The year 2024 could see a number of scientific discoveries with enormous potential that are likely to significantly impact humanity. Let’s talk about them in more detail
AI: new models and regulation
The emergence of ChatGPT has a significant impact on science in 2023. For example, it turned out that the neural network answers patients’ questions more clearly than doctors. OpenAI is expected to release the next generation of its AI model, GPT-5, at the end of 2024. Scientists are also keeping an eye on Gemini, a competitor to Google’s GPT-4. A large language model will be able to process texts, computer codes, images, audio and video.
A new version of Google’s AlphaFold AI tool is also due out in 2024. With its help, researchers predict the 3D shapes of proteins with high accuracy.
AI will be able to simulate interactions between particles with atomic precision. This will open up new opportunities in drug creation.
In mid-2024, the UN Advisory Body on AI will present a report outlining principles for international regulation of artificial intelligence.
Survey of the Southern Hemisphere and search for fragments of the Big Bang
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will begin operations at the end of 2024. Using an 8.4-meter telescope and a giant 3,200-megapixel camera, scientists hope to survey the entire sky of the Southern Hemisphere within 10 years.
Also in Chile, construction of the Simons Observatory will be completed in mid-2024 . In it, scientists will look for signs of gravitational waves that formed after the Big Bang.
Simons telescopes will be equipped with 50 thousand light-catching detectors. This is 10 times more than similar projects.
Pandemic prevention
The US government is funding trials of three new-generation coronavirus vaccines. Two of them are aimed at preventing infection through the development of immunity in the tissues of the respiratory tract.
The third strengthens antibodies and provides long-lasting immunity against new potential variants of SARS-CoV-2.
In May 2024, the World Health Organization is due to present the final draft of a treaty to combat pandemics.
The agreement is designed to better prepare the world’s governments to prevent future crises.
Negotiations are centered on ensuring equal access to vaccines and research data for all countries.
Return to the Moon and study the satellites of the planets of the solar system
For the first time since the 1970s, NASA is launching a crewed lunar mission. The Artemis II flight could take place as early as November 2024.
The Orion spacecraft will carry four astronauts for a ten-day orbit around the Earth’s moon.
In October 2024, NASA will launch the Clipper spacecraft to Jupiter’s moon Europa. Its goal is to determine whether Europa’s underground ocean could harbor life.
The Japanese mission Martian Moons eXploration will visit the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, where it will collect soil samples.
Search for dark matter particles
In 2024, the results of an experiment to detect dark matter particles – axions – will be published .
They are believed to be emitted by the Sun and converted into light. But detecting them requires sensitive instruments.
As part of the BabyIAXO experiment at the German Electron Synchrotron in Hamburg, scientists use a telescope and X-ray detectors to track solar activity for 12 hours a day. Perhaps they will be able to detect axions.
Ultra-fast supercomputers
At the beginning of 2024, scientists will launch the first European supercomputer, Jupiter . This giant machine will be able to perform one quintillion (billion billion) calculations per second.
Researchers will use it to create digital twins of the human heart and brain for medical purposes, as well as to simulate the Earth’s climate.
Researchers in the US will also install two similar machines in 2024: Aurora in Illinois and El Capitan in California.
The first will be used to create maps of neural connections in the brain, and the second will be used to simulate the consequences of nuclear explosions.
