Year: 2023

In 2023, the world got acquainted with some of the most astonishing discoveries in the field of arts, archaeology and literature. A still-glimmering sword to the oldest shoes ever found in Europe to the emergence of the name of the author of a 17th-century Spanish play – many discoveries kept the world engaged as well as ‘awe-struck’ as they hoped for more.
Here are some of the most significant discoveries made in the year 2023.
Sword that ‘still shines’
A sword, made of bronze and estimated to be more than 3,000 years old, was unearthed in southern Germany in such a well-preserved state that it “almost still shines”. There was an octagonal hilt on the sword and it was found in a grave in which three people were buried in quick succession – a man, a woman and a boy.
6,000-year-old sandals in Spanish bat cave
Scientists said that the sandals found buried in a bat cave in southern Spain are likely to be the oldest footwear ever found in Europe, adding that they appeared to be 6,200 years old. The sandals, tools and baskets, which belonged to the 19th century, were found at a hunter-gatherer burial site in the Cueva de los Murciélagos, also known as the “cave of the bats,” close to the southern city of Granada.
AI helps discovery author
After remaining a mystery for centuries, the name of the author of a 17th-century Spanish play emerged. It turned out to be the work of the famous author Felix Lope de Vega. The researchers were able to recognise the author using the AI technology, which was helping them transcribe some 1,300 anonymous manuscripts and books and cross check them against works by known authors.
A royal lavatory
Archaeologists in February found the oldest known flush toilet in the world. The lavatory and bent pipe, which is estimated to be 2,400-year-old, may have been a status symbol among China’s elite. It was found in the ruins of a palace located at the Yueyang archaeological site in the city of Xi’an.
Hidden hallway in the Great Pyramid of Giza
A 30-foot hidden and mysterious corridor was discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza, as part of the Scan Pyramids project which had used technology including cosmic-ray imaging and infrared thermography for a better understanding of its architectural intricacies and unknown areas.
Lost necklace in ocean bed
A new necklace, which had a tooth of the prehistoric shark Megalodon, was found in the wreckage of the ocean liner by the deep-water investigation company Magellan, which had undertaken an ambitious project for producing a full-size scan of the ship that was discovered sitting some 13,000 feet deep in the Atlantic Ocean after the infamous disaster in 1912.
4,000-year-old Stonehenge-like sanctuary
A 4,000-year-old sanctuary was unearthed in the town east of Rotterdam, which appeared to be similar to Stonehenge. The site in Tiel was being excavated by the archaeologists since 2017 and finally, they were able to find a 4,000-year-old sanctuary which they believe was designed in a way so that it aligns with the sun on solstices.
THE MOST POWERFUL LIGHT FROM THE SUN
Among the new astronomical records set in 2023 was an announcement of the highest-energy gamma ray ever seen coming from the sun, an order of magnitude more powerful than had previously been seen.
“The sun is more surprising than we knew,” Mehr Un Nisa, an astronomer at Michigan State University and one of the authors who described the discovery in Physical Review Letters, said in a statement.
VELA PULSAR SMASHES GAMMA-RAY ENERGY RECORD
More record-breaking gamma-rays were detected in 2023, with photons pushing 20 TeV detected coming from the pulsar within the Vela supernova remnant.
A pulsar is a spinning neutron star that consists of the remains of a massive star that once went boom in a supernova. Pulsars are normally detectable at radio wavelengths, but some of them also emit gamma-rays, thought to be produced by electrons spiraling around the phenomena’s intense magnetic-field lines.
THE UNIVERSE’S BIGGEST EXPLOSION
The most intense, long-lasting and powerful explosion ever seen — ten times brighter than any known supernova and still erupting even now — was discovered in a galaxy whose light has been traveling to us for 8 billion years, according to new research revealed in May in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Cataloged as AT2021lwx, the explosive event was co-discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility in California and the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii, which looks for transient events in the sky that can be anything from a moving asteroid to a flaring cosmic explosion.
THE MOST DISTANT FAST RADIO BURST
The most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever detected was revealed in 2023. A report in the Oct. 19 issue of the journal Science described how, on June 19, 2022, an FRB was spotted having traveled through space for a gargantuan 8 billion years. FRBs are mysterious. They are short bursts of radio waves that last mere milliseconds, yet in that short fraction of time they can emit as much energy as our sun does in 30 years. Nobody knows what produces them; often, they are seen to go off randomly in the universe. Sometimes, they are even seen to repeat. Magnetars, which are extremely magnetic neutron stars, are the main suspect. The record-breaking burst was detected by the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), which is a group of 36 radio dishes. ASKAP pinpointed the location of the burst, cataloged as FRB 20220610A, which then allowed the Very Large Telescope in Chile to follow up and identify the source as a system of two or three colliding galaxies that we see as they were 8 billion years ago.
NASA CONFIRMS THE HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD
NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York confirmed that the Northern Hemisphere summer in 2023 experienced the warmest summer since its temperature records began in 1880, a consequence of human-caused global warming coupled with the effect of El Niño, which helped raise sea temperatures.
GISS scientists compare global temperatures by relating them to the average summer temperatures between 1950 and 1980. They found that June, July and August combined were on average 0.23 degrees Celsius (0.41 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the 1950–1980 average. August alone was 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer. This might not sound like much, but efforts to mitigate climate change rely on keeping global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.
MOST ANCIENT SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE DETECTED
It’s fitting that, as the most expensive telescope ever built, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is routinely breaking new astronomical records, with one of the standouts being the discovery of the most distant supermassive black hole known to exist in the universe.
The JWST spotted the black hole in a galaxy called CEERS 1019, which we see as it existed about 13.3 billion years ago (just 570 million years after the Big Bang).

It is almost time to bid adieu to 2023 and say hello to the New Year. As the year departs, it becomes customary to take a look back at the major developments that defined 2023. If we scroll through the achievements, we can say it was a great year for India.
Not only did the country become the first in the world to soft land on the southern pole of the Moon, but India also passed the historic Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament this year. Although the Indian team’s loss at the ICC Cricket World Cup broke billions of hearts, Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra’s gold at the World Athletics Championships was a soothing balm for fans.
Before 2023 comes to an end, let’s turn the pages to take a look at some of India’s biggest moments this year.
India’s giant leap to the Moon
India scripted history on 23 August as its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon. With this feat, India became the first country to soft land on the south pole of the lunar surface and the fourth nation to safely land a robotic probe on the Earth’s only natural satellite. This was done earlier by only the United States, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.
As the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath said after the successful landing, “India is on the Moon”. The ambitious lunar journey that began on 14 July reached a historic stage more than a month later.
On Chandrayaan-3‘s success, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “We are witness to the new flight of new India. New history has been written”. Hailing the landing as a “victory cry of a developed India”, he said that “this success belongs to all of humanity”.
ISRO received global praise for the landmark achievement which bolstered India’s position as a major space power.
India’s G20 success
India hosted the 18th Group of 20 (G20) Summit in New Delhi in September after assuming the presidency of the powerful bloc last December. From US president Joe Biden to British prime minister Rishi Sunak, several heads of state, along with leaders of international organisations, had descended on the National Capital for the high-profile conclave.
India attained significant goals during the two-day conclave, including the African Union’s inclusion as a member of the grouping. With this, India walked its talk on being the voice of the Global South.
The 55-member grouping of African nations is the second regional bloc to become a permanent member of the G20 bloc after the European Union (EU).
Following intense negotiations, the G20 Summit also adopted a consensus declaration despite major differences among the bloc nations over the wording of Russia’s war in Ukraine and issues such as climate. The consensus document was a big victory for India’s presidency otherwise it would have been the first time in 20 years that there was no G20 Leaders’ Declaration.
The India-Middle East-Europe mega economic corridor was also announced on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi. The multinational rail and ports deal, which plans to link India with the Middle East and eventually Europe, is being seen as a counter to China’s Belt and Road initiative.
Women’s Reservation Bill
In September, the Lok Sabha passed a bill granting reservation to women in one-third of the total number of seats in the state legislative assemblies and Lok Sabha. Also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, the legislation aims to bring gender parity into the political arena.
The Rajya Sabha also cleared the Bill unanimously, with President Droupadi Murmu giving her assent later.
The law will, however, come into force after the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise. After the redrawing of the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, it will be decided which seats are to be reserved for women.
Nonetheless, the passing of the legislation is significant as it is almost three decades that the Bill was first introduced in Parliament in September 1996.
Uttarakhand tunnel rescue
The eyes of the world were on this daring rescue operation in November. As many as 41 construction workers got trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand on 12 November after its portion collapsed.
While rescuers and authorities did not leave any stone unturned to get these workers out, the victims’ ordeal ended only after 17 days. The stars of the operation were rat-hole miners who completed the final stage of the rescue mission.
It was not just the families of these trapped workers who erupted in joy when they saw the light of the day, but the entire nation.
India’s New Parliament building
In May, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s new Parliament building, which he called the “evidence of self-reliant India”.
“This is not just a building. It is a reflection of the aspirations and dreams of 1.4 billion Indians. This is the temple of our democracy and it’s giving the message of India’s determination to the world,” he said at the time.
He also installed a historically important gold sceptre, called the sengol, in the new Parliament building.
However, the inauguration of the four-storey structure was boycotted by dozens of Opposition parties, including the Congress, who argued that President Droupadi Mourmu should have opened the building.
India shines at Oscars
Indian films made the country proud at the 95th Academy Awards. While SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus RRR won the ‘Best Original Song’ Oscar for Naatu Naatu, Kartiki Gonsalves’ documentary short The Elephant Whisperers bagged the award in its category.
Both the victories were a first for India. RRR, starring Ram Charan and Jr NTR, is the first Indian film to win an Oscar in the original song category. Similarly, The Elephant Whisperers penned history for India by winning the Oscars for the best documentary short.
Neeraj Chopra: India’s ‘Golden’ boy
Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championship in August, defeating Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem in the men’s javelin. Chopra threw the javelin at a distance of 88.17 meters, the highest in the event. “After the Olympic gold I really wanted to win the world championships. I just wanted to throw further. This is brilliant for the national team but it was my dream to win gold at the world championships,” he said at the time. Nadeem achieved 87.82 to clinch the silver medal. The third spot was secured by Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, with a 86.67 meters throw in the final.
In September, Chopra ended second at the Diamond League final at Eugene with a best effort of 83.80m, with Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch emerging as the winner with a best throw of 84.24m.
U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup
The country had much to celebrate in January itself as India beat England in the first-ever ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup final. Captain Shafali Verma and Co trounced England by seven wickets in the final.
This was the first women’s cricket team to have won a world championship. PM Modi described their triumph as a thrilling and inspiring moment for the country.
Milestone at Asian Games 2023
Indian athletes added another feather to the country’s cap by winning more than 100 medals at the Asian Games for the first time. The Indian contingent that participated in the 19th Asian Games in China’s Hangzhou amassed a total of 28 gold, 38 silver, and 41 bronze medals.
Over 12,000 athletes from all 45 members of the Olympic Council of Asia competed at the games, with China bagging the most medals at 383, followed by Japan at 188.
World’s longest river cruise
In January, India launched the world’s longest river cruise – MV Ganga Vilas. Flagged off by PM Modi from Varanasi, the ship traversed for 51 days covering a distance of 3,200 km, crossing 27 river systems and multiple states before culminating its journey in Assam’s Dibrugarh in February. This made-in-India cruise vessel has three decks and 18 suites on board. The luxury cruise, which can carry 36 passengers, costs Rs 20 lakh per person. Source: Firstpost