2012: Top Ten Signs of a Warming World
Another year, another set of climate records. Here are the top ten signs you are living in a warming world, 2012 edition:
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Top Scientific Discoveries of 2012
There were many really big moments in science this year. From finding a long, long sought subatomic particle to pushing the limits of extraterrestrial exploration to righting an ethical wrong, science took some big steps in 2012. While they may not all be discoveries exactly, they all will have a major, lasting impact on science…
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Undercover-ed Religion: 13 Stories That Went Missing in 2012
Storm and flood, bad bishops, nones on the bus, vegan leather queens, God’s mom: in this list Peter Laarman plots the angles that were largely invisible in mainstream religion coverage this past year—and likely in our own. A road map for 2013—and a sign to us that there might be more important things to focus…
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2012’s Noteworthy Species
Researchers described roughly 15,000 to 18,000 new species in 2012, making choosing the most noteworthy a monstrous task. “[It’s] worse than asking me which of my children is my favorite,” quipped Quentin Wheeler, an entomologist at Arizona State University, in an email to The Scientist. Wheeler and his colleagues at the International Institute for Species…
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The Year in Space: Hello to Mars … Farewell to Neil Armstrong
Every year marks beginnings and endings, but when it comes to space exploration, 2012 ranks as a big year for both starts and stops. SpaceX opened what could be a new era for commercial spaceflight. NASA’s Curiosity rover began what could turn out to be a decade-long mission on Mars. First moonwalker Neil Armstrong, arguably…
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Mythical Particles, Goldilocks Planets and More: Top 5 Surprising Scientific Milestones of 2012
The year 2012 was a major one for science. We saw scientists develop a new type of drug to combat HIV, figure out how to store digital data in DNA—fitting an astonishing 700 terabytes of information into a single gram of it—and even invent a coating for the inside of condiment bottles that could eliminate…
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The Top 10 ScienceNOW Stories of 2012
At the end of every December, ScienceNOW takes a look back at some of its favorite stories of the year. These aren’t necessarily the biggest scientific advances (see our Breakthrough of the Year). They’re simply the funniest, wackiest, and most popular items they’ve run. Enjoy.
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Did Lucy Walk, Climb, or Both?
Much has been made of our ancestors “coming down out of the trees,” and many researchers view terrestrial bipedalism as the hallmark of “humanness.” After all, most of our living primate relatives—the great apes, specifically—still spend their time in the trees. Humans are the only member of the family devoted to the ground, living terrestrial…
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Climate Science Makes an Eleventh-Hour Comeback
This was the year climate change vanished from the political agenda – and then suddenly reappeared, after Hurricane Sandy shook the country. It was just a few years ago that President Barack Obama flew to Copenhagen to rescue faltering climate treaty talks amid bipartisan calls for global warming action. But in 2012, there wasn’t a…
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Space Radiation May Accelerate Alzheimer’s in Astronauts
Radiation in space might harm the brains of astronauts in deep space by accelerating the development of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study on mice suggests. The research reveals another risk that manned deep-space missions to places such as Mars or the asteroids could pose, scientists added. “This study shows for the first time that exposure…