STORY OF THE YEAR: COMET LANDING
SPACE & PHYSICS
The Philae landing
"We are there and Philae is talking to us. We are on the comet!" These words marked the high point of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, which arrived at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko after a decade-long journey. Besides the dramatic touchdown of Philae in November, Rosetta's tense wake-up in January and the close-up photos of the comet in August meant the mission made headlines all year.
Earth's backup
Think of Earth as a giant supercomputer, with the moon as our backup hard drive. That's the vision behind plans announced in May to use the moon as off-planet storage for the religious, cultural and genetic trappings of humanity. Sending a sacred Jewish scroll to the moon could be just the beginning of an apocalypse-proof backup of all culture and life on Earth.
How it all began
The universe was born in an unimaginably fast expansion, and we have proof! And then we didn't. In March we seemed to have evidence for inflation – the dizzying growth of the universe after the big bang – but the results were soon thrown into doubt. We'll have to wait to see what the space-based Planck telescope can tell us – its results are due in early 2015.
HEALTH
Ultimate rejuvenation
It's like the dark plot of a vampire movie. Starting in October, people with Alzheimer's disease in California were given transfusions of young blood to see if it improves their cognition. Young mouse blood has been shown to improve the brain power and health of older mice and could even make them look younger. If it works in humans, the implications could be huge, not least for big pharma. Watch this space.
Master on-off switch
One moment you're conscious, the next you're not. For the first time, researchers switched off consciousness by electrically stimulating a single part of the brain. The discovery, reported in June, suggests that the area – the claustrum – might be integral to combining disparate brain activity into a seamless package of thoughts, sensations and emotions.
Lab-grown vagina
"It was incredible how my body accepted it. Now it works as if it were not made in a lab =)." So said a Mexican woman who was one of the first to receive a lab-grown vagina
TECHNOLOGY
Cyborg drummer
Jason Barnes had wanted to be a drummer since he was a teenager. When he lost his arm he thought his dream was over. Now he has a second chance, thanks to a robotic arm
First family robot
It doesn't just recognise you, it can field your phone calls and chat to you at dinner. Jibo, unveiled in July, is the first robot designed to be used by the whole family
Bitcoin revolution
It has been called many things, from the future of money to a drug dealer's dream. But beyond being the web's first native currency, it became clear this year that Bitcoin's true innovation is its underlying technology, the "block chain". That concept is being used to transform Bitcoin – and money online.
The sound of Wi-Fi
"I can hear birds tweeting in the trees, traffic prowling the back roads, children playing in gardens and Wi-Fi leaching from their homes." We met the man who has hacked his hearing so he can listen in to the data that surrounds us.
LIVING PLANET
Electric life forms
Bacteria can survive on a variety of energy sources, but living on electricity is particularly weird
The first American
A boy who died 12,600 years ago had his genome sequenced, it was announced in February. We may never know who the Anzick child was, why he died aged 3 in the foothills of the American Rockies or why he was buried beneath a cache of flints. But incredibly, his family turns out to be the direct ancestors of most tribes in Central and South America – and probably the US too.
Water world
How did we miss it? In June, we found out that a reservoir of water three times the volume of all the oceans sits deep beneath Earth's surface. It is hidden in a blue rock called ringwoodite that lies 700 kilometres beneath our feet, in the hot rock of the mantle between us and Earth's core. It could help explain where Earth's seas came from.
Leader: "'This is our policy': New Scientist after 3000 issues"
- New Scientist
- Not just a website!
- Subscribe to New Scientist and get:
- New Scientist magazine delivered every week
- Unlimited online access to articles from over 500 back issues
- Subscribe Now and Save
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
