A "new tool" for exploring strange things.
Since learning to use tools, human progress has been faster and faster. New tools often bring new discoveries. 20 16 What are the "new tools" worth looking forward to? What new discoveries may they bring?
20 16 LHC may find new particles.
The world of particle physics is full of experiments. 20 15 12, two teams of scientists under the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said that a large number of gamma rays have been detected, and these excessive gamma rays are likely to represent a new type of elementary particles, which may be a clue to the existence of the Higgs boson. This is their first major research achievement since the restart of the Large Hadron Collider in early 20 15. With the increasing energy of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the current operating energy is twice that of the original. A more "high-energy" LHC may surprise us at 20 16.
20 16, gravitational wave detection is likely to achieve significant results.
The "Laser Interference Gravitational Wave Observatory" in the United States has just been upgraded, and it is possible to obtain more sensitive data at 20 16 to help scientists detect the traces of gravitational waves. Gravitational wave is a kind of spatiotemporal fluctuation predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity. For decades, the scientific community has been committed to detecting distorted space-time. In fact, gravitational waves are like ripples in time and space. If space-time is imagined as the water surface, then the celestial collision event is like a water wave caused by a stone falling into the water, but the propagation speed of gravitational waves can reach the speed of light. In order to find gravitational waves, scientists need to turn to extreme events in the universe, such as black hole merger and neutron star events, because massive celestial bodies can produce gravitational waves with relatively strong signals.
Besides upgrading the old tools in Europe and America, the new tools created by China people should not be underestimated.
20 16, there may be a breakthrough in dark matter detection.
China's dark matter particle detection satellite "Wukong" launched in June, 5438+February last year flew in sun-synchronous orbit, and the first batch of scientific research results obtained from its observation data are expected to be released in the second half of this year. Because Wukong's observation object and observation energy region are the first in the world so far, these scientific research results may be very exciting, such as clues to discover dark matter.
In 20 16, China will also launch the world's first quantum science experimental satellite to realize the satellite-ground quantum secure communication experiment; And launch a hard X-ray modulated telescope satellite to study the properties of black holes and the physical laws under extreme conditions.
The 500-meter spherical radio telescope FAST, known as the "Eye of the Sky" in China, will also be completed in September 2065438+2006, which will replace the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and become the largest radio telescope in the world. Its area is equivalent to 30 football fields. It was built in the mountainous area of southwest Guizhou Province, and was formed in the sinkhole 45 million years ago. FAST can capture radio signals tens of billions of light-years away and help people gain insight into the secrets hidden in the depths of the universe.
Walking into the "robot" of life
New particles, gravitational waves, dark matter ... all belong to basic scientific research and are far from the lives of ordinary people. 20 16, which high technologies are likely to approach the public?
This requires us to "review the past and learn the new".
In the past, the technologies of artificial intelligence, robots and the Internet advanced in parallel, and there was not much overlap among the three industries. However, in 20 15 years, the accelerated integration of artificial intelligence, robots and the internet has made the intelligent robot industry explode. Products such as drones, sweeping robots, and intelligent customer service robots have all gone to the general public.
20 16, there will be more "robot" products that integrate artificial intelligence, robots and the internet into life.
In 20 16 years, driverless cars, that is, "wheeled robots", may enter the practical stage in the first year. In August last year, iBUS adopted the technology developed by Li Deyi, an academician of China Academy of Engineering, and completed the real road experiment for the first time. This is the successful experiment of the world's first self-driving bus on the actual road, which means that the technical means for driverless cars to enter real life have basically matured. 65438+10.6, at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in the United States, driverless smart cars became the focus. At the exhibition, Audi, BMW and many other car companies showed their smart cars and announced that they would accelerate the research and development of fully automatic driverless technology.
20 16, UAV technology will make greater progress. The camera equipped with drones will be more powerful, smaller and easier to use. A new generation of unmanned opportunities is faster and lighter. Manned drones will also come out. In addition, in 20 16, Amazon's drone delivery service will be officially launched in the UK. Last June, 5438+065438+ 10, Amazon demonstrated its prototype drone, which can deliver packages to customers within 30 minutes. Amazon is designing a complete "drone family", and its laboratory in Cambridge, England is designing different easy-to-use drones.
20 16, artificial intelligence technology will be more practical and change our lives. For example, you don't have to remember the password. Passwords are either difficult to remember or too simple to be secure. In fact, biometrics, an artificial intelligence technology, has long been able to confirm your identity through information such as fingerprints and irises, replacing cumbersome passwords. Fingerprint sensors have become the standard in high-end smart phones, facial recognition technology has also been integrated into Windows 10, and MasterCard is considering using selfies instead of passwords. In this respect, China's technology is also excellent. For example, the iris recognition technology of Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is one of the best in the world, and has been applied to practical purposes such as security, punching in and out of work, ATM withdrawal, etc.
20 16 virtual reality (VR) technology will be tested by the mainstream consumer market. Virtual reality uses technical means to transmit sensory signals between man and machine in an all-round way, trying to reproduce the external world that human beings are familiar with realistically. Both Sony and HTC have chosen to launch heavyweight VR products this year. In the future, smart glasses with virtual reality function will be as popular as smart phones today.
Changing the Anthropocene of the Earth
Human activities are changing the climate environment on the earth. Such as frequent smog and various extreme weather.
The influence of human beings on natural systems will become one of the focus topics this year. In particular, 20 16 may become the hottest year on record. Scientists predict that the global average temperature in 20 16 years will probably exceed the highest value in 20 15 years due to the continuous influence of climate change and El Nino phenomenon.
"Anthropocene" is a new term put forward around 2000, indicating that in the present era, human beings are dramatically changing many important geological environments. This term has not been officially recognized. Geologists believe that we are still in the Holocene, starting from the end of the last ice age about 1 1700 years ago. 20 16, taught by Professor Jane of Leicester University, UK? A research team convened by Zara Sivic will seek more evidence and make formal suggestions, hoping to formally define the Anthropocene before the meeting of the International Stratigraphic Committee. Therefore, with the promotion of many scientists, the Anthropocene of 20 16 may be officially recognized as a geological period.
In order to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and reduce the adverse impact of the Anthropocene on the earth, scientists are also working hard. They tried to convert carbon dioxide directly into liquid fuel and set up many small demonstration projects.
Recently, the research team of Professor Xie Yi and Professor Sun Yongfu from Hefei National Laboratory of Microscale Materials Science of China University of Science and Technology designed a new electrocatalytic material, which can efficiently and cleanly convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuel formic acid. This achievement was published in the journal Nature from June 5th to1October 7th this year. Xie Yi and Sun Yongfu's research group found that ultra-thin two-dimensional materials hybridized with cobalt and cobalt oxide can greatly improve their original low catalytic reduction performance for carbon dioxide.
Of course, there is more than one earth in the universe. While tossing about on the earth, scientists have not forgotten to look at the universe. Last July, NASA announced the discovery of another "Earth", and a terrestrial planet with a similarity of 0.98 was discovered at a distance of 1400 light years. What other space exploration plans do humans have this year?
On July 4th, 20 16, Juno, the Jupiter probe of NASA, will arrive at Jupiter and begin the second exploration mission of the largest planet in the solar system. The previous Galileo mission lasted from 1995 to 2003. When Juno arrives at Jupiter, it will fly at a speed of 26,500 kilometers per hour, which is the highest speed recorded by artificial celestial bodies. Juno's mission is to study Jupiter's core, find water and map its clouds.
Europeans have been hoping to start their first rover "Exomars" in 20 16. In March this year, the Mars space bioscience probe will be launched from the Baikonur space launch site.
20 16 will also be the China Space Launch Year. In 20 16, the number of space launches in China will exceed 20 for the first time, of which 15 is a major special mission or the first flight mission. The manned spaceflight project should complete the first flight of the Long March 7 carrier rocket, the launch of the Shenzhou 11 manned spacecraft and the Tiangong-2 space laboratory. The "Long March 5" carrier rocket will fly for the first time, which is of great significance to promote the follow-up mission of the lunar exploration project and the implementation of the space station project.
Anthropocene is an era full of imagination of scientists. In 20 16 years, how will all kinds of scientific breakthroughs and technical applications surpass our imagination? Let's wait and see.