Here we are once more, watching as another year passes into the history books. In world news it has been a year filled with wars, pandemic/disease, and both natural and man-made disasters. In certain scientific circles it has also been the dawn of the anthropocene era, in which humanity was first deemed to have had a measurable impact on the planet's geological history. But as a physicist and mathematician, my highlights of the year's news are more exotic...

Of course any review of the scientific advances of the year must start with the impressive work of the James Webb Space Telescope. A year ago it was just getting started on its epic search of the cosmos, and now we seem to be receiving new results every week. Early in the year we discovered ancient galaxies that are far bigger and brighter than should have been possible given that they existed only a few hundred million years after the Universe began, and whose existence is still a mystery in the astronomy community. The same is true of the supermassive black holes that form the core of most galaxies, with JWST discovering far more such objects in the early Universe than we thought possible, and with similar mysteries as to how a body could grow so large in a relatively short (for cosmic events) span of time.

And of course no review of scientific progress can omit the rapid advances in computer science. On the physical side, we have seen more quantum computers being built than ever before, with countless tech startups forming to bring them to the commercial sector and make them viable for a variety of applications. These advances were matched with new research into more powerful quantum error correcting algorithms, better physical systems for storing and processing quantum bits, and continued advances in transmitting and receiving quantum information between different systems or larger distances. And on the more computational side, the world has been shocked this year with the sudden explosion of artificial intelligence in the form of ChatGPT and countless GAN systems that can instantly produce both written and artistic works that are superior to what most humans could so. It is the dawn of an era that is both exciting and terrifying to society, and at this point no one knows where AI research and development will take us next.

And the year has seen countless other scientific and technological advances as well. We witnessed advances in merging electronics with the human nervous system to allow a paralyzed man to walk again via electrical motors controlled by his own brain waves. Following last year's advances in nuclear fusion, this year also saw advances in the efficiency of fusion reactors that could one day lead to cleaner forms of energy production. We also saw the first x-ray image to display a single atom, as well as stronger evidence that both matter and anti-matter are affected equally by gravity. On the more theoretical side, this year also saw advances in the study of quantum gravity, including possible solutions of the black hole information paradox using more sophisticated models of semi-classical gravity. 

But of course as always, these advances are unlikely to be the greatest of the year because the greatest scientific advances are usually ones that no one noticed at the time. The greatest advance of the year could be some theory or collected data that has yet to be written up for publication or fully appreciated for what it signifies. And it is those advances that are the most exciting going into a new year.

For tonight let us celebrate how far science has advanced over the past twelve months, and look excitedly towards the great achievements of the next twelve. 

It is truly a great time to be a scientist!