2 January – The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) publishes its JRA-55 dataset, confirming 2023 as the warmest year on record globally, at 1.43 °C (2.57 °F) above the 1850–1900 baseline. This is 0.14 °C (0.25 °F) above the previous record set in 2016.[1][full citation needed]
Researchers have discovered a new phase of matter, named a "light-matter hybrid", which may reshape understanding of how light interacts with matter.[14]
Scientists report the extinction of Gigantopithecus blacki, the largest primate to ever inhabit the Earth, that lived between 2 million and 350,000 years ago, was largely due to the inability of the ape to adapt to a diet better suited to a significantly changed environment.[20][21]
11 January
Biologists report the discovery of the oldest known skin, fossilized about 289 million years ago, and possibly the skin from an ancient reptile.[22][23]
A graphene-based implant on the surface of mouse brains, in combination with a two-photon microscope, is shown to capture high-resolution information on neural activity at depths of 250 micrometers.[27][28]
A review of genetic data from 21 studies with nearly one million participants finds more than 50 new genetic loci and 205 novel genes associated with depression, opening potential targets for drugs to treat depression.[29][30]
The Upano Valley sites are reported as the oldest Amazonian cities built over 2500 years ago, with a unique "garden urbanism" city design.[31][32]
A study presents results of a Riyadh-based trial of eight urban heat mitigation scenarios, finding large cooling effects with combinations that include reflective rooftop materials, irrigated greenery, and retrofitting.[33][34]
12 January
Global warming: 2023 is confirmed as the hottest year on record by several science agencies.[35]
NASA reports a figure of 1.4 degrees Celsius above the late 19th century average, when modern record-keeping began.[36]
NOAA reports a figure of 1.35 degrees Celsius.[37]
19 January: Japan becomes the fifth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.
17 January – A study in Nature finds that the Greenland ice sheet is melting 20% faster than previously estimated, due to the effects of calving-front retreat. The loss of 30m tonnes of ice an hour is "sufficient to affect ocean circulation and the distribution of heat energy around the globe."[45][46]
18 January
NASA reports the end of the Ingenuity helicopter's operation, after 72 successful flights on Mars, due to a broken rotor blade.[47][48]
A potential candidate for the first known radio pulsar-black hole binary is reported by astronomers. The heavier of the two lies in the "mass gap" between neutron stars and black holes. The pair are located in the globular clusterNGC 1851.[49][50]
Two insect-like robots, a mini-bug and a water strider, are reported as being the smallest, lightest, and fastest fully-functional micro-robots ever created.[51][52]
23 January – A viable and sustainable approach for gold recovery from e-waste is demonstrated.[59][60]
24 January: A global analysis of groundwater levels is published, including widespread rapid declines of over 0.5 meters per year.
24 January
The discovery of 85 exoplanet candidates based on data from the TESS observatory is reported. All have orbital periods of between 20 and 700 days, with temperatures similar to those of Solar System planets.[61]
A global analysis of groundwater levels reports rapid declines of over 0.5 meters per year are widespread and that declines have accelerated over the past four decades in 30% of the world's regional aquifers. The study also shows cases in which depletion trends have reversed following interventions such as policy changes.[62][63]
A robotic sensor able to read braille with 87.5% accuracy and at twice the speed of a human is demonstrated.[69]
31 January – NASA reports the discovery of a super-Earth called TOI-715 b, located in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star about 137 light-years away.[70][71]
Promising innovations relating to global challenges are reported: a self-powered solar panel cleaning system using an electrodynamic screen, removing contaminants through high-voltage electric fields, is demonstrated (4 Jan),[72][73] an atmospheric water generator (WaterCube) for humidity levels above 40% is released (9 Jan).[74]
Hazard research is published: ~240.000 particles of microplastic and nanoplastics (~90%) per liter are found in samples of plastic-bottled water (8 Jan),[87][88] a study estimates harmful chemicals used in plastic materials have caused $249 billion U.S. healthcare system costs in 2018 (11 Jan),[89][90] a study indicates fungal infections may be causing millions more deaths annually than thought (12 Jan),[91][92] a study of European plasticwaste exports to Vietnam finds a large fraction is dumped in nature and suggests air pollution from melting plastics and untreated wastewater have significant impact on health (18 Jan).[93][94]
A study based on 300-years-long temperature records preserved in Caribbean sclerosponge carbonate skeletons shows industrial-era warming already began in the mid-1860s and that by 2020, global warming was already 1.7±0.1 °C above pre-industrial levels. However, their reference period is not used by the IPCC and the 1.5 °C climate goal and the study's authors suggest their results show a better baseline.[101][102]
A battery based on calcium, able to charge and discharge fully 700 times at room temperature, is presented. It is described as a potential alternative to lithium, being 2,500 times more abundant on Earth.[110][111]
17 February – A global review of harms from personal car automobility finds cars have killed 60–80 million people since their invention, with automobility causing roughly every 34th death, and summarises interventions that are ready for implementation to reduce the, largely crash-linked or pollution-mediated, deaths from automobility-centrism and dependency.[125][126]
19 February
Astronomers announce the most luminous object ever discovered, quasar QSO J0529-4351, located 12 billion light-years away in the constellation Pictor.[127][128]
The first neuroimaging study that shows flow state-related brain activity during a creative production task, jazz improvisation, is published. Its results support a theory that creative flow represents optimized specialized processing enabled by extensive experience, relaxing conscious control.[132][133]
Hazard research is published: several dietary habits and products including teabags are linked to PFAS intake (4 Feb),[174][175] an additional three billion people may face water scarcity by 2050 when river pollution is considered, an aspect neglected by prior assessments (6 Feb),[176][177]HPV infection linked to higher cardiovascular mortality (7 Feb),[178] researchers use simulations to develop an early-warning signal for a potential collapse of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and suggest it indicates the AMOC is "on route to tipping" (9 Feb),[179][180] researchers report the H5N1 bird flu virus may be changing and adapting to infect more mammals (12 Feb),[181][182] researchers report how compounding disturbances could trigger unexpected ecosystem transitions in the Amazon rainforest (14 Feb),[183][184] harmful chlormequat is found in ~80% of U.S. adult urine samples, rising during 2023, and in oat-based foods widely thought to be healthy (15 Feb),[185][186] excess amounts of widely-supplemented niacin (B3) are linked to cardiovascular risk (19 Feb),[187][188] a review concludes available evidence on the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in minors with gender dysphoria is very limited and based on only a few studies with small numbers which have problematic methodology and quality, warning about their use outside of clinical studies or research projects after careful risk-benefit evaluation (27 Feb).[189][190]
March
4 March
Astronomers report that the surface of Europa, a moon of the planet Jupiter, may have much less oxygen than previously inferred, suggesting that the moon has a less hospitable environment for the existence of lifeforms than may have been considered earlier.[191][192]
Biochemists report making an RNA molecule that was able to make accurate copies of a different type of RNA molecule, m
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