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 this event the oldest known in-flight 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
Australian 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 minuta Springtails can launch themselves up to 60 millimeters into the air and spin at speeds of up to 368 times per second, making arthropods the 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 on the smallest known frog in the world (SN: 03/23/24, 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 the largest known genetic instruction manual belongs to a small fern (SN: 06/29/24, 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. Ancestors of a group of deep-sea corals glowed in the dark 540 million years agosay the scientists. 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 the smallest, tightest knot yet (SN: 02/24/24, 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.
