A total solar eclipse seen by millions, a lost jungle city discovered by accident and hope for the almost extinct northern white rhino – science has given us a lot to get excited about this year.
One of the biggest news stories was about making space travel cheaper and easier, with Elon Musk’s Starship making a giant step towards humanity having a reusable rocket.
Of course it’s not all been positive. In bad news for the planet, for example, it is now virtually certain that 2024 will be the world’s warmest year on record.
But there has been a lot to celebrate. Here are seven of our favourite uplifting science stories of the year.
That ‘chopsticks’ rocket catch
In October, Elon Musk’s Starship rocket completed a world first after part of it was captured on its return to the launch pad.
The SpaceX vehicle’s lower booster rocket flew back to its launch tower, instead of falling into the sea. It was caught in a giant pair of mechanical arms, or “chopsticks” as part of its fifth test flight.
It brought SpaceX’s ambition of developing a fully reusable and rapidly deployable rocket to go to the Moon and maybe even Mars a big step closer.
“A day for the history books,” engineers at SpaceX declared as the booster landed safely.
You can read more about the ‘chopsticks’ moment here.
Mapping the fly brain
They can walk, hover and the males can even sing love songs to woo mates – all this with a brain that’s tinier than a pinhead.
But it wasn’t until October that
The post Lost city found by accident and a fly’s brain mapped: 2024’s scientific wins first appeared on EnviroLink Network.