The Year in Review

2024 was marked by historic elections, global unrest, and various other highlights. From wars to hurricanes to a presidential election described by some as chaotic and worrisome, the year featured multiple memorable moments. News in sports and science offered some relief from the trauma-laden headlines.

Later this month, on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump will be sworn in to office as president and JD Vance as vice president. Despite (or because of) his unfiltered, reactive, and assertive leadership style, Trump was elected to a second term in the White House, even after two assassination attempts. The first happened on July 13 during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump suffered a wound to his ear after a gunman opened fire. Another attempt occurred in September when Secret Service agents engaged with a suspect aiming a high-powered rifle at the Florida golf course where Trump was golfing.

After an election season marred by concerns regarding potential interference, artificial intelligence, and other threats to the vote, one of the most significant aspects of the 2024 election was that it ran smoothly.

Among other 2024 highlights, on February 11 the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime, 22-25, to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions in 19 years.

Then, in early March, many of us watched as Iowa Hawkeyes' point guard Caitlin Clark achieved status as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball, surpassing Pete Maravich's record of 3,667 points. Going on to break additional records with the Indiana Fever while playing with the WNBA, Clark's dominance helped women's basketball to surge in popularity. In December, Time magazine selected Clark as their Athlete of the Year.

In other sports news, the Olympic Games began in Paris on July 26, and standout athletes during the event included gymnast Simone Biles, who won gold in team, vault, and all-around gymnastic performances, and swimmer Katie Ledecky, who won fourteen total Olympic medals. Ledecky is the fifth-most decorated athlete in the history of the 800m free swimming competition, becoming the most decorated American woman.

A much less favorable event occurred on March 26 when the container ship Dali rammed a support pillar of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people and causing the structure to collapse and fall into the Patapsco River.

On April 8, all eyes turned to the sky to view the solar eclipse. To experience totality, many people traveled to the band stretching from Texas to Maine for a glimpse of the spectacle. Communities along that path reported an influx of visitors hoping to experience the four minutes and 28 seconds of darkness. Captured by photographers, the celestial phenomenon presented a stunning view of the sun's corona.

In other heavenly events, Northern lights displays hit a 500-year peak in 2024. According to NASA, an uptick in activity on the suns' surface this year produced the strongest displays of aurora borealis. Because the sun's eleven-year cycle reached a "solar maximum" in October, we saw an increase in space weather events like electromagnetic radiation and solar flaring, which contribute to aurora activity.

A number of natural disasters also made headlines, with Hurricane Helene topping the charts of devastation. Helene was a category four hurricane with peak winds of 140 mph as it made landfall just southwest of Perry, Florida on September 26. Causing widespread destruction and more than 230 deaths across the region-especially in western North Carolina-Helene might be the costliest hurricane in U.S. history, with some estimators putting the cost at roughly $200 billion.

On October 1, Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, celebrated his 100th birthday, making him the longest-to-live president in U.S. history. However, he died on Sunday, December 29, at his home in Plains, Georgia.

Meanwhile, military conflicts continued as the Russia-Ukraine War entered its third year. On November 19, the world marked 1,000 days since Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. At least 30,000 Ukrainians have been killed in action, and more than 700,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in combat.

Furthermore, the fighting surrounding the Israel-Hamas War continues to spread. The events unleashed by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel reverberated across the Middle East in 2024. Israel continued its war in Gaza, where the death toll currently exceeds 45,000 and northern Gaza is on the verge of famine.

Trump's return to White House will give credence to the maxim that while foreign policy seldom matters for U.S. presidential elections, U.S. presidential elections matter a lot for U.S. foreign policy. The question now remains how much and how fast Trump will change conditions on the global stage.

Finally, developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) continue to amaze, baffle, and concern many. Because the AI revolution is turning science fiction into science fact and because too much is changing too rapidly, discussion is growing on how to regulate AI. To borrow the title of Aldous Huxley's dystopian classic, we are entering a brave new world.

On this front, 2024 has been a groundbreaking year for Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain implant company, as it continues to push the boundaries of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. With successful human trials, Neuralink is quickly advancing toward its goal of revolutionizing human interaction with machines.

Marking a significant milestone in the company's history, one success story is that of Nolan Arbau, the first human to receive an implant. After the procedure, Arbau, a 29-year-old former athlete who became paralyzed from the shoulders down following a diving accident, demonstrated the capability to control a computer cursor using only his thoughts, an ability which allows him to play games like chess and Civilization 6. Arbau calls his experience with Neuralink "transformative" and spends up to eight hours a day contributing to Neuralink's research.

As we bid farewell to 2024 and step into 2025, let's resolve to embrace the opportunities that will enable us to thrive. It's a time for fresh beginnings and renewed hopes, so cheers to the new year!