Record breakers.

In 2023, researchers made several significant discoveries. These include the oldest known wooden structure, dating back nearly 480,000 years, which suggests that some human relatives may have had a less nomadic lifestyle than previously thought. The Yamnaya people were identified as the earliest horseback riders, dating back to 3000 B.C. The Altiplano plateau in Chile's Atacama Desert was found to receive the most intense sunlight on Earth. The most distant and ancient supermassive black hole ever observed was discovered, shedding light on the birth of the universe's first generation of black holes. Young snapping shrimp were found to have the highest acceleration for a reusable body part underwater. Northern elephant seals were identified as the mammals that sleep the least, averaging just two hours of sleep per day. An extinct whale named Perucetus colossus was estimated to have weighed up to 340 metric tons, making it the heaviest animal ever. [Extracted from the article]