2010 in science explained
The year 2010 involved numerous significant scientific events and discoveries, some of which are listed below. The United Nations declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity.[1]
Events, discoveries and inventions
January
February
- 1 February – The President of the United States, Barack Obama, announces that he will cancel NASA's plans to return to the Moon by 2020, due to budget constraints. (BBC)
- 3 February
- Scientists announce that they are on the verge of creating pills that target specific genes in the human genome to increase longevity. They reveal that the pills may be ready for human testing within three years. (Sky News)
- Scientists develop a way of communicating with a brain-damaged man by accessing his thoughts. (BBC)
- Scientists studying fossils in an open coal mine in Colombia determine that the giant prehistoric snake Titanoboa, which measured up to 45feet in lengths, hunted and ate crocodiles. (MSNBC)
- 4 February – Scientists use direct fossil evidence to make a reasonable interpretation of a dinosaur's color.(BBC) (Wired)
- 5 February
- 8 February – Researchers at the University of Leicester and King's College London discover gene variations that control how fast people age, and could help spot and cure potential age-related illnesses in people. (BBC)
- 9–13 February – The TED innovation conference is held in Palm Springs, California. (Wired)
- 10 February
- 12 February – The results of a genetic study on the tiger reveal that it began evolving 3.2 million years ago, and that its closest living relative is the snow leopard. (BBC)
- 15 February – Scientists confirm that the Murchison meteorite that crashed onto Earth's surface in 1969 contains millions of organic compounds. (BBC)
- 16 February
- 17 February – Scientists at the University College Dublin's Animal Genomics Laboratory and Conway Institute analyse the DNA of a species of European cattle that died out 400 years ago by extracting material from a bone found in an English cavern. (BBC)
- 18 February – Scientists discover that the fear of spiders and snakes may develop before birth through the experiences of the pregnant mother. (MSNBC)
- 21 February – Researchers report that teaching stroke victims to sing can help them regain their speech. (BBC)
- 27 February – Physicists discover that a similar technique used primarily for tattoo removal can be applied to the cleaning and rejuvenating of centuries-old artwork. (BBC)
March
April
May
June
- 1 June – A record high temperature of 53.7C (129F) is confirmed by government meteorologists in Pakistan. (The Guardian)
- 3 June – An unknown object impacts Jupiter. (Astronomy Magazine)
- 13 June – Data indicates that up to one-third of Mars' surface was once covered by an ocean. (Christian Science Monitor)
- 16 June – Iranian chemists developed a safe way to create nuclear energy with laser.[4]
- 21 June – Scientists studying the behavior of chimpanzees note that they will kill each other in rival turf wars. (MSNBC)
July
August
September
October
November
December
- 2 December – NASA-supported researchers discover the first microorganism known to be able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenic. (NASA)
- 8 December – SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft becomes the first commercial spacecraft ever to be successfully retrieved from orbit.[7] [8]
- 15 December – A US cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has been cured of HIV, say a team of German doctors whose research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Blood. (AFP)
- 22 December – Fossil hunters in southwestern China uncover the remains of an ancient marine ecosystem; dating back 252 million years, the site is filled with over 20,000 fossils, including plants, carnivorous fish and large reptiles. (The Guardian)
- 26 December – Michał Kusiak of Poland's Jagiellonian University discovers the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) 1,999th and 2,000th comets. (SOHO)
Prizes
Abel Prize
See main article: Abel Prize.
Fields Medal
See main article: Fields Medal.
Nobel Prize
See main article: List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine, List of Nobel laureates in Physics and List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry.
Deaths
January
- 3 January
- 10 January – Donald Acheson (b. 1926), epidemiologist, former UK Chief Medical Officer.
- 12 January – Masoud Alimohammadi (b. c.1960), Iranian physicist, assassination victim.
- 13 January – Edward Brinton (b. 1924), oceanographer and marine biologist.
- 15 January
- 21 January – Lawrence Garfinkel (b. 1922), epidemiologist, worked on link between lung cancer and smoking.
- 26 January – Geoffrey Burbidge (b. 1925), astronomer, B2FH coauthor.
- 28 January – Patricia Clarke (b. 1919), biochemist.
- 30 January – Bruce Mitchell (b. 1920), Old English scholar.
- 31 January – Howard Lotsof (b. 1943), discovered anti-addictive properties of ibogaine.
February
- 2 February
- 4 February
- 9 February – Albert Kligman (b. 1916), controversial dermatologist, discovered tretinoin topical uses.
- 11 February – Arthur H. Hayes Jr. (b. 1933), pharmacologist, former US Commissioner of Food and Drugs.
- 12 February – Sheldon Gilgore (b. 1932), endocrinologist and pharmaceutical executive.
- 14 February – John Thorbjarnarson (b. 1957), crocodilian specialist.
- 17 February – Hans Henning Ørberg (b. 1920), linguist.
- 19 February – Walter Plowright (b. 1923), veterinary scientist, developed rinderpest vaccine.
- 21 February – Jacek Karpiński (b. 1927), computer scientist.
- 26 February – Jacques J. Polak (b. 1914), IMF economist.
- 27 February – Eli Fischer-Jørgensen (b. 1911), phonetician.
March
- 2 March – Charles B. Moore (b. 1920), engineer.
- 4 March
- 6 March – Cho Gyeong-chul (b. 1929), astronomer.
- 8 March – Georgiy Zatsepin (b. 1917), astrophysicist, co-namesake of the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limit.
- 11 March
- Colin Wells (b. 1933), historian and archeologist.
- Arnall Patz (b. 1920), ophthalmologist, Lasker Award recipient.
- 13 March – Ian Axford (b. 1933), space scientist.
- 15 March – Lucien Campeau (b. 1927), cardiologist, pioneered several techniques.
- 20 March – Robin Milner (b. 1934), computer scientist.
- 22 March
- Ky Fan (b. 1914), Chinese-American mathematician.
- James W. Black (b. 1924), physician and pharmacologist, Nobel laureate.
- 24 March – Oswaldo Frota-Pessoa (b. 1917), physician and biologist.
April
May
June
- 3 June
- 4 June – Raymond Allchin (b. 1923), archeologist.
- 8 June – Joan Hinton (b. 1921), nuclear physicist, Manhattan Project participant.
- 11 June – Fred Plum (b. 1924), neurologist, coma specialist.
- 12 June – Richard Keynes (b. 1919), physiologist, edited Charles Darwin's works.
- 15 June – Charles Thomas Beer (b. 1915), organic chemist.
- 18 June – Robert Galambos (b. 1914), neuroscientist, demonstrated use of echolocation in bats.
- 20 June – Harry B. Whittington (b. 1916), paleontologist, Woodwardian Professor of Geology.
- 25 June – Brian Flowers, Baron Flowers (b. 1924), physicist.
- 28 June – Clement Finch (b. 1915), hematologist.
July
- 8 July
- 19 July
- 21 July – Herbert Giersch (b. 1921), economist.
- 29 July
- 30 July
September
October
See also
References
- http://www.cbd.int/2010/about/ Welcome to the International Year of Biodiversity
- Web site: Iranian researchers invent nanoabsorbent to remove heavy metals from wastewater. WaterWorld.com. 21 January 2010. 17 June 2013.
- 10.1126/science.1188021. Green. R. E.. 2010-05-07. A draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome. Science. 328. 5979. 710–722. 20448178. 2010Sci...328..710G. etal . 5100745.
- Web site: Iranian scientists to produce nuclear energy with laser technology. 16 June 2010. 13 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160313054110/http://www.trcb.com/news/israel/general/iranian-scientists-to-produce-nuclear-energy-with-laser-28840.htm. dead.
- Web site: Instagram post by Mike Krieger • Jul 16, 2010 at 5:26pm UTC. Instagram. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20161208094529/https://www.instagram.com/p/G/. 2016-12-08. 2019-10-04.
- Book: Mukherjee, Siddhartha. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. 2011-12-02. 16 November 2010. New York. Simon and Schuster. 978-1-4391-0795-9.
- Book: Seedhouse. Erik . SpaceX : making commercial spaceflight a reality . 2013 . Springer Dordrecht . Heidelberg, London, New York . 978-1-4614-5513-4 . vii, 203.
- http://www.space.com/10442-mission-update-splashdown-spacex-dragon-splashes-pacific-ocean.html (Space.com)
External links