As we march on in to a new (and hopefully better) year, it's time to cast our eyes back on the biggest rating science and technology stories from 2020. New Atlas readers are a curious bunch so as usual it's a diverse list, covering everything from rotating detonation engines to giant deep-sea bugs and scientific advice on the best time to drink coffee.
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![That's as far as an angle grinder made it through this Proteus non-cuttable bar]()
July 20, 2020Researchers claim they've come up with the world's first manufactured non-cuttable material, just 15 percent the density of steel and impervious to drills or angle grinders. They say it could make for indestructible bike locks and lightweight armor. -
![Australian company HB11 says it's well on the way to nuclear fusion energy generation without the radioactive fuels or super-high temperatures]()
February 21, 2020"We are sidestepping all of the scientific challenges that have held fusion energy back for more than half a century," says the director of an Australian company whose hydrogen-boron fusion technology is working a billion times better than expected. -
![The latest research into psilocybin therapy as a treatment for tobacco addiction has yielded promising results]()
November 04, 2020A new study is presenting the first published data from preliminary human trials investigating the effect of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). The incredibly positive results have been described as just a “taste of things to come” with larger a Phase 2 trial well underway. -
![A UCF team has produced a continuously firing prototype of a H2/O2 rotating detonation engine, capable of running until the fuel is turned off – a feat previously thought impossible]()
May 04, 2020A Florida team working with the US Air Force says that it's built and tested an experimental model of a rotating detonation rocket engine, which uses a spinning series of chaotic explosions inside a ring channel to create super-efficient thrust. -
![A close-up of Bathynomus raksasa, a new species of "supergiant" isopod]()
August 13, 2020All kinds of fascinating discoveries are waiting in the deep sea. Now scientists have pulled a new monster out of the waters off the Indonesian coast. The creature is a new species of “supergiant” isopod, a huge marine relative of the common pillbug. -
![The concept engine is twice as efficient as chemical rockets]()
October 25, 2020Seattle-based USNC-Tech has developed a concept for a safer and more reliable Nuclear Thermal Propulsion system that could help realize the goal reducing Earth-Mars travel time to just three months. -
![New research has found a strong coffee immediately upon waking after a disrupted night of sleep can impair the body's glucose response]()
September 30, 2020A new study is suggesting a strong coffee first thing in the morning, especially following a night of disrupted sleep, can impair the body’s glucose response. The researchers recommend coffee should consumed in the morning after food, and not before. -
![Longfin damselfish have been found to domesticate mysid shrimp]()
December 08, 2020Human civilization wouldn’t be where it is today if we hadn’t domesticated animals. Now researchers have discovered the first example of an animal domesticating another animal, with a fish species found to recruit shrimp to tend their algae farms. -
![A worker pours iron powder into a funnel to feed a furnace. The Bavaria brewery is now the first business in the world to use metal powder as a clean, sustainable fuel for combustion]()
November 04, 2020Yes, iron. Fine iron powder can burn at high temperatures, emitting nothing but rust as a by-product. That rust can be reduced back into iron powder using renewable energy to create a clean, renewable combustion fuel that could have big implications. -
![A new study has revealed how increased water consumption can lower obesity by suppressing a hormone called vasopressin]()
December 15, 2020A new study by scientists at the University of Colorado has examined the role increased water intake can play in obesity, and found that it can work to reduce the condition in mice by suppressing a key hormone called vasopressin.
