January ''
space probe flies by
486958 Arrokoth, a remote
Kuiper belt object (
3D version). • 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.
found to be distinct from, but similar to, both the older Australopithecus africanus and the younger Homo habilis''. • 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 10h33m38s+1m52s-1m19s--->, 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.
gene-edited monkeys (similar to the one pictured above) created, in order to study several medical diseases. • 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 (image above) attached to
albumin produces a
photosensitized molecule able to penetrate and, via
photodynamic therapy, destroy
cancer cells. • 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. mission ends; last image (see above) of 228,771 total over nearly 15 years. • 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. , an 8-
base DNA, that has a similar structure (above) as the 4-base
natural DNA. • 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. remains showed biological activity when transplanted into mouse cells. 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. • 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. • 13 March The laser of ELI-NP in
Măgurele, part of the
European ELI Project, becomes the most powerful laser system ever made, reaching a peak power of 10
Petawatts. • 15 March NASA reports that latent
viruses in humans may be activated during
space missions, adding possibly more risk to astronauts in future
deep-space missions. , named
Avimaia schweitzerae, found with an
unlaid egg, (see
image) • 18 March • Researchers provide supporting evidence, based on
genetic studies, that
modern Homo sapiens, arose first in
South Africa more than 300,000 years ago, traveled to
East Africa, and from there, about 60,000 years ago, traveled
out of Africa to the rest of the world. •
Physicist Adrian Bejan presents an explanation of why
time seems shorter as we get older, which can be attributed to "the ever-slowing speed at which images are obtained and processed by the human brain as the body ages." • 19 March •
Karen Uhlenbeck is reported to be the first woman to receive the prestigious
Abel Prize in Mathematics. • Astronomers describe scenarios where
carbon monoxide may be a
biosignature for a thriving community of
extraterrestrial life on other worlds. • 20 March
Paleontologists report the discovery of
Avimaia schweitzerae, the first
fossil bird found with an
unlaid egg, that lived about 115 million years ago in
Northwest China. • 27 March • Scientists report that
life-forms from Earth survived 18 months living in
outer space outside the
International Space Station (ISS), as part of the
BIOMEX studies related to the
EXPOSE-R2 mission, suggesting that life could survive, theoretically, on the
planet Mars. •
ESO astronomers, employing the
GRAVITY instrument on their
Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), announce the first
direct detection of an
exoplanet,
HR 8799 e, using
optical interferometry. • Chinese scientists report inserting the human brain-related
MCPH1 gene into laboratory
rhesus monkeys, resulting in the transgenic monkeys performing better and answering faster on "short-term memory tests involving matching colors and shapes", compared to control non-transgenic monkeys, according to the researchers. • 28 March • Researchers report the possibility of
ancient life on the
planet Mars based on microscopic studies of the
Allan Hills 77005 (ALH-77005)
Martian meteorite found on Earth. • Scientists report evidence that suggests the
planet Mars, in some near-equatorial regions, currently contains a
deep groundwater system. • A
Pew Research Center study (4464 adults; mid-January 2019) on
scientific knowledge among
Americans finds substantial differences based on
formal education level (higher is better),
race and
ethnicity (whites higher) and
gender (males higher). No substantial differences were found based on
political affiliation. • 29 March Paleontologists describe a site called Tanis, in North Dakota's
Hell Creek Formation, containing animal and plant fossils dated to
65.76 million years BCE. These remains are embedded with tiny rock and glass fragments that fell from the sky in the minutes and hours following the
Chicxulub impact. The deposits also show evidence of having been swamped with water, caused by the subsequent
megatsunamis.
April (
M87 galaxy). • Scientists at
ETH Zurich report the creation of the world's first
bacterial genome, named
Caulobacter ethensis-2.0, made entirely by a computer, although a related viable form of
C. ethensis-2.0 does not yet exist. • 4 April
NASA releases animated images of
solar eclipses by the
two moons of the planet Mars,
Deimos (
animation1/17 March 2019) and
Phobos (
animation2/27 March 2019), as
viewed by the
Curiosity rover on the
planet Mars in March 2019. • 7 April
NASA reports that a comprehensive study of
microorganisms and
fungi present on the
International Space Station has been conducted. The results can be useful in improving health and safety conditions for
astronauts. • 10 April Scientists from the
Event Horizon Telescope project announce the first-ever image of a
black hole, located 54 million light years away in the centre of the
M87 galaxy. • 10 April • Scientists find a way to view reactions in "dark states" of molecules, i.e. those states that are normally inaccessible. • 11 April •
NASA announces that the
Curiosity rover on the planet
Mars drilled into, and closely studied, a "
clay-bearing unit" which, according to the rover Project Manager, is a "major milestone" in
Curiosity journey up
Mount Sharp. (
related image) • The Israeli
Beresheet probe crashes on the Moon after a technical glitch causes its main engine to switch off. (C60) (also known as "buckyballs") in the
interstellar medium spaces between the
stars. • 16 April Scientists report, for the first time, the use of the
CRISPR technology to edit
human genes to treat
cancer patients with whom standard treatments were not successful. • 17 April After a long search, astronomers report the detection of
helium hydride, a primordial molecule thought to have been formed about 100,000 years after the
Big Bang, for the first time in
outer space in
NGC 7027. • 23 April NASA reports that the Mars
InSight lander detected its first
Marsquake on the
planet Mars. (
related AudioVideo file) • 24 April The
XENON dark matter project announces that it has observed the radioactive decay of
xenon-124, which has a half-life of 1.8
sextillion years. • 25 April Astronomers report further substantial discrepancies, depending on the measurement method used, in determining the
Hubble constant, suggesting a realm of physics currently not well understood in explaining the workings of the
universe. • 29 April Scientists, working with the
Hubble Space Telescope, confirmed the detection of the large and complex ionized molecules of
buckminsterfullerene (C60) (also known as "buckyballs") in the
interstellar medium spaces between the
stars. • 30 April Biologists report that the very large
medusavirus, or a relative, may have been responsible, at least in part, for the
evolutionary emergence of complex
eukaryotic cells from simpler
prokaryotic cells.
May warns that
extinction of the
natural living world is accelerating, largely a result of
human activity passenger pigeons are now extinct. • 2 May • Astronomers, from the
Hubble Space Telescope, release the
Hubble Legacy Field Zoom Out (video; 00:50), a 16-year effort, which provides a zoom out view from the
Ultra Deep Field of galaxies to the Legacy Field of galaxies. • A study of nearly 1,000 gay male couples who took
antiretroviral therapy, published in
The Lancet, finds no cases of
HIV transmission over eight years. • 3 May The UK's
National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and
University of Leicester report the first generation of usable electricity from
americium, which could lead to the development of "space batteries" that power missions for up to 400 years. • 6 May • In its first report since 2005, the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) warns that
biodiversity loss is "accelerating", with over a million species now threatened with
extinction; the decline of the
natural living world is "unprecedented" and largely a result of human actions. • Researchers at
Columbia University report a new
desalination method for
hypersaline brines, known as "temperature swing solvent extraction (TSSE)", which is low-cost and efficient. • 8 May A British teenager, Isabelle Holdaway, 17, is reported to be the first patient to receive a genetically modified
phage therapy to treat a
drug-resistant infection. • 11 May
Atmospheric CO2, as measured by the
Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii, reaches 415 parts per million (ppm), the highest level for 2.5 million years. During the late
Pliocene,
sea levels were up to 20 m higher, and the
global climate was 3 °C hotter. • 14 May • Computer security researchers at
Graz University of Technology and
Catholic University of Leuven, in a
coordinated disclosure with
Intel, announce the discovery of a group of
Microarchitectural Data Sampling vulnerabilities, affecting millions of
Intel microprocessors, which they named Fallout, RIDL (Rogue In-Flight Data Load) and ZombieLoad. • Researchers at
Microsoft reported the
BlueKeep security vulnerability () (noted as
"critical" by Microsoft) that may affect nearly one million computers using
older versions (
Windows 8 and
Windows 10 are
not affected) of the
Windows operating systems with a "
wormable"
Remote Desktop Services (RDS)
Remote Code Execution (RCE)
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) vulnerability. Microsoft recommends installing available update patches as soon as possible, and also recommends turning off Remote Desktop Services if they are not required. • Researchers at
Macquarie University report that
plastic pollution is harming the growth,
photosynthesis and oxygen production of
Prochlorococcus, the ocean's most abundant photosynthetic bacteria, responsible for 10% of oxygen breathed by humans. form of
viable life, a variant of the
bacteria Escherichia coli, reported by researchers. • Researchers at
University of Nebraska Medical Center describe the role of TGF-beta type II signaling receptor (TGFBR2) in
osteoarthritis, which plays a key role in the progression of the disease by regulating joint development. They also identify a potential new drug that could treat it. • 16 May • Astronomers report their first results about
486958 Arrokoth, the
Kuiper Belt object in the
outer Solar System that the
New Horizons space probe flew by in January 2019. • Researchers from the University of Leeds report that nearly a quarter of the
West Antarctic Ice Sheet is now unstable, with melting of the
Pine Island and
Thwaites glaciers now five times faster than 25 years previously. • 19 May • Researchers at the University of Melbourne report an unusual slowdown in the growth of
life expectancy in Australia, following 20 years of rapid increases. • Physicists report that decay processes of
quasiparticles in certain strongly interacting medium systems may be stopped entirely, which may help make such particles basically immortal. • 20 May • Lawyers in
China report, in light of the purported creation by Chinese scientist
He Jiankui of the
first gene-edited humans (see
Lulu and Nana controversy), the drafting of regulations that anyone manipulating the
human genome by
gene-editing techniques, like
CRISPR, would be held responsible for any related adverse consequences. • The
revision of the
SI system of measurement adopted by the majority of countries in the world takes effect. ,
Ourasphaira giraldae (not pictured), found that may have grown on land a billion years ago, well before
plants were on land. • 22 May • Scientists report the discovery of a
fossilized
fungus, named
Ourasphaira giraldae, in the
Canadian Arctic, that may have grown on land a billion years ago, well before
plants were living on land. •
Superconductivity at very high pressure is observed at a temperature of −23 °C (−9 °F), a jump of about 50 degrees compared to the previous confirmed record, by researchers at the
University of Chicago. • 23 May • Researchers at the University of Southampton predict that the average (median) body mass of
mammals will collectively reduce by 25 per cent over the next century, due to the impact of human activity. • Astronomers report the discovery of a
very large amount of water in the
northern polar region of the
planet Mars. • 27 May The last male
Sumatran rhinoceros in
Malaysia is reported to have died, leaving only one female in the country. • 28 May A team from the
University of Minnesota and
University of Massachusetts exceed the
Sabatier maximum, with a 10,000-fold increase in the rate of chemical reactions, using waves to create an oscillating catalyst.
June , a very high mountain on
Ceres, may have been formed from a plume of mud ejected from deep inside the
dwarf planet. • 4 June Astronomers report the discovery of a star, named
ASASSN-V J213939.3-702817.4, non-variable earlier, observed to be associated with a very unusual, deep dimming event. The star, in the
Indus constellation, is about away. • 5 June – Researchers using
nuclear magnetic resonance show that initially correlated quantum spins can exhibit
heat flow from a colder to a hotter system, demonstrating the reversal of the usual thermodynamic heat current due to quantum correlations. • 6 June The
International Astronomical Union (I.A.U), in celebration of its hundredth anniversary, in a project called
IAU100 NameExoWorlds, is reported to welcome countries of the world, to submit names for
astronomical objects, particularly
exoplanets and its
host star, which would later be considered for official adoption by the organization. • 10 June • Scientists report that
Ahuna Mons, a very high dome-shaped mountain on the
dwarf planet Ceres, may have been formed by a plume of mud ejected from deep within the planet. • A study by researchers from the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, identifies nearly 600
plants that have disappeared since the Industrial Revolution more than twice the number of birds, mammals and amphibians combined with extinctions now occurring 500 times faster than the natural background rate. • 11 June • Astronomers report that the
usual Hubble classification, particularly concerning
spiral galaxies, may not be supported, and may need updating. • Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder demonstrate "nanobio-hybrid" organisms capable of using airborne carbon dioxide and nitrogen to produce a variety of eco-friendly plastics and fuels. • 12 June • The discovery of
cold quasars is announced at the 234th meeting of the
American Astronomical Society. • Astronomers report the discovery of two
Earth-mass exoplanets orbiting
Teegarden's Star within its
habitable zone. • 19 June Researchers at
Carnegie Mellon University demonstrate the first noninvasive mind-controlled robotic arm. • 20 June Researchers at
Lancaster University describe a new electronic memory device that combines the properties of both
DRAM and
flash, while recording or deleting data using hundreds of times less energy. in United States waters. • 22 June Scientists working with the
Curiosity rover on the planet
Mars report the detection of a significant amount of
methane, the
largest amount ever detected by the rover 21
parts per billion units by volume (ppbv) (i.e., one ppbv means that if you take a volume of air on Mars, one billionth of the volume of air is methane). Methane is a possible indicator of
life, but may also be produced
geologically. • 23 June Researchers in Greece report for the first time, a single-step
Laser texturing process for the fabrication of
anti-reflective transparent surfaces based on
biomimicry. • 24 June
SpaceX successfully launches the
Falcon Heavy for the 3rd time with the
STP-2 mission. This is also the first Falcon Heavy mission contracted by the
United States Government. • 27 June NASA's
Dragonfly spacecraft is selected to become the fourth mission in the
New Frontiers program. It will launch in 2026, arriving on the surface of Saturn's moon
Titan in 2034. • 28 June • Russian astronomers report the
discovery of nine Fast Radio Burst (FRB) events (FRB 121029, FRB 131030, FRB 140212, FRB 141216, FRB 151125.1, FRB 151125.2, FRB 160206, FRB 161202, FRB 180321), which include one repeating FRB (FRB 151125, third one ever detected), from the direction of the
M 31 (
Andromeda Galaxy) and
M 33 (
Triangulum Galaxy)
galaxies during the analysis of archive data (July 2012 to December 2018) from the
BSA/LPI large phased array radio telescope at the
Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory. • Astronomers report the detection of a
star, named
HD 139139 (EPIC 249706694), that
dims in brightness in an apparent
random, and currently unexplainable, way. • 29 June Scientists report that all 16 GB of
Wikipedia have been encoded into
synthetic DNA.
July • 1 July • Astronomers report that
ʻOumuamua, an
interstellar object that passed through the
Solar System in October 2017, was an object of a "purely natural origin", and not otherwise. " can be restored, based on studies. • 2 July • The
European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reports that the global average temperature for June 2019 was the highest on record for the month, at 0.1 °C higher than that of the previous warmest June, in 2016. • A
total solar eclipse occurs, with totality visible in the
South Pacific and
South America. • Astronomers report that
FRB 190523, a non-repeating
Fast Radio Burst (FRB), has been discovered and, notably, localized to a few-arcsecond region containing a single massive
galaxy at a
redshift of 0.66, nearly 8 billion light-years away from Earth. • 3 July • Scientists from the
University of Bristol describe a new way to direct
stem cells to
heart tissue, using a designer
adhesive protein. • Researchers identify more than a of lost tropical
rainforest across the
Americas,
Africa and
Southeast Asia, with a high potential for
restoration. • 7 July Researchers report receiving the first pictures from
LightSail 2, a
CubeSat developed by
The Planetary Society, and launched into
Earth orbit on 25 June 2019 by a
Falcon Heavy rocket. -forming
circumplanetary disk around a
distant planet,
PDS 70c. Their measurement of the Hubble constant is (km/s)/Mpc. • 10 July Anthropologists report the discovery of 210,000 year old remains of a
Homo sapiens and 170,000 year old remains of a
Neanderthal in
Apidima Cave in southern
Greece, over 150,000 years older than previous H. sapiens finds in Europe. • 11 July • Astronomers report, for the first time, detection of a
moon-forming
circumplanetary disk around a distant
planet, particularly
PDS 70c. • Carnegie Mellon University reports an
artificial intelligence program, developed in collaboration with Facebook AI, which is able to defeat leading professionals in six-player no-limit
Texas hold'em poker. • 12 July Physicists report, for the first time, capturing an image of
quantum entanglement. • 13 July The Russian/German
Spektr-RG observatory is successfully launched into space, on a seven-year mission to study
X-ray sources. • 15 July • Astronomers report that
non-repeating Fast Radio Bursts (FRB)s may not be one-off events, but actually FRB repeaters with repeat events that have gone undetected and, further, that FRBs may be formed by events that have not yet been seen or considered. • A paper is released in the journal
Nature Astronomy in which researchers from
Harvard University, the
University of Edinburgh and
NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) detail how silica
aerogel could be used to block radiation, obtain water and permit photosynthesis to occur to make Mars more hospitable for human survival. is launched, an
ISRO lunar exploration mission that includes an
orbiter,
lander and
rover. • 17 July Astronomers rule out the chances of ~ asteroid 's hitting Earth in September 2019 by eliminating the possibility of its passing through an area where it would have to be if it were on an impacting orbit. Prior to this, the asteroid had been given a one-in-7,000 chance of hitting Earth. • 22 July • The
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launches
Chandrayaan-2, its second
lunar exploration mission, which includes an
orbiter,
lander and
rover. • Biochemists and geochemist from
Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo and the
National University of Malaysia, Bangi report the discovery of simple
organic molecules (hydroxy acids) that can assemble themselves into possible
protocells under
conditions similar to those of the
early Earth. • 25 July Astronomers report that
2019 OK, a previously undetected asteroid up to across, passed within of Earth on 25 July 2019 at 01:22 GMT. • 30 July Astronomers report evidence to support the hypothesis of an
ancient ocean on the planet
Mars that may have been formed by a possible
mega-tsunami source resulting from a
meteorite impact creating
Lomonosov crater. • 31 July • Astronomers report that
GJ 357 d, a "
Super-Earth" discovered by NASA's
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), lies within the habitable zone of its parent star, 31 light years from Earth. • Astronomers report finding an A-type main-sequence star,
S5-HVS1, traveling , faster that any other star detected so far. The star is in the
Grus (or Crane)
constellation in the southern sky, and about 29,000 light-years from Earth, and may have been ejected out of the
Milky Way galaxy after interacting with
Sagittarius A*, the
supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy.
August • 1 August • Astronomers publish the most detailed ever measurements of the "warping" effect on the
Milky Way's 3D structure, based on the distribution of more than 2,400
Cepheids, using the
Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE). • Researchers at
Carnegie Mellon University publish details of a new technique for
3D bioprinting of
tissue scaffolds made from
collagen, the major
structural protein in the
human body. • Danish polar research institution, Polar Portal, reports a spike in
Greenland ice loss, with 11 billion tons melted in one day and 197 Gigatonnes during the month of July. s may have survived crash landing on the
Moon. • Engineers at the University of Buffalo reveal a new device able to cool parts of buildings by up to 11 °C (20 °F), without consuming electricity. The system uses an inexpensive polymer/aluminum film at the bottom of a solar "shelter", which absorbs heat from the air inside the box and transmits that energy back into outer space. • 6 August Scientists at the University of Leeds create a new form of
gold just two atoms thick, measured at 0.47 nanometres. In addition to being the thinnest unsupported gold ever produced, it functions 10 times more efficiently as a catalytic substrate than larger gold nanoparticles. • 7 August Biologists report the discovery of the fossil remains of a first-of-its-kind extinct giant
parrot named
The Hercules parrot (or
Heracles inexpectatus) in
New Zealand. The parrot is thought to have stood up to tall and weighed approximately . • 8 August • Astronomers report that the
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) made the first high-resolution measurements of an
interplanetary shock wave from the
sun. • Researchers at
Harvard report the creation of "
cyborg organoids", which consist of 3D organoids grown from stem cells, with embedded sensors to measure activity in the developmental process. • 9 August • Astronomers report the detection of eight very unusual
repeating Fast Radio Burst (FRB) signals in
outer space. • Scientists report the isolation and culture of
Lokiarchaea, a
microorganism that may help explain the emergence of complex
eukarotic (nucleated) cells from simpler
bacteria-like cells. (MMS) makes the first high-resolution measurements of an
interplanetary shock wave from the
sun. • Astronomers using the
Keck Observatory report a sudden brightening of
Sagittarius A*, which became 75 times brighter than usual, suggesting that the supermassive black hole may have encountered another object. • 13 August Computer experts report that the
BlueKeep security vulnerability that potentially affects older unpatched
Microsoft Windows versions via the program's
Remote Desktop Protocol, allowing for the possibility of
remote code execution, may now include related flaws, collectively named
DejaBlue, affecting
newer Windows versions (i.e.,
Windows 7 and all recent versions) as well. • 14 August • Computer experts report a
Microsoft security vulnerability, , based on
legacy code involving
Microsoft CTF and ctfmon (ctfmon.exe), that affects all
Windows versions from the older
Windows XP version to the most recent
Windows 10 versions; a patch to correct the flaw is currently available. • Astronomers report the best candidate yet for the
collision, named S190814bv, of a
black hole with a
neutron star, based on the detection of
gravitational wave signals. • The most accurate study of
exoplanets to date, published by
Penn State, estimates that one in six Sun-like stars contain planets of similar size and orbital period to Earth. • 15 August • Chemists report the formation, for the first time, of an 18-atom
cyclocarbon of pure
carbon; such chemical structures may be useful as molecular-sized electronic components. • The
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that July 2019 was the hottest month on record globally, at 0.95 °C (1.71 °F) above the 20th century average. • 19 August • NASA reports that the
Europa Clipper mission to
Europa, a moon of the planet
Jupiter, has been confirmed. • The first computer chip to exceed one trillion
transistors, known as the Wafer Scale Engine, is announced by Cerebras Systems in collaboration with
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). • 22 August Research by Norwegian scientists adds to a growing body of evidence that too much
sitting is related to a higher risk of early death, and that even a small amount of regular activity can
lengthen lifespan. • 23 August • Austrian and Chinese scientists report the first teleportation of three-dimensional quantum states, or "
qutrits", which are more complex than two-dimensional
qubits. •
NASA reports that the
Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC), to be used for precise
radio navigation in
deep space, has been activated. • 26 August Astronomers report that newly discovered long-term pattern of absorbance and
albedo changes in the
atmosphere of the planet Venus are caused by "unknown absorbers", which may be
microorganisms high up in the
atmosphere of the
planet. • 28 August • Scientists report the discovery of a nearly intact skull, for the first time, and dated at 3.8 million years ago, of
Australopithecus anamensis in
Ethiopia. • Astronomers report the discovery, based on deep, irregularly shaped transits, of a second
disrupted planetary object being ripped apart by its host star; in this instance, the host star is a
white dwarf named
ZTF J0139+5245; the first such similar host star discovered was
WD 1145+017 in 2015. • Scientists report the discovery of a new distinctive
light wave, named a
Dyakonov–Voigt wave, that results from a particular manipulation of crystals, that was first suggested in equations developed by physicist
James Clerk Maxwell in the middle 1800s. • 29 August Astronomers report that the exoplanet in the
WASP-49 system might have a
volcanically active
exomoon. • 30 August • In a study published in the journal
PLOS Pathogens, researchers at Spain's
Carlos III Health Institute note the discovery of the genetic mutuation
TNPO3, known for causing muscular dystrophy, may also give protection against HIV. • Scientists in China report a way of regrowing the complex structure of
tooth enamel, using calcium phosphate ion clusters as a precursor layer.
September BlueKeep security vulnerability, affecting all unpatched Windows NT-based versions of
Microsoft Windows, including
Windows 2000 and
Windows 7, has been released publicly. • 5 September – Astronomers report that the observed dimmings of
Tabby's Star may have been produced by fragments resulting from the
disruption of an orphaned
exomoon. • 6 September • Computer experts announce that an exploit of the
wormable BlueKeep security vulnerability, affecting all unpatched Windows NT-based versions of
Microsoft Windows from
Windows 2000 through
Windows Server 2008 R2 and
Windows 7, has now been released into the public realm. • Mathematicians report, after a 65-year search (since 1954), the
solution to the last integer left below 100 (i.e., "
42") expressed as the
sum of three cubes. • A team of physicists report that the supposed discrepancy in the
proton radius between
electronic and
muonic hydrogen does not exist, settling the
proton radius puzzle. • 7 September The
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) loses contact with
Chandrayaan-2, its second lunar probe, just moments before it was expected to land on the Moon's surface. • 10 September Scientists report the computerized determination, based on 260
CT scans, of a virtual
skull shape of the
last common human ancestor to
modern humans, and suggests that the human ancestor arose through a merging of populations in
East and
South Africa, between 260,000 and 350,000 years ago. • 11 September • Astronomers report the detection of water vapour in the atmosphere of the
circumstellar habitable zone exoplanet
K2-18b, which may be between 0 and 40 °C. • Researchers at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology demonstrate the first artificial hand for amputees that merges user and robotic control, a concept in neuroprosthetics known as
shared control. • Astronomers at the
Minor Planet Center confirm the detection of comet
C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), likely a second
interstellar object, following the earlier discovery of
ʻOumuamua. •
Google reports the creation of a deep learning system, trained on 50,000 different diagnoses, able to detect 26
skin conditions as accurately as dermatologists. ever discovered, with 2.17 solar masses placing it on the boundary of the theoretical maximum. • 16 September • Biochemists report that "RNA-DNA chimeras" (complex mixtures of
RNA molecules and
DNA molecules) may be a more effective way of producing
precursor life biochemicals, than the more linear approaches (with pure RNA and pure DNA molecules) used earlier. • Using
CRISPR, researchers in the U.S. engineer a
plasmid to remove an
antibiotic resistance gene from the
Enterococcus faecalis bacterium. • Astronomers using the
Green Bank Telescope identify a rapidly rotating millisecond
pulsar, called
J0740+6620, as the most massive
neutron star ever observed, with 2.17 solar masses in a sphere only 30 kilometers across. • Scientists at the
Mayo Clinic report the first successful use of
senolytics, a new class of drug with potential anti-aging benefits, to remove
senescent cells from human patients with a kidney disease. • In a study published in
PNAS, researchers at MIT detail a new emission free method of cement production, a major contributor to climate change. • 17 September – A small clinical trial, announced by U.S. company NeuroEM Therapeutics, shows reversal of cognitive impairment in
Alzheimer's disease patients after just two months of treatment using a wearable head device.
Electromagnetic waves emitted by the device appear to penetrate the brain to break up amyloid-beta and tau deposits. • 19 September – Researchers report on the
facial appearance of
Denisovans, an
extinct group of
archaic humans in the
genus Homo, based on
genetic information. • 20 September – Scientists report that the
InSight lander on the planet
Mars uncovered unexplained
magnetic pulses, and
magnetic oscillations may be consistent with a planet-wide reservoir of liquid water deep underground. in
Antarctica. • Canadian company Deep Genomics announces that its
AI-based drug discovery platform has identified a target and drug candidate for
Wilson's disease. The candidate, DG12P1, is designed to correct the
exon-skipping effect of Met645Arg, a genetic mutation affecting the ATP7B copper-binding protein. • Engineers at
Duke University report the use of
machine learning to rapidly design dielectric (non-metal)
metamaterials that absorb and emit specific frequencies of terahertz radiation. • The
Amery Ice Shelf in
Antarctica produces its largest iceberg in more than 50 years, with a chunk called D28 being calved off that is 1,636 km2 in area and weighs an estimated 315 billion tonnes. • 27 September – Astronomers report, for the first time, the release of
cyanide gas and
dust from an
interstellar object, particularly from the
interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. • 30 September – By combining doses of
lithium,
trametinib and
rapamycin into a single treatment, researchers extend the lifespan of
fruit flies (
Drosophila) by 48%.
October repair mechanism which may allow entire
limbs to regenerate. • Scientists at the
University of California, San Diego describe how a protein named
Dsup (
Damage suppression protein) binds to
chromatin, which protects the cells of
tardigrades and may explain the animals' tremendous resilience. • Physicists report a way of determining the state of
Schrödinger's cat before observing it. • 2 October – Scientists reveal the photo carrier dynamics in
heterojunction phototransistors and show how molecular packing can impact on photoresponse. The study could lead to new schemes to engineer efficient photo carrier transport in general. • 4 October – Scientists use a new parallelised technique, known as
femtosecond projection TPL (FP-TPL), to 3D print nanoscale structures up to 1,000 times faster than conventional
two-photon lithography (TPL). • 7 October •
NASA reports evidence, uncovered by the
Curiosity rover on
Mount Sharp, of a wide ancient basin in
Gale crater that once may have contained a
salty lake. • 20 new
moons of Saturn are discovered by
Scott S. Sheppard and his team at the
Carnegie Institution for Science, taking the planet's total known number to 82, surpassing
Jupiter. • Researchers genetically engineer
Escherichia coli that can manufacture large amounts of
psilocybin, which is in clinical trials for treating depression and other brain diseases. • 8 October – Researchers at
Duke University Health System identify a mechanism for
cartilage repair in humans, which could allow joints and possibly entire limbs to regenerate. • 15 October –
OpenAI demonstrates a pair of neural networks trained to solve a
Rubik's Cube with a highly dexterous, human-like robotic hand. • 16 October – Researchers at
Harvard Medical School identify a link between neural activity and human longevity. Neural excitation is linked to shorter life, while suppression of overactivity appears to extend lifespan. • 17 October –
Northwestern University researchers unveil a new
3D printer known as HARP (
high-area rapid printing), which can produce an object the size of an adult human within two hours, without sacrificing quality or resolution. . • A new stable form of
plutonium, which may be a transient phase in radioactive waste repositories, is discovered by scientists using the
European Synchrotron in Grenoble, France. • 21 October • In a study, published in the journal
Nature, researchers at the
Broad Institute describe a new method of genetic engineering superior to previous methods like
CRISPR they call "prime editing". • Researchers report that the
Cretaceous Chicxulub asteroid impact that resulted in the
extinction of non-avian
dinosaurs 66 million years ago, also rapidly
acidified the oceans producing
ecological collapse and long-lasting effects on the climate, and was a key reason for end-Cretaceous
mass extinction. • 22 October – Scientists publish a paper claiming support for their controversial and disputed
Younger Dryas impact hypothesis that the
extinction of ice-age animals may have been caused by a disintegrating
asteroid or
comet impact and/or
airburst about 12,800 years ago. • 23 October –
Google announces that its 53-
qubit 'Sycamore' processor has achieved
quantum supremacy, performing a specific task in 200 seconds that would take the world's best supercomputers 10,000 years to complete. However, the claim is disputed by some
IBM researchers. • 25 October – A new
carbon capture system is described by MIT, which can work on the gas at almost any concentration, using
electrodes combined with
carbon nanotubes. in south central Africa found to be the birthplace of all
modern humans 200,000 years ago, based on
genetic studies. • Astronomers observe the large asteroid
Hygiea in higher resolution than ever before, revealing it to be spherical and a likely
dwarf planet candidate; possibly the smallest in the
Solar System. • Researchers report that the interstellar comet
2I/Borisov is outgassing water, and in a manner similar to the outgassing of water in a typical comet in the Solar System. • Scientists report that terrestrial
lifeforms, including extreme forms of
archaea microorganisms, were not found to exist in very hot, acidic and salty conditions present in some areas of Earth, including in the
Danakil Depression of
Ethiopia. • 29 October – A study in
Nature concludes that
rising sea levels will threaten 300 million people by 2050, more than triple previous estimates. The upward revision is based on the use of a
multilayer perceptron, a class of
artificial neural network, which analysed topographical maps in greater detail than before and provided more accurate land elevations. • 30 October – A large-scale study by researchers in
Germany finds that
insect populations declined by one-third between 2008 and 2017. • 31 October – Researchers at the
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, develop a new film that is applied to solar cells, which combines nanocrystals and microlenses to capture
infrared light. This can increase the solar energy conversion efficiency by 10 percent or more.
November ''
space probe left the
Solar System and entered
interstellar space on 5 November 2018. • 4 November – Scientists confirm that, on 5 November 2018, the
Voyager 2 probe had officially reached the
interstellar medium (ISM), a region of
outer space beyond the influence of the
Solar System, and has now joined the
Voyager 1 probe which had reached the ISM earlier in 2012. • 5 November – 11,000 scientists from around the world publish a study in the journal
BioScience, warning "clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a
climate emergency." • 6 November – Scientists at the
University of Rochester demonstrate a new technique for creating
superhydrophobic metals that float on water, using
femtosecond laser bursts to "etch" the surfaces and trap air. • 8 November •
Microsoft confirms a potentially
wormable BlueKeep security vulnerability attack, and urges users to immediately patch their
Microsoft Windows computer systems. • Computer experts at
Kaspersky Lab report the detection of a very advanced and insidious
backdoor malware APT named
Titanium, that was developed by
PLATINUM, a
cybercrime collective. • 12 November –
486958 Arrokoth, a
trans-Neptunian object previously nicknamed "
Ultima Thule" and visited by the
New Horizons spacecraft, receives its official name during a ceremony at the NASA Headquarters. are reported by researchers. notes, in his award presentation, that he does not support the
Big Bang Theory, due to the lack of concrete supporting evidence, and states, "It's very unfortunate that one thinks of the beginning whereas in fact, we have no good theory of such a thing as the beginning." • Researchers report that
astronauts experienced serious
blood flow and
clot problems while on board the
International Space Station, based on a six-month study of 11 healthy astronauts. The results may influence long-term
spaceflight, including a mission to the planet
Mars, according to the researchers. • Scientists in Japan use single-cell RNA analysis to find that
supercentenarians have an excess of cytotoxic CD4 T-cells, a type of immune cell. • 15 November – The discovery and interpretation of 143 new
Nazca geoglyphs is announced by researchers from
Yamagata University. • 18 November • Internal-wave cooling of threatened
coral reefs quantified across the Pacific Ocean by an international collaboration led by
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is published in
Nature Geoscience •
Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is fully mapped for the first time, using data from NASA's
Cassini mission. • Scientists report detecting, for the first time,
sugar molecules, including
ribose, in
meteorites, suggesting that chemical processes on
asteroids can produce some fundamentally essential bio-ingredients important to
life, and supporting the notion of an
RNA world prior to a DNA-based
origin of life on Earth, and possibly, as well, the notion of
panspermia. • Researchers at the
University of Notre Dame develop a new method for lifelong learning in
artificial neural networks, which entails the use of a ferroelectric ternary
content-addressable memory component. Their study, featured in
Nature Electronics, aims to replicate the
human brain's ability to learn from only a few examples, adapting to new tasks based on past experiences. • 20 November • Astronomers report a notable
gamma ray burst explosion, named
GRB 190114C, initially detected in January 2019, that, so far, has been determined to have had the highest energy,
1 Tera electron volts (Tev), ever observed for such a cosmic event. • A study shows that the
consensus among climate change scientists has grown to 100%, based on a review of 11,602
peer-reviewed articles published in the first seven months of 2019. in
Malaysia passes on. • 25 November •
IPv4 address exhaustion: The
RIPE NCC, which is the official regional
Internet registry (RIR) for Europe, officially announces that it has run out of
IPv4 Addresses. with "no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline." • 26 November • Astronomers from
Yale University report that the recently detected
interstellar comet 2I/Borisov (including
coma and tail), is "14 times the size of Earth", presented an image comparing the comet size with the size of planet Earth [...] and stated, "It's humbling to realize how small Earth is next to this visitor from another solar system." • Researchers report, based on an international study of 27 countries, that
caring for families is the main motivator for people worldwide. • 27 November • Researchers report the discovery of
Caveasphaera. a
multicellular organism found in 609-million-year-old rocks, that is not easily defined as an
animal or non-animal, which may be related to one of the earliest instances of
animal evolution. • Scientists at the
University of Exeter report that more than half of nine
climate change tipping points identified a decade ago are now "active". • Chinese astronomers report the discovery of
LB-1, the name of a galactic
B-type star,
December in laboratory mouse studies. • Researchers from
Tel Aviv University describe how a molecule known as PJ34 triggers the self-destruction of
pancreatic cancer cells, which were reduced by up to 90% in mouse models. • 4 December – Astronomers publish the first evidence of a giant planet orbiting a white dwarf,
WDJ0914+1914, suggesting that planets in the
Solar System may survive the
death of the Sun in the
distant future. • 5 December – Researchers at the
California Academy of Sciences report the discovery of 71 new
plant and
animal species, which includes 17
fish, 15
geckos, 8
flower plants, 6
sea slugs, 5
arachnids, 4
eels, 3
ants, 3
skinks, 2
skates, 2
wasps, 2
mosses, 2
corals and 2
lizards. • 6 December – New calculations show that hollow spherical bubbles containing
positronium gas are stable in liquid helium and could therefore serve as the source of positronium
Bose-Einstein condensates for
gamma-ray lasers, which could be used for medical imaging, spacecraft propulsion, and cancer treatment. Work to realize such bubbles is ongoing and near term results might have applications in
quantum computing. • 7 December –
Didier Queloz, winner of the 2019
Nobel Prize in Physics, takes issue with those who are not supportive of helping to improve
climate change, stating, "I think this is just irresponsible, because the stars are so far away I think we should not have any serious hope to escape the Earth [...] Also keep in mind that we are a species that has evolved and developed for this planet. We're not built to survive on any other planet than this one [...] We'd better spend our time and energy trying to fix it." • 8 December – Astronomers report that the star
Betelgeuse has significantly "fainted" in visibility and, possibly as a result, may suggest the star to be in the last stages of its
evolution, and may be expected to explode as a
supernova within the next 100,000 years, much sooner than thought previously. detected just below the surface in certain areas on the planet
Mars. • Researchers publish a study, "
Ultrafast stimulated emission microscopy of single nanocrystals," in which they report on a technique for studying
femtosecond events in non-fluorescent, nano-scale objects. • Researchers report
quantum states being achieved in materials such as
silicon carbide and components such as
diodes used in ordinary electronics. • Scientists in China create
pigs with
monkey DNA; thus creating an animal hybrid with
genetic material from two different species. •
Intel reveals a first-of-its-kind
cryogenic control chip – code-named "
Horse Ridge" – for control of multiple quantum bits (
qubits) and scaling of larger quantum computer systems. • Researchers develop a
self-cleaning mechanism for solar panels, which can remove particles on its surface more effectively than methods used previously. Due to
wet-chemically etched nanowires and a
hydrophobic coating on the surface, water droplets can remove 98% of dust particles. • 10 December • Astronomers report studies that question the validity of an essential assumption supporting the existence of
dark energy, suggesting that dark energy may not actually exist. Lead researcher of the new studies, Young-Wook Lee of
Yonsei University, said, "Quoting
Carl Sagan,
extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, but I am not sure we have such extraordinary evidence for dark energy. Our result illustrates that dark energy from
SN cosmology, which led to the
2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, might be an artifact of a fragile and false assumption." • NASA scientists report that substantial amounts of "
water ice" may be readily available just below the surface on the planet
Mars, in some particularly well mapped areas (
image). •
Ford Motor Company, in a joint research project with
Microsoft, reveals a "quantum-inspired" algorithm able to cut traffic by 73% and shorten commuting times by 8% in a simulation of 5,000 cars. • 11 December • Scientists report the discovery of
cave art in central
Indonesia that is estimated to be at least 43,900 years old, and noted that the finding was "the oldest pictorial record of storytelling and the earliest figurative artwork in the world". • Researchers find evidence that the
carbon dioxide concentration in the oceans rose before
the asteroid impact that caused
the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. This was likely caused by long-term
volcanic eruptions from the
Deccan Traps and
acidified the oceans already before the asteroid impact. Their results might inform preparations for consequences of contemporary human-caused climate change in the
Earth system and were made possible by a new method for analyzing the calcium isotope composition of fossilized sea shells. • 13 December – The Japanese government approves construction of the
Hyper-Kamiokande, the largest
neutrino detector in history. • 16 December – Scientists report that a lamella-like
thin-film transistor composed of metal oxide
semiconductors and organic
polymer can be fabricated at low temperatures from solutions and operate under severe stress conditions. The study could provide a low-cost way for a range applications for large-area
flexible electronics. • 18 December • The
CHEOPS space telescope, whose mission is to study the formation of
extrasolar planets and determine their precise radius, likely density and internal structure, is launched. • Scientists report that
Homo erectus, a species of extinct
archaic humans, may have survived to nearly 100,000 years ago, much longer than thought previously. • 19 December – The
AAAS journal
Science reports that the "
2019 Breakthrough of the Year" is the
image of a
supermassive black hole taken by the
Event Horizon Telescope. The best science findings of 2019 are also reported in other listings by
Boston University,
Business Insider and
The New York Times. • 20 December – The US government authorises, for the first time, the use of federal funds to research
geoengineering. • 26 December – A
partial solar eclipse occurs. • 28 December – NASA reports that astronaut
Christina Koch has now spent 289 days on the
International Space Station, more time in space than any other female astronaut, breaking the previous record of retired astronaut
Peggy Whitson. • 30 December – Chinese authorities announce that
He Jiankui, the scientist who claimed to have created the world's
first genetically edited human babies, has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined 3 million yuan (US$430,000) for his genetic research efforts. ==Awards==