In first place, let’s look at how science has evolved in 2005. I’ll break this up in two entries to make it less painful to read… I won’t try to be exhaustive, as many things have happened and it’s impossible to cover them all in the same post!

• I’ll start with something that can be in every scientific review of the year, the Nobel Prizes. These are a significant landmark in any year. This year, the scientific prizes have been awarded to

  Physics: Roy Glauber for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence and John Hall and Theodor Hänsch for their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique. Read more here.

  Chemistry: Yves Chauvin, Robert Grubbs and Richard Schrock won for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis. Read more here.

  Medecine: Barry Marshall and J. Robin Warren won for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. Read more here.

  Peace: The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and its president, Mohamed ElBaradei, won the prize for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.

• Another significant event is the whole debate about Intelligent Design and its surroundings. The most publicized case of ID is the Kansas School Board adopting a ruling allowing ID to be taught in schools, as a valid scientific theory along with Darwin’s Natural Selection. It also gave birth to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. On brighter notes, the school board in Dover, PA, which passed a similar ruling but was sued by some parents got all voted off at the elections. A damn good thing if you ask me…
• Soft dinosaur tissue has been discovered in March by accident inside a T-Rex thighbone. The fossil was located in a remote location and had to be transported by helicopter. However, that bone didn’t fit in the helicopter so they had to split it in two pieces to make it fit. Inside the bone, they discovered tissue that was tought not to survive past 100,00 years. It was analysed and contained cells and blood vessels! Inside those cells, they’ve found medullary bone, a substance found in birds when they are ready to produce eggshells. It allowed for the first time to determine the sex of a dinosaur (this particular fossil was probably a female) and it pretty much confirmed to the paleontologists that they are our birds’ ancestors. A pretty major find.
• In 2005, we have seen the return of the Space Shuttle, a year and a half after Columbia’s disaster. The shuttle was launched, but upon analysing the images of the launch, NASA engineers have spotted several pieces of foam coming off from the main tank. They didn’t hit the thermal shielding of the shuttle, but NASA announced that the shuttles will be grounded until further notice, at least until this problem is ruled out. It sounds like the end of the space shuttle program which yielded many great missions, but now needs to make place for some better spatial transportation. It’s only a shame that it was not more planned a little bit earlier… Oh yes, the shuttle came back to Earth without problem. Read more about it here.

December 21st, 2005 | General Science, Year in Review