1. Ardipithecus ramidus The research that brought to light the fossils of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia, has topped Science’s list of this year’s most significant scientific breakthroughs. The monumental find predates ‘Lucy,’ — previously the most ancient partial skeleton of a hominid on record — by more than one million years, and it inches researchers ever-closer to the last common ancestor shared by humans and chimpanzees.The Ardipithecus research “changes the way we think about early human evolution.
2. Pulsars detected by Fermi: NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope helped to identify previously unknown pulsars — highly magnetized and rapidly rotating neutron stars—and shed light onto their unique gamma-ray emissions.
3. Rapamycin: Researchers found that tinkering with a key signalling pathway produces life-extending benefits in mice — the first such result ever achieved in mammals. The discovery was particularly remarkable because the treatment did not start until the mice were middle-aged.
4. Graphene: In a string of rapid-fire advances, materials scientists probed the properties of graphene—highly conductive sheets of carbon atoms — and started fashioning the material into experimental electronic devices.
5. Plant ABA receptors: Solving the structure of a critical molecule that helps plants survive during droughts may help scientists design new ways to protect crops against prolonged dry periods, potentially improving crop yields worldwide and aiding biofuel production on marginal lands.
6. LCLS at SLAC: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory unveiled the world’s first x-ray laser, a powerful research tool capable of taking snapshots of chemical reactions in progress, altering the electronic structures of materials, and myriad other experiments spanning a wide range of scientific fields.
7. Gene therapy comeback: European and U.S. researchers made progress in treating a fatal brain disease, inherited blindness, and a severe immune disorder by new strategies from gene therapy.
8. Monopoles: In an experimental coup, physicists working with strange crystalline materials called spin ices created magnetic ripples that model the predicted behaviour of ‘magnetic monopoles,’ or fundamental particles with only one magnetic pole.
9. LCROSS finds water on the moon: In October, sensors aboard a NASA spacecraft detected water vapour and ice in the debris from a spent rocket stage that researchers deliberately crashed on the Moon.
10. Hubble Repair: In May, a nearly flawless final repair mission by space-shuttle astronauts gave the Hubble Space Telescope sharper vision and a new lease of life, resulting in its most spectacular images yet.
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