April ca. 90 million years ago during the
Cretaceous period, suggesting that the climate was exceptionally warm at the time. • Researchers report to have discovered and analysed fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores which indicate that rainforests existed near the
South Pole ca. 90 million years ago during the
Cretaceous period.
Their findings suggest that the climate was exceptionally warm at the time and that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were substantially higher than expected during the mid-Cretaceous period, 115-80 million years ago. • Researchers report that stretching cells alone can
activate genes without intermediates, enzymes or signaling molecules in the cell being necessary. They applied cyclic forces of frequencies which cells experience due to common activities such as breathing, exercising or vocalizing and found that the induced transcription up-regulation does not follow the weak
power law with force frequency. They also describe why some genes can be activated by mechanical force and some cannot. • Scientists report that for the first time they have retrieved genetic information from the fossils of
H. antecessor as old as 772,000–949,000 years and
Homo erectus as old as 1.77 million years via dental enamel
proteomes . They show that
H. antecessor is a closely related sister-lineage to subsequent Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins, including modern humans,
Neanderthals and
Denisovans. • 2 April • Researchers at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report the creation of a promising possible
COVID-19 vaccine, named
PittCoVacc, against
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes
COVID-19, and are hoping for a fast approval track, lasting less than the usual year of testing, by the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. • Researchers at the
University of British Columbia report the discovery of a
trial drug that can substantially block early stages of
COVID-19 in
engineered human tissues. • Scientists report the discovery of the oldest known fossils, dated to as old as 2.04 million years old, of
Homo erectus in the
palaeocave Drimolen in
South Africa, which may have overlapped, in the same area and time, as other
hominins, such as
Australopithecus and
Paranthropus. • Scientists report finding large communities of
microbes living under the seafloor in solid rocks determined to be up to 104 million years old. According to the study the results may have implications for the possibility of
life on Mars and other planetary bodies due to potentially similar conditions and rocks or minerals. • Astronomers report further evidence of the possible fragmentation of the
interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. A follow-up study, reported on 6 April 2020, observed only a single object, and noted that the fragment component had now disappeared. • 6 April • Astronomers announce, on "
The Astronomer's Telegram", the possible disintegration of Comet
C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). • Scientists report the discovery of
metabolic genes in the
genomes of 501 widespread
Nucleocytoviricota even though viruses don't have
metabolism. Some of their findings suggest that these large viruses can
reprogram fundamental aspects of their host's carbon metabolism and that they are drivers of evolutionary innovation in metabolic genes. • Scientists using data from the
Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite report
a "mini-hole" in the ozone layer over the Arctic, likely caused by unusual atmospheric conditions, including freezing temperatures in the stratosphere. • Researchers report that they have discovered and filmed one
the longest organisms known so far with the SuBastian
underwater robot in the
Ningaloo Canyons off the coast of Western Australia: a
siphonophore of the genus
Apolemia with an estimated length of almost 50 meters which coiled itself into a spiral form. Specimens of
lion's mane jellyfish are known to be larger. They also discovered up to 30 new underwater species and collected
DNA samples and specimens of various
deep sea creatures. • 7 April • Scientists report the results of a survey of the
Great Barrier Reef. For the first time, all its three regions experienced
severe bleaching. On March 25 – day three of the nine-day survey – they reported its third mass bleaching event within five years. • Astronomers publish a study which includes the first photograph of a
relativistic jet from an ongoing
galaxy merger. The young jet from one of the two galaxies
active galactic nuclei with a direction pointed near Earth and proves that such merge events can trigger such jets. • Astronomers publish a study which includes the highest resolution images of the
Sun from NASA's
FOXSI Sounding Rocket. The images show
coronal loops – magnetic threads filled with million-degree hot plasma – of narrower widths than the ones previously seen. • 8 April • In two research papers scientists show that
microbes can actively colonize high-pH environments of
radioactive waste storage sites. Their findings have implications for the safety, design and operation of such sites and the knowledge about
extremophile microbial life. • Scientists publish a study which suggests that the Universe is no longer
expanding at the same rate in all directions and that therefore the widely accepted
isotropy hypothesis might be wrong. While previous studies already suggested this, the study is the first to examine
galaxy clusters in X-rays and, according to Norbert Schartel, has a much greater significance. The study found a consistent and strong directional behavior of
deviations – which have earlier been described to indicate a "crisis of cosmology" by others – of the normalization parameter A, or the Hubble constant H0. Beyond the potential
cosmological implications, it shows that studies which assume perfect isotropy in the properties of galaxy clusters and their scaling relations can produce strongly biased results. • 9 April • Scientists report direct evidence of the use of
fiber technology by
Neanderthals in southeastern France, 50,000 years ago. • Astronomers report the first direct measurement of winds on a
brown dwarf (
2MASS J10475385+2124234). • In a
preprint to be published by a journal online in April and in its issue in May 2020 scientists show the
glycan structures which coat
SARS-CoV-2's
spike protein. With these coatings the virus disguises itself to enter human cells. Their study may have implications in viral pathobiology and
vaccine design and shows that the protein's coating is relatively weak and that the spike protein may be relatively vulnerable to
antibodies. • Scientists report fossil evidence which suggests an extinct
parapithecid rafted across the Atlantic in the
Paleogene and at least briefly colonized South America next to the African-origin mammals
New World monkeys and
caviomorph rodents. The
Ucayalipithecus perdita remains dating from the Early Oligocene of Amazonian Peru are deeply nested within the Parapithecidae, and have dental features markedly different from those of
platyrrhines.
Qatrania wingi of lower Oligocene
Fayum deposits is considered the closest known relative of
Ucayalipithecus. Models of winds and ocean currents indicate that such crossings would have taken only 11–15 days at the time. The absence of later finds from this group in South America indicates they were outcompeted by platyrrhines, which descend from a parallel anthropoid colonization of South America. • Scientists report the discovery of six novel
coronaviruses, and one known alphacoronavirus previously identified in other southeast Asian countries were detected for the first time in bats in
Myanmar where ongoing land use change is a prominent driver of
zoonotic disease emergence. Future studies have been said to evaluate the potential for transmission across species. The study was conducted as part of the United States'
PREDICT program which was ended by March 2020 by the nation's
Trump administration but extended on 1 April 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. • 10 April • Medical scientists report the possible reinfection of
COVID-19 patients who have recovered from
COVID-19. Experts note that false test results or "reactivation" of the virus could also have caused these results. In May 2020 the
Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that patients who tested positive a second time were not infectious, were immune to the disease, showed symptoms and likely test positive again due to dead fragments of the virus. • Researchers show that a new type of
X-ray detector, based on a thin film of the low-cost semiconductor mineral
perovskite, is 100 times more sensitive than a conventional silicon-based device. The technology could reduce unhealthy
radiation exposure and improve the resolution and applications of security scanners and research tools. • Scientists report to have achieved wireless control of adrenal hormone secretion in genetically unmodified rats through the use of injectable, magnetic
nanoparticles (MNPs) and remotely applied alternating magnetic fields heats them up. Their findings may aid research of physiological and psychological impacts of
stress and related treatments and present an alternative strategy for modulating peripheral organ function than problematic implantable devices. , the first known interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System, may have been formed. • Astronomers report to have recorded the most energetic
supernova so far:
SN 2016aps. The supernova also caused an unusually large amount of the energy to be released in the form of radiation, probably due to the interaction of the supernova ejecta and a previously lost gas shell. The event was discovered on 22 February 2016 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (
Pan-STARRS) in
Hawaii, with follow-up observations by the
Hubble Space Telescope. • A study which included
aircraft measurements of
methane emissions from offshore oil and gas platforms collected over the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in January 2018 indicates that the United States via the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) underestimated methane emissions at the time from these sites by a factor of 2. They attribute the discrepancy between regional airborne estimates and their data as well as their estimations for total methane emissions from these sites and the GHGI estimations adjusted for 2018 to incomplete platform counts and emission factors that underestimate emissions for shallow water platforms and don't account for disproportionately high emissions from large shallow water facilities. • 14 April • News outlets report that U.S. State Department cables indicate that, although there may be no conclusive proof at the moment, the
COVID-19 virus responsible for the
COVID-19 pandemic may, possibly,
have accidentally come from a Wuhan (China) laboratory, studying
bat coronaviruses that included modifying
virus genomes to enter human cells, and determined to be unsafe by U.S. scientists in 2018, rather than from a natural source. US intelligence and national security officials say that the U.S. government is looking into the possibility. As of 5 May, assessments and internal sources from the
Five Eyes nations indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic being the result of a laboratory accident was "highly unlikely", since the human infection was "highly likely" a result of natural human and animal interaction. Virologist
Peter Daszak states that an estimated 1–7 million people in Southeast Asia who live or work in proximity to bats are infected each year with bat coronaviruses. • A new study shows that the duration of
anoxia approximately 444 million years ago was longer than 3 million years and affirms that the prolonged lack of oxygen in the oceans contributed to the
Ordovician–Silurian mass extinction events at the time. • Researchers report to have developed a predictive algorithm which can show in
visualizations how combinations of
genetic mutations can make
proteins highly effective or ineffective in organisms – including for
viral evolution for viruses like
SARS-CoV-2. •
Stephen Wolfram announces the launch of the "Wolfram Physics Project" which seeks to
collaboratively develop a new approach to the
theory of everything by modelling physics based on minimal rules out of which complexities of physics may emerge. , the most Earth-like planet yet found in data from the Kepler space telescope. • Researchers demonstrate a proof-of-concept silicon quantum processor unit cell which works at 1.5 Kelvin – many times warmer than common quantum processors that are being developed. It may enable integrating classical control electronics with the
qubit array and reduce costs substantially. The cooling requirements necessary for
quantum computing have been called one of the toughest roadblocks in the field. • Scientists report that the
Greenland ice sheet lost around 600 billion tonnes of water in 2019, which would raise sea levels by about 1.5 millimetres and make up ca. 40% of the year's total
sea level rise. The runoff ranked second only after the exceptional year 2012. The study affirms the exceptional nature of the 2019 season and shows that high-pressure atmospheric conditions over
Greenland due to changing atmospheric circulation patterns – which have become more frequent due to
climate change – were a cause of the melting next to the warmer temperatures. This suggests that scientists may be underestimating the melting of Greenland's ice – likely by a factor of two according to co-author Xavier Fettweis. • Scientists describe and visualize the atomical structure and mechanical action of the bacteria-killing
bacteriocin R2 pyocin and construct engineered versions with different behaviours than the naturally occurring version. Their findings may aid the engineering of
nanomachines such as for targeted antibiotics. • Scientists claim to have developed a
biodegradable material for
face masks which is effective at removing particles smaller than 100 nanometres including viruses and has a high breathability.
A number of novel face masks and face mask technologies are being researched and developed as of May 2020. s exude three
pheromones during breeding season in a
testosterone-dependent manner. The
Australian Marine Conservation Society welcomed the work but remarked that policies which address global warming – the main cause of increasingly severe and frequent mass coral bleaching events – should be prioritised, that the projects could take years or decades to develop and that solutions to climate change – such as renewable energies – are already available. • Scientists prove the existence of the
Rashba effect in bulk
perovskites. Previously researchers have hypothesized that the materials' extraordinary electronic, magnetic and optical properties – which make it a commonly used material
for solar cells and
quantum electronics – are related to this effect which to date hasn't been proven to be present in the material. • Scientists report that during their breeding season male
ring-tailed lemurs exude three compounds at higher levels in their wrist glandular
odor. The study suggests that these may be
pheromones which are involved in the
attractiveness of the males to females as the females seem to be attracted to the smell during their breeding season. The amounts of
dodecanal, 12-methyltridecanal, and
tetradecanal increase in a
testosterone-dependent manner. alone cannot meet the demand for most food crops' "current production and consumption patterns" and the current locations of food production for 72–89% of the global population and 100–km radiuses as of early 2020. • A study indicates that
local food crop production alone cannot meet the demand for most food crops "current production and consumption patterns" – which include the share of meat in local diets – and the current locations of food production for 72–89% of the global population and 100–km radiuses as of early 2020. While local production may be more
sustainable and decrease risks of
disrupted global food supply chains due to crises like the
COVID-19 pandemic it cannot be relied on solely. • Researchers report to have traced the origins of
shark fins of endangered
hammerhead sharks from a retail market in Hong Kong back to their source populations and therefore the approximate locations where the sharks were first caught using
DNA analysis. • 19 April • Researchers report that
the Arctic Ocean will likely be occasionally sea-ice free in summers before 2050 in scenarios where global warming is kept below 2 °C. • 20 April • Researchers report a new approach to fabricate
metallic polymers with atomic precision. • In a
preprint researchers report a
method to quickly identify different variants of SARS-CoV-2 using "Informative Subtype Markers"-labels, which may allow
tracking the emergence of subtypes in different regions over time and aid
tools to help enhance containment, therapeutic, and vaccine targeting strategies. • Scientists report that the
coma of interstellar comet
2I/Borisov contains more than three times more
carbon monoxide gas than water vapor than previously measured for any comet in the inner ((pictured) is moving towards Siberia due to flux lobe elongation on Earth's
core-mantle boundary. • Researchers report that the
North Magnetic Pole is moving due to elongation of one of two lobes of negative magnetic flux on Earth's
core-mantle boundary alongside
magnetic changes and that it will likely move 390–660 km further on its current trajectory, on which it is accelerating, towards Siberia over the next decade. • 6 May • Astronomers report the possible discovery of the
nearest black hole to Earth, about 1,000 light years away in the two-star
HR 6819 system. • A scientist's proposal for a solar-powered
orbital slingshot rendezvous mission to investigate interstellar object ʻOumuamua is reported to have been
selected for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Program. s. • Researchers report to have developed
artificial chloroplasts – the
photosynthetic structures inside
plant cells. They combined
thylakoids, which are used for photosynthesis, from spinach with a bacterial enzyme and an artificial metabolic module of 16
enzymes, which can
convert carbon dioxide more efficiently than
plants can alone, into cell-sized droplets. According to the study this demonstrates how natural and synthetic biological modules can be matched for new functional systems. • Researchers report to have developed a proof-of-concept of a
quantum radar using
quantum entanglement and
microwaves which may potentially be useful for the development of improved radar systems, security scanners and medical imaging systems. , a
security vulnerability that may impact millions of
Apple,
Linux,
Windows and pre-2019 computers. • Scientists report to have discovered the closest relative of
SARS-CoV-2 in most of the virus genome reported to date in a bat. RmYN02 has a 93.3% nucleotide identity with SARS-CoV-2 and also contains a four amino-acid insertion at the S1/S2 cleavage site, which adds to the evidence that supports the theory of a
natural origin of SARS-CoV-2. • 11 May – Researchers report the development of
synthetic red blood cells that for the first time have all of
the natural cells' known broad natural properties and abilities. Furthermore, methods to load functional cargos such as
hemoglobin, drugs, magnetic
nanoparticles, and ATP
biosensors may enable additional non-native functionalities. 3.5 Mya from
Sagittarius A* created the large X-ray/gamma-ray
Fermi Bubbles (pictured) around the Galactic Center and illuminated the
Magellanic Stream. • Astronomers report in a
preprint that a
Seyfert flare 3.5 million years ago with a burst of ionizing radiation from
Sagittarius A* created the large X-ray/gamma-ray
Fermi Bubbles around the Galactic Center and reached so far into space that it illuminated the
Magellanic Stream – a stream of gas extending from two of the Milky Way's satellite galaxies. • 13 May • Scientists report to
have evolved 10 clonal strains of a common coral
microalgal
endosymbionts at elevated temperatures for 4 years, increasing their thermal tolerance for
climate resilience. Three of the strains increased the
corals' bleaching tolerance after reintroduction into coral host larvae. Their strains and findings may potentially be relevant for the
adaptation to and
mitigation of climate change and further tests of algal strains in adult colonies across a range of coral species are planned. • Researchers report to have identified the world's oldest
arthropod and oldest
land-animal living persistently on land: the
Myriapod millipede-ancestor
Kampecaris obanensis, dating back 425 million years to the
Silurian period. According to the study the 2.5 cm specimen found in Scotland in 1899 adds evidence for a rapid co-evolution of bugs and plants from lake-communities to complex forest ecosystems in just 40 million years. • 14 May • A study on the
human genetic history of East Asians using DNA of 25 individuals from ca. 9,500-4,200 years ago and one individual from ca. 300 years ago indicates a southern China origin of proto-
Austronesians, and that migration and gene flow played an important role in the prehistory of coastal Asia during the
Neolithic Revolution, the transition from
hunter-gathering to
agricultural economies, with a spread of northern East Asian ancestry across southern East Asia. Contemporary mainland East Asians from both the north and south share a closer genetic relationship to found northern Neolithic East Asians. • In a published unedited manuscript researchers show which host cell pathways are modulated by a
SARS-CoV-2 infection by creating a cellular infection profile by analysing the
translatome and
proteome at different times after infection. They also show that inhibition of these pathways with identified drugs prevented viral replication in human cells which may aid the
development of COVID-19 therapies. • An interdisciplinary team of virologists, microbiologists and computational scientists confirmed the predicted
subgenomic RNAs of SARS-CoV-2 along with new RNA and dozens of unknown subgenomic RNAs. • 15 May • Geologists report that the earliest known
mass extinction, the
Late Ordovician mass extinction (LOME), 445 million years ago, may have been the result of
global warming, related to
volcanism and
anoxia, and not the result, as considered earlier, of cooling and
glaciation. • A researcher reports that in a
supercomputer model simulation a realistic
extinction of the Neanderthal population can only be simulated when
Homo sapiens is considerably more effective in exploiting scarce glacial food resources as compared to Neanderthals, with
interbreeding and abrupt climate change only being minor contributors to their extinction. • 18 May – A researcher publishes an
objective Bayesian analysis which estimates that
the emergence of life is likely a rapid process and not a slow and rare scenario and that
the emergence of intelligence is slightly more likely to be rare. blood
hemoglobin levels. • Researchers report a temporary 17% drop in daily
global CO emissions by early April 2020 compared with the mean 2019 levels
during the
COVID-19 forced confinements. At the peak of the interventions, where 89% of global emissions were in areas under some confinement, emissions in individual countries decreased by –26% on average. Estimations on the impact on 2020 annual emissions are between -2% and -13%. The largest reductions were due to reductions of surface transport. Despite this on May 4
UN Climate Change reports that the CO concentration in the atmosphere reached an all-time daily high of the ca. 60-year record on May 3. • Astronomers from
Jodrell Bank Observatory report that the
fast radio burst FRB 121102 exhibits the same radio burst behavior ("radio bursts observed in a window lasting approximately 90 days followed by a silent period of 67 days") every 157 days, suggesting that the bursts may be associated with "the orbital motion of a
massive star, a
neutron star or a
black hole". • 20 May • Researchers report estimations of green
snow algae community biomass and distribution along the
Antarctic Peninsula and project a net increase in their extent and biomass and coastal Antarctica turning more green due to
climate change. • Scientists report that
genome-wide data of 19 Siberians of the
Upper Paleolithic to
Bronze Age of up to ca. 14,000 years ago show the most deeply divergent connection between Upper Paleolithic Siberians and the
indigenous peoples of the Americas and that long-range human mobility across Eurasia during the Early Bronze Age as well as prolonged local admixture that lead to an ancestry that gave rise to all non-Arctic Native Americans. •
ESA reports that its
Swarm satellite constellation is being used to better understand the mysterious
South Atlantic Anomaly whereby the magnetic field has lost around 9% of its strength on a global average over the last 200 years in large area. They are investigating the processes in
Earth's core driving these changes, which have caused technical disturbances in satellites and may be relevant to a potential
geomagnetic reversal, and found that the anomaly could split up into two separate low points. • Astronomers report to have discovered a large rotating
disk galaxy, dating back to when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old – the
Wolfe Disk. Previously it was believed that such galaxies could not grow as big and well-ordered so early, which indicates there possibly being a need to revise theories of
galaxy formation and evolution. reaches its nearest point to Earth. A few days later the
Solar Orbiter flies through its ion gas tail and its dust tail. • Researchers report to have developed a way to
use smartphone images of a person's inner eyelids to assess blood
hemoglobin levels with high precision. Usually these proteins in red blood cells are measured by the use of an
hemoglobinometer or with
a standard blood test for detecting anemia or other health issues. They are working on a
mobile app. • Researchers report the development of a naked-eye
colorimetric assay COVID-19 test based on
nanoparticles for diagnosis without advanced laboratory techniques within 10 minutes from isolated
RNA samples. • Researchers report that two
Neanderthal haplotypes carrying the
progesterone receptor gene entered the modern human population and that carriers of them in a
cohort of ca.
450,000 present-day Britons – a third of its women – have more siblings, fewer miscarriages, and less bleeding during early pregnancy which, according to the study, suggests that these
progesterone receptor alleles promote
fertility. The study shows that genetic variants which were introduced into
modern humans by mixing with Neanderthals can have effects in people living today. 's (pictured) observed properties could be explained
if it was an "iceberg" of molecular
hydrogen ice. • Scientists publish evidence for the early differentiation of the
cline of
Italian variation dating back to the
Late Glacial and for
Neolithic and distinct
Bronze Age migrations having further differentiated their gene pools. Ancestors of present-day
Italians are believed to have experienced an extraordinary history of
migrations and
gene flow as main factors underlying their
genetic diversity which is one of the highest
across Europe. • 23 May – Comet
C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) reaches its nearest point to Earth. It reaches its
perihelion (closest to the Sun) on May 31. The
Solar Orbiter spacecraft flies through comet ATLAS'
ion tail between May 31 and June 1 as well as its dust tail in the
solar wind on June 6. • 25 May • Researchers report the creation of a
sensor only 11 atoms in size, able to capture
magnetic waves. • Scientists report in a
preprint that they are confirming the existence of an Earth-sized planet around
Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, whose discovery was announced in August 2016.
ESPRESSO data confirms the presence of
Proxima b and shows that it has a minimum mass of ca. 1.17 Earth masses and is located in the
habitable zone of its star. • 26 May • Astronomers report the detection of several very powerful explosions, newly classified as
Fast blue optical transients (FBOTs), similar in ways to the much less energetic FBOT
SN 2018cow observed in 2018. • Simulations by Imperial College London reveal that the
Chicxulub impactor produced a "worst case" scenario in terms of lethality for the
dinosaurs, arriving from the north-east at a 60° angle, which maximised the amount of gases and debris thrown up into Earth's atmosphere. • Scientists report in a
preprint paper, published in a journal in June, that all of
ʻOumuamua's observed properties can be explained
if it contained a significant fraction of molecular
hydrogen ice. They suggest it had formed in an interstellar cloud where stars are born and "sat" relatively motionless with its ice getting worn away as it approached the Sun, explaining its shape. • Researchers suggest that a solution to what they consider to be the core of the
space debris problem may be an
international agreement to charge operators "orbital-use fees" for every
satellite put into orbit and that this could more than quadruple the long-run value of the satellite industry by 2040. • 27 May • Astronomers report that
classical novae explosions are the galactic producers of the element
lithium. • A study shows that
social networks can function poorly as pathways for inconvenient truths, that the
interplay between communication and action during disasters may depend on the structure of social networks, that communication networks suppress necessary "evacuations" in test-scenarios because of false reassurances when compared to groups of isolated individuals and that larger networks with a smaller proportion of informed subjects can suffer more damage due to human-caused
misinformation. • 29 May – Scientists publish a study which illustrates major regional variations in the shares of Mesolithic
hunter-gatherer to Neolithic farmer
genomic ancestry, highlighting the complexity of the biological interactions during the
Neolithic expansion in Europe. • 30 May –
SpaceX successfully launches two NASA astronauts into orbit on a
Crew Dragon spacecraft from Pad 39A of the
Kennedy Space Center in
Florida, the first crewed spacecraft to take off from U.S. soil
since 2011.
June track, which occurred around
8.72 Ma. • The existence of quark cores in
neutron stars is confirmed by Finnish researchers. • Geologists report two newly identified
supervolcano eruptions associated with the
Yellowstone hotspot track, including the region's largest and most cataclysmic event – the Grey's Landing super-eruption – which had a volume of ≥2800 km3 and occurred around
8.72 Ma. According to the study the Yellowstone hotspot may be waning, with another eruption of this scale not likely up to around
900,000 AD. • Researchers studying
corvids report that extended
parenting and extended
childhood is crucial for the
evolution of cognition and is having profound consequences for
learning and
intelligence. These may create longer developmental periods in which life-history is combined with social and ecological conditions such as via continuous exposure to
role models that are relatively tolerant of the children as well as continuous opportunities for learning. Earlier research on
primates showed that across species relative
brain size covaries with cognitive skills and that adaptations that compensate developmental and energetic costs of large brains are critical for their
evolution. • Findings of studying the spin direction of more than 200,000
spiral galaxies presented at the 236th American Astronomical Society meeting may suggest that
the universe could have a defined structure and that the early universe could have been spinning. According to the researcher spiral galaxies in different regions of spacetime have been found to relate through their spin-directions and even though the asymmetry of spin-directions is just over 2%, the probability to have such asymmetry by chance is less than 1 to 4 billion. • Researchers publish a study using data on vertebrates
on the brink to extinction and on vertebrates that recently became extinct, in which they conclude that a human-caused potential
sixth mass extinction, which was claimed to be emerging by researchers of the study in 2015, is likely accelerating and suggest a number of reasons for that including extinctions causing further extinctions. They reemphasize "extreme urgency of taking much-expanded worldwide actions". • 2 June – A study investigating
the emergence of life on Earth and possibly other locations demonstrates a continuous chemical reaction network of simple organic and inorganic feedstocks that, in water and under high-energy radiation, generates compounds proposed to be precursors for
early RNA, modelling how they may emerge spontaneously from a simple reagents mixture under conditions of early Earth through natural geochemistry. es in London are mirroring patterns of
domestication similar to
domesticated dogs, as they
adapt to their city environment. • Researchers report that
mitochondrial genetic divergence could be used to predict the reproductive compatibility of mammalian hybrid offspring and that ancient anatomically modern humans (AMH),
Neanderthals and
Denisovans were genetically closer than polar bears and brown bears (1.6% divergence for Neanderthals and AMH and 2.4% for the bears) and, like the bears, were able to easily produce healthy
hybrids. • Researchers show that
urban red foxes from
London and surrounding boroughs are divergent in skull traits,
similar to
domesticated dogs, as they
adapt to their city environment with patterns of skull divergence between urban and rural habitats matching the description of morphological changes that can occur during
domestication. • Scientists report that a
randomized,
double-blind,
placebo-controlled trial found evidence that the drug
hydroxychloroquine, controversially promoted by President of the United States Donald Trump as a potential treatment in mid-March, does not effectively protect people from
COVID-19 administered within 4 days after exposure. Other researchers are continuing to explore whether hydroxychloroquine might prevent infections as
pre-exposure prophylaxis. • 4 June • Astronomers report that
Kepler-160, a Sun-like star already known to host two planets, likely has a rocky third planet with orbit and light levels very similar to Earth. • Astronomers report that results from research of
Hubble Space Telescope data and other supporting data, to be published in an upcoming paper, show that
galaxies must have formed much earlier than previously thought – earlier than can be probed with the Hubble Space Telescope. • Scientists report that fruit fly mothers ensure their offspring's success through
transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, suggesting that in humans the epigenetic modification
H4K16ac might also be inherited as a "blueprint", encoding, to date unknown, information for successful
embryonic development. • Scientists report
bacterial mass
lysis for colony-defense occurs when the bacteria will die anyway from toxin exposure from competing bacteria, explaining the evolutionary origin of this behaviour. • 5 June – Two separate research teams publish two
preprints on 5 June and 10 June according to which
Neuropilin-1 (NRP1) is a second protein that
SARS-CoV-2 uses to enter human cells by binding to it with its
spike protein next to the protein
ACE2. • 7 June – News reports that
NASA astronaut Kathy Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space in 1984, and now 68 years old, is the first woman to reach
the deepest part of the ocean, nearly seven miles below the surface. • 8 June • Computer experts warn
Windows 10 users to update their computers with the latest security patches from
Microsoft in order to avoid being infected with the wormlike
SMBGhost security vulnerability, for which a proof-of-concept (PoC)
exploit had been released on 2 June, which, in unpatched computers, may have serious consequences. • Researchers report results consistent with the hypothesis that
pesticides contribute to
monarch butterfly declines in the western United States. • 9 June – Scientists confirm that the
airborne radioactivity increase in Europe in autumn 2017 had a civilian background – Russian water-water energetic reactor (
VVER) fuel at the end of its lifetime – and not a military one that is related to the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons. 's consistent and differential attraction of sperm from specific males constitutes a distinct post-mating choice. • Researchers report that the most successful – in terms of "likelihood of
prizewinning, National Academy of Science (NAS) induction, or superstardom" –
protégés studied under mentors who published
research for which they were conferred a prize after the protégés' mentorship. Studying original topics rather than these mentors' research-topics was also positively associated with success. s (BECs) in the
Cold Atom Laboratory (pictured) aboard the
ISS under
microgravity which could enable improved research of BECs and
quantum mechanics. • Scientists report the generation of
rubidium Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) in the
Cold Atom Laboratory aboard the
International Space Station under
microgravity which could enable improved research of BECs and
quantum mechanics, whose physics are scaled to macroscopic scales in BECs, support long-term investigations of
few-body physics, support the development of techniques for
atom-wave interferometry and
atom lasers and has verified the successful operation of the laboratory. • Scientists report findings that suggest that some species of
crocodile-ancestors – here the
Crocodylomorph Batrachopus grandis ichnosp. nov. – walked on their two hind legs and had a length of over three meters during the
Lower Cretaceous. • 12 June • Scientists announce preliminary results that demonstrate successful treatment during a small
trial of the first to use of
CRISPR gene editing (
CRISPR-Cas9) to treat inherited genetic disorders –
beta thalassaemia and
sickle cell disease. • Archaeologists report the earliest evidence for
bow and arrow use and possibly the
manufacturing of clothes or nets outside of Africa, in the tropics of
Sri Lanka ~
48 kya. • Scientists report that extensive
coal burning and combustion of other organic matter in Siberia likely was a cause of Earth's most severe extinction event, the
Permian-Triassic extinction event ~252 Mya. • Geophysicists provide the first comprehensive, wide-area, high-resolution view of the Earth's
core-mantle boundary and show that heterogenous, unusually dense structures at the boundary are more widespread than previously known. • 13 June – Scientists report that early
supercomputer climate modelling results that are being compiled for the sixth assessment by the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by more than 20 institutions due to be released in 2021 suggest a higher
climate sensitivity than previously believed with 25% of the models showing a sharp upward shift from 3 °C to 5 °C in climate sensitivity supporting or revising worst-case
projections of over 5 °C of
global warming. The projections of more future warming may be due to a
role of clouds. According to a study published on 24 June
cloud feedbacks and cloud-aerosol interactions are the most likely contributors to the high values and increased range of equilibrium climate sensitivity in the
CMIP6 model. that raises the
risk of severe disease when contracting COVID-19. The image shows the severity of diagnosed COVID-19 cases in China. • 15 June • Astronomers report the
possible existence of over 30 "active communicating intelligent civilizations", or
Communicating Extra-Terrestrial Intelligent (CETI) civilizations (none within our current ability to detect due to various reasons including distance or size) in our own
Milky Way galaxy, based on the latest astrophysical information – including a longevity of the only known technological civilization that is emitting signals to space of about 100 years to date. • A study of
broad-tailed hummingbirds shows that
hummingbirds can discriminate non-spectral colors due to birds' fourth
color-sensitive visual cone (humans have three) and demonstrate a system for investigating animal
color vision. • A
scientific analysis estimates that as of 2020 about 1.7 bn people (
UI 1·0–2·4) people, or 22% (UI 15–28%) of the
world population, belong to a vulnerable group which has at least one
underlying condition that raises the
risk of severe disease when contracting COVID-19 and that about 4% [3–9] of the global population would require hospital admission if infected. They are describing their results as uncertain and state that the risk varies considerably by age and that they did not consider some risk factors such as
obesity. • Scientists report the development of the smallest
synthetic molecular motor, consisting of 12 atoms and a rotor of 4 atoms, shown to be capable of being powered by an electric current using an electron scanning microscope and moving even with very low amounts of energy due to
quantum tunneling. by particle physicists • Astronomers map the atmosphere of the
red supergiant star
Antares in unprecedented detail, using both the
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky
Very Large Array (VLA). The map is the most detailed yet obtained of any star, other than the
Sun. • Scientists report simulation results that indicate that
flushing a toilet can create a large, widespread cloud of aerosol droplets containing viruses such as
SARS-CoV-2 that lasts long enough for the droplets to be breathed in by others and offer suggestions concerning safer toilet use and recommendations for a better
toilet design. • 17 June • Physicists at the
XENON dark matter research facility report an excess of 53 events, which may hint at the existence of hypothetical Solar
axions. Other possibilities for the anomalous detection include a surprisingly large magnetic moment for
neutrinos, and
tritium contamination in the detector. • Scientists report in a
preprint that
genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 knockout screens in monkey cells have identified genes that might help
SARS-CoV-2 infect its hosts. • Results of a study indicate greater regional anthropogenic carbon storage in and
ocean acidification of the
Arctic Ocean than previously projected. • Quantum scientists report the development of a system that entangles two photon
quantum communication nodes through a microwave cable that can send information in between without the photons ever being sent through, or occupying, the cable. On 12 June it was reported that they also, for the first time,
entangled two
phonons as well as erase information from their measurement
after the measurement has been completed using
delayed-choice quantum erasure. • 18 June –
NASA scientists report that
exoplanets with
oceans may be common in the
Milky Way galaxy, based on
mathematical modeling studies. ,
measured by GDP (pictured), is associated with the problematically high increase of
resource use and
pollutant emissions. • Researchers report to have calculated an upper limit for a
fundamental period of a possibly quantized time – as can be found in theories of
quantum gravity and
quantum cosmology – that is about 10 orders of magnitude above the
Planck time – 10−33 seconds – and propose a theoretical apparatus and experiment that, if ever realized, could be capable of being influenced by effects on relevant timescales and possibly confirm their theory that is based on a physical model of time as an oscillating variable. • Scientists, as part of a
World Scientists' Warning to Humanity-associated series, warn that worldwide growth in
affluence has increased
resource use and
pollutant emissions with affluent
citizens of the world – in terms of e.g. resource-intensive consumption – being responsible for most negative environmental impacts and central to a transition to safer,
sustainable conditions. They summarise evidence, present solution approaches and state that far-reaching
lifestyle changes need to
complement technological advancements and that existing societies, economies and cultures
incite consumption expansion and that the
structural imperative for
growth in
competitive market economies inhibits
societal change. • News reports the first
SETI-specific grant that NASA has awarded in three decades. The grant funds the first NASA-funded search for
technosignatures from advanced extraterrestrial civilizations other than radio waves, including the creation and population of an online technosignature
library. • Scientists report that a novel
cancer immunotherapy that included a
personalized vaccine was shown to be successful in dogs. The
vaccine was made from each dog's bone cancer cells. On 3 July it was reported that the results have helped obtain FDA approval for testing the method with human brain cancer patients. via ingestion of fish eggs (pictured) by birds. • Scientists demonstrate that it is possible for
fish to migrate via ingestion of fish eggs by birds. • Scientists demonstrate that it may be possible – for advanced extraterrestrial civilizations – to harvest rotational energy from
black holes 51 years after it has been proposed to be possible and 49 years after an experiment to test the theory has been proposed. • Scientists report that the ancient fish species
Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri, which they assess to be highly similar to
sturgeons in its features, evolved its sturgeon-like characteristics in a
nearly simultaneous distinct evolutionary path from sturgeons. • 23 June • Astronomers report details of the merging, in the "mass gap" of cosmic collisions, of a first-ever "mystery object": either a possibly too-heavy
neutron star or a too-light
black hole, with a black hole, that was detected as a
gravitational wave,
GW190814. According to one of the researchers, "We don't know if this object is the heaviest known neutron star or the lightest known black hole, but either way it breaks a record." • The
World Meteorological Organization announces a possible new temperature-record of 38 °C north of the
Arctic Circle, which it seeks to verify and assess. It was reported on 20 June in
Verkhoyansk, Russia amid a prolonged Siberian heatwave and an increase in wildfire activity. • 24 June • The largest ever
tanzanite gemstones are discovered, weighing 9.27 kg and 5.103 kg, respectively. • In a
preprint astronomers report the discovery of the second oldest
quasar,
Pōniuāʻena (J1007+2115) that is twice as massive as the oldest one,
ULAS J1342+0928, and existed 700 million years after the Big Bang, challenging models of the earliest
supermassive black hole growth. • The
World Meteorological Organization announces new records for the longest
lightning bolt (700 km) and the "megaflash" with the longest duration (16.73 s). • 25 June • Astronomers report detecting a
gravitational wave, named
GW190521g, that is associated with, for the first time ever, a flash of light from the merger, within the vicinity of a third very large black hole, of two smaller black holes. No light is typically emitted from the
merger of black holes. • Scientists report, with a genetic study, the identification of the
origin of domesticated chicken, including insights into their evolutionary history, suggesting that they initially derived from
Gallus gallus spadiceus. • 26 June – Astronomers report the detection of four
odd radio circles (ORCs). unexplained astronomical objects that, at
radio wavelengths, are highly circular and brighter along their edges. The observed ORCs are bright at radio wavelengths, but are not visible at
visible,
infrared or
X-ray wavelengths. Two of the ORCs contain
galaxies, observable at visible wavelengths, in their centers, suggesting that the galaxies might have formed these objects. • 28 June – In two papers, the first of which published in February, scientists report the development of the possibly most lightweight biopolymer aerogel that is flexible and durable and has a relatively high
electromagnetic shielding-performance. is identified as the fastest-growing black hole in the Universe. In mid-March the scientists of the study, whose survey began on 6 March, reported that the research led to the discovery of the decisive role in the spread of the novel coronavirus by asymptomatic people. • Scientists report, after they publicized the first version of a
preprint in April 2019, a possible explanation for the origin of
high-energy cosmic neutrinos observed by the
IceCube Neutrino Observatory, suggesting that emissions of coronae of
supermassive black holes, such as possibly the
active galactic nucleus of
Messier 77, may be their source. • Astronomers report that
J2157, discovered in 2018, is now known to have 34 billion solar masses and is consuming the equivalent of nearly 1 solar mass every day, making it the fastest-growing
black hole known in the Universe. • Scientist at
CERN report that the
LHCb experiment has observed a four-
charm quark particle never seen before, which is likely to be the first of a previously undiscovered class of particles. ==Deaths==