Top Science Story of 2013?
December 27, 2013
So what’s your top science story from 2013? Atmospheric CO2 hits 400 ppm? Or was it organs from stem cells: liver buds and brain organoids? Or else the host of new gene therapy miracle cures that avoid mentioning AIDS-related vectors? Or the non-surprise that fracking does cause earthquakes? Or the truly amazing discovery of argon-containing molecules in the Crab Nebula?
I have my own choice, but first let’s hear all yours.
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Ultraphyte 
I like the inception-like false memory implant for coolness: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6144/387
and “ASTEROID may ‘BLOW UP EARTH’ in 2032, warns Russian space boss” for the writing:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/18/were_doomed_again_as_astronomers_spot_asteroid_that_could_hit_earth_in_2032/
Brain imaging looks spookier all the time. There is some credible research claiming to read dreams. I think this area looks more impressive in science than science fiction; by contrast, the film Inception looked laughable IMHO.
I’m biased, but I was very pleased to hear of a new cure for Hep C http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/05/248934833/fda-set-to-approve-hepatitis-drug
Yes, the past two years have seen enormous advances in understanding Hepatitis C and approving new treatments. My third edition has a whole new section on HCV.
I don’t know why that would surprise me–there’s never been any limits on your abilities. You’re a writer and a teacher and a microbiologist–why wouldn’t you be writing the text for the subject, as well? You never fail to impress, Ms. S.
Hope you and yours had a great holiday–and will find even more happiness in the coming year.
Not strictly a 2013 invention/discovery, but all the really cool things that people are doing with 3D printers blow my mind. It is the closest that we have ever gotten to replicators…
The most amazing 3D idea is the prospect of 3D printing new tissues and organs.
Hello,
More of an engineering story, but I was excited and amazed to hear that the first commercial wave-powered water desalination plant is about to go on-line (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/08/30/2554091/ocean-waves-freshwater/). It’s a clean energy/clean water two-fer.
But the accelerating discovery of earth-like planets, and the new estimates of the huge numbers of these earth-like planets in the Goldilocks zone, has to go to the top of my list. See, for example, http://www.universetoday.com/106121/22-of-sun-like-stars-have-earth-sized-planets-in-the-habitable-zone/. Maybe we’re really not alone?
That’s really encouraging about desalination; we certainly will need more fresh water (and the load under Greenland is unlikely to help.)
I’m encouraged to hear that “one in five stars” may have a habitable planet. Back when I started writing SF, the consensus was more stark. Astronomers argued that there were so many picky factors that had to be “just right,” that getting a livable planet was almost impossible.
The other water story I found fascinating this year was this one: Vast freshwater reserves found beneath the oceans: http://t.co/viHWsnoAPQ. HUGE, but hard to access and non-renewable.
The existence of undersea freshwater is fascinating for its implications of what kind of life may exist there. As a practical source for drinking, the problems are (1) Math. Do we spend more energy drilling for the water than desalinating seawater? (2) Pollution & destabilization. Like fracking, will the means to get the water permanently pollute the sediment–and perhaps cause undersea landslides?