This article lists a number of significant events in
science that have occurred in the second quarter of
2020.
Events
April
1 April
A
scientific review finds that substantial
recovery for most components of marine ecosystems within two to three decades can be achieved if climate change is addressed adequately and efficient interventions are deployed at large scale. It documents the recovery of marine populations, habitats and ecosystems following past conservation interventions, identifies nine components integral to
conservation and recovery and recommend actions along with opportunities, benefits, possible roadblocks and remedial actions. The researchers caution about a narrow
window of opportunity in which
decisions can choose between "a legacy of a resilient and vibrant ocean or an irreversibly disrupted ocean". They assess the
goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations to be a "doable Grand Challenge for humanity, an ethical obligation and a smart economic objective to achieve a sustainable future".[2][3][4][5]
Researchers report to have discovered and analysed fossil roots embedded in a mudstone matrix containing diverse pollen and spores which indicate that rainforests existed near the
South Pole ca. 90 million years ago during the
Cretaceous period.
Their findings suggest that the climate was exceptionally warm at the time and that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were substantially higher than expected during the mid-Cretaceous period, 115-80 million years ago.[6][1][7][8]
Researchers report that stretching cells alone can
activate genes without intermediates, enzymes or signaling molecules in the cell being necessary. They applied cyclic forces of frequencies which cells experience due to common activities such as breathing, exercising or vocalizing and found that the induced transcription up-regulation does not follow the weak
power law with force frequency. They also describe why some genes can be activated by mechanical force and some cannot.[9][10]
Scientists report that for the first time they have retrieved genetic information from the fossils of H. antecessor as old as 772,000–949,000 years and Homo erectus as old as 1.77 million years via dental enamel
proteomes . They show that H. antecessor is a closely related sister-lineage to subsequent Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins, including modern humans,
Neanderthals and
Denisovans.[11][12]
Scientists report finding large communities of
microbes living under the seafloor in solid rocks determined to be up to 104 million years old. According to the study the results may have implications for the possibility of
life on Mars and other planetary bodies due to potentially similar conditions and rocks or minerals.[19][20]
Astronomers report further evidence of the possible fragmentation of the
interstellar comet2I/Borisov.[21][22][23] A follow-up study, reported on 6 April 2020, observed only a single object, and noted that the fragment component had now disappeared.[24][25]
Scientists report the discovery of
metabolic genes in the
genomes of 501 widespread Nucleocytoviricota even though viruses don't have
metabolism. Some of their findings suggest that these large viruses can
reprogram fundamental aspects of their host's carbon metabolism and that they are drivers of evolutionary innovation in metabolic genes.[29][30]
Scientists report the results of a survey of the
Great Barrier Reef. For the first time, all its three regions experienced
severe bleaching.[38] On March 25 – day three of the nine-day survey – they reported its third mass bleaching event within five years.[39]
Astronomers publish a study which includes the first photograph of a
relativistic jet from an ongoing
galaxy merger. The young jet from one of the two galaxies
active galactic nuclei with a direction pointed near Earth and proves that such merge events can trigger such jets.[40][41]
Astronomers publish a study which includes the highest resolution images of the
Sun from NASA's
FOXSI Sounding Rocket. The images show
coronal loops – magnetic threads filled with million-degree hot plasma – of narrower widths than the ones previously seen.[42][43]
8 April
In two research papers scientists show that
microbes can actively colonize high-pH environments of
radioactive waste storage sites. Their findings have implications for the safety, design and operation of such sites and the knowledge about
extremophile microbial life.[44][45][46]
In a
preprint to be published by a journal online in April and in its issue in May 2020 scientists show the
glycan structures which coat
SARS-CoV-2's
spike protein. With these coatings the virus disguises itself to enter human cells. Their study may have implications in viral pathobiology and
vaccine design and shows that the protein's coating is relatively weak and that the spike protein may be relatively vulnerable to
antibodies.[56][57]
Scientists report fossil evidence which suggests an extinct
parapithecidrafted across the Atlantic in the
Paleogene and at least briefly colonized South America next to the African-origin mammals
New World monkeys and
caviomorph rodents. The Ucayalipithecus perdita remains dating from the Early Oligocene of Amazonian Peru are deeply nested within the Parapithecidae, and have dental features markedly different from those of
platyrrhines. Qatrania wingi of lower Oligocene
Fayum deposits is considered the closest known relative of Ucayalipithecus.[58][59][60] Models of winds and ocean currents indicate that such crossings would have taken only 11–15 days at the time.[61] The absence of later finds from this group in South America indicates they were outcompeted by platyrrhines, which descend from a parallel anthropoid colonization of South America.[citation needed]
Scientists report the discovery of six novel
coronaviruses, and one known alphacoronavirus previously identified in other southeast Asian countries were detected for the first time in bats in
Myanmar where ongoing land use change is a prominent driver of
zoonotic diseaseemergence. Future studies have been said to evaluate the potential for transmission across species.[62][63] The study was conducted as part of the United States'
PREDICT program which was ended by March 2020 by the nation's
Trump administration but extended on 1 April 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.[64][65]
10 April
Medical scientists report the possible reinfection of
COVID-19 patients who have recovered from
COVID-19. Experts note that false test results or "reactivation" of the virus could also have caused these results.[66][67][68] In May 2020 the
Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that patients who tested positive a second time were not infectious, were immune to the disease, showed symptoms and likely test positive again due to dead fragments of the virus.[69]
Researchers show that a new type of
X-ray detector, based on a thin film of the low-cost semiconductor mineral
perovskite, is 100 times more sensitive than a conventional silicon-based device. The technology could reduce unhealthy
radiation exposure and improve the resolution and applications of security scanners and research tools.[70][71][72][73]
Scientists report to have achieved wireless control of adrenal hormone secretion in genetically unmodified rats through the use of injectable, magnetic
nanoparticles (MNPs) and remotely applied alternating magnetic fields heats them up. Their findings may aid research of physiological and psychological impacts of
stress and related treatments and present an alternative strategy for modulating peripheral organ function than problematic implantable devices.[74][75]
13 April
Astronomers suggest the first comprehensive possible natural way that
ʻOumuamua, the first known
interstellar object detected passing through the
Solar System, may have been formed. It may have been produced through extensive tidal fragmentation and ejected during close encounters of their parent bodies with their host star or
stars.[76][77]
Astronomers report to have recorded the most energetic
supernova so far:
SN 2016aps. The supernova also caused an unusually large amount of the energy to be released in the form of radiation, probably due to the interaction of the supernova ejecta and a previously lost gas shell.[78] The scientists believe that the supernova could be an example of a
pair-instability supernova or a
pulsational pair-instability supernova, possibly formed from two massive stars
that merged before the explosion.[79][78] The event was discovered on 22 February 2016 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (
Pan-STARRS) in
Hawaii,[80] with follow-up observations by the
Hubble Space Telescope.
A study which included
aircraft measurements of
methane emissions from offshore oil and gas platforms collected over the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in January 2018 indicates that the United States via the Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) underestimated methane emissions at the time from these sites by a factor of 2. They attribute the discrepancy between regional airborne estimates and their data as well as their estimations for total methane emissions from these sites and the GHGI estimations adjusted for 2018 to incomplete platform counts and emission factors that underestimate emissions for shallow water platforms and don't account for disproportionately high emissions from large shallow water facilities.[81][82][83][84][85]
14 April
News outlets report that U.S. State Department cables indicate that, although there may be no conclusive proof at the moment, the
COVID-19virus responsible for the
COVID-19 pandemic may, possibly,
have accidentally come from a Wuhan (China) laboratory, studying
batcoronaviruses that included modifying
virusgenomes to enter human cells,[86][87] and determined to be unsafe by U.S. scientists in 2018, rather than from a natural source.[88][89][90][91] US intelligence and national security officials say that the U.S. government is looking into the possibility.[89] As of 18 May 2020, an official
UN investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 virus, supported by over 120 countries, was being considered.[92] As of 5 May, assessments and internal sources from the
Five Eyes nations indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic being the result of a laboratory accident was "highly unlikely", since the human infection was "highly likely" a result of natural human and animal interaction.[93] Virologist
Peter Daszak states that an estimated 1–7 million people in Southeast Asia who live or work in proximity to bats are infected each year with bat coronaviruses.[94]
A new study shows that the duration of
anoxia approximately 444 million years ago was longer than 3 million years and affirms that the prolonged lack of oxygen in the oceans contributed to the
Ordovician–Silurian mass extinction events at the time.[95][96][97]
NASA reports the discovery of
Kepler-1649c, an exoplanet that, according to Jeff Coughlin, the director of SETI's K2 Science Office, is closer to Earth in size and likely temperature than any other world yet found in data from the
Kepler Space Telescope. The planet was originally deemed a false positive by Kepler's robovetter algorithm, highlighting the value of human inspection of planet candidates even as automated techniques improve.[103][104][105]
Researchers demonstrate a proof-of-concept silicon quantum processor unit cell which works at 1.5 Kelvin – many times warmer than common quantum processors that are being developed. It may enable integrating classical control electronics with the
qubit array and reduce costs substantially. The cooling requirements necessary for
quantum computing have been called one of the toughest roadblocks in the field.[106][107][108][109][110]
Scientists report that the
Greenland ice sheet lost around 600 billion tonnes of water in 2019, which would raise sea levels by about 1.5 millimetres and make up ca. 40% of the year's total
sea level rise. The runoff ranked second only after the exceptional year 2012. The study affirms the exceptional nature of the 2019 season and shows that high-pressure atmospheric conditions over
Greenland due to changing atmospheric circulation patterns – which have become more frequent due to
climate change – were a cause of the melting next to the warmer temperatures. This suggests that scientists may be underestimating the melting of Greenland's ice – likely by a factor of two according to co-author Xavier Fettweis.[111][112][113]
Scientists describe and visualize the atomical structure and mechanical action of the bacteria-killing
bacteriocin R2 pyocin and construct engineered versions with different behaviours than the naturally occurring version. Their findings may aid the engineering of
nanomachines such as for targeted antibiotics.[114][115]
Australia's
Morrison government announces the launch of the
research and development phase of its Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program after a two-year feasibility study. The selected 43 strategies of the program include
climate engineering concepts such as
brightening clouds with salt crystals, technologies to increase survival rate of coral larvae, coral seeding strategies and methods to facilitate faster recovery of coral reefs.[119][120] The
Australian Marine Conservation Society welcomed the work but remarked that policies which address global warming – the main cause of increasingly severe and frequent mass coral bleaching events – should be prioritised, that the projects could take years or decades to develop and that solutions to climate change – such as renewable energies – are already available.[121]
Scientists prove the existence of the
Rashba effect in bulk
perovskites. Previously researchers have hypothesized that the materials' extraordinary electronic, magnetic and optical properties – which make it a commonly used material
for solar cells and
quantum electronics – are related to this effect which to date hasn't been proven to be present in the material.[122][123]
Scientists report that during their breeding season male
ring-tailed lemurs exude three compounds at higher levels in their wrist glandular
odor. The study suggests that these may be
pheromones which are involved in the
attractiveness of the males to females as the females seem to be attracted to the smell during their breeding season. The amounts of
dodecanal, 12-methyltridecanal, and
tetradecanal increase in a
testosterone-dependent manner.[124][118][125]
A study indicates that
local food crop production alone cannot meet the demand for most food crops "current production and consumption patterns" – which include the share of meat in local diets – and the current locations of food production[clarification needed] for 72–89% of the global population and 100–km radiuses as of early 2020. While local production may be more
sustainable and decrease risks of
disrupted global food supply chains due to crises like the
COVID-19 pandemic it cannot be relied on solely.[131][126][132]
Researchers report to have traced the origins of
shark fins of endangered
hammerhead sharks from a retail market in Hong Kong back to their source populations and therefore the approximate locations where the sharks were first caught using
DNA analysis.[133][134]
Scientists report that the
coma of interstellar comet
2I/Borisov contains more than three times more
carbon monoxide gas than water vapor than previously measured for any comet in the inner (<2.5 au) Solar System. In two studies they publish data collected via the
Hubble Space Telescope which, according to the authors, provide a "first glimpse into the ice content and chemical composition of the
protoplanetary disk of another star that is substantially different from our own" and likely formed in a CO-rich environment of the cold, outer regions of a distant protoplanetary accretion disk.[142][143][144][145]
Researchers demonstrate a method to direct
self-assembly – in terms of size, position and geometry – of a multitude of materials made out of components of more than four orders of magnitude different in size and mass using
femtosecond laser pulses.[146][147]
An unusual plant collected by a team of botanists in early 2010 while exploring the remote deserts of
Karas,
Namibia was found to represent not only a new genus, but a completely new family.
Tiganophytaceae is described as the newest member of the order
Brassicales, and is the newest botanical family to be described since
Kewaceae in 2014.[159]
Scientists report
ferroelectricity in a material structure with functional features down to a thickness of one nanometre, making it a candidate for powering very small devices and for other electronics.[164][165]
Researchers report that a mass DNA analysis of over 27,000
Icelanders shows that the
Neanderthal population that mixed with modern Icelanders was more similar to a Neanderthal found in Croatia than to Neanderthals found in Russia, that Icelanders carry more traces
of Denisovan DNA than expected, that on average these Neanderthal children had older mothers and younger fathers compared to modern humans and that Neanderthal DNA has a relatively minor effect on human health and appearance today.[166][167]
A study using
satellite data shows that oil and gas operations in the United States'
Permian Basin are releasing the greenhouse gas
methane at twice the average rate found in earlier studies of 11 other major oil and gas regions of the United States. According to the authors insufficient infrastructure to process and transport natural gas may be one cause of the high rate.[168][169]
23 April
NASA reports building, in 37 days, a successful COVID-19
ventilator (named
VITAL ("Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally")) which is currently undergoing further testing. NASA is seeking fast-track approval by the
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).[170][171] On 30 April, NASA reports receiving FDA approval for emergency use of the new ventilator.[172] On 29 May, NASA reports that eight manufacturers were selected to manufacture the new ventilator.[173]
Researchers report to have developed an inexpensive, small smartphone-based testing device which can detect pathogens
such as SARS-CoV-2 within 30 minutes.[178][179][180]
Researchers report that gaps due to an improper fit of a
face mask can decrease the filtration efficiency by over 60% and that filtration efficiencies of hybrid homemade face mask such as cotton–chiffon are larger than single-layer homemade masks – over 80% for particles <300 nm.[181][182][183]
Scientists report to be able to identify the genomic pathogen signature of all 29 different
SARS-CoV-2 RNA sequences available to them using
machine learning and a dataset of 5000 unique viral genomic sequences. They suggest that their approach can be used as a reliable real-time option for taxonomic classification of novel pathogens.[188][189]
Scientists report that collectives of bacteria have a
membrane potential-based
form ofcollectiveworking memory. When they shone light onto a
biofilm of bacteria optical imprints lasted for hours after the initial stimulus as the light-exposed cells responded differently to oscillations in membrane potentials due to changes to their
potassium channels.[195][196] A form of collective memory in bacteria has reportedly been demonstrated experimentally first in 2016.[197]
Researchers publish an analysis of the growth of confirmed infected
COVID-19 cases in 9 countries which characterizes the spread and identifies effective
flatten the curve-strategies.[205][206]
Astronomers publish images by the
Hubble Space Telescope of comet
C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) disintegrating into more than 30 fragments, causing it to dim. Previously, astronomers believed the comet might become one of the brightest comets near Earth in the last two decades and may become visible to the naked eye.[207][208]
29 April – A new study of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, published in the journal Nature, claims to have found the first unambiguous evidence for an
aquatic propulsive structure in a non-avian dinosaur and that the
dinosaur had very tall, slender neural spines on its tail and hence a deep, laterally compressed tail like that of a gigantic
newt.[209][210]
30 April
The first results from ice-monitoring satellite
ICESat-2 are published, showing that melting in
Antarctica and
Greenland has contributed 14 mm (0.55 in) of global sea level rise since 2003.[211]
Scientists report that one of the
climate models – the
CMIP6 model
CESM2 – is not supported by
paleoclimate records. Comparing simulations of this model with geological evidence suggests that its
climate sensitivity is too high. This indicates that this model may not perform realistically at high CO2 concentrations, overestimating global warming at high levels of CO2 where its
equilibrium climate sensitivity is 5.3 °C and modelled
tropical land temperature exceeds 55 °C. They recommend using paleoclimate constraints of past warm and cold climates to
benchmark the performance of CMIP6 climate models.[213][214]
4 May – Researchers project that regions inhabited by a third of the human population could become as hot as the hottest parts of the
Sahara within 50 years without a change in patterns
of population growth and
withoutmigration,
unlessgreenhouse gas emissions are reduced. The projected annual average temperature of above 29 °C for these regions would be outside the "human temperature niche" and the most affected regions have little
adaptive capacity as of 2020.[221][222][223][224]
5 May
A maiden flight of China's most powerful rocket to date, the
Long March 5B, occurs.[226]
Researchers report that the
North Magnetic Pole is moving due to elongation of one of two lobes of negative magnetic flux on Earth's
core-mantle boundary alongside
magnetic changes and that it will likely move 390–660 km further on its current trajectory, on which it is accelerating, towards Siberia over the next decade.[227][225][228]
6 May
Astronomers report the possible discovery of the
nearestblack hole to Earth, about 1,000 light years away in the two-star
HR 6819 system.[229][230]
Researchers report to have developed
artificialchloroplasts – the
photosynthetic structures inside
plant cells. They combined
thylakoids, which are used for photosynthesis, from spinach with a bacterial enzyme and an artificial metabolic module of 16
enzymes, which can
convert carbon dioxide more efficiently than
plants can alone, into cell-sized droplets. According to the study this demonstrates how natural and synthetic biological modules can be matched for new functional systems.[233][238][239]
Researchers report to have developed a proof-of-concept of a
quantum radar using
quantum entanglement and
microwaves which may potentially be useful for the development of improved radar systems, security scanners and medical imaging systems.[240][241][242]
10 May
Computer scientists disclose the existence of
Thunderspy, a
security vulnerability based on the
Intel Thunderbolt port, that can result in an
evil maid attack of an unattended device gaining full access to a computer's information in about five minutes and may affect millions of
macOS,
Linux and
Windows computers including any computer with an enabled Thunderbolt port manufactured before 2019, and some after that.[243][244][245]
Scientists report to have discovered the closest relative of
SARS-CoV-2 in most of the virus genome reported to date in a bat. RmYN02 has a 93.3% nucleotide identity with SARS-CoV-2 and also contains a four amino-acid insertion at the S1/S2 cleavage site, which adds to the evidence that supports the theory of a
natural origin of SARS-CoV-2.[246][247]
11 May – Researchers report the development of
synthetic red blood cells that for the first time have all of
the natural cells' known broad natural properties and abilities. Furthermore, methods to load functional cargos such as
hemoglobin, drugs, magnetic
nanoparticles, and ATP
biosensors may enable additional non-native functionalities.[248][249]
Scientists report to
have evolved 10 clonal strains of a common coral
microalgalendosymbionts at elevated temperatures for 4 years, increasing their thermal tolerance for
climate resilience. Three of the strains increased the
corals' bleaching tolerance after reintroduction into coral host larvae. Their strains and findings may potentially be relevant for the
adaptation to and
mitigation of climate change and further tests of algal strains in adult colonies across a range of coral species are planned.[254][255][256]
Researchers report to have identified the world's oldest
arthropod and oldest
land-animal living persistently on land: the
Myriapodmillipede-ancestor Kampecaris obanensis, dating back 425 million years to the
Silurian period. According to the study the 2.5 cm specimen found in Scotland in 1899 adds evidence for a rapid co-evolution of bugs and plants from lake-communities to complex forest ecosystems in just 40 million years.[257][258][259]
14 May
A study on the
human genetic historyof East Asians using DNA of 25 individuals from ca. 9,500-4,200 years ago and one individual from ca. 300 years ago indicates a southern China origin of proto-
Austronesians, and that migration and gene flow played an important role in the prehistory of coastal Asia during the
Neolithic Revolution, the transition from
hunter-gathering to
agricultural economies, with a spread of northern East Asian ancestry across southern East Asia. Contemporary mainland East Asians from both the north and south share a closer genetic relationship to found northern Neolithic East Asians.[260][261]
In a published unedited manuscript researchers show which host cell pathways are modulated by a
SARS-CoV-2 infection by creating a cellular infection profile by analysing the
translatome and
proteome at different times after infection. They also show that inhibition of these pathways with identified drugs prevented viral replication in human cells which may aid the
development of COVID-19 therapies.[262][263]
An interdisciplinary team of virologists, microbiologists and computational scientists confirmed the predicted
subgenomic RNAs of SARS-CoV-2 along with new RNA and dozens of unknown subgenomic RNAs.[264][265][266]
Researchers report a temporary 17% drop in daily
global CO2 emissions by early April 2020 compared with the mean 2019 levels
during the
COVID-19 forced confinements. At the peak of the interventions, where 89% of global emissions were in areas under some confinement, emissions in individual countries decreased by –26% on average. Estimations on the impact on 2020 annual emissions are between -2% and -13%. The largest reductions were due to reductions of surface transport.[277][278][279] Despite this on May 4
UN Climate Change reports that the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere reached an all-time daily high of the ca. 60-year record on May 3.[280]
Astronomers from
Jodrell Bank Observatory report that the
fast radio burstFRB 121102 exhibits the same radio burst behavior ("radio bursts observed in a window lasting approximately 90 days followed by a silent period of 67 days") every 157 days, suggesting that the bursts may be associated with "the orbital motion of a
massive star, a
neutron star or a
black hole".[281][282]
20 May
Researchers report estimations of green
snow algae community biomass and distribution along the
Antarctic Peninsula and project a net increase in their extent and biomass and coastal Antarctica turning more green due to
climate change.[283][284][285]
Scientists report that
genome-wide data of 19 Siberians of the
Upper Paleolithic to
Bronze Age of up to ca. 14,000 years ago show the most deeply divergent connection between Upper Paleolithic Siberians and the
indigenous peoples of the Americas and that long-range human mobility across Eurasia during the Early Bronze Age as well as prolonged local admixture that lead to an ancestry that gave rise to all non-Arctic Native Americans.[286][287][288]
ESA reports that its
Swarm satellite constellation is being used to better understand the mysterious
South Atlantic Anomaly whereby the magnetic field has lost around 9% of its strength on a global average over the last 200 years in large area. They are investigating the processes in
Earth's core driving these changes, which have caused technical disturbances in satellites and may be relevant to a potential
geomagnetic reversal, and found that the anomaly could split up into two separate low points.[289][290][291]
Astronomers report to have discovered a large rotating
disk galaxy, dating back to when the universe was only 1.5 billion years old – the
Wolfe Disk. Previously it was believed that such galaxies could not grow as big and well-ordered so early, which indicates there possibly being a need to revise theories of
galaxy formation and evolution.[292][293][294][295]
Australian computer scientists report achieving, thus far, the highest
internet speed in the world from a single optical chip source over standard
optical fiber, amounting to 44.2
Terabits per sec, or "downloading 1000 high definition movies in a split second".[306][307][308]
Scientists report in a
preprint that they are confirming the existence of an Earth-sized planet around
Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, whose discovery was announced in August 2016.
ESPRESSO data confirms the presence of
Proxima b and shows that it has a minimum mass of ca. 1.17 Earth masses and is located in the
habitable zone of its star.[317][318]
Simulations by Imperial College London reveal that the
Chicxulub impactor produced a "worst case" scenario in terms of lethality for the
dinosaurs, arriving from the north-east at a 60° angle, which maximised the amount of gases and debris thrown up into Earth's atmosphere.[323][324]
Scientists report in a
preprint paper, published in a journal in June, that all of
ʻOumuamua's observed properties can be explained
if it contained a significant fraction of molecular
hydrogen ice. They suggest it had formed in an interstellar cloud where stars are born and "sat" relatively motionless with its ice getting worn away as it approached the Sun, explaining its shape.[305][325][326][327]
Researchers suggest that a solution to what they consider to be the core of the
space debris problem may be an
international agreement to charge operators "orbital-use fees" for every
satellite put into orbit and that this could more than quadruple the long-run value of the satellite industry by 2040.[328][329]
A study shows that
social networks can function poorly as pathways for inconvenient truths, that the
interplay between communication and action during disasters may depend on the structure of social networks, that communication networks suppress necessary "evacuations" in test-scenarios because of false reassurances when compared to groups of isolated individuals and that larger networks with a smaller proportion of informed subjects can suffer more damage due to human-caused
misinformation.[332][333]
Geologists report two newly identified
supervolcanoeruptions associated with the
Yellowstone hotspot track, including the region's largest and most cataclysmic event – the Grey's Landing super-eruption – which had a volume of ≥2800 km3 and occurred around
8.72 Ma. According to the study the Yellowstone hotspot may be waning, with another eruption of this scale not likely up to around
900,000 AD.[345][338][346]
Researchers studying
corvids report that extended
parenting and extended
childhood is crucial for the
evolution of cognition and is having profound consequences for
learning and
intelligence. These may create longer developmental periods in which life-history is combined with social and ecological conditions such as via continuous exposure to
role models that are relatively tolerant of the children as well as continuous opportunities for learning. Earlier research on
primates showed that across species relative
brain size covaries with cognitive skills and that adaptations that compensate developmental and energetic costs of large brains are critical for their
evolution.[347][348][349]
Researchers publish a study using data on verterbrates
on the brink to extinction and on verterbrates that recently became extinct, in which they conclude that a human-caused potential
sixth mass extinction, which was claimed to be emerging by researchers of the study in 2015, is likely accelerating and suggest a number of reasons for that including extinctions causing further extinctions. They reemphasize "extreme urgency of taking much-expanded worldwide actions".[339][353][354]
2 June – A study investigating
the emergence of life on Earth and possibly other locations demonstrates a continuous chemical reaction network of simple organic and inorganic feedstocks that, in water and under high-energy radiation, generates compounds proposed to be precursors for
earlyRNA, modelling how they may emerge spontaneously from a simple reagents mixture under conditions of early Earth through natural geochemistry.[355][356][357]
3 June
The discovery of the oldest and largest structure in the Maya region, a 3,000-year-old pyramid-topped platform
Aguada Fénix, with
LiDAR technology is reported. According to the researchers the discovery suggests the importance of
communal work, as with early ceremonial complexes, in the initial development of
Maya civilization.[359][360]
Researchers report that
mitochondrialgenetic divergence could be used to predict the reproductive compatibility of mammalian hybrid offspring and that ancient anatomically modern humans (AMH),
Neanderthals and
Denisovans were genetically closer than polar bears and brown bears (1.6% divergence for Neanderthals and AMH and 2.4% for the bears) and, like the bears, were able to easily produce healthy
hybrids.[361][362]
Researchers show that
urban red foxes from
London and surrounding boroughs are divergent in skull traits,
similar to
domesticated dogs, as they
adapt to their city environment with patterns of skull divergence between urban and rural habitats matching the description of morphological changes that can occur during
domestication.[358][363]
Astronomers report that
Kepler-160, a Sun-like star already known to host two planets, likely has a rocky third planet with orbit and light levels very similar to Earth.[371][372]
Scientists report that fruit fly mothers ensure their offspring's success through
transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, suggesting that in humans the epigenetic modification
H4K16ac might also be inherited as a "blueprint", encoding, to date unknown, information for successful
embryonic development.[375][376]
Scientists report
bacterial mass
lysis for colony-defense occurs when the bacteria will die anyway from toxin exposure from competing bacteria, explaining the evolutionary origin of this behaviour.[377][378]
Computer experts warn
Windows 10 users to update their computers with the latest security patches from
Microsoft in order to avoid being infected with the wormlike
SMBGhostsecurity vulnerability, for which a proof-of-concept (PoC)
exploit had been released on 2 June, which, in unpatched computers, may have serious consequences.[384][385][386]
9 June – Scientists confirm that the
airborne radioactivity increase in Europe in autumn 2017 had a civilian background – Russian water-water energetic reactor (
VVER) fuel at the end of its lifetime – and not a military one that is related to the production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.[389][390]
10 June
Scientists report evidence that females'
follicular fluid's consistent and differential attraction of sperm, an ability of human
egg cells first reported in 1991, from specific males constitutes a post-mating choice and report that this mechanism did not reinforce pre-mating human
mate choice decisions.[391][392]
Researchers report that the most successful – in terms of "likelihood of
prizewinning, National Academy of Science (NAS) induction, or superstardom" –
protégés studied under mentors who published
research for which they were conferred a prize after the protégés' mentorship. Studying original topics rather than these mentors' research-topics was also positively associated with success.[393][394]
11 June
Two teams of neuroscientists report the identification of populations of
neurons in mice that control their
hibernation-like behaviors,
torpor – a fasting-induced state with a substantially decreased
metabolic rate and body temperature. They also show that stimulation of specific populations of neurons can induce the key features of torpor even in mice that are not calorically restricted as well as in rats, which do not naturally go into a state of torpor.[396][397][398][399]
Scientists report findings that suggest that some species of
crocodile-ancestors – here the
CrocodylomorphBatrachopus grandis ichnosp. nov. – walked on their two hind legs and had a length of over three meters during the
Lower Cretaceous.[402][403][404]
Geophysicists provide the first comprehensive, wide-area, high-resolution view of the Earth's
core-mantle boundary and show that heterogenous, unusually dense structures at the boundary are more widespread than previously known.[413][414]
13 June – Scientists report that early
supercomputerclimate modelling results that are being compiled for the sixth assessment by the United Nations
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by more than 20 institutions due to be released in 2021 suggest a higher
climate sensitivity than previously believed with 25% of the models showing a sharp upward shift from 3 °C to 5 °C in climate sensitivity supporting or revising worst-case
projections of over 5 °C of
global warming. The projections of more future warming may be due to a
role ofclouds. According to a study published on 24 June
cloud feedbacks and cloud-aerosol interactions are the most likely contributors to the high values and increased range of equilibrium climate sensitivity in the
CMIP6 model.[415][416][417]
15 June
Astronomers report the
possible existence of over 30 "active communicating intelligent civilizations", or
Communicating Extra-Terrestrial Intelligent (CETI) civilizations (none within our current ability to detect due to various reasons including distance or size) in our own
Milky Way galaxy, based on the latest astrophysical information – including a longevity of the only known technological civilization that is emitting signals to space of about 100 years to date.[419][420][421]
A
scientific analysis estimates that as of 2020 about 1.7 bn people (
UI 1·0–2·4) people, or 22% (UI 15–28%) of the
world population, belong to a vulnerable group which has at least one
underlying condition that raises the
risk of severe disease when contractingCOVID-19 and that about 4% [3–9] of the global population would require hospital admission if infected. They are describing their results as uncertain and state that the risk varies considerably by age and that they did not consider some risk factors such as
obesity.[368][425][426]
Scientists report the development of the smallest
synthetic molecular motor, consisting of 12 atoms and a rotor of 4 atoms, shown to be capable of being powered by an electric current using an electron scanning microscope and moving even with very low amounts of energy due to
quantum tunneling.[427][428][429]
Scientists report simulation results that indicate that
flushing a toilet can create a large, widespread cloud of aerosol droplets containing viruses such as
SARS-CoV-2 that lasts long enough for the droplets to be breathed in by others and offer suggestions concerning safer toilet use and recommendations for a better
toilet design.[436][437]
17 June
Physicists at the
XENONdark matter research facility report an excess of 53 events, which may hint at the existence of hypothetical Solar
axions. Other possibilities for the anomalous detection include a surprisingly large magnetic moment for
neutrinos, and
tritium contamination in the detector.[430][438][439]
Scientists produce the first
open-source all-atom model and simulation of a full-length
spike protein of
SARS-CoV-2 which the virus uses to enter cells. This may be useful for modeling and simulation research for the prevention and treatment of
COVID-19.[453][454]
Researchers report to have calculated an upper limit for a
fundamental period of a possibly quantized time – as can be found in theories of
quantum gravity and
quantum cosmology – that is about 10 orders of magnitude above the
Planck time – 10−33 seconds – and propose a theoretical apparatus and experiment that, if ever realized, could be capable of being influenced by effects on relevant timescales and possibly confirm their theory that is based on a physical model of time as an oscillating variable.[455][456][457]
News reports the first
SETI-specific grant that NASA has awarded in three decades. The grant funds the first NASA-funded search for
technosignatures from advanced extraterrestrial civilizations other than radio waves, including the creation and population of an online technosignature
library.[460][461][452]
Scientists report that a novel
cancer immunotherapy that included a
personalized vaccine was shown to be successful in dogs. The
vaccine was made from each dog's bone cancer cells.[462] On 3 July it was reported that the results have helped obtain FDA approval for testing the method with human brain cancer patients.[463][464]
Scientists demonstrate that it may be possible – for advanced extraterrestrial civilizations – to harvest rotational energy from
black holes 51 years after it has been proposed to be possible and 49 years after an experiment to test the theory has been proposed.[470][471][472]
Astronomers report details of the merging, in the "mass gap" of cosmic collisions, of a first-ever "mystery object": either a possibly too-heavy
neutron star or a too-light
black hole, with a black hole, that was detected as a
gravitational wave,
GW190814. According to one of the researchers, "We don't know if this object is the heaviest known neutron star or the lightest known black hole, but either way it breaks a record."[475][476][477]
The
World Meteorological Organization announces a possible new temperature-record of 38 °C north of the
Arctic Circle, which it seeks to verify and assess. It was reported on 20 June in
Verkhoyansk, Russia amid a prolonged Siberian heatwave and an increase in wildfire activity.[478][479][480]
24 June
The largest ever
tanzanite gemstones are discovered, weighing 9.27 kg and 5.103 kg, respectively.[481]
Astronomers report detecting a
gravitational wave, named
GW190521g, that is associated with, for the first time ever, a flash of light from the merger, within the vicinity of a third very large black hole, of two smaller black holes. No light is typically emitted from the
merger of black holes.[487][488][489]
26 June – Astronomers report the detection of four
odd radio circles (ORCs). unexplained astronomical objects that, at
radio wavelengths, are highly circular and brighter along their edges. The observed ORCs are bright at radio wavelengths, but are not visible at
visible,
infrared or
X-ray wavelengths. Two of the ORCs contain
galaxies, observable at visible wavelengths, in their centers, suggesting that the galaxies might have formed these objects.[492][493][494]
28 June – In two papers, the first of which published in February, scientists report the development of the possibly most lightweight biopolymer aerogel that is flexible and durable and has a relatively high
electromagnetic shielding-performance.[495][496][497][498]
30 June
Two
surveys of 85.9% and 71.5% of the population of the small town of
Vo', the location the first coronavirus death in Italy, find that according to the surveys 42.5% (95%
CI 31.5-54.6%) of the confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections of the surveys were
asymptomatic. The published unedited manuscript also shows that individuals older than 50 showed a higher infection prevalence, that the average time to viral clearance was 9.3 days (8–13 days) and that viral load tended to peak around the day of symptom onset.[500][501][502] In mid-March the scientists of the study, whose survey began on 6 March, reported that the research led to the discovery of the decisive role in the spread of the novel coronavirus by asymptomatic people.[503]
Astronomers report that
J2157, discovered in 2018, is now known to have 34 billion solar masses and is consuming the equivalent of nearly 1 solar mass every day, making it the fastest-growing
black hole known in the Universe.[506][499]
Scientist at
CERN report that the
LHCb experiment has observed a four-
charm quark particle never seen before, which is likely to be the first of a previously undiscovered class of particles.[507][508][509]
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