Iconic scientific ventures

ByElsa Sc S

Doing her graduation from LUMS & a keen researcher

Dated

December 3, 2022

Elsa Sc s narrates some
amazing developments

There is hardly any doubt that in the last hundred years large advances have been made the fields of technology, medicine and biological research. Many Iconic scientific ventures that today stand as Iconic scientific ventures representations of scientific innovations, such as computers and space travel, simply did not exist at the start of the 20th century. From gargantuan lasers to deep-sea observatories, these experiments touch on a variety of disciplines—each ambitious in its scope.

Most of these innovations took place in the latter half of the 20th century, with several still in development. Scientific breakthroughs are coming at increasingly faster rates and most of them mind-boggling. Heading into the future, there are high hopes for what innovations the 2020s will bring. Past developments and access to innovative technology offer bright prospects for the future of scientific discovery.

Copernicus program
The Copernicus program is a partnership between the European Union, European Space Agency, and EU member states and agencies, intended to use global data from Copernicus satellites around the world to provide a comprehensive, continuous observation and assessment of the planet’s health. Pulling from various ground, sea, and airborne stations, Copernicus offers continual data about the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land, and climate. The goal is to provide the public with information for a variety of initiatives, including emergencies and security. Its estimated cost upon completion in 2020 was $7.4 billion.

Human Genome Project
One of the most ambitious science projects of the second half of the 20th century, the Human Genome Project attempted to identify and sequence all the genes within the human genome. It was the world’s largest collaborative biological project, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, and several other countries, at a cost of around $5 billion. The idea was to help make advances toward understanding, identifying, and predicting an array of diseases, including cancer. The project finished in 2003 and made the results available to scientists and researchers.

Curiosity rover
Curiosity is the name bestowed on a car-sized rover built by NASA for $ 2.5 billion that was launched 26 November, 2011 and has been exploring Mars since August 2012. The rover was developed to study Mar’s climate, geology and plausibility for microbial life. To that end, Curiosity recently found unexplained oxygen on Mars. “Your friendly neighborhood NASA Mars rover” also tweets regularly.

Mars 2020 rover
Developed out of Curiosity’s success, NASA’s 2020 Mars Rover was expected to launch in July 2020. It is intended to study Mars’ ancient history, including past geology and whether life has ever existed on the planet. The cost of the project is estimated at $2.46 billion.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
Mounted atop the International Space Station, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer is a particle physics experiment detector that measures antimatter in cosmic rays, information used to understand the formation of the universe. Built by NASA for $2 billion the particle detector also searches for dark matter and measures cosmic rays. The spectrometer project started in 1994, with several iterations before its completion in 2010. It was brought into orbit in 2011 by space shuttle Endeavor and continues measuring particles today.

James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA’s improvement on the Hubble Space Telescope, expected to operate in a much lower frequency range, allowing for observation of objects older and more distant than the Hubble was capable of. Such improved resolution and sensitivity, it is hoped, will enable investigations into some of the most distant events in the universe, including the formation of galaxies. The telescope cost $9.66 billion. TW

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