2020s in science and technology

This article is a summary of the 2020s in science and technology.

Biology and medicine

See also: Timeline of biotechnology § 2020s, and 2020s in medicine

• DeepMind used artificial intelligence for the first time to predict protein folding.
• Singapore became the first jurisdiction to approve the sale of cultured meat.
• The vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna against Coronavirus disease 2019 became the first vaccines developed using messenger RNA and mark the fastest vaccine development and approval, taking only 10 months.
• Oregon became the first jurisdiction to legalize the medicinal use of psilocybin for mental health treatment.

Energy

See also: Timeline of solar cells § 2020

• QuantumScape revealed that it had created the first functioning prototype of a solid-state battery, promising to massively increase battery capacity.
• The Chinese Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak was turned on for the first time. The China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor is being planned for commissioning later in the decade.
• Group14 Technologies has patented SCC55, a silicon-carbon composite, leading to 50% more in fully lithiated volumetric energy density than graphite used in conventional lithium-ion battery anodes.

Environmental sciences

Further information: Meteorology in the 21st century

• The United Nations has designated the 2020s as the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

Space

Main article: 2020s in spaceflight

Transport

Air

• In 2021, United Airlines revealed plans to purchase 15 supersonic Boom Overture aircraft by the end of the decade.

Land

• Waymo became the first company to offer self-driving car services to the general public without a human supervisor in Chandler, Arizona.
• Autonomous delivery vehicles began transporting food to customers in Texas in 2021.

Computing and artificial intelligence

Main article: Timeline of computing 2020–present

See also: AI Spring

• Artificial intelligence-assisted coding began to emerge in the early 2020s.
• El Salvador passed Bitcoin law to become the first country to give cryptocurrency and bitcoin the status of legal tender.

Physics

• In January 2020, Physicists discovered a unique metal with billions of quantum entangled electrons.
• The Large Hadron Collider will once again begin operation in early 2021; the collider was shut down in December 2018 "to enable major upgrade and renovation works."

Paleontology

Further information: 2026 in paleontology

Archaeology

Further information: 2026 in archaeology

See also

• 2020s#Science and technology
• History of science and technology
• List of science and technology articles by continent
• List of years in science
  • 2026 in science
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on science and technology
• History of technology by type
• List of science timelines