract awarded by NASA to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for the upcoming Artemis mission. In November, the United States Federal Court of Claims ruled against Blue Origin. NASA, in a statement, said work with SpaceX would resume “as soon as possible.”

5. The race for space tourism intensifies

The year 2021 has been extremely important for space tourism. A total of seven space tourism missions were carried out. These included the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission, which is the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit, and the Soyuz MS-20 mission, which marked the first self-funded space tourism mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in a decade. .
William Shatner, Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, became the oldest man to go into space in October.
Even more interestingly, the first feature film was shot in space this year. A Russian film crew stayed aboard the ISS for 12 days to shoot parts of a movie called “Vyozov,” which means “The Challenge.”

Inspiration4 Crew in space (Photo: Twitter/@inspiration4x)

6. Strange radio waves emitted from the galactic center

In October, astronomers discovered strange radio signals coming from the direction of the center of the Milky Way. The new radio waves detected did not match any of the previously known patterns.
One of the researchers said the most unusual thing about the new signal is its “very strong polarization”, which means the light oscillates in one direction only, but that direction rotates over time.

Astronomers think these unusual signals could suggest a new class of stellar objects.

Milky Way
Milky Way (Photo: NASA)

7. Commercial Space Station Plans Announced

In October, Blue Origin and Sierra Space announced their plans for a commercially developed, owned and operated space station to be built in low Earth orbit. Blue Origin called the space station an “orbital reef” and said it will house up to 10 people by the second half of the decade.
Aerospace company Nanoracks will also be developing its own commercial space station, which it calls “Starlab,” and Northrop Grumman has yet to name its space hub. NASA awarded contracts worth millions to the three private companies.
Orbital Reef (Twitter/@OrbitalReef)

8. Commitments made at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland

The 26th UN Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP26, was held in Glasgow, Scotland, UK from October 31 to November 12. Several commitments have been made by participating countries, including India. COP26 concluded with 197 countries agreeing to a new climate deal: the Glasgow Climate Pact, to keep 1.5 degrees Celsius alive and finalize the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Countries have collectively committed to reducing methane emissions, aligning the financial sector to net zero by 2050, halting and reversing deforestation, ditching the internal combustion engine, accelerating the phase-out of coal and to end international financing of fossil fuels, to name a few. some.

United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (Photo: Getty)

In September, scientists at Washington University in St. Louis found new evidence that supports the idea that America’s first civilization was made up of “sophisticated engineers.” Evidence suggests that the first Native American peoples or Native Americans were highly skilled engineers capable of building huge earthen structures in months or even weeks. One of the researchers claimed that these early earthworks held together for more than 3,000 years without major breakage or erosion.

One example is the Poverty Point World Heritage Site in Louisiana, USA, which consists of 72-foot-tall mounds and ridges of earth built by hunter-gatherers around 3,400 years ago.

In 2020, scientists announced the discovery of a strange object they found by accident. This year they discovered more about the object, which is a “brown dwarf” nicknamed “the accident”. The accident, because it was found by pure chance, is unique because it bears no resemblance to the other brown dwarfs (more than 2,000 of them) discovered so far in the Milky Way.

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