2023 in science

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The following scientific events occurred in 2023.

Events

January

February

March

April

12 April: Researchers demonstrate an 'AI scientist' that can rediscover physical laws from axioms and data.
14 April: Launch of the JUICE mission to Jupiter.
Image version of this section

May

fMRI
is demonstrated.
8 May: Infrared view of three asteroid belts around the star Fomalhaut.
17 May: A more complex model of human evolution.
22 May: 2.7 °C global warming could by 2100 leave every third outside the human climate niche (MAT ≥29 °C).
25 May: Artificial intelligence is reported to have designed a new antibiotic, effective against Acinetobacter baumannii (pictured).

June

Reporting low Antarctic sea ice extent in mid 2023, researchers concluded that a "regime shift" may be taking place "in which previously important relationships no longer dominate sea ice variability".[199]

July

5 July: A first evolution experiment of synthetic bacterial 'minimal cells' JCVI-syn3B shows "life finds a way".
18 July: Naturally occurring graphene is reported for the first time.
21 July: A first study investigates theories popularized in 2018 that involve jobs being viewed as objectively useless to society.
Hazard research: An analysis relating to the Rotterdam Convention shows illegal trade of highly hazardous chemicals continues.

August

is reported.
2023's June–July–August season was the warmest on record globally by a large margin, as El Niño conditions continued to develop.[394]

September

11 September: NASA reports that the exoplanet K2-18b (artist's impression) may be covered in oceans of water.
September 2023 was the warmest September on record globally, with an average surface air temperature 0.5 °C above the temperature of the previous warmest September (2020).[425]
18 September: LCLS-II becomes the world's most powerful X-ray laser (illustration of an undulator, the core of a free-electron laser)
24 September: Samples from the hazardous asteroid Bennu are successfully returned to Earth.
  • 24 September – Scientists report the successful return of samples from NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid 101955 Bennu.[461] Shortly after the sample container was retrieved and transferred to an "airtight chamber at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas", the lid on the container was opened. Scientists commented that they "found black dust and debris on the avionics deck of the OSIRIS-REx science canister" on the initial opening. Later study was planned. A news conference on the asteroid sample is scheduled for 11 October 2023.[462]
  • 25 September
    • A study on Pangaea Ultima finds that the hypothetical supercontinent will make Earth uninhabitable to most life forms in 250 million years, due to extreme temperatures and radiation.[463]
    • Biologists report the discovery of a ninth species of pangolin, a mammal which is covered with large, protective keratin scales.[464]
  • 26 September – Work begins on the seventh and final primary mirror of the Giant Magellan Telescope, which is expected to provide quadruple the image resolution of previous observatories when completed.[465]
Hazard research: the planetary boundaries framework assessment gets updated, showing a sixth limit to be transgressed.

October

12 October: The most comprehensive cosmological simulations are reported with challenging results
13 October: Launch of NASA's Psyche mission.
31 October: The first discovery of a virus, phage MiniFlayer, that attaches to another helper virus is reported.
31 October: The coalition behind Plan S publishes a proposal to the scientific community for moving scholarly communication towards open science practices to address alleged issues in scholarly communication.

November

December

2023 saw the highest global average surface temperature in recorded history.[654]

Awards

Deaths

See also