Science has called the development of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs a breakthrough of 2023. These medications are said to be able to alleviate the health problems associated with obesity.
Weight loss medications with more benefits
Although the causes of this disease include genetic, physiological, environmental and social factors, the risks of obesity as a medical problem can be life-threatening: heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, liver disease and certain cancers.
Pharmacological treatments for obesity have “an unfortunate history, often intertwined with societal pressure to lose weight and the widespread belief that being overweight is a reflection of a lack of willpower,” he says. Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Editor of Science.
The new class of weight loss drugs is producing promising results. Developed originally used to treat diabetes Almost 20 years ago, GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of obesity attracted great interest.
For all their promise, these drugs have raised more questions than answers, marking a real breakthrough
This year, two clinical trials showed that GLP-1 agonists provided significant health benefits beyond weight loss. Additionally, there are several ongoing studies examining its use in the treatment of drug addiction, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“But for all their promise, GLP-1 receptor agonists have raised more questions than answers, representing a real breakthrough,” he adds. Holden ThorpEditor-in-Chief of Sciencein a corresponding editorial.
Frankel also raises concerns about the cost, availability, associated side effects, and the possible need to take these medications indefinitely. Likewise, doctors fear that people who are not obese or overweight will turn to them to lose weight quickly.
The brains of Alzheimer’s patients contain clumps of proteins called beta-amyloid. /Unsplash | Matthew Bennett
Modest progress against Alzheimer’s
The brains of Alzheimer’s patients contain clumps of protein called beta-amyloid, and for years scientists have debated whether removing them would help patients. Several therapies that did this failed.
The USA and Japan approved a new treatment with the drug Lecanemab this year. Studies showed that cognitive loss was slowed in 27% of patients compared to placebo in an 18-month study.
Another study this summer of an antibody treatment called donanemab, also directed against brain amyloid, slowed cognitive decline by up to 35% compared to placebo in a slightly different patient population. Both therapies are administered intravenously.
Hydrogen molecules. / Pixabay
Search for natural hydrogen
That the Earth contains hydrogen defies conventional geological wisdom. Scientists assumed that most of the hydrogen in the earth’s crust would be eaten by microbes or converted into other compounds.
Its surprising existence in several places on the planet has led to speculation that it emerges from the Earth’s core or is formed when radioactive elements in the crust split water. However, many researchers believe it is formed when water reacts with iron-rich minerals at high temperatures and pressures.
Current studies find evidence of significant hydrogen deposits on all continents except Antarctica.
The claims of new scientists
Last winter, 48,000 academic staff at the University of California (USA) staged a major strike that brought significant benefits to graduate and postdoctoral students. In Canada, thousands of university employees across the country also staged a large, one-day protest to demand federal funding for postdoctoral researchers, as in Germany for scientists with postdoctoral contracts.
We must provide better conditions for the future generation of scientists
A year full of mobilizations that, as the Spanish scientist points out, Alvaro Cuesta Dominguezfrom Columbia University (USA) and board member of a union that negotiated a new contract for postdocs and research assistants: “We must offer better conditions for the future generation of scientists.”
Fossilized human footprints in White Sands National Park (New Mexico). / National Park Service
Traces of America’s first settlers
In 2021, archaeologists in White Sands National Park in New Mexico announced a discovery: unmistakable human footprints left on the muddy shore of an ancient lake 21,000 to 23,000 years ago.
The fossilized footprints were formed in soft mud on the edge of a shallow lake that is now part of Alkali Flat, a large dune area.
David BustosAdministrator of the National Park’s Resource Program, was the first to discover these footprints in 2009. Bustos, along with Matthew Bennetta geologist at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom, and other USGS scientists began studying the site in more detail in 2019.
If the dates are correct, the footprints were left at the height of the last ice age, when glaciers covered Canada, suggesting that humans must have made the journey to the Americas before these ice sheets formed.
Earth’s carbon pump is slowing down
This year, several studies have made it clear that carbon sequestration by the oceans is at serious risk. The first worrying signs emerged thanks to data from the Deep Argo robotic probes, floating bodies that move autonomously at a depth of 4,000 meters. This is how we knew that the water at the bottom of Antarctica was warming and decreasing in volume.
A study was published in March Communication earth and environment and led by American researchers provided more direct evidence. They fed the sparse record of historical ship measurements in the region into a climate model that showed circulation had slowed by up to 20% since the 1970s.
Later, in May, a study by Nature climate changeThe study, led by Australian scientists, used measurements from ships and buoys to show that the flow of deep sea water slowed by almost 30% between 1992 and 2017. Traditional climate models had predicted that circulation could slow, but not for years. “The threat we thought was far away is already there,” he suspects. Paul VoosenEditor of Science.
Two supermassive black holes (top left) emit gravitational waves that ripple the fabric of spacetime. / Aurore Simonnet/NANOGrav
Rumblings from the merger of giant black holes
This year, astrophysicists have discovered signs of a faint and highly sought-after cosmic rumble. It’s about the sound of Gravitational waves from moving gigantic masses: Supermassive black holes throughout the universe, orbiting each other in close orbital pairs.
In June, five scientific teams monitored another group of pulsars and collectively announced that after 15 years of observation, they had reduced the noise in the data to the point where it could be said that only the pulsars remained combined rumblings of binary supermassive black holes throughout the universe, possibly millions of them. Teams are now looking for more pulsars to map the buzz and get closer to the galaxies where gigantic black holes are slowly dancing.
Weather AI is coming
Technology companies like Google, Huawei and Nvidia have trained AI models to predict the weather up to 10 days in advance, with accuracy that rivals or exceeds traditional models. Instead of solving equations, they predict the near future based on patterns learned over 40 years of meteorology, based on the European Center for Medium-Range Forecasts (ECMWF) numerical model.
The ECMWF has also already started creating its own AI forecasts. These are not perfect models because they have difficulty predicting the intensity of hurricanes, for example. However, they are expected to improve as they learn from direct meteorological observations collected by sensors.
The WHO estimates that malaria caused more than 640,000 deaths in 2020. / Pixabay
New hopes against malaria
Trying to fight malaria Vaccinations has received a double boost this year. The world’s first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, has been shown to reduce mortality in children, the group most affected by the disease, which kills nearly 470,000 people a year in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
On the other hand, with the approval of a vaccine called R21/MatrixM by the World Health Organization (WHO), a second vaccine is about to join the fray. Similar in structure to Mosquirix, it can be produced more cheaply and in larger quantities.
The fastest exascale supercomputer, Frontier. / Carlos Jones/ORNL, US Department of Energy
The beginning of exascale computing
This year is the Frontier supercomputer from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (USA) was the first exascale computer to which scientists have access. China is believed to have had exascale machines for years, but the country has not shared its hardware.
But this is just the beginning. Another machine of this type from the Argonne National Laboratory (USA) is in the final stages before opening to users. Two more are scheduled to go into operation in 2024 in California and Germany, followed by others in France and Japan.