The Biggest Scientific Breakthroughs of the Last Decade

From a new species of prehistoric man to the first-ever photos of a black hole, explore the incredible scientific advances of the past decade that could save lives in the future.

[philgrossman]

That last bit, about immunotherapy, saved my mother-in-law's life, she had lung cancer and using immunotherapy - it's gone.

[BrBobMackeSJ]

The OSIRIS-REx information is incorrect. It fails to mention the Japanese Hayabusa missions, which have already returned specimens from the asteroids Itokawa and Ryugu. Also, the OSIRIS-REx mission will return specimens to the Earth on Sept 24, 2023 (This year, not "in three years"). By the way, I am one of the scientists on the sample analysis team for O-REx.

[aceundead]

One of the biggest paleontology discoveries recently is that paleontologists HATE spinosaurus.

[ignitionfrn]

0:35 - Chapter 1 - True north & neuromorphic computing
2:05 - Chapter 2 - Kepler 452B
3:25 - Chapter 3 - Einstein's theory of gravitational waves, confirmed !
4:25 - Chapter 4 - Dragon man
6:45 - Chapter 5 - 1st images of a black hole
8:30 - Chapter 6 - Humans hunted mammoths to extinction
9:50 - Chapter 7 - Footprints in the sand
11:00 - Chapter 8 - The coronavirus vaccine
12:15 - Chapter 9 - Nasa get 1st asteroid sample
13:25 - Chapter 10 - Immunotherapy in cancer treatment

[thelyrebird]

I remember having a conversation with my grandfather about his dad and what he had seen through his life. He went from never having electricity, motor cars, flight, or telephones through to the atomic bomb and man landing on the moon. We pondered what I would see in my lifetime he surmised, 40 years ago, that I may see the end of fossil fuels and man landing on Mars. So far I've gone from seeing computers the moon landing on tv, the internet, mobile phones, lets not forget the James Webb Telescope, The ISS and advanced AI. I'm sure that the best is yet to come but up until now it has been a pretty spectacular ride. 🎉

[jjbud]

When I was a child in the 1940's my father had an astronomy book (which, of course I read). In it they were discussing how long it would take to reach the moon from earth using the fastest means of travel at the time - a train traveling at 40 mph. If I remember correctly that book was written around 1910, more or less.

[rossharper]

Me again. Could you please tell your editors to increase the volume. Your channels are so much quieter than every other channel I watch. I can't watch your videos on my phone while doing anything (woodwork, housework etc).

[louvendran]

It's wonderful to witness the acceleration of technology. My greatest gripe is, when will we learn to act responsibly with something that adds value to humanity.

[Hakugarawe]

Brain in a box sounds a lot like horrors beyond human comprehension.

[stelvisify]

Notable mention to some of the Messanger RNA interference drugs that have been developed and approved over the last 10 years. Particularly the breakthrough of some gene silencing therapeutics that have managed to drastically change the lives of entire families suffering from fatal genetic disease. Special shout-out to Alnylam Pharmaceuticals for their work on the FDA approved, Onpattro.

[lohwenli]

The incredible speed of development of the Covid-19 vaccines together with the unmatched logistics to bring it timely to a huge percentage of the world population deserves a Megaprojects video. Even the ~20 year research developing the knowledge behind mRNA tech is nothing to scoff at and could fill a video all of its own.

[Jayjay-qeum]

"The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder." -- Albert Einstein

[dinsdalemontypiranha]

That was awesome Simon! Keep them coming!

[johnadams]

One of your best videos Simon, that I have seen anyway.

[tekannon]

You do an excellent job, every time I tune in I learn something new.

[EmilyJelassi]

I’m currently getting immunotherapy treatment for my cancer (Keytruda).. modern medicine truly is amazing!!

[blowinback_]

Hey Simon hailing from the US in a town called tulsa I watch all of your channels and I appreciate the knowledge you help cultivate in our crazy world. Keep up the great work

[FerroJoe]

The half life of carbon-14 is approx 6000 years, not 60, 000 years. It's just the amount of carbon-14 left after ten half-lives is too little to be detected, so after 10 half lives (60, 000years) carbon dating is not possible.
Minor pedantic correction, but great video as always :)

[Beryllahawk]

Echoing the sentiments of a couple others here - Simon and team, you guys do SO MUCH work and do it so well! Thank you for putting out great videos at such an astonishing pace!

[markcecil]

Correction: (5:48 the half life of carbon 14 is 5, 730 years) and can be used to date carbon bearing objects as old as ~60, 000 years (with enrichment sometimes possible to get back to 80, 000-100, 000 years but the margin of error gets large). Other environmental factors can also impact how far back you can date an object.