2015 has come to an end, and we have already said goodbye to his achievements and breakthroughs several times. What to expect from next year? Missions to Mars, the fight against carbon, gravitational waves are part of the list that will have to make the agenda for 2016. Of course, apart from our predictions, we would like to see something completely unexpected - like the discovery of a new particle at the Large Hadron Collider or news from aliens.
Carbon dioxide - suck
The Swiss company is set to become the first to capture carbon dioxide in the air and sell it on an industrial scale, gradually building a path towards larger facilities that could one day help us fight global warming. In July, Climeworks plans to produce 75 tons of carbon dioxide per month from its plant near Zurich, and then sell this gas to greenhouses nearby to improve crop growth. Another company, Carbon Engineering in Calgary, Canada, which has been sucking CO2 since October but has yet to market it, is hoping to show it can convert gas to liquid fuel. Factories around the world are already extracting this gas from power plant waste, but in 2015 only small demonstration projects sucked it out of thin air.
Genes: cut and paste
Gene editing technologies will begin to be tested in humans. Sangamo Biosciences in Richmond, Calif. Will experiment with enzymes - zinc finger nucleases - to correct a gene defect that causes hemophilia. Working with Cambridge-based Biogen, the company will also begin trials to see if the technique can accelerate functional hemoglobin production in people with beta thalassemia blood disease. Scientists and ethicists hope to agree on shared safety and ethics for editing human genes by the end of 2016. This year we will also see the birth of the first genetically modified monkey with symptoms of human disease, which scientists will study using visual models.
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High hopes for space
Physicists think that next year they will see the first evidence of gravitational waves - ripples in spacetime caused by dense moving objects like rotating neutron stars - thanks to the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO). Japan will also launch Astro-H, the next generation of the X-ray satellite observatory, which, among other things, will be able to confirm or refute the claim that heavy neutrinos cause signals from dark matter known as bulbulons. Hints of a possible new particle from the Large Hadron Collider, which has been operating at record energies since last June, will also clear up as the machine is rapidly accumulating data but is now "on vacation." Even if the particle is not confirmed,The LHC can still encounter unusual phenomena, for example, with gluons: particles created entirely from carriers of strong nuclear forces.
Risky research
Scientists will soon find out if research will be resumed, as a result of which viruses become even more dangerous. In October 2014, the US government abruptly suspended financial support for "strengthening functions" research. Such experiments could increase understanding of how certain pathogens evolve and how they can be eliminated, but critics say the work also increases the risk of, for example, the accidental release of deadly viruses. A risk-benefit analysis was completed in December 2015, and the National Science Advisory Board for Biosafety will make recommendations over the next few months on whether or not to renew funding.
Commercial development
One research group was fortunate enough to receive a $ 50 million grant for heart disease research from the Internet giant Google and the American Heart Association. Google's disease research portfolio is growing. Private funding will also mark the space industry: the non-profit Planetary Society in Pasadena, California, plans to launch a mission to test the spacecraft on the LightSail solar sail in April. It will cost $ 4.5 million.
To Mars and beyond
The orbits of Earth and Mars will bring the planets closer together this year, creating the perfect trip to the Red Planet. The joint mission of the European Space Agency and Roscosmos will use this chance. In March 2016, the ExoMars project will be launched, which will analyze the Martian atmosphere and ground landing technology. NASA's Juno probe will arrive on Jupiter in July. In September, the European Space Agency's Rosetta will fall on a comet in its orbit. The rest will have to take comfort in the launch of the OSIRIS-Rex mission, which will deliver samples from the asteroid Bennu.
Space launches
Hot on the heels of the 100 millionth Dark Matter Particle Explorer launched last December, China's National Space Science Center will launch the second and third space probes in a series of five planned. The world's first experimental quantum communication satellite will be launched in June, and by the end of the year the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope will also go into space - which will scan the sky for energy sources of radiation, such as black holes and neutron stars. In September, the Chinese 500-meter FAST telescope will be fully completed, which will displace the Puerto Rican Arecibo Observatory from the site of the world's largest radio telescope. In Hawaii, the team at the Thirty-Meter Telescope will be deciding what to do next with the project, as construction was halted in December.
Microlife discoveries
Next year, the first results of an ambitious project to analyze the world's microbial communities will appear. The Earth Microbiome Project, which was launched in 2010, will have to sequence and characterize at least 200,000 microbial DNA samples taken from everything from Komodo dragon tongues to soil in the Siberian tundra. The project promises to uncover unprecedented levels of biodiversity.
Dreams of genes
Neurologists hope to finally identify genes that are critical for controlling sleep time and duration, but there is a chance they will find other brain functions as well. Accurate identification of these genes could shed light on sleep disturbance and some of the mental illnesses associated with disturbed sleep patterns.