The year 2024 was dotted with record scientific discoveries. From researching the origins of glow-in-the-dark animals to developing the world’s fastest microscope, these exceptional feats have captured our imagination.
Ancient aerial explosion
About 2.5 million years ago, an asteroid burned up in Earth’s atmosphere before it could hit the ground and leave a crater, making the event the oldest known mid-air explosion. This conclusion is based on a chemical analysis of nearly 120 microscopic rocks buried deep beneath the Antarctic ice. The ancient pebbles are rich in olivine and spinel minerals, suggesting the specimens are the remains of the asteroid, scientists say.
The dawn of photosynthesis
Australia’s microfossils harbor the oldest evidence of photosynthesis. Fossilized bacteria from around 1.75 billion years ago preserve structures that resemble thylakoid membranes, which help modern cyanobacteria convert sunlight into oxygen. Scientists already suspected that cyanobacteria carried out photosynthesis, but this new discovery represents the first direct evidence.
fastest backflip
Dicyrtomina minutes Springtails can launch up to 60 millimeters into the air and spin at speeds of up to 368 times per second, making the arthropods the fastest known backflippers (SN : 10/5/24, p. 4). An appendage under the belly helps the miniature gymnasts take off while another helps them land successfully.
The smallest frog
Measuring just 6.5 millimeters long, a Brazilian flea toad (Brachycephalic pulex) was crowned the world’s smallest known frog (SN : 23/03/24, p. 4). Small enough to sit on the nail of a little finger, the amphibian beat the previous champion by about a millimeter.
Big genome, small package
The largest known genetic instruction manual belongs to a small fern (SN : 29/06/24, p. 4). Tmesipteris oblanceolata measures 15 centimeters long but has a genome 50 times larger than that of humans. If dismantled, the fern’s DNA spool would stretch 100 meters long, scientists say.
Oldest bioluminescence
Bioluminescence celebrates another anniversary. The ancestors of a group of deep-sea corals glowed in the dark 540 million years ago, scientists say. Scientists believed that animal bioluminescence began about 267 million years ago in an ancestor of marine fireflies, tiny seed-shaped crustaceans.
Super small bow
Bows come in all shapes and sizes. Small figure-eight knots hold people up as they climb the cliffs. Larger bowlines secure ships to shore. This year, scientists designed the smallest, tightest knot ever (SN : 24/02/24, p. 4). This trefoil knot is made up of a chain of 54 atoms of gold, phosphorus, oxygen and carbon that is pretzeled on itself three times.
