In November 2010, astronomers spotted the dumbbell-shaped feature (centre) emerges from the galactic centre. It spans the sky from the constellation Virgo to the constellation Grus.
Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT/D. Finkbeiner et al.
SYDNEY: What were you reading in 2010? Everything from selecting sperm and finding new Australian meteorite craters to carbon dating wine and mimicking evolution in a test tube.
Here are the 10 most popular science news stories of 2010.
10. WOMEN'S BODIES 'CHOOSY' ABOUT SPERM
A woman's body may be unconsciously selective about sperm, allowing some men's to progress to pregnancy but killing off the chances of less suitable matches, an Australian researcher said.
9. HINTS OF DARK MATTER DETECTED ON EARTH
There is a 75% chance that scientists have detected dark matter, in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), at an experiment deep underground in Minnesota, USA.
8. DID AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES REACH AMERICA FIRST?
Cranial features distinctive to Australian Aborigines are present in hundreds of skulls that have been uncovered in Central and South America, some dating back to over 11,000 years ago.
7. THIS CANCER CURE WILL MAKE YOU SICK
Treating tumours with Salmonella bacteria induces an immune response that effectively kills cancer cells, Italian scientists announced.
6. MASSIVE GAMMA-RAY BUBBLES DISCOVERED IN MILKY WAY
Two huge, mysterious gamma ray-emitting bubbles have been discovered at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, U.S. astronomers said.
5. GIANT CRATER MAY HAVE BEEN EXTINCTION TRIGGER
One of the largest meteorite impacts in the world has been discovered in the Australian outback - an impact so powerful it may have been the trigger for a major extinction event.
4. CARBON DATNG REVEALS FRAUD IN VINTAGE WINES
Up to 5% of fine wines are not from the year the label indicates, according to Australian researchers who have carbon dated some top dollar wines.
3. ABORIGINAL FOLKLORE LEADS TO METEORITE CRATER
An Australian Aboriginal 'Dreaming' story has helped experts uncover a meteorite impact crater in the outback of the Northern Territory.
2. PHOTOSYNTHESIS USES QUANTUM EFFECTS
Quantum effects are used to absorb and move around light energy during photosynthesis, scientists said, and its the first time such long-lived effects have been seen in this temperature range.
1. LIFE-LIKE EVOLUTION IN A TEST TUBE
Can life arise from nothing but a chaotic assortment of basic molecules? The answer is a lot closer following a series of ingenious experiments that have shown evolution at work in non-living molecules.
