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Environment

The best photos of the natural world in 2023

A fiery volcanic eruption, a flower preserved in amber and a ‘superbloom’ of wildflowers feature in 51��’s selection of stunning nature images from the past year

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Space

The biggest science news stories of 2023 as chosen by 51��

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A nurse prepares a shot for Jonathan Halter as the German embassy begins its roll out of BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for German expatriates at a Beijing United Family hospital in Beijing, China January 5, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Health

Covid-19 'emergency' ended in 2023 but the virus still lingers

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EVROS, GREECE - AUGUST 31: A firefighters runs as wildfire intensifies in the village of Sidiro and Yannuli in Evros, Greece on August 31, 2023. Efforts to extinguish wildfire continues. (Photo by Ayhan Mehmet/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Environment

Why 2023 was almost certainly the hottest year ever recorded

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Wolf-Rayet stars are known to be efficient dust producers, and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA?s James Webb Space Telescope shows this to great effect. Cooler cosmic dust glows at the longer mid-infrared wavelengths, displaying the structure of WR 124?s nebula. The nebula is made of material cast off from the aging star in random ejections, and from dust produced in the ensuing turbulence. This brilliant stage of mass loss precedes the star?s eventual supernova, when nuclear fusion in its core stops and the pressure of gravity causes it to collapse in on itself, and then explode. As MIRI demonstrates here, Webb will help astronomers to explore questions that were previously only left to theory about how much dust stars like this create before exploding in a supernova, and how much of that dust is large enough to survive the blast and go on to serve as building blocks of future stars and planets.

Space

Six of the most amazing space pictures from 2023

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2RFE6YH LK-99 room-temperature revolutionary superconductor. High quality photo

Physics

LK-99 superconductor mania swept the internet for a few weeks in 2023

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2NK6HH7 CHINESE SPY BALLOON seen from a US Air Force U-2 above America. Photo: USAF

Technology

The spy balloon saga of 2023 inflated US-China political tensions

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Close up image of a selection of freshly flame grilled burgers in a row on a wooden counter at a London street food market. Each of the burgers has its own label, on which is written the contents of the burger. The burgers are sandwiched between glazed buns, and presented on beds of fresh green lettuce and stuffed with melted cheese and red onion. Horizontal colour image with copy space and beautiful bokeh background.

Health

Cancer in young people is rising and 2023 saw a plan to figure out why

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2PNBXXP Pack of Ozempic, antidiabetic for weight control, taken in a pharmacy in Niesky, April 13, 2023.

Health

Wegovy and Ozempic made 2023 a revolutionary year for weight loss

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NEW DELHI, INDIA - AUGUST 23: People celebrates after successful landing of Chandrayaan 3 on Moon at Nehru Planetarium on August 23, 2023 in New Delhi, India. The Chandrayaan-3 lander module has successfully touched down on the Moon's south pole, making India the first nation in the world to achieve this feat. India is also the fourth nation, after the United States, China and Russia to have landed on the Moon. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Space

India made history with 2023's low-budget Chandrayaan-3 moon landing

With the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August, India became the fourth country to land a craft on the moon, days after Russia’s failed attempt

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Technology

2023 was the year that artificial intelligence went mainstream

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Mathematics

Mathematicians discovered the ultimate bathroom tile in 2023

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Space

2023 saw thrilling space missions and new cosmic mysteries

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