Synthetic life? Colonies of Craig Venter's so-called "Synthia" –they turned blue when they had taken in foreign DNA.
Credit: Craig Venter Institute
SYDNEY: From stem cells and protons to Neanderthals and the Moon. Here are the top 10 science stories of 2010, as chosen by the editors at COSMOS.
10. NERVE CELLS CREATED FROM SKIN CELLS
Scientists found a way to turn adult skin cells directly into nerve cells. This means regenerative medicine is still a possibility without the need for embryonic stem cells.
9. THE LANCET RETRACTS PAPER LINKING MMR VACCINE TO AUTISM
Vaccination rates are dropping in Australia and around the world. It's a scary thought, but it's made worse by the fact that many anti-vaccination groups use poor science as their evidence. The Lancet should have retracted the paper much earlier, but it's better late than never.
8. OOPS! PROTON SMALLER THAN THOUGHT
In July, scientists lobbed a bombshell into the world of sub-atomic theory by reporting that a primary building block of the visible universe, the proton, is smaller than previously thought. The revised measurements shave 4% off the particle's radius.
7. MIGHT FUSION REALLY BE POSSIBLE?
Controlled nuclear fusion has long been imagined as a limitless, carbon-free and radioactive-waste source, it could lead to the development, by around 2035, of huge electric generators powered by fusion. Replicating the scorching temperatures and intense pressures of this process in a controlled, measurable way was one of the biggest obstacles to replicating fusion. In January, a team at the U.S. National Ignition Facility in California proved it is possible.
6. NASA FOUND EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE!
Oh, wait, no it didn't.
In a hyped-up press release at the start of December, NASA announced they'd discovered something "that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life" … and sent the blogosphere into a tail-chasing frenzy. Suggestions included microbes on the Red Planet, photosynthesis on Titan, or perhaps even bacteria on an asteroid.
It was none of that - but NASA had discovered a bacteria that could eat arsenic and even go so far as to incorporate some of it into its DNA.
