January s are functionally
colorblind. • 3 January – American
pharmaceutical company
Johnson & Johnson announces a partnership for the development of a test for the detection of
metastatic cancer in the bloodstream. • 5 January • Researchers at the
University of Pennsylvania find that a major cause of
baldness may be related to the inability of some
stem cells to grow into full-sized hair
follicles. • An engineer from the
University of Missouri announces his ambition to create a flexible
solar sheet of small nano-antennas, capable of capturing solar energy with 90% efficiency; this would mark a significant improvement over contemporary commercial solar panels, which have an average efficiency of around 20%. • 6 January – The
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a peer-reviewed journal of the
American Psychological Association, announces that it will shortly publish a paper presenting strong evidence of
ESP, the ability to sense future events. • 11 January –
Kepler-10b, the first confirmed small rocky
exoplanet, is discovered in the
Draco constellation using
NASA's
Kepler space telescope. • 12 January – Researchers announce that salty
junk food can damage
arteries in as little as thirty minutes after being eaten. • 14 January – A study conducted at the
Innsbruck Medical University in
Austria reveals that
stainless steel or
titanium tongue piercings harbor more
bacteria than plastic piercings. • 15 January – In a study funded by the
U.S. National Cancer Institute, researchers reveal that
smoking cigarettes can cause damages in the body in minutes rather than years. • 18 January – Researchers in
Australia announce that
sharks are
colorblind, after examining the eyes of 17 separate shark species. • 19 January – A
Cochrane Library review suggests that
antioxidants may improve male fertility. This work was updated in 2019 and noted that only low quality evidence from small randomized controlled trials supports this association and higher quality larger studies are needed to understand more about the association between antioxidants and male fertility. (pictured, right) resistant to
HIV. • 20 January • A landmark study unveils a medical technique that renders
T-cells resistant to
HIV. • The
World Meteorological Organization concludes that 2010 was the joint-
hottest year on record. • Scientists achieve 10 billion bits of
quantum entanglement in
silicon, a significant step in
quantum computing. • 21 January – An article in
Science reveals the discovery of a
Darwinopterus pterosaur in
China with an unhatched egg, thereby allowing the genders to be differentiated. • 24 January • Researchers publish direct evidence that massive
volcanic eruptions took place 250 million years ago, likely causing the
Permian–Triassic extinction event, the biggest single extinction event in Earth's history. • An article in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals the discovery of
Linhenykus monodactylus, an
alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaur, in
Inner Mongolia; though a cousin to the giant
Tyrannosaurus rex, it is no bigger than a modern
parrot, and possesses only one claw on each forelimb. • Scientists and students have built a
3D printer that makes edible food. • 27 January • Under pressure from industry and governments, the
European Commission is putting the final touches on a strategy to reduce
Europe's dependence on
Chinese-supplied
rare-earth metals, which are essential in export products like cars and electronics. • Astronomers document
H1504+65, a
white dwarf in
Ursa Minor with the hottest surface temperature known at this time, at 200,000
K. • 30 January –
Molybdenite is revealed to be up to 100,000 times more efficient than
silicon transistors, and to have better electrical properties than
graphene.
February discovers a
planetary system of six planets orbiting the star
Kepler-11 (artist's impression pictured). • 2 February – The
Linac Coherent Light Source, an
X-ray source a billion times brighter than previous sources, becomes operational at
Stanford University. The device could potentially revolutionize 3D
bioanalysis techniques, especially in the analysis of
proteins and
viruses. • 3 February • A blood test to detect
vCJD is developed by British scientists, who say it could identify healthy people who are carriers of the disease. • Further data from the
Kepler space telescope published in
Nature reveals that the star
Kepler-11, located 2,000
light years from Earth, has a planetary system including six planets, which range between two and four-and-a-half times the radius of Earth, and between two and thirteen times its mass. Five orbit the star closer than
Mercury orbits the Sun, and all are likely to have atmospheres made of light gases, and to be too hot to support life. The data also includes details of more than 1,000 additional exoplanet candidates. • 4 February – Scientists reveal a tiny artificial
brain, derived from
rat neurons, that exhibits 12 seconds of short-term memory. • 7 February – Scientists at
Oxford University successfully test a universal
flu vaccine, which should work against all known strains of the illness. • 9 February – Using 25 years of evidence from over 470,000 participants, researchers show that
sleep deprivation and disrupted sleep patterns can have long-term, serious health implications. • 10 February – Scientists identify the root molecular cause of a variety of illnesses brought on by advanced age, including waning energy, failure of the
heart and other organs, and metabolic disorders such as
diabetes. • 11 February – Scientists show that
stem cells delivered via a
nasal spray lead to an improvement of motor functions in rats with
Parkinson's disease-like symptoms. • 15 February • In a world first for
artificial intelligence,
IBM's
Watson supercomputer defeats two humans on the
Jeopardy! quiz show. • Scientists report stimulation of
mouse muscle fibers in a way similar to the regeneration of severed limbs in
newts and
salamanders. • 16 February – Researchers find a way of manipulating tiny swimming robots, just 1.3 millimetres long, using electric currents in water. • 17 February • Scientists build the world's first anti-laser, capable of absorbing an incoming
laser beam entirely. • A
hummingbird-like "Nano Air Vehicle" is demonstrated for the first time, in an attempt to secure a
DARPA contract to create small surveillance aircraft. • 20 February –
Stanford University researchers create new stretchable
solar cells that could power artificial electronic 'super skin', capable of detecting chemicals and biological molecules. The potential applications include clothing, robotics, prosthetic limbs and more. • 21 February – New research indicates that
bilingual speakers are better at
multitasking, because they are better at editing out irrelevant information; this overturns previous assumptions of
bilingualism causing confusion, especially in children. • 22 February • The first complete
millimeter-scale computing system is developed. •
Chinese scientists calculate a
quantum law of
protein folding that explains the impact of temperature on folding. • The first full-color
quantum dot display prototype is unveiled by
Samsung. • 28 February • Scientists at
Yale University demonstrate that
bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) can be blow-molded into shapes that would be impossible with normal metals without loss in strength or durability. • A
pacemaker the size of a
Tic Tac is announced by
Medtronic.
March probe (artist's rendering shown) becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the planet
Mercury. • 1 March • UK researchers demonstrate an optical
microscope with one of the highest resolutions yet achieved, capable of imaging objects as little as 50
nanometres across. • Scientists have determined how to generate a backward-pulling force from a forward-propagating beam, effectively creating a form of "
tractor beam". •
Swiss researchers discover a gene in
wasps that allow them to
reproduce asexually. • 4 March • Researchers transform a human
embryonic stem cell into a critical type of
neuron that dies early in
Alzheimer's disease and is a major cause of memory loss; the discovery may have major implications in the treatment of the disease. • A groundbreaking study of
mice indicates the
liver, not the
brain, could be the source of
amyloid brain plaques associated with
Alzheimer's disease. • 5 March – The
United States Air Force launches its robotic
Boeing X-37 spaceplane on its
second long-duration spaceflight; the spaceplane ultimately remains in orbit for 469 days. • 8 March – The world's first
tissue-engineered urethras are successfully used. • 12 March – Surgeons in
Houston,
Texas, successfully implant the world's first continuous-flow
artificial heart in a human patient. The
turbine-based device is efficient and long-lived, and may herald the mass production of smaller and more durable alternatives to conventional artificial hearts. • 14 March – Archeologists believe that they have found the lost city of
Atlantis in mud swamps near
Cadiz, Spain. They theorize that a
tsunami struck the ancient settlement; a television special on the
National Geographic Channel later investigates their findings. • 16 March – Scientists report the first successful use of
microcarriers to bring anti-
cancer drugs to the targeted area in the
liver of a living rabbit. • 18 March –
NASA's
MESSENGER spacecraft successfully enters orbit around the planet
Mercury – the first probe to do so. • 20 March • A new way of delivering drugs to the brain, using the body's own
exosomes, is developed by scientists, overcoming a major barrier to the delivery of potential new drugs for many neurological diseases, including
Alzheimer's. • Researchers announce the development of a three-dimensional nanostructure for battery
cathodes that allows for dramatically faster charging, without sacrificing energy storage capacity. This could lead to
cellphones that charge in seconds, and
electric cars that charge in minutes. • A new way of making battery
electrodes, based on nanostructured metal foams, can be used to make a
lithium-ion battery that recharge by 90% in under two minutes. • 22 March – A 6 cm-by-6 cm chip holding nine quantum devices, among them four "quantum bits", is demonstrated at the
American Physical Society meeting in
Dallas,
Texas. It is hoped that further scaling up to 10 qubits should be possible later this year. which uses electric fields to extinguish open flames. • 24 March • A landmark study indicates that
pioglitazone prevents the development of
type 2 diabetes in 72% of pre-diabetic subject participants, the largest such decrease yet demonstrated by any intervention. • The first sperm cells are grown in a lab. • 27 March –
Harvard University scientists demonstrate use of an electric field to extinguish an open flame more than 1 foot tall, a development they say could yield
fire-suppression alternatives to water and chemical retardants. • 31 March – Scientists announce the successful controlled
entanglement of 14 quantum bits (qubits), realizing the largest quantum register yet produced—nearly double the previous record for the number of entangled quantum bits realized.
April • 4 April • A human
heart is grown in a laboratory from
stem cells, marking a major advance in
personalized medicine. • Five more
genes which increase the risk of developing
Alzheimer's have been identified, taking the number of genes linked to the disease to 10. • A meta-study indicates that people with
autism process visual information differently from non-autistic people. • A
particle accelerator in the
United States shows compelling hints of a never-before-seen particle – researchers say it could be "the most significant discovery in physics in half a century". • 5 April • Scientists develop a novel approach to inhibiting
angiogenesis for
cancer treatment. • The
Russian Federal Space Agency announces a joint plan with
NASA to develop a future
nuclear-powered rocket. s from mouse
stem cells. • 6 April –
Japanese scientists announce that they have created working
retinas from mouse
stem cells. • 11 April –
ZRTP, a cryptographic
key-agreement Real-time Transport Protocol devised by
Phil Zimmermann, is published. • 12 April • According to a controversial study, the aging process can be reduced by increasing
telomere lengths without
cancer risk. • Scientists produce the first comprehensive analysis of the
greenhouse gas footprint of
shale gas, concluding that its environmental impact is worse than
coal. • 13 April •
Cellphones may be contributing to a global decline in
honeybee populations, according to researchers. • American scientists discover that
light can demonstrate strong
magnetic effects when travelling through certain materials at certain intensities. This finding, which overturns a century-old scientific assumption that light's magnetic effects are too weak to be tangible, may lead to the development of
solar panels capable of storing energy magnetically. • 14 April • More than 1,000 UK patients with advanced
pancreatic cancer have joined a trial using a new
vaccine to treat the disease. • Shrinkage in parts of the brain of some with
Alzheimer's disease can be detected up to a decade before symptoms appear. • 15 April • The world's first human brain map is unveiled, providing an interactive research tool that will help scientists to understand how the brain works. The map is hoped to aid new discoveries in disease and treatments; one thousand anatomical sites in the brain can be searched, supported by more than 100 million data points that indicate the
gene expression and
biochemistry of each site. • 16 April –
Sci-Hub – a
shadow library website for
open access that provides free access to most paywalled
research papers and books
without regard to copyright – is launched. • 17 April – Researchers have injected biodegradable nanofiber spheres carrying cells into wounds to grow tissue. • 18 April • Scientists demonstrate mathematically that asymmetrical materials should be possible; such material would allow most light or sound waves through in one direction, while preventing them from doing so in the opposite direction; such materials would allow the construction of true one-way mirrors, soundproof rooms, or even
quantum computers that use light to perform calculations. • A new design for thin-film
solar cells has been developed that requires significantly less
silicon than standard models, and may be more efficient at capturing solar energy. • 19 April – An international research team publishes a new method to produce belts of
graphene, called nanoribbons. By using hydrogen, they have managed to transform single-walled
carbon nanotubes into ribbons. • 20 April – Scientists describe a Chinese spider they say is the biggest fossilised
arachnid yet found;
Nephila jurassica, as they have called their specimen, would have had a leg span of some 15 cm. gene is successfully introduced to a population of
mosquitoes. • 21 April • Scientists successfully cause a modified anti-
malaria gene to spread amongst a population of
mosquitoes. • Researchers have built a
carbon nanotube synapse circuit whose behavior in tests reproduces the function of a
neuron, the building block of the human
brain. •
Israeli engineers have built an artificial device capable of detecting
cancers of the head and neck by analysing breath. • 22 April –
Gene transcription is observed in real time in a live cell. • 24 April – Small
lasers capable of igniting a fuel/air mixture more efficiently, resulting in less pollution, may replace
spark plugs in
gasoline engines. • 25 April • Some microbes can survive
gravity more than 400,000 times that felt on Earth, a new study says. By contrast, most humans can tolerate three to five times Earth's surface gravity before losing consciousness. • The
European Commission has approved plans to build a trio of
lasers that will each dwarf the power of any previous laser. The project, called the
Extreme Light Infrastructure, will lay the groundwork for building an even more powerful laser that could try to pull "virtual" particles out of the vacuum of
space-time. • 28 April • Researchers publish findings of three more
genes linked to the most common form of
breast cancer, which could provide targets for new treatments. • According to an
American Physical Society report, technologies for removing
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are unlikely to offer an economically feasible way to slow human-driven
climate change for several decades.
May • 1 May • Researchers successfully store a
qubit in a single
atom by writing the quantum state of single
photons into a
rubidium atom and reading it out again later. • A
Detroit entrepreneur has invented a heat-treatment that makes
steel 7 percent stronger than any steel on record in less than 10 seconds. • 3 May • Middle-aged people who are overweight but not
obese are 71% more likely to develop
dementia than those with a normal weight, according to new research; links between obesity and dementia had previously been found. • Scientists have used
nanoscale capsules to release an
immune system-stimulating
protein directly into
lung cancer tumors. •
Australian researchers say they are a step closer to finding a
vaccine for
HIV, and hope to be able to offer a preventative jab by 2020. • 4 May •
Yukon fossils may represent the first early traces of
biomineralization in
eukaryotes. • Experimental data gathered by the
Gravity Probe B satellite
confirms two aspects of the
general theory of relativity, which was published by
Albert Einstein in 1916. •
CERN scientists have confined
antihydrogen atoms for 1,000 seconds, four orders of magnitude longer than has ever been achieved before in capturing and maintaining
antimatter atoms. •
Intel unveils its next generation of
microprocessor technology, codenamed
Ivy Bridge. The upcoming chips will be the first to use a
22 nanometre manufacturing process, which packs transistors more densely than the current
32nm system, providing greater efficiency. • 6 May • A new study suggests that the drop in production of
neurons in
old age is due to the shrinking cache of adult
stem cells in our brains. • A machine used for measuring impurities in
semiconductors can be used to analyze
immune cells in far more detail than has been previously possible, researchers from
Stanford University have shown. • Researchers have identified a group of
mitochondrial proteins, the absence of which allows other protein groups to stabilise the
genome. This could delay the onset of age-related diseases and increase lifespan. • 9 May –
Smog-eating
aluminium panels which clean themselves and the air around them are unveiled; their
titanium dioxide coating, when combined with sunlight, acts as a catalyst to break down pollutants into harmless matter that
rain washes away. • 11 May • A new
phylum of
fungi is announced, and named
cryptomycota ("hidden fungi"). • A new vaccine can protect
macaques against the monkey equivalent of
HIV, and could provide a fresh approach to an HIV vaccine, a study suggests. •
D-Wave Systems, after some 12 years of research, the accumulation of 60 patents, and the filing of 100 more, has released the world's first commercial
quantum computer, priced at $10 million. • 12 May – The
exoplanet Gliese 581d can be considered the first confirmed exoplanet that could potentially support Earth-like life, according to a team of French scientists.
Gliese 581d (artist's impression pictured) could potentially support Earth-like life. • 13 May • New results from
mice cast doubts on hopes for self-
transplants generated from the receiver's
stem cells, as such transplants can be rejected by the immune system. • According to new research, a small set of genes located within the
mitochondria of cells is crucial to unravelling the secrets of
male infertility. • The discovery of a new physical phenomenon could yield
transistors with greatly enhanced
capacitance – a measure of the voltage required to move a charge. This, in turn, could lead to the revival of
clock speed as the measure of a computer's power. • Contaminated water can be cleaned much more effectively using a novel, cheap material, which could offer a low-cost way to purify water in the developing world. • 15 May – Researchers have found that
KLF14, a gene linked to
type 2 diabetes and
cholesterol levels, is in fact a 'master regulator' gene, which controls the behaviour of other genes found within
fat in the body. • 16 May –
NASA's
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on its final mission. • 18 May • Scientists have achieved
invisibility in the visible light range of the
spectrum. •
Rogue planets lacking parent stars may outnumber "normal"
exoplanets by at least 50 percent, and are nearly twice as common in our galaxy as main-sequence stars, according to a new study. • 19 May • By using electrical stimulation of the
spinal cord, a man from
Oregon who became paralyzed after being hit by a car can stand and move his legs on his own. • Scientists have developed an
open-source desktop
genome analyzer. It works in conjunction with a browser that allows biologists to rapidly and easily analyze and process their high-throughput information. • 20 May – A highly developed
sense of smell kick-started the evolution of mammals' big brains, according to new research. • 23 May • Researchers have set a new record for the rate of data transfer using a single
laser: 26
terabits per second. • The bacteria responsible for
stomach ulcers have been linked to
Parkinson's disease, according to American researchers. • 24 May – A superhot substance recently made in the
Large Hadron Collider is the densest form of matter ever observed, scientists have announced. (pictured). • 25 May • Reexamination of data indicates that the
gamma-ray burst GRB 090423 may be the most distant single object yet detected; scientists believe the blast, which was detected by NASA's
Swift Observatory, occurred a mere 520 million years after the
Big Bang. • NASA ends its operational planning activities for the veteran
Mars rover Spirit; it will now transition the
Mars Exploration Rover Project to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit's still-active twin,
Opportunity. • Swedish scientists unveil a technique that causes the brain to misinterpret the size of the human body. • 26 May • Stanford University researchers have managed to turn human skin cells directly into
neurons, without first turning them into
pluripotent stem cells. • Researchers believe they have made the first experimental observation of the dynamical
Casimir effect, using a rapidly moving mirror that turns virtual
photons into real ones. • 29 May – Human organs could be grown inside
pigs for use in transplant operations, following research using
stem cells. • 31 May • A team of
Chinese physicists successfully
entangles eight
photons simultaneously and observes them in action; the previous record was six. • Researchers have demonstrated the first true nanoscale waveguides for next generation on-chip optical communication systems; this holds potential for nanoscale photonic applications such as intra-chip optical communication, signal modulation, nanoscale lasers and bio-medical sensing. • A NASA-led research team unveils the most precise map ever produced of the
carbon stored in Earth's tropical forests; the data is expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and research.
June ,
114 and
116, are officially added to the
periodic table. • June –
Baltic Sea anomaly discovered. • 1 June •
Elements 114 and
116 are officially added to the
periodic table, becoming its heaviest members yet. (
New Scientist) (IUPAC) • Scientists have discovered a worm that is the deepest-living animal known, surviving in 48-degree-
Celsius (118
Fahrenheit) water at depths of . (BBC) • 2 June – A team of students at the
University of California is developing a first-of-its kind, phase-change memory
solid-state storage device that provides performance thousands of times faster than a conventional
hard drive, and up to seven times faster than current state-of-the-art solid-state drives. (Jacobs School of Engineering) • 3 June • Researchers have bent one of the most basic rules of
quantum mechanics by succeeding in observing light behaving as both a wave and a particle. (BBC) • Six men in the
MARS-500 facility near Moscow have now been in isolation for exactly 365 days, simulating a human mission to
Mars. (
New Scientist) (ESA) • About one in 10 rocky planets around stars like the
Sun may host a
moon proportionally as large
as Earth's. (BBC) (arXiv) • 6 June – A team of
Virginia Commonwealth University scientists has discovered a new class of 'superatoms' – a stable cluster of
atoms that can mimic different elements of the periodic table – with unusual magnetic characteristics. • 7 June – Fragranced clothing, triggered by scent molecules that are stable in the dark and only release their aroma when exposed to light, has been described in a thesis written by scientist Dr. Olga Hinze of
Cologne University. (Henkel) • 8 June – China's
carbon dioxide emissions rose 10.4 percent in 2010 compared with the previous year, as global emissions rose at their fastest rate for more than four decades, according to data released by
BP. (Reuters) (BP) • 9 June • Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in anti-
bacterial science, identifying natural ingredients capable of eradicating bacteria that have developed resistance to
antibiotics. (TNO) •
Type 2 diabetes, previously regarded as inevitably progressive, is successfully reversed in a group of newly diagnosed patients by an extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day. (BBC) • 10 June • Cross-checks on data that hinted at the discovery of a new
sub-atomic particle have failed to find support for the observation. (BBC) (arXiv) • US scientists publish data about how
nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant, a finding that could help in fighting obesity. (
Sunday Morning Herald) erupts in
Eritrea (ash plume pictured), despite having been considered
extinct. • 12 June – The
Nabro Volcano begins to
erupt, releasing the highest quantity of
sulfur dioxide ever observed by satellite. • 13 June – A study suggests that
protostars may be seeding the universe with water. These stellar embryos shoot jets of material from their north and south poles as their growth is fed by infalling dust, which circles the bodies in vast disks. (
National Geographic) • 14 June • A study reveals that, on average, three to five days of global human activity produces the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide that volcanoes produce globally each year. (US Geological Survey) • Ten new planets outside our Solar System have been spotted by the French-led
COROT satellite, bringing the total number of known
exoplanets to 561. (BBC) • A Japanese experiment sees hints that
neutrino particles can oscillate between all three types, opening new lines of research to test why matter became more prevalent than
antimatter in the
Big Bang. (BBC) (arXiv) • 15 June – A central
lunar eclipse takes place, with a totality of 1 hour and 40 minutes. (
Herald Sun) • 16 June – Researchers have developed a scalable approach to fabricating high-speed
graphene transistors. • 17 June • The
United States Department of Energy reports that it will invest $150 million in a private company that has developed a
silicon-wafer
solar cell that can be manufactured twice as cheaply as standard solar cells. (
Huffington Post) • Thousands of insects are being lined up to have their
genomes sequenced. The five-year project will help researchers pinpoint vulnerable regions of insects' genomes, which could be targeted with
pesticides. (BBC) (Entomological Society of America) • Scientists have developed a nano-device that powers itself by harvesting energy from vibrations, while at the same time transmitting data wirelessly with a range of up to . (
PopSci) • 19 June • Researchers have used a human vaccine to cure
prostate cancer in mice. (
Medical Xpress) • The
oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, with a
mass extinction of marine species looming, according to a new report. (BBC) (IPSO) • 20 June – A
Japanese computer has taken first place on the Top 500 supercomputer list , ending
China's reign at the top after just six months. Capable of operating at 8.16
petaflops (quadrillion floating-point calculations per second), the
K computer is more powerful than the next five systems combined. (
ComputerWorld) engineers develop
nanowire electronics that can be attached to nearly any surface (
gold nanowires pictured). • 22 June • A newly developed
multiferroic composite of
nickel,
cobalt,
manganese and
tin can be either non-magnetic or highly magnetic, depending on its temperature, making it capable of converting heat into electricity. (
PopSci) • The brains of people living in cities operate differently from those in rural areas, according to a brain-scanning study. (
The Guardian) • Scientists demonstrate an acoustic "
cloaking device" that makes objects invisible to
sound waves; such acoustic cloaking was proposed theoretically in
2008, but has only this year been put into practice. (BBC) •
Stanford University researchers have developed a new method of attaching
nanowire electronics to the surface of virtually any object, regardless of its shape or composition. The method could be used in making everything from wearable electronics and flexible computer displays to high-efficiency
solar cells and ultrasensitive biosensors. • 23 June – Single-celled
yeast has been observed to evolve into a multicellular organism, complete with division of labour between cells. This suggests that the evolutionary leap to multicellularity may be a surprisingly small hurdle.(
New Scientist) • 24 June • A tiny biological
fuel cell powered by
bacteria, with a capacity of just 0.3
microliters, has been built by researchers at
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The new device, the size of a single strand of human hair, generates energy from the metabolism of bacteria on thin
gold plates in micro-manufactured channels. (
Engadget) • Biologists publish the explanation for
yeast cells reversing aging. • 25 June – Stanford researchers have developed a microphone that can be used at any depth in the ocean, even under crushing pressure, and is sensitive to a wide range of sounds, from a whisper in a library to an explosion of
TNT. They modeled their device after the extraordinarily acute hearing of
orcas. 26 June • A new gene-editing technique provides the first published successful healing of a genetic condition in a live animal, by curing mice of
haemophilia B. (
The Guardian) •
Österplana 065 meteorite is found in Sweden. (Meteoritical Bulletin) • 27 June – A new bacterium is reported to have been produced from an engineered
DNA sequence, in which
thymine was replaced by the synthetic building block 5-chlorouracil – a substance "toxic to other organisms". • 28 June – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization holds a ceremony in
Rome, declaring the once-widespread cattle disease
rinderpest to be globally eradicated.(
The New York Times) (FAO) • 30 June – Computer corporation
IBM develops a form of 'instantaneous' memory, 100 times faster than
flash memory. (Engadget)
July , giving a
cancer patient a new, lab-grown
trachea. • 1 July – Based on results from the
Tevatron particle accelerator, scientists have reported stronger evidence that a small excess of matter over
antimatter was present during the
Big Bang as particles decayed. (BBC) • 3 July •
China's monopoly over
rare-earth metals could be challenged by the discovery of massive deposits of these widely used minerals on the floor of the
Pacific Ocean, a new study suggests. • Warming oceans will melt
glaciers quicker than expected, according to a new study. As oceans heat up, they could erode ice sheets much faster than warmer air alone. (LiveScience) • 7 July • Surgeons in
Sweden have carried out the world's first synthetic
organ transplant, using an artificial
windpipe coated in
stem cells. (BBC) (Karolinska Hospital) • Global investment in
renewable energy sources grew by 32% during 2010 to reach a record level of US$211 billion, according to a UN study. Reportedly, the main drivers of investment growth were
wind farms in China and rooftop
solar panels in Europe. (BBC) (UNEP) • The molecular basis for the breakage of
DNA, an important process in the development of
cancer, has been identified by
Hebrew University of Jerusalem scientists. (
The Jerusalem Post) • 9 July – Researchers have reprogrammed
brain cells to become
heart cells. • 10 July – An international team of scientists based in
Scotland have decoded the full
DNA sequence of the
potato, one of the world's most important staple crops, for the first time. (BBC) • 12 July • A computer has learned language by playing
strategy games, inferring the meaning of words without human supervision. (MIT) (ACL) • Researchers at the
University of Cambridge have identified a part of the brain associated with
empathy which may be a 'biomarker' for a familial risk of
autism. • The planet
Neptune completes its first orbit since it was discovered in
1846. 's
Dawn spacecraft successfully enters orbit around the
asteroid 4 Vesta (pictured). • 13 July • A string of a dozen underwater
volcanoes, several of them active, has been found near
Antarctica, the first such discovery in that region. (Yahoo!) • Technicians from
Kagawa University demonstrate a
bionic mouth that replicates almost all the human organs that are required for singing. (IEEE Spectrum) • 14 July – A "fountain of youth" that sustains the production of new
neurons in the brains of rodents may also be present in the human brain, researchers have found. • 16 July •
NASA's
Dawn probe enters orbit around the asteroid
4 Vesta. (BBC) (NASA) •
Japanese company
Sumitomo Electric Industries develops a new material which they believe can improve the range of
electric vehicles by 300%. (Inhabitat) (Suitomo Electric) • 19 July •
Russia's
RadioAstron, the largest orbital
radio telescope yet constructed, is successfully launched into Earth orbit. (BBC) • It is announced the
Herschel Space Observatory has discovered a dense ribbon of gas and dust more than 600 light years across at the centre of the
Milky Way galaxy. (Herschel) • 20 July • The
Hubble Space Telescope discovers
another moon orbiting
Pluto. (IAU) • An experiment at the
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory has revealed a heavy relative of the
neutron. (LiveScience) (FermiLab) • The world's most powerful "
split magnet" – one that is made in two halves with holes in the middle to observe experiments – has been built in the US. It operates at 25
Tesla, equivalent to 500,000 times the strength of Earth's
magnetic field. (BBC) • 21 July •
Space Shuttle Atlantis completes
STS-135, the 135th and final mission of the
Space Shuttle program. (Spaceflight Now) • A 120-million-year-old fossil is the oldest pregnant
lizard ever discovered, according to scientists. The fossil, found in
China, is a very complete 30-cm (12-in)-long specimen with more than a dozen embryos in its body. (BBC) • Researchers at the
University of Minnesota have discovered a
gene required to maintain male gender throughout life. (Medical Xpress) ,
STS-135, ends with the landing of
Space Shuttle Atlantis (pictured) at
Kennedy Space Center. • 26 July • Using
silicon lithography, liquid
silicone, and
electrodes that are fashioned into patterns invisible to the naked eye, researchers at
Stanford University have created transparent electric
batteries. (
Technology Review) •
DNA circuits have been used to make a neural network and to store memories. (Ars Technica) • 28 July – A
Chinese fossil of a previously unknown
bird-like dinosaur is estimated by scientists to be about 155 million years old – five million years older than
Archaeopteryx, which for 150 years has been assumed to be the world's earliest bird. (
Daily Telegraph) • 29 July – A major clinical trial will investigate whether
stem cells can be safely used to stop or even reverse the damage caused by
multiple sclerosis. (BBC)
August • 3 August – Researchers suggest that
Earth once had a small second
Moon that was destroyed in a slow-motion collision with the far side of its larger companion. (BBC) • 4 August • New images from the
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appear to show evidence of flowing,
liquid water on
Mars. (BBC) • A ring of
antiprotons is detected around the Earth. (New Scientist) (Next Big Future) • Artificial
sperm are created using
stem cells for the first time, in a scientific breakthrough that could lead to new treatments for infertile men. (
Daily Telegraph) • 5 August • The solar-powered probe
Juno is launched from
Kennedy Space Center on a five-year mission to
Jupiter. (BBC) (NASA) • Bypassing
stem cells, scientists have made
neurons directly from
human skin. • Scientists have developed a new class of molecules that target cells' entry systems to ensure harmful organisms do not gain access. The molecules, nicknamed pitstops, could lead to new therapeutic approaches to prevent the spread of viral and bacterial infections. (ABC Science) • 6 August – A study postulates that the demise of the world's forests
250 million years ago was likely accelerated by aggressive tree-killing
fungi, who flourished in conditions brought about by global
climate change. successfully kills off
leukemia lymphocytes (pictured) in three advanced patients. • 8 August – A report, based on
NASA analysis of
meteorites found on
Earth, suggests that the building blocks of
DNA (
adenine,
guanine and related
organic molecules) may have been formed in
outer space. • 10 August – A new
gene therapy that has successfully neutralized advanced cases of
chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 3 patients is published. (Fox News) (
Scientific American) • 11 August • Researchers say they have created the first-ever animal with artificial information in its genetic code. The technique, they say, could give biologists "atom-by-atom control" over the molecules in living organisms. (BBC) •
Arctic ice might be thinning four times faster than predicted by the
IPCC, according to a new study by
MIT's Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). (MIT) • Scientists have shown how an
enzyme from a
microbe can quickly and cheaply produce
hydrogen from water. Hydrogen is seen as vital to future energy systems, but its production has previously been too costly and time-consuming to be viable on a large scale. (BBC) • 12 August – An ultra-thin, flexible electronic circuit that can be stuck to the skin like a temporary
tattoo is developed, with possible applications in
cellphone and
mobile computing technology. (
The Independent) • 16 August • Private donors, including actress
Jodie Foster, raise enough money to re-open the mothballed
SETI radio telescope array, allowing SETI to continue its search for extraterrestrial intelligence. (BBC) • A study of fossilised plants suggests that
woody plants first appeared on the Earth about 10 million years earlier than previously thought. (BBC) •
Taiwanese researchers report that 15 minutes of exercise a day can boost
life expectancy by three years and cut death risk by 14%. (BBC) • 17 August •
DARPA is offering $500,000 to study what it would take—organizationally, technically, sociologically and ethically—to
send humans to another star, a challenge of such magnitude that the study alone could take a hundred years. (
The New York Times) • Researchers at the
University of Edinburgh state that
near-death experiences are the work of neural pathway disturbances caused by a disruption of the
oxygen supply to the brain, and are not
supernatural events. (
Scientific American) • 18 August •
IBM has developed a microprocessor which it claims comes closer than ever to replicating the human brain. The system is capable of "rewiring" its connections as it encounters new information, similar to the way biological synapses work. (BBC) • Within decades,
solar storms are likely to become more disruptive to planes and spacecraft, say researchers at
Reading University. (BBC) successfully tests a new class of conventional explosive, reportedly five times more powerful than existing explosives. • 19 August – The US
Office of Naval Research says that it has successfully tested a new type of explosive material that can dramatically increase weapons' impacts. Missiles made from the high-density substance can explode with up to five times the energy of existing explosives. (BBC) • 22 August – American researchers prototype a basic form of bulletproof skin, based on genetically modified
silkworm threads. (Police One) • 23 August • The natural world contains about 8.7 million
species, according to a new estimate described by scientists as the most accurate ever. However, the vast majority of these species have not been identified – cataloguing them all could take more than 1,000 years. (BBC) • Computer simulations suggest that violent
asteroid impacts flinging life from Earth to other planets is more likely than previously thought. (BBC) (ArXiv) • 24 August –
Antibiotics' impact on
gut bacteria is permanent—and so serious in its long-term consequences that medicine should consider whether to restrict the prescription of antibiotics to pregnant women and young children, according to a new study. (Wired) • 25 August – A
monkey sporting a ginger beard and matching fiery red tail, discovered in a threatened region of the
Brazilian
Amazon, is believed to be a species new to science. (
The Guardian) • 26 August – An
atomic clock at the UK's
National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has the best long-term accuracy of any clock in the world, researchers from NPL and
Penn State University have found. (BBC) • 29 August – Japanese scientists announce an innovation in
wind turbine technology, the
wind lens, which could triple the energy output of wind turbines, making wind energy affectively cheaper than nuclear energy. (Mother Nature Network) (Kyushu University) • 31 August • An engineered
virus, injected into the blood, can selectively target and destroy
cancer cells throughout the body, in what researchers have labelled a medical first. (BBC) • A pill to prevent
sunburn is being developed, using
coral's natural defence against the sun's harmful
ultraviolet rays. (BBC) •
Graphene, the strongest known material on Earth, could help boost
broadband internet speed, say researchers. (BBC) •
AMD has broken the world
overclocking speed record, thanks to the use of
liquid nitrogen and
liquid helium coolant. The company achieved an overclocked frequency of 8.429
GHz on a near-production, eight-core
AMD FX 8150 Bulldozer processor sample. (eweek europe)
September (molecular-scale computer pictured). • 2 September • Researchers create the
smallest electric motor yet devised, made from a single
molecule around a
nanometre across. The invention could have applications in both
nanotechnology and medicine. (BBC) • Researchers report two major breakthroughs in
quantum computing—a quantum system built on the familiar
von Neumann processor-memory architecture, and a working digital quantum simulator built on a quantum-computer platform. (PopSci) •
Yale University researchers have discovered the source of signals that trigger
hair growth, an insight that may lead to new treatments for
baldness. • Scientists map the taste
cortex in
mice, pinpointing the brain regions that detect certain flavors. (PopSci) • Researchers suggest that dry desert planets might be the most common type of habitable planet in the galaxy, rather than watery planets such as
Earth. •
Challacombe scale for a clinical oral dryness score introduced. • 8 September •
Cuban medical authorities release
CimaVax-EGF, the first therapeutic
vaccine for
lung cancer. The vaccine was the result of a 25-year research project at
Havana's
Center of Molecular Immunology. (Xinhua) •
University of Glasgow scientists have taken their first tentative steps towards creating "life" from inorganic chemical cells, potentially defining the new area of "inorganic biology." (
New Scientist) • 9 September – Feeding a
supercomputer with news stories could help predict major world events, according to US researchers. (BBC) (
First Monday) • 12 September •
Arctic sea ice has melted to a historic low, researchers from the
University of Bremen in
Germany report. (CNN) (AMSR-E) • Astronomers using the
European Southern Observatory's
HARPS instrument announce the discovery of more than 50 new
exoplanets – including 16
super-Earths – with one planet reportedly orbiting at the edge of the
habitable zone of its star. By studying the properties of all the HARPS planets found so far, the team has found that about 40% of stars similar to the
Sun have at least one planet lighter than
Saturn. (ESO) publishes the design of its future heavy-lift rocket, the
Space Launch System (concept art shown). • 13 September • The relative risks to the supply of some of Earth's
rarest elements have been detailed in a new list published by the
British Geological Survey (BGS). (BBC) (BGS) • Researchers have developed a sophisticated camera system able to
detect lies by watching facial movements during speech. (BBC) • 14 September •
NASA unveils the design for
a new heavy-lift rocket to take humans to
Mars and the
asteroids. (BBC) • Researchers may have discovered how to safely open and close the
blood–brain barrier, offering a new way to safely deliver therapies to treat
Alzheimer's disease,
multiple sclerosis and cancers of the central nervous system directly to the brain. (Medical Xpress) • 15 September – A piece of
amber discovered in
Alberta, Canada, contains an 80-million-year-old
feather that could provide clues to the
relationship between
dinosaurs and modern avian species. (CBC) • 16 September • Scientists' predictions about the formation and characteristics of
dark matter have been shaken by research into
dwarf galaxies surrounding the
Milky Way. (BBC) • Artificial
blood vessels made on a
3D printer may soon be used for transplants of lab-created organs. (BBC) • 19 September – People with
schizophrenia are six times more likely to develop
epilepsy, reports a
Taiwanese study, which found a strong relationship between the two diseases. (BBC) • 20 September – US researchers say they have demonstrated how
fuel cells powered by
bacteria can be "self-powered" and produce a limitless supply of
hydrogen for
hydrogen cars. (BBC) • 22 September • An international team of scientists at
CERN records
neutrino particles apparently traveling faster than the
speed of light. If confirmed, the discovery would overturn
Albert Einstein's 1905
special theory of relativity, which says that nothing can travel faster than light. (BBC) (ArXiv) • A non-disease-causing
virus kills human
breast cancer cells in the laboratory, creating opportunities for potential new cancer therapies, according to
Penn State College of Medicine researchers who tested the virus on three different breast cancer types. (Pennsylvania State University) • 24 September –
NASA's
Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) deorbits and impacts the
Pacific Ocean, having been decommissioned in 2005. UARS, which was launched in 1991, was designed for the study of
Earth's atmosphere, particularly the
ozone layer. (NASA) • 26 September – Researchers have demonstrated that
electrons can move freely in layers of linked
semiconductor nanoparticles under the influence of light. This discovery may assist the development of cheap and efficient
quantum dot solar cells. • 27 September • Scientists have successfully replaced an injured part of a
rat's brain with a synthetic substitute. (
New Scientist) (SENS Foundation) • Scientists have created a nanostructure which can multiply
stem cells used in therapies – a first step towards developing large-scale stem cell culture factories. (Labmate online) • 29 September • A rocket carrying
China's first space laboratory module,
Tiangong-1, is successfully launched, marking the start of the
Tiangong program to create a modular
space station. (BBC) • A new method for
self-healing materials is presented, inspired by mammalian
vasculature. (BBC) •
Geothermal power plants could help produce
lithium for
electric cars, by way of a new process which extracts lithium from the
brines used to generate electricity in a geothermal power plant. (
Scientific American) • 30 September • Scientists release the most accurate simulation of the structure of the
universe to date. (YouTube) •
Boston Dynamics unveils its AlphaDog military transport robot, a larger, faster and quieter version of its
BigDog prototype. The legged robot can carry up to of cargo, and is designed to support infantry in rough terrain. (TechCrunch)
October • 3 October • The 2011
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is shared by
Bruce Beutler of the United States,
Jules A. Hoffmann of
France and
Ralph M. Steinman of
Canada (posthumously), for their research into the human
immune system. (AP via
New Zealand Herald) (BBC) • The
Atacama Large Millimeter Array in
Chile – the largest and most complex
radio telescope ever built – begins operations. (BBC) • 4 October – The 2011
Nobel Prize in Physics is shared by Drs
Adam Riess,
Saul Perlmutter and
Brian Schmidt for their discoveries relating to
dark energy. (
The New York Times) • 5 October • The 2011
Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Professor
Dan Shechtman of
Iowa State University for the discovery of
quasicrystals. (
The New York Times) • A form of
cloning has been used to create personalised
embryonic stem cells in humans, according to American researchers. (BBC) • 6 October – A "smart pill" has been developed that is able to record accurate information about internal conditions in the
gut, such as acidity, pressure and temperature. (
The Yorkshire Post) • 7 October – Data from the
ESA's
Venus Express probe reveals that the planet
Venus has an
ozone layer in its
upper atmosphere. (BBC) • 10 October • UK doctors report that the
antibiotic normally used to treat
gonorrhoea is no longer effective, because the
sexually transmitted disease is now largely resistant to it. (BBC) (HPA) • Exercise is equally effective at preventing
migraines as drugs, a Swedish study suggests. of the
Black Death which devastated Europe in the 14th century. • 12 October • The genetic code of the germ that caused the 14th-century
Black Death has been reconstructed by scientists for the first time. The British researchers extracted
DNA fragments of the ancient bacterium from the teeth of medieval corpses found in
London. (BBC) •
Ginger supplements may boost
digestive and
colon health, according to a new study. (
Los Angeles Times) • 13 October – Silencing a
protein known as BCL11A can reactivate fetal
hemoglobin production in adult
mice and effectively reverse
sickle cell disease, according to a new study. (MedicalXpress) • 14 October • Seven vehicle manufacturers in Europe and the US have agreed to adopt a standardised, universal charging system for
electric vehicles. (
New Scientist) (Ford) • Using
carbon nanotubes, researchers have created artificial muscles that can twist 1,000 times more than any similar material made in the past—a development that could prove useful in
robotics and
prosthetic limbs. (Technology Review) • 16 October – For the first time, researchers have found a way to inject a precise dose of a
gene therapy agent directly into a single living cell without using a needle. The technique uses electricity to fire therapeutic biomolecules through a tiny channel and into a cell in a fraction of a second. • 17 October – The world's first commercial
spaceport,
Spaceport America, is opened by
Virgin Group chairman
Richard Branson in the
U.S. state of
New Mexico. The
SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is expected to begin commercial flights from the spaceport by 2013. (BBC) • 18 October • The
World Health Organization reports that global
malaria deaths have fallen by 20% since 2001, claiming that over 30 countries are on course to eradicate the
mosquito-borne disease by 2020. The fall in deaths is believed to be the result of improved diagnostic technologies and wider use of
malaria vaccines. (BBC) (WHO) • A
malaria vaccine has shown promising results in a clinical trial in Africa. (BBC) • Europe's highest court, the
European Court of Justice, has ruled that
stem cells from human embryos cannot be
patented, in a case that could have major implications for stem cell research and
regenerative medicine. (BBC) •
Spanish engineers have developed a machine that uses
artificial vision and
UV rays to scan through
citrus fruits and detect rotten ones. (BBC) •
Joseph Fourier University have developed a
biofuel cell that can generate electricity from
glucose and oxygen. This could allow patients to power their own
medical implants. (BBC) • 19 October • British
computer chip designer
ARM unveils the
Cortex A7 processor, which should allow manufacturers to make cheaper and more efficient
smartphones. (BBC) •
Imperial College London researchers have shown
logic gates can be built out of
E. coli bacteria and
DNA. This could be used to make sophisticated diagnostic cells that assess and treat illness in the body. ] • 21 October • The Earth's surface
is undeniably warming, according to a detailed new analysis by an American scientific group. (BBC) (Berkeley Earth Project) • Further research has been published suggesting there is no link between
mobile phones and
brain cancer. The latest study looked at more than 350,000 mobile phone users over an 18-year period. (BBC) • The first two satellites of the
Galileo satellite navigation system are launched from
Guiana Space Center by the
European Space Agency. The Galileo system is intended to reduce Europe's reliance on America's dominant
Global Positioning System (GPS). (Bloomberg) (ESA) • 24 October –
India's
Minister of Health,
Ghulam Nabi Azad, reports that the country has almost entirely eradicated
polio through a
vaccination program which immunises over 170 million children every year. No new polio cases have been reported in India for over nine months. (BBC) , the first major airliner to significantly incorporate
composite materials, completes its first commercial flight. • 25 October • Human DNA may carry a 'memory' of living conditions in childhood, according to a new study. (Science Blog) •
Space telescope observations indicate that the
supernova RCW 86, first seen by
Chinese astronomers in 185 AD, expanded at an unprecedented rate due to the formation of a
vacuum-like "cavity" around it in the early stages of the death of its
star. The expansion of the supernova, which was visible even in daylight when first discovered, has remained a mystery for nearly 2,000 years. (BBC) • The last of the
United States'
B53 nuclear warheads is disassembled near
Amarillo,
Texas. The nine-
megaton bomb, which first entered service in 1962, was formerly the most powerful
nuclear weapon in the country's
nuclear arsenal, possessing nearly 600 times the yield of the
Little Boy atomic bomb that destroyed
Hiroshima in 1945. (
New York Daily News) • 26 October • The
Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a
composite-based
airliner with up to 20% greater fuel efficiency than previous models, completes its first commercial flight for
All Nippon Airways, after a three-year production delay. (BBC) • American scientists confirm that an infectious
fungus,
Geomyces destructans, is responsible for the incurable
white-nose syndrome that has decimated
bat populations across North America since 2006. (BBC) • Scientists at the
University of Hong Kong have found that the
cosmic dust permeating the universe contains complex
organic matter, described as "amorphous organic solids with a mixed
aromatic-
aliphatic structure". Such organic matter could be created naturally, and rapidly, by
stars. (Space.com) • 27 October • Researchers in
Oxford,
England, begin human trials of a pioneering
gene therapy technique, which is hoped to provide a cure for crippling
ocular defects such as
retinal
choroideremia. (BBC) • New measurements reveal that the
dwarf planet Eris is almost identical in size to
Pluto, which was deemed to be a dwarf planet in 2006. (
Wired) (ESO) reaches seven billion, according to a
United Nations estimate. • 28 October • British scientists report that a daily dose of
aspirin can reduce the incidence of
bowel cancer in people at high risk of the disease. (BBC) • Human-caused climate change is already a major factor in more frequent Mediterranean droughts, according to a new study, which shows that the magnitude and frequency of drying is too great to be explained by natural variability alone. (NOAA) • NASA launches the
NPOESS Preparatory Project – the first of its next generation of polar-orbiting satellites dedicated to gathering weather and climate data. (BBC) (NASA) • 29 October –
CERN researchers attempt to repeat
a recent experiment that apparently yielded
faster-than-light neutrinos, using a more efficient system of measurement to validate their results. (
The Guardian) • 31 October • An investigation into social-psychology research papers uncovered massive amount of academic fraud at Dutch Universities. At least 30 papers by psychologist
Diederik Stapel are found to have been faked. • The
world population reaches seven billion, according to the
United Nations. (
The Guardian)
November isolation experiment (facility diagram shown) ends in
Moscow, having simulated a 520-day
human mission to Mars. • 1 November •
India announces plans for a prototype
nuclear power plant that uses
thorium – an innovative, potentially safer nuclear fuel. (
The Guardian) • Scientists have transformed age-worn cells in people over 90 – including a
centenarian – into rejuvenated stem cells that are "indistinguishable" from those found in
embryos. (Medical Xpress) • 2 November •
China's uncrewed
Shenzhou 8 spacecraft robotically docks with the orbiting
Tiangong-1 space station module, marking China's first orbital docking, and a major milestone in its efforts to construct a
full-scale space station by 2020. (BBC) • American researchers delay, and in some cases even eliminate, the onset of age-related symptoms such as wrinkles, muscle wasting and
cataracts in mice. The development may have significant implications for the study and treatment of such symptoms in humans. (BBC) •
Morocco is chosen as the first location for
Desertec – a German-led, €400bn project to build a vast network of
solar and
windfarms across North Africa and the Middle East, with the aim of providing 15% of Europe's electricity supply by 2050. (
The Guardian) • 4 November • Six men emerge from the 520-day
MARS-500 isolation experiment, which aimed to simulate a
human mission to Mars. The experiment, undertaken at a
Moscow scientific institute, was intended to investigate the isolation of long-duration spaceflight and its effects on the human body and mind. (BBC) • A 20-year-old alternative
solar cell design using dye-sensitized nanocrystal cells (DSC) could lead to cheap,
printable cells, revolutionising
solar power use worldwide, according to a new study. (KurzweilAI) • 5 November • An American doctor claims that
brown eyes can safely and permanently be turned
blue by using short
laser pulses to destroy pigment in the
iris. (BBC) • An official
White House report states that "The
U.S. government has no evidence that any
life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race." It furthermore asserts that there is "no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye." Although odds are "pretty high" that there may be life on other planets, "the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any
intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved." (UniverseToday) (White House) • 6 November –
Dopamine-producing brain cells that are killed off by
Parkinson's disease have been grown from stem cells and grafted into monkeys' brains by American researchers, in a major step towards new treatments for the condition. (
The Guardian) releases an enhanced version of its
Asimo humanoid robot (earlier version pictured). • 8 November • The
asteroid YU55 makes a close Earth flyby, passing within 0.85
lunar distances (about 201,700 miles) of the Earth. YU55 is approximately across, and is the largest asteroid to make a close pass since 1976. Another comparable flyby will not occur until 2028. (BBC) • Russia launches the
Fobos-Grunt probe, marking the nation's first attempt at an interplanetary mission since 1996. The mission's goal is to obtain samples from
Phobos' surface and return them to Earth in 2014. The Chinese
Yinghuo-1 probe, China's first
Mars-exploration spacecraft, is also launched. However, despite reaching orbit successfully, the two spacecraft are left unable to begin their journey to Mars, due to the failure of a secondary engine to ignite. (Space.com) (BBC) •
Honda revamps its
humanoid robot,
Asimo, giving it enhanced
artificial intelligence, the ability to move without being controlled by an operator, and a greater capability to cope with different situations. (USA Today) • A Scottish-designed
bionic leg exoskeleton, designed to allow disabled people to walk, is approved for sale in the United Kingdom. (BBC) • 9 November • Dutch scientists build a
nanoscopic "
electric car" made of a single complex
molecule, capable of travelling small distances when an electric current is applied to it. Though currently at a rudimentary level of development, the invention may have applications in the fields of
nanorobotics and
molecular machinery. (BBC) • A team of scientists in Japan synthesize the world's first
stem-cell-derived
pituitary gland. (Technology Review) • If current trends continue, Earth will almost certainly suffer a mass extinction of species, according to a major new survey of 583 conservation scientists published in
Conservation Biology. • 10 November • No wild
black rhinos remain in West Africa, according to the latest global assessment of threatened species. (BBC) (IUCN) • British computer chip designer
ARM unveils its latest graphics processing unit (GPU) for mobile devices. The Mali-T658 offers up to ten times the performance of its predecessor, and may start to appear in devices towards the end of 2013. (BBC) (ARM) • A method of communicating with
brain-damaged patients who appear to be in a
vegetative state is discovered by scientists in the UK and
Belgium. (BBC) • 14 November • A study of
heart failure patients treated with their own stem cells has achieved striking results and could result in the biggest breakthrough in a generation. (Daily Telegraph) • Scientists have used brain scan images to create the world's first movie of the female brain as it approaches, experiences and recovers from an
orgasm. (The Guardian) (Neuroscience 2011) • 15 November • 95% of adults worldwide now own
cellphones, according to a new study. (Market Watch) • British doctors report that they have cured a baby boy of a life-threatening
liver disease using implanted cells which acted like a temporary liver, allowing the damaged organ to recover. The cell implant technique, developed by researchers at
King's College Hospital, London, is described as a world first. (BBC) • American researchers report that the recharge speed of
lithium-ion batteries can be significantly enhanced by making millions of tiny holes in them. The discovery could lead to laptop and cellphone batteries which recharge ten times faster and hold a charge ten times larger than current technology allows. (BBC) • 16 November • Police in
Northern Ireland consider the use of airborne
surveillance drones to combat crime, following the adoption of such technology by other UK police forces. Canadian drone manufacturer
Aeryon Labs is cited as a potential supplier. (BBC) •
Intel debuts an accelerator
chip capable of running at speeds of one
teraflop at a
supercomputing conference in
Seattle. The device, dubbed
Knights Corner, combines 50 individual processor cores into a single chip. (BBC) (Intel) • A report commissioned by the
State of New York warns that future
Hurricane Irene-like storms could put a third of
New York City under water and flood many of the tunnels leading into
Manhattan in under an hour, due to the effects of
climate change. (
The Guardian) (NYSERDA) • Scientists report that estimates of the rate of
amphibian population decline are too optimistic, and that populations could decline even faster than previously thought. (
The Guardian) • 17 November • Researchers at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology design a computer chip that mimics the way that the human brain's
neurons adapt in response to new information. (BBC) (MIT) • China's uncrewed
Shenzhou 8 spacecraft returns to Earth after successfully docking with the orbiting
Tiangong-1 laboratory module. The crewed
Shenzhou 9 and
10 follow-up missions are expected to visit Tiangong-1 in 2012. (BBC) • For the first time, astronomers have produced a complete description of a
black hole. The American team conducted precise measurements using ground- and orbit-based telescopes, allowing them to reconstruct the complete history of the
Cygnus X-1 object from its birth some six million years ago. • 18 November • A team of American engineers claims to have created the world's lightest material – a
microlattice of metallic tubes 100 times lighter than
Styrofoam, with "extraordinary" energy absorption properties. The new material may have applications in the development of next-generation batteries and
shock absorbers. (BBC) •
OPERA physicists conduct a follow-up experiment which confirms their earlier observations, first reported on 22 September 2011, of
neutrinos apparently exceeding the speed of light. (
The New York Times) (arXiv) • The
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command successfully tests a new
hypersonic weapon system, capable of striking targets away in under 30 minutes. The weapon was developed as part of the
Prompt Global Strike program. (BBC) • American scientists develop an ultra-thin, ultra-flexible brain implant with resolution fifty times greater than was previously possible, designed to monitor
epileptic seizures. The device could revolutionize
epilepsy treatment and lead to a deeper understanding of brain function. (Technology Review) • 19 November – A computer system able to
read scientific papers in a similar way to humans promises breakthroughs in
cancer research, according to scientists at
Cambridge University. Called CRAB, the system is able to trawl through millions of peer-reviewed articles for clues to the causes of
tumours. (
The Telegraph) • 22 November –
University of Washington scientists successfully trial a new generation of
contact lenses capable of projecting images in front of the eyes. Human trials are expected to follow the successful animal trials. • 23 November – A study published in
Nature shows that recent melting of Arctic sea ice is unprecedented on a historic timescale and cannot be explained by natural processes alone. • 24 November – Japanese researchers have developed a way to illuminate tiny, hidden tumors with a
fluorescent spray. Within minutes, doctors can track down residual cancer that has
spread and scattered throughout the body, helping to ensure that no tumors are left behind during surgery. (Smart Planet) successfully launches its
Mars Science Laboratory mission, which landed the
Curiosity Mars rover (artist's impression pictured) on Mars in 2012. whereupon the rover began its search for evidence of past or present
life on Mars. (
Chicago Tribune) (Launch Video – 04:00) • 28 November • An American
carbon capture and storage (CCS) project begins a three-year trial to pump one million tonnes of
CO2 underground. (Click Green) (MGSC) • Swiss researchers are developing magnetic nanoparticles that could be used to remove harmful substances from the bloodstream. (Technology Review) • 30 November • Researchers at
Washington State University develop an artificial bone "scaffold" which can be produced using
3D printers, potentially allowing doctors to quickly print replacement bone tissue for injured patients. (BBC) • As the
Arctic warms, thawing
permafrost will release
greenhouse gases faster and at significantly higher levels than previous estimates, according to survey results from 41 international scientists.
December scientists successfully induce
quantum entanglement in two
diamonds, the first time entanglement has been achieved in objects visible to the naked eye. • 1 December –
Oxford University researchers successfully
entangle two millimeter-scale
diamonds using controlled laser pulses. This represents the first known instance of quantum entanglement in objects
large enough to see with the naked eye. (
Nature News) • 2 December • Scientists suggest "
flerovium" and "
livermorium" as names for the newest additions to the
periodic table. (BBC) • Researchers have created an advanced
fuel cell which could give
electric cars greater range, while keeping CO2 emissions low. (Technology Review) • Researchers from the
London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) discover a property of
graphene that could widen its applications in
nanotechnology. The team of scientists observed the surface of graphene sheets and found a series of ridges on the material, which could improve understanding of
superconductivity. (The Engineer) • 5 December • NASA's
exoplanet-hunting
Kepler mission confirms its first extrasolar planet in the
habitable zone of a Sun-like star. The planet,
Kepler-22b, is around 2.5 times the size of Earth, and may have a surface temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, making it potentially suitable for terrestrial life. (BBC) (NASA) • New research suggests that at least three-quarters of the rise in average global temperatures since the 1950s is due to human activity. (
The Age) • American scientists report the discovery of the two largest
supermassive black holes known to science. The two black holes each have a mass nearly 10 billion times greater than the Sun. (BBC) • German researchers have demonstrated a
graphene-based
transistor array that is compatible with living biological cells and capable of recording the electrical signals they generate. (The Engineer) • 6 December – When climate data is adjusted to remove the impact of short-term factors such as
El Niño-Southern Oscillation,
volcanic aerosols and
solar variability, the global warming signal becomes even more evident, according to a new study. • 8 December • NASA's
Opportunity Mars rover finds veins of
gypsum on the surface of
Mars, strongly implying the presence of liquid water on the planet. (BBC) • Spanish researchers unveil a process which allows highly complex shapes to be "carved" into
nanoparticles, potentially revolutionising medical tests and drugs treatments. (BBC) • 9 December – Biologists at
Tufts University coax tissue to grow a new organ by simply altering the membrane voltage gradients of cells. In the experiment,
tadpoles were made to grow new eyes outside of their head areas. • 13 December • Plumes of
methane – a
greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – are observed bubbling to the surface of the
Arctic Ocean by scientists surveying the region. (
The Independent) • Researchers at the
Large Hadron Collider report that the elusive
Higgs boson may have been glimpsed during particle collisions. (BBC) , allowing it to image the motion of individual light waves. • 14 December •
MIT scientists develop an imaging system capable of capturing images at one trillion
frames per second – fast enough to image individual light waves travelling through space. (MSNBC) •
Microsoft co-founder
Paul Allen and aerospace engineer
Burt Rutan announce plans to develop a
commercial spaceflight venture, dubbed Stratolaunch Systems, using a giant carrier aircraft to launch rockets from the upper atmosphere. The first uncrewed test flights of the system are expected to begin in 2016. (
Huffington Post) • 15 December • American researchers extend the lifespan of
fruit flies by up to 50% by tweaking genes in the flies' intestines. (GizMag) •
Columbia University researchers publish a survey,
began in 2003, revealing that
same-sex marriage improves the health of
gay men overall. The study recorded a reduction in
depression, blood-pressure issues, and stress-related disorders. The reaction of
lesbians was not studied. (BBC) • 16 December • Chinese engineers demonstrate a chemical coating, based on
titanium dioxide, which allows
cotton clothes to clean themselves of stains when exposed to sunlight. • The
Energy Saving Trust (EFT) reports the results of a trial of
LED light fittings in social housing in the United Kingdom. The LED fittings offered significant improvements in efficiency over traditional light fittings, and also proved more popular with residents. The EFT predicts a substantial market share for LED lighting by 2015. (BBC) (EST) •
Brown University engineers reveal a system that can efficiently remove traces of toxic
heavy metals from water. The technique is reportedly scalable and commercially viable. • 17 December – American researchers report advances in
solar cell efficiency, using
quantum dot technology to capture additional electrons from photons striking solar panels. (CNET) • 19 December – Scientists at the
University of California report a major breakthrough in the cultivation of
drought-tolerant crops. • 20 December • Scientists operating the
Kepler Space Telescope report the discovery of the first truly
Earth-sized extrasolar planets,
Kepler-20e and
Kepler-20f, orbiting a
Sun-like star,
Kepler-20. (NASA) • A potential new
malaria vaccine has shown promise in animal studies, according to
Oxford University researchers. The team plans to start safety trials in human volunteers, following lab tests which showed the vaccine to be effective against all known strains of malaria. (BBC) • Canadian scientists win approval to start human trials of an experimental
HIV vaccine. (
The Star) s have devastated populations of small mammals in the
Florida Everglades. • 21 December • Researchers at the
University of Notre Dame reveal an inexpensive "solar paint" that uses
semiconducting nanoparticles to capture solar energy. • According to a study published in
PNAS, the introduction of non-native
snakes into
southern Florida swamps has devastated the population of small mammals in the region, with sightings of species such as
raccoons declining by 99% since 2000. (Davidson Herpetology Laboratory) • 22 December •
China conducts its
18th successful orbital launch of 2011, marking the first year that more Chinese than American spacecraft were launched. (
Wired) •
University of Texas researchers report that solar cells can be made to yield more energy by exploiting a so-called "shadow state" of
photons, doubling the number of
electrons that may be harvested in the process. The discovery could allow the theoretical maximum
efficiency of silicon solar cells to be increased from 31% to 44%. (GizMag) • American researchers unveil self-repairing electronic chips that can repair broken circuits by releasing microcapsules of conductive liquid metal. (BBC) •
Harvard University researchers develop a method of
supercooling that could generate the lowest temperatures yet achieved on Earth, potentially aiding the creation of
quantum computers. (BBC) • Researchers at
CERN's
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) report the discovery of a new particle, dubbed
Chib(3P). The discovery marks the LHC's first clear observation of a new particle since it became operational in 2009. (BBC) (arXiv) • 27 December • China activates its
Compass satellite navigation system, a rival to the American
Global Positioning System (GPS), offering navigation services on the Chinese mainland. The system, also known as Beidou-2, is expected to offer global coverage by 2020. (BBC) • China unveils a prototype
high-speed train capable of reaching speeds of over , the first ultra-high-speed train developed by China without the aid of international partnerships. (
Financial Times) • 29 December •
South Korean researchers begin the development of microscopic robots capable of entering human
blood vessels to treat illnesses. The microbots, which measure just 1 millimeter in diameter, are steered and propelled by externally induced magnetic fields. (Innovation News Daily) • The
wildlife trade monitor group Traffic reports that more
ivory was seized in 2011 than in any year since 1989. Around of ivory – representing at least 2,500 dead
elephants – were intercepted in 13 operations, mostly in shipments intended for the Asian market. (BBC) (Traffic) • Chemists at
Harvard University report the creation of a self-assembling artificial
cell membrane, formed from an oil/
detergent emulsion mixed with copper ions. • 31 December –
NASA's
GRAIL-A satellite enters lunar orbit, to be joined the following day by its twin, GRAIL-B. The two spacecraft will map the Moon's gravitational field in unprecedented detail, with the aim of improving scientists' understanding of how the Moon formed. (NASA) ==Prizes==