Top Stories of 2024: Artificial Intelligence, Earth’s Ancient Mysteries and More
2024 has been another year of discovery and innovation for the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS). CMNS students, faculty and staff members uncovered mysteries about our ancient planet, paved the way for drug development and shed new light on the origin of flight.
As 2024 comes to a close, take some time to revisit our most-read stories of the year and discover some that you may have missed.
1. Ancient Sunken Seafloor Reveals Earth’s Deep Secrets
University of Maryland scientists led by Geology Postdoctoral Researcher Jingchuan Wang uncovered evidence of an ancient seafloor that sank deep into Earth during the age of dinosaurs, challenging existing theories about Earth’s interior structure. Located in the East Pacific Rise (a tectonic plate boundary on the floor of the southeastern Pacific Ocean), this previously unstudied patch of seafloor sheds new light on the inner workings of our planet and how its surface has changed over millions of years.
2. Can’t Stand Gossip? New Research Suggests That Gabbing About Others Is ‘Not Always a Bad Thing’
Theoretical research co-authored by Computer Science Professor Emeritus Dana Nau argues that gossipers aren’t all that bad. In fact, they might even be good for social circles. Their study revealed that gossip is good at disseminating information about people’s reputations, which can help recipients of these tips connect with cooperative people while avoiding selfish ones.
3. NASA’s DART Impact Permanently Changed the Shape and Orbit of Asteroid Moon
When NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided with an asteroid moon called Dimorphos in 2022, the moon was significantly deformed—creating a large crater and reshaping it so dramatically that the moon derailed from its original evolutionary progression. A study led by Astronomy Professor Derek Richardson explained that Dimorphos may start to “tumble” chaotically in its attempts to move back into gravitational equilibrium with its parent asteroid named Didymos.
4. The Moon is Shrinking, Causing Landslides and Instability in Lunar South Pole
Earth’s moon shrank more than 150 feet in circumference as its core gradually cooled over the last few hundred million years. A team of scientists including Geology Associate Professor Nicholas Schmerr discovered evidence that this continuing shrinkage of Earth’s moon led to notable surface warping in its south polar region—including areas that NASA proposed for crewed Artemis III landings.
5. What Makes Urine Yellow? UMD Scientists Discover the Enzyme Responsible
Researchers at the University of Maryland and National Institutes of Health identified the microbial enzyme responsible for giving urine its yellow hue, according to a study led by Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics Assistant Professor Brantley Hall. The discovery of this enzyme, called bilirubin reductase, paves the way for further research into the gut microbiome’s role in ailments like jaundice and inflammatory bowel disease.
6. Fighting Deepfakes, Shallowfakes and Media Manipulation
Through recent artificial intelligence advancements in photo, audio and video technologies, the average person can alter the face and voice of just about anyone. To combat this growing threat, Computer Science Assistant Professor Nirupam Roy developed TalkLock, a cryptographic QR code-based system that can verify whether content has been edited from its original form.
7. Discovery of 3,775-Year-Old Preserved Log Supports ‘Wood Vaulting’ as a Climate Solution
A study published in Science suggested that an ordinary old log could help refine strategies to tackle climate change. A team of researchers led by Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Professor Ning Zeng analyzed a 3,775-year-old log and the soil it was excavated from. Their analysis revealed that the log had lost less than 5% carbon dioxide from its original state thanks to the low-permeability clay soil that covered it.
8. University of Maryland Scientists ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ About AI’s Role in Drug Discovery
By understanding and predicting the vast array of shapes a protein can take, scientists can design drugs that target specific proteins with specific roles in a cell. The hope is that technologies like Google’s AlphaFold—which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the structure of proteins, DNA and other biomolecules—will speed up this task and subsequently medication development. University of Maryland researchers are “cautiously optimistic” but say that AlphaFold must be paired with a stronger foundation of physics to be successful. A method developed by Pratyush Tiwary, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Institute for Physical Science and Technology and the University of Maryland Institute for Health Computing, does just that.
9. UMD Biologist Shares ‘Story of Sex’ in New Book
Published by Columbia University Press in December, Biology Professor Eric Haag’s first book, “The Other Big Bang: The Story of Sex and Its Human Legacy,” leverages evolutionary biology to answer a central question: Why do we have sexes (and sex) at all? Haag hopes his book will give readers a better understanding of modern society while also providing fodder for the difficult but necessary conversations that will help bend the arc of history toward gender equality.
10. Researchers Solve Mystery of ‘Dinky’ Dinosaur’s Unusually Long Stride
Dromaeosauriformipes rarus is the name of the tiny, two-toed fossil footprints made by an unidentified dinosaur species some 100 million years ago. These tracks are thought to have been made by a raptor no bigger than a modern sparrow, so paleontologists were stumped to find evidence of the animal’s enormous stride preserved in a slab of rock in South Korea. Geology Principal Lecturer Thomas Holtz co-authored research in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that solved this mystery.
Take a look at our top stories from previous years:
