Top 10 scientific breakthroughs 2012 - Science Magazine

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Here is the 2012 top 10 scientific breakthroughs ranking of the Science Magazine, one of the world's top scientific journals.

Breakthrough of the Year, 2012



Every year, crowning one scientific achievement as Breakthrough of the Year is no easy task, and 2012 was no exception. The year saw leaps and bounds in physics, along with significant advances in genetics, engineering, and many other areas. In keeping with tradition, Science’s editors and staff have selected a winner and nine runners-up, as well as highlighting the year’s top news stories and areas to watch in 2013.

http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/btoy2012/

The Discovery of the Higgs Boson

Exotic particles made headlines again and again in 2012, making it no surprise that the breakthrough of the year is a big physics finding: confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson at the LHC at CERN. Hypothesized more than 40 years ago, the elusive particle completes the standard model of physics, and is arguably the key to the explanation of how other fundamental particles obtain mass. The only mystery that remains is whether its discovery marks a new dawn for particle physics or the final stretch of a field that has run its course.

Denisovan Genome

Scientists in Germany used a new technique to sequence the complete genome of an enigmatic group of humans called the Denisovans, based on a tiny sample teased from a finger bone some 80,000 years old found in a cave in Siberia. Nothing was known about the Denisovans other than that they were contemporaries of the Neanderthals, another "cousin" species of modern humans.

Eggs from Stem Cells

Japanese scientists created viable egg cells using embryonic stem cells from adult mice. The breakthrough raises the possibility that women who are unable to produce eggs naturally could have them created in a test tube from their own cells and then implanted in their body.

Curiosity Landing

NASA engineers landed the 3.3 ton Mars Curiosity rover on the Red Planet by using an innovative landing system that dangled the vehicle, with its wheels out, at the end of three cables. "The flawless landing reassured planners that NASA could someday land a second mission near an earlier rover to pick up samples the rover collected and return them to Earth," Science said.

Genome Engineering

Researchers led by Stephen Ekker, a molecular biologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, have for the first time made custom changes to parts of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) genome, using artificial enzymes to cut portions of DNA out of targeted positions in a gene sequence, and replace them with synthetic DNA.

This technology (transcription activator-like effector nucleases - TALENs) could be as effective, and even cheaper, than current gene-targeting techniques and could let researchers focus on specific roles for genes and mutations in healthy and sick people.

Majorana Fermions

Scientists at TU Delft’s Kavli Institute and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM Foundation) have succeeded for the first time in detecting a Majorana particle. They confirmed the existence of Majorana fermions, particles that can act as their own antimatter and destroy themselves. Scientists believe that "qubits" made of Majorana fermions could be used to more efficiently store and process data than the bits currently used in digital computers.

ENCODE

The ENCODE Project launched by the US National Human Genome Research Institute, which showed that 80 percent of the human genome is active and helps turn genes on and off. The new information could help scientists understand genetic risk factors for diseases.

Controlling Bionics

Scientists at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have devised a brain-machine interface that allows paralyzed humans to move a mechanical arm with their minds and perform movements in three dimensions. The experimental technology is promising for patients paralyzed by strokes and spinal injuries.

X-ray Laser Advances

A international collaboration with scientists from Germany, Sweden and the USA with the use of X-rays from the free-electron laser Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) at the US National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC in California, which shines one billion times brighter than traditional synchroton sources, allowed them to determine the structure of a protein involved in the transmission of African sleeping sickness. "The advance demonstrated the potential of X-ray lasers to decipher proteins that conventional X-ray sources cannot," Science said.

Neutrino Mixing Angle

Researchers in China at the the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plan discovered the final unknown parameter of a model describing how sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos change as they travel at near-light speed. The results suggest that neutrino physics may someday help researchers explain why the universe contains so much matter and so little antimatter.

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Some pictures and diagrams of the scientific breakthroughs and the facilities used.

The Neutrino Detector at China's DayaBay reactor



The LHC at CERN, where the Higgs boson was confirmed



The excavation of Denisova Cave in southern Siberia where a finger bone and two molars where discovered and used to sequence the Denisovan genome



Japanese scientists created viable egg cells using embryonic stem cells from adult mice.



NASA's Curiosity rover is as big as a compact car and weighs a ton ... and it's on Mars. Here's where the journey began. A white-room team works on the six-wheeled spacecraft on Aug. 13, 2011, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.



Ying Wang, left, and Jeffrey Essner, right, are breaking ground in advancing techniques (TALENs) to edit the genes of zebrafish.



Two Majorana fermions (orange balls) are produced at the end of the nanowire in an experiment at TU Delft



The ENCODE Project



Jan Scheuermann, 53, of Whitehall Borough in Pittsburgh, has been able to move an arm, turn and bend a wrist and close a hand for the first time in nine years, thanks to brain-computer interface (BCI) technology.



Linac Coherent Light Source SXR at the US National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC in California

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Some more pictures and videos about the facilities on the list and the breakthroughs















Daya Bay Neutrino Experiment







Linac Coherent Light Source SXR







Jeffrey Essner, associate professor of genetics and cell biology, looks at one-day-old zebra fish embryos trough a microscope. Since the embryos are transparent, Essner can view the entire cardiovascular system.



Jeffrey Essner, associate professor of genetics and cell biology, looks at one of the fish tanks in his "fish room." The fish are all housed in tanks like these in the room.