Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?

4 comments

• max_ 22 hours ago
  No particular order but;

  1. Transformers

  I think they need to be looked into more. They just work too well.

  I feel like they have a secret within that is yet to be known.

  [1] https://arxiv.org/abs/1706.03762

  2. The 2016 Noble Prize in Medicine

  Autophagy has such interesting properties. It can probably do alot more for us now than any new pill or gene editing tool

  [2] https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2016/press-releas...

  3. zk-STARKS

  I can prove to you than X * Y = Z, without ever revealing what, X, Y or Z are. And I can do this for any function, or math operator.

  https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/189

  4. TLock

  I can encrypt my will, in a way such that. It can only be read after X years.

  And I do not need a trusted third party to do it.

  [4] https://eprint.iacr.org/2018/046.pdf

  [4] https://youtu.be/Xh849Ij3lhU
• ok1984 9 hours ago
  Biggest discovery is that humans are much worse than expected, and are always rushing to the next big thing forgetting to enjoy the present.

  Seriously shouldn’t the whole world slow a bit down and enjoy our lives a bit?
• cochinescu 1 day ago
  I’d put CRISPR-based genome editing high on the list, especially with the recent prime and base editing advances. It’s wild how fast the tech moved from concept to real-world gene therapy trials. Curious what people think about AI-driven protein folding breakthroughs too.
  [-]
  • sjkoelle 1 day ago
    Interesting that CRISPR was the top answer in 2015 too
• ReynaPp 22 hours ago
  [dead]