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2023 Year in Review: Incredible Science Stories

To recap 2023, NewsForKids.net is taking a look back at some of the most interesting stories we’ve covered this year.
Today we’re looking at some incredible stories from the world of science.

Scientists Guide Lightning with a Laser

Snapshots of the lightning event of July 24, 2021, recorded in the presence of the laser.
Scientists in Switzerland have used lasers to change the path of a lightning strike. The experiment suggests that in the future, lasers might be useful for protecting large buildings from lightning.


Humans Can Understand Signals Used by Apes

Chimpanzees use lots of different gestures to communicate, like this “reach” which they usually use to ask for food. Participants selected the right meaning for the reach gesture and were overall able to understand ape gestures.
Scientists have shown that humans appear to have an ability to understand the signs of apes. The result is a little surprising, since most people haven’t spent much time at all with apes.


Scientists Make Amazing Paint Using Ideas from Nature

An image showing structural color flakes, structural color paint, and several close-ups of a butterfly painting made with structural paint.
Scientists at the University of Central Florida have created a new kind of paint that’s super light and super tough. The colors in the new paint aren’t at all like those in most paints. Instead, they’re more like the colors on a butterfly’s wings.


Lively Coral Reef Discovered Deep in Galapagos Waters

Rocky outcrop at the crest of a ridge, populated by cold water corals, squat lobsters, anemones, basket stars and deep-sea fish.
Scientists exploring the ocean around the Galapagos Islands have discovered a healthy, active coral reef, deep below the surface of the sea. The reef is unusual because it is so healthy, and has not been damaged by humans.


Plants “Talk” – Especially When They’re Stressed

Photo of three tomato plants being recorded in a greenhouse.
Scientists have known for years that plants respond to sounds around them. For example, flowers make sweeter nectar to the sound of buzzing bees. But now scientists in Israel have shown that plants also seem to be doing some “talking”.


Scientists Train AI to Read Human Thoughts

Jerry Tang, the lead scientist on the experiment, prepares a person to go into an MRI machine.
Scientists have created a new tool that can turn people’s thoughts into words. It works by using an Artificial Intelligence program to translate brain activity into words. The scientists say the program could help people who can’t speak because of a brain injury.


Brain, Spine Implants Help Paralyzed Man Walk

Gert-Jan is shown walking by a lake with the digital bridge. The empty wheelchair sits behind him.
In 2011, Gert-Jan Oskam was in a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed below his waist. Now, thanks to special electronics in his brain and spinal cord, he can stand and walk, controlling these actions himself.


Creating Electricity From the Air

Water droplets suspended in the air fall on the spaghetti-like nanoporous material, generating electricity that flows through the electrodes (yellow rectangle) to power whatever needs powering.
Scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have invented a new way to make electricity. Their method uses super-tiny holes to make electricity from moisture in the air. The scientists hope the method will one day lead to cheap, clean electricity anywhere at any time.


Scientists Earn Nobel Prize For Vaccine Work

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman
On Monday, the Nobel Prize in medicine was given to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman – two scientists whose work led to the development of mRNA vaccines. Their ideas about mRNA were a huge scientific breakthrough, and saved millions of lives during the coronavirus pandemic.


Reading a Burned Ancient Scroll Without Opening It

The Greek characters, πορφύραc, revealed as the word “PURPLE,” are among the multiple characters and lines of text that have been extracted by Vesuvius Challenge contestant Luke Farritor.
Roughly 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Now a group of scientists is working to decode one of the great mysteries of that time – the scrolls of Herculaneum.

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