Museum of Science, Boston

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December 18, 2009

Museum Education Associate Susan Heilman has compiled her list of the year's ten best science stories, based on the relevance of the story to the intersection of science and society. This year also marks an anniversary of one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of all time: the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species. Read on to see if any of these stories might stand the test of time and be honored in 150 years.

1. A Flu for All Seasons

The weather is colder, which means flu season is here, but in 2009, the H1N1 type A flu has been a virus for all seasons. This particular strain has reached pandemic proportions over the past eight months, in spite of the flu's traditional association with fall and winter. The so-called "swine" flu is transmissible from human to human, but it contains parts of avian, porcine (swine), and human strains of flu. This combination makes it a never-before-seen virus, and in 2009, pharmaceutical companies were racing to make a vaccine against it. The shot is made exactly the same way as the seasonal flu vaccine and is currently being used as fast as it can be shipped.

2. Walk Like A Man

October brought the announcement of the discovery of our newest, oldest human ancestor, Ardipithecus ramidus. "Ardi" was a 110-pound female who lived and walked in Ethiopia 4.4 million years ago. That's right, she walked upright on two legs — she was not a knuckle-walker like our chimpanzee cousins, our closest living relatives. The strangest part of her locomotion is not that she was able to walk upright, indicated by her partially intact pelvis, but that she was also very agile at climbing trees, which scientists learned from her toes and ankle. This amazing hominid discovery even suggests a reason for the evolution of bipedalism: monogamous sex. Carrying offspring and / or more food in two hands could be considered attractive qualities in a mate.

3. One More Small Step

The Eagle landed 40 years ago, and it has been 37 years since a human has set foot on the Moon. Now, many scientists and engineers are laying the groundwork for a return mission. In June, NASA sent lunar "scouts" in the form of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). The LRO brought a plethora of equipment to take pictures, measure altitudes, record temperatures, and search for water -- one of the most important commodities if humans are to return to the Moon. (It can be used for hydrogen fuel, breathable oxygen, and drinking liquid.) In October, LCROSS crashed into the southern pole of the Moon and confirmed the presence of large amounts of ice water in a crater.

4. UN Climate Summit

Living in the Northeast in December, when it can get very cold, it's hard to focus on global warming and climate change. This year, there were several Climate Change meetings around the world, culminating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December. More than 85 world leaders were in attendance, and the goal was simple: save the world from an environmental Armageddon. However, there was conflict between developed and developing countries; should those making the most greenhouse gases contribute the most to reducing them? And what is a satisfactory reduction in emission levels? Participants have made progress, and most are hopeful, but only the future will tell if this conference was a success.

5. Diagnosing Disease

Dr. George Whitesides's goal to make diagnostic testing easy and accessible has quickly been recognized for its potential to aid medical monitoring in under-developed countries. The technology developed in his Harvard lab uses microfluidics and paper. Liquids naturally move through paper, and Dr. Whitesides devised a way to make tiny "micro" channels in the paper direct the fluid (urine, blood, etc.) toward certain chemicals. The liquid then interacts with the chemicals and turns a certain color based on the result of the test. Clinics in remote areas can then use a cell phone camera to send an image to a doctor for more immediate medical diagnosis.

6. Oldest Object in the Universe

What does a 10-second-gamma-ray burst from space, followed by infrared radiation with no visible light signature mean to you? Probably not much, but scientists from Harvard University see it as a window to the past. In April, a massive star called GRB 090423 exploded in the constellation Leo. Based on the wavelengths of radiation detected, the star exploded 13 billion years ago, approximately 630 million years after the Big Bang. Not only is it now the oldest object ever observed, but this explosion also tells us more about the beginnings of the universe. Until now, astronomers did not have proof that massive stars existed this early, and this information may help scientists understand the evolution of stars and galaxies.

7. A Good Start to a Tough Vaccine

Since its initial discovery in 1981, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has become a global pandemic. HIV, which eventually leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), causes millions of deaths each year. Despite the success of antiviral treatments to significantly improve the life expectancy for many HIV-positive individuals, prevention is still a priority. The search for an HIV vaccine has been difficult, but this past September a breakthrough was finally reported. Researchers in Thailand conducted a large-scale vaccine trial with over 16,000 volunteers. Although the vaccine was only about 30% effective in reducing HIV infection, this is a significant and useful starting point to adapt and optimize for a more successful vaccine in the future.

8. A Very Old Primate

The oldest hominid ever found is about 6 million years old. The oldest monkey? About 30-40 million years old. Imagine the impact of Ida (pictured): at 47 million years old, she is one of the oldest primates ever found. She is also the most complete primate fossil ever found before the advent of human burial. Not only are all of her bones present (except for one leg), but her discoverers could also observe the outline of her fur and stomach contents — her last meal consisted of leaves and fruits. She was about the size of a cat and also had opposable digits — a characteristic distinctive of primates. Although humans did not evolve from a monkey, we may have evolved from something monkey-like which may have looked more like Ida.

9. Are We Alone?

With billions of stars in our galaxy and billions of galaxies in the universe, it seems pretty hard to believe that our planet is the only one with any form of life on it. The Kepler telescope, launched in March, is seeking to find other Earth-like planets which are solid rather than gaseous, similar in size to Earth, and a certain distance from the star they orbit. They are so small that they can only be found with a satellite in space looking for the shadow that the planet casts in front of its star. The next step is to try to detect an atmosphere and any signs of life, but an exploration mission is not in the immediate future because of the distance any of these planets would be from Earth.

10. Giant Snake

When the dinosaurs went extinct, it did not mean that gigantic animals were gone from the Earth. Approximately 58 - 60 million years ago, Titanoboa cerrejonensis walked, er, slithered through the rainforests of present-day Colombia. As its name suggests, this snake was titanic in size, approximately 42 feet long and weighing 1.3 tons — the largest snake ever known to exist. However, larger reptilian bodies need a warmer climate to sustain them, and this snake's size suggests to scientists that the climate from this time period must have been significantly warmer than previously thought, even for the tropics: an average of 86 - 93 degrees Fahrenheit.