The Sciences Index

The Sciences Index lists the posts from 2018 through 2020 for each sub-topic.  The sub-topics are organized from oldest post to newest.

I got the idea for three of the sub-topics from the Douglas Adams' book. Life, the Universe and Everything is the third book in the six-volume Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction series" by British writer Douglas Adams.  I threw in the fourth sub-topic, The Environment, and you'll find posts that cover every one of the subtopics immediately below. 

Smithsonian's Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of the Decade

POSTED JANUARY 3, 2020

The 2010's are over. Smithsonian Magazine looks back at the decade and gives us a summary of developments in the "most important and awe-inspiring areas of research...ten of the biggest strides made by scientists in the last ten years."  [link below left] Four of the discoveries are in physics, five in biology, and one in the environmental area.  Here's the list, some take away's from each and links to some posts that may be of interest. READ

Note: Covid-19 Science Posts from Feb 2020 through Aug 2021 can be found here.

2018

Killer Whale says 'Hello'

The Ambitious Quest to Treat Aging Like a Disease

The genetic history of Ice Age Europe

Plants colonized Earth 100 million years earlier than thought

Spoken language reveals how people develop and mature

Dinosaurs - Out and In With a Bang!

Clues to the Origins of Life

"Dawn of Humanity"

Stopping Cancer in its Tracks

The Body Clock

Key aspects of human cell aging reversed by new compounds

Wheat genome decoded

The Biodiversity Paradox and the "Great Dying"

Does this Canadian cave hold the answer to antibiotic resistance?

Medical Progress:  Three Encouraging Stories

Scientists discover ancient Mayan city hidden under Guatemalan jungle

Bee colony collapse update

The Sixth Extinction

2019

How did first humans migrate to Australia?

Beyond bee colony collapse: an insect "apocalypse" ?

What if that asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs had missed?

Two from the journal "Nature" - cats' names and the death of a pioneer

Monsters in the mists of time

The Human Microbiome Project

Scientists tackle well-being: nature, the sea and work in the age of automation

Cosmic expansion (11 bya), complex life (3 bya), Ebola drugs (2019)

U.S. gene-editing trials underway

How to permanently end disease

2020

Our under-rated sense of smell

Note: Covid-19 Science Posts from Feb 2020 through Aug 2021 can be found here.

2021

Life's origins and perils

Life extension and aging: what will the next breakthrough be? 

2018

Why You (Probably) Shouldn't Worry About Earth's Magnetic Poles Flipping 

Rare Super Blue Blood Moon

Signal detected from 'cosmic dawn'

'Tunguska'-Size Asteroid Makes Surprise Flyby of Earth

The Kilauea Eruption

What kept early galaxies from blowing themselves apart?

Cosmic mysteries: the search for dark matter and dark energy

Supernova 1987A time lapse created by University of Toronto grad student


2019

Japan finds huge cache of "rare earth" elements

"Why Does the World Exist?" Redux

Dark energy and cosmic expansion

The discoveries that won the 2019 Nobel Physics award

The past and future of the rings of Saturn

A tale of science: the Milky Way's age


2020

Why is the universe expanding faster now?

The Birth of a Planet

The Search for Life: Superhabitable Planets

The Christmas Star makes a rare appearance

Top Science Stories of 2020

2021

What happened before the Big Bang?

Cosmic mysteries: the multiverse



2018

Virtual Reality Tourism

Physicists create new form of light: Newly observed optical state could enable quantum computing with photons

The fully autonomous self-driving car is just around the corner.

What is the Singularity and will you live to see it?

China Wraps Up 1-Year Mock Moon Mission

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Uncovers Building Blocks of Life on Mars

IBM Supercomputer "Summit" to Vie for World's Fastest Computer

Another Try at Harnessing Fusion

Nuclear fusion reactors: we finally see light at the end of the tunnel 

InSight Lands on Mars

2019

China lands a spacecraft on the far side of the  Moon

Virtual Reality in Education

Feeding spacefarers on a journey that lasts millennia

Advances in the world of artificial intelligence

Moon Landing: Apollo 11's 50th Anniversary

Recently discovered "missing link" planets may be able to support life

Future Humans: Genetic Modifications for Space Travel and Climate Change

The promise of quantum computing

Google reportedly attains "quantum supremacy" - what's next?

AI: Neural Networks and Neuroevolution

2020

Fusion Energy Breakthroughs

Isaac Asimov and the future that is now

It's 2020. Where are all the self-driving cars?

We are going back to the Moon

2021

Going to Mars

Can we stop a killer asteroid from hitting Earth?

Advances in the world of artificial intelligence

The increasingly encouraging pursuit of limitless clean energy: a nuclear fusion update 

A.I. trends and developments: the pandemic and beyond 

The Return to Space: An Update

The Environment

2018

Saving the World's Coral Reefs

Honeybee Colony Collapse May Be Abating (a little)

Want a World Without Blackouts? Power the Future With Renewable Energy 

New Study: Eat Your Strawberries Before Climate Change Wipes Them Out

Earth Day 2018

Study Finds Major Shifts in Global Freshwater

Sea level will rise more than previously estimated

Belize Coral Reef Delisted

"This is the face of climate change"

'Abrupt thaw' of permafrost beneath lakes could significantly affect climate change models

Day Zero: the coming global water crisis and what we can do about it (sep)

IPCC issues a final call to halt a climate catastrophe

2019

Scientists turn CO2 back into solid carbon

Coping with climate change: from the Himalayas to the Arctic

2020

Poisons, natural ecosystems and sustainability

Earth Day - Then and Now

Climate change: future hurricanes may cause havoc inland

2021

Preparing for a radically changed planet

Carbon capture: an emerging tool in the climate change kit

IPCC's stark warning