January–March 2021 in science

This article lists a number of significant events in science that occurred in the first quarter of 2021.

Events

January

1 January – Beginning of the implementation of Plan S, an initiative for open-access science publishing launched in 2018 that requires papers from 2021 onwards from over 10 European countries that resulted from research funded by public grants to be published under an open licence in compliant journals or platforms, available to all. 4 January Media reports that engineers worldwide discuss a negative leap second and other possible measures as Earth spun faster in 2020. Researchers describe how the damage to nerve cells caused by motor neurone disease could be repaired by improving the energy levels in mitochondria. Scientists describe a CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing approach which could be used to treat wet age-related macular degeneration caused by VEGFA and Herpes simplex type 1: injection of engineered lentiviruses into the affected anatomical regions for transient editing without inducing off-target edits. 5 January – Using theoretical calculations, researchers suggest that humans would be unable to control a superintelligent AI.

6 January Scientists report the successful use of gene editing in mice with progeria, a premature aging disease. Chinese researchers report that they have built the world's largest integrated quantum communication network, combining over 700 optical fibers with two QKD-ground-to-satellite links for a total distance between nodes of the network of networks of up to ~4,600 km. The first systematic review of the scientific evidence around global waste, its management and its impact on human health and life is published, providing assessments, suggestions for corrective action, engineering solutions and requests for further research. It finds that about half of all the municipal solid terrestrial waste – or close to one billion tons per year – is either not collected or mismanaged after collection, often being burned in open and uncontrolled fires. Authors conclude that "massive risk mitigation can be delivered" while noting that broad priority areas each lack a "high-quality research base", partly due to the absence of "substantial research funding", which scientists often require. 7 January A potential mRNA vaccine for multiple sclerosis is presented by a collaboration including BioNTech, with a study in mice showing great promise for improving symptoms and stopping disease progression.

Scientists conclude that environmental factors played a major role in the evolution of the slowly-evolving, currently low-diverse Crocodilia (and their ancestor-relatives), with warmer climate being associated with high evolutionary rates and large body sizes. 8 January News outlets report that scientists, with the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, detected an FM radio signal from the moon Ganymede which is reportedly caused by cyclotron maser instability and similar to both WiFi-signals and Jupiter's radio emissions. A study about the radio emissions was published in September 2020 but did not describe them to be of FM nature or similar to WiFi signals. Scientists report the discovery of the most distant, and therefore oldest, quasar, J0313–1806. It is located 13 bn light-years away, does not yet have an accepted non-identifier name and significantly challenges theoretical models of early SMBH growth, apparently existing just ~670 million years after the Big Bang despite its large size. Archaeologists report that the African cultural phase, called Middle Stone Age, thought to have lasted from ~300–30 ka, lasted to ~11 ka in some places, highlighting significant spatial and temporal cultural variability. WASP-62b is confirmed to be the first hot Jupiter exoplanet without clouds or haze in its observable atmosphere. 12 January Scientists report the use of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to produce a tenfold increase in super-bug targeting formicamycin antibiotics. COVID-19 pandemic: The National Institute of Infectious Diseases of Japan reports the detection of significant variant of SARS-CoV-2 Lineage P.1 via testing of travelers from Brazil, which was later reported to originate from widespread circulation in Brazil. Researchers report that large populations consistently converge on highly similar category systems, relevant to lexical aspects of large communication networks and cultures.

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