year in review: Scientific Discoveries
From the mastery of stellar navigation to inventions like the railroad, the car and the airplane, technology has always had a profound impact on society. Yesterday’s inventions inspire those of today, which, in turn, spawn those of tomorrow.
As we look back on 2018, which landmark developments are likely to keep reshaping our lives in the years to come? Here’s our list of the top five.
First, the emergence of immunotherapy as a mainstream cure for many types of cancer. The 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to James P. Allison of the University of Texas and Tasuku Honjo of Japan’s Kyoto University for their work on uncovering ways the immune system attacks cancer cells. For the body’s immune system to work, it must be able to differentiate normal cells from those it sees as “foreign.” The immune system then goes to work attacking the foreign cells while leaving the normal cells alone. Cancer cells proliferate by putting a brake on the immune system, thereby escaping destruction.
Immunotherapy drugs based on Allison and Honjo’s discoveries inhibit the ability of cancer cells to remain hidden. Such drugs are now increasingly used to treat several different types of cancer, including melanoma skin cancer, head and neck cancers and Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Immunotherapy drugs are becoming an important fourth arrow in the battle against cancer, in addition to surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Second, the controversial first-ever birth of gene-edited human babies, as claimed by Chinese researcher He Jiankui. In November 2018, He Jiankui announced that the genomes of recently-born twin girls Lulu and Nana had been modified to make them resistant to HIV. The girls were conceived via IVF and, while they were still in the form of fertilized eggs, He’s team had used CRISPR, a gene editing technology, to delete a gene called CCR5.
Even as He Jiankui has termed himself “a martyr to a higher cause,” researchers, ethicists and regulators across the world have condemned his experiment. MIT’s Feng Zhang, one of the inventors of CRISPR, has even called for a moratorium on the use of this technology for editing human embryos. Medical scientists are concerned that because we still do not know enough about the interlinked role of various genes, editing one gene in order to increase resistance to HIV may increase the risks of other types of diseases. Ethicists, on the other hand, are concerned that we may now be on a slippery slope to an era of designer babies.
Third, the mainstreaming of artificial intelligence (AI). Everything around us, from our phones to our cars, is increasingly powered by AI. By the end of 2018, over a quarter of American homes had voice-assisted smart speakers – more than four times the number in early 2017. It was also in 2018 that Google unveiled a voice bot that could pass as human when making restaurant reservations. In addition to products, Google introduced AI into their online services. Google Translate, for example, has now learned to instantly translate words, phrases, sentences and entire web pages between English and a hundred other languages with a high degree of accuracy. Hospitals are also putting AI to use in assisting radiologists in the often-challenging task of interpreting CT or MRI images.
Like most technologies, AI is the proverbial double-edged sword. Although it has many benefits, AI brings untold dangers in its wake. Some futurists suggest that, with the growing usage of AI, as many as 30 percent of all jobs worldwide could simply vanish. How about a future war where swarms of robots are automatically programmed to attack and kill enemy troops? Russian president Vladimir Putin has even speculated that whoever becomes the leader in AI could well become “the ruler of the world.” And, if AI learns to redesign itself, might it simply supersede the human race?
Fourth, the first-ever commercial use of driverless cars. In December 2018, after almost ten years of work, Waymo, the autonomous cars subsidiary of Alphabet (Google’s parent), launched the world’s first commercial autonomous ride-hailing service in Phoenix, Arizona. As Waymo builds on this experience and other companies such as Tesla and GM launch similar vehicles, driverless cars will rapidly become an everyday reality.
Since driverless cars are much safer than traditional cars, we can expect a major reduction in the 37,000 auto-related fatalities in the U.S. every year. Car travel should also become much less stressful. Yet, there is also a potential downside. As autonomous cars and trucks become ubiquitous, jobs such as driving trucks and taxis will vanish. In the U.S., the number of truck drivers alone adds up to 3.5 million. People have already begun to express their concerns. According to The New York Times, some people in Arizona attacked self-driving cars with rocks and knives this past December.
Lastly, rapid advances in space exploration technologies. 2018 was the year when SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, made reusable rockets a routine affair. Boosters (big cylinders that help the rocket escape the earth’s gravity and atmosphere) account for the bulk of the cost of a spacecraft.
Traditionally, these boosters are discarded after the manned or unmanned craft that sits on top of these boosters takes off on its own. Musk’s goal has been to return the boosters back to the earth in a condition in which they can be reused. Doing so dramatically brings down the cost of launching a spacecraft, thereby enabling more launches at a lower price.
In February 2018, SpaceX’s heavy-lift rocket, Falcon Heavy, made its inaugural flight. After launching a red Tesla roadster on a journey past Mars, its three boosters returned back to earth. In 2019, SpaceX is expected to achieve a similar goal with an even bigger spacecraft, BFR (Big Falcon Rocket). According to Musk, it’s the BFR that holds the promise of taking humans all the way to Mars.
2018 was a banner year in terms of developments in science and technology, and 2019 promises to usher in even more impressive developments. It’s both exciting and scary to think of what lies ahead.