Top 10 Innovations 2022: NASA DART, Orion Missions, battery charging to AI-sourced Antibiotics (NASA)

NASA Dart Mission: There are several near-Earth objects like asteroids floating in space. And there is always a possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth. To avoid such situations, NASA came up with the Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test (DART) mission to alter the trajectory of Dimorphos, (a small asteroid) as it orbited a slightly larger asteroid (Didymos), by sending a spacecraft to crash into it. (NASA)

NASA Dart Mission: There are several near-Earth objects like asteroids floating in space. And there is always a possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth. To avoid such situations, NASA came up with the Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test (DART) mission to alter the trajectory of Dimorphos, (a small asteroid) as it orbited a slightly larger asteroid (Didymos), by sending a spacecraft to crash into it. (NASA)

Covid-19 booster shot: Covid-19 which took the lives of millions of people could be controlled only after the development of vaccination. After receiving two sets of vaccinations, people also need to take booster doses. The vaccines target the original strain of Sars-CoV-2 alongside the Omicron variant. (Reuters)

AI reveals new antibiotics: AI has helped in the transformation in the field of molecular biology in the past few years. In 2022, several groups reported the first successful applications of AI to identify novel antibiotic drugs. Antimicrobial resistance is a major global threat, according to a report by The Guardian. (Representative Image, Reuters)

Weather warnings: With the help of innovations in science and technology, many of the natural hazards can be known well before arrival and also the exact regions to be impacted and how severely they would be hit. (Reuters)

Battery Technology: In order to avoid the dependency on fossil fuels, there can be seen incredibly rapid improvements in battery technology. In the October Nature paper by Chao-Yang Wang and co-authors, described a way to charge energy-dense batteries in just a few minutes. (Representative Image, Reuters)

Nature Positive: Environmentalists and companies are now taking several measures to protect biological diversity. (Reuters)

Use of links sent via email, push notification, or biometric scan instead of passwords: Passwords have been very important to do or access things online. However, now there is no need for you to remember the passwords as you can simply use links sent via email, push notification, or biometric scan instead of passwords. (Reuters)

Practical Fusion Power: One startup is planning to deliver carbon free electricity with the help of fusion power work to the grid by early 2030s. The design of the same is based on a powerful new magnet that allows the company to build smaller, less expensive reactors. (Reuters)

Proof of Stake: The way cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin transactions are verified requires significant computing power. To save electricity consumption, Proof of stake offers a way to verify transactions without using so much energy. Ethereum plans to transition to the system this year, cutting energy use by 99.95%, according to MIT Technology Review. (Reuters)