Top 10 Scientific Discoveries of the Decade

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

New Human Relatives

"The human family tree expanded significantly in the past decade, with fossils of new hominin species discovered in Africa and the Philippines."  Three major finds are noted: Australopithecus sediba  ("The species represents a transitionary phase between the genus Australopithecus and the genus Homo"), Homo naledi  ("lived some 335,000 to 236,000 years ago, meaning it may have overlapped with our own species") and Homo luzonensis ( lived 50000 to 67000 years ago, "the first fossils were originally identified as Homo sapiens, but a 2019 analysis determined that the bones belonged to an entirely unknown species." 

NOVA's "Dawn of Humanity" (What in the World?)

Taking the Measure of the Cosmos

"When Albert Einstein first published the general theory of relativity in 1915, he likely couldn’t have imagined that 100 years later, astronomers would test the theory’s predictions with some of the most sophisticated instruments ever built—and the theory would pass each test."  The discoveries included "ripples on space-time" and the "first image of the environment around a black hole."

"Why does the world exist?" Redux (What in the World?)

The Hottest Years on Record

"Increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have produced hotter global temperatures, with the last five years (2014 to 2018) being the hottest years on record. 2016 was the hottest year since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) started recording global temperature 139 years ago. The effects of this global change include more frequent and destructive wildfires, more common droughts, accelerating polar ice melt and increased storm surges. California is burning, Venice is flooding, urban heat deaths are on the rise, and countless coastal and island communities face an existential crisis."

IPCC issues a final call to halt a climate catastrophe (What in the World?)

Editing Genes

"...genetic engineering is more precise and available than ever before, thanks in large part to a new tool first used to modify eukaryotic cells (complex cells with a nucleus) in 2013: CRISPR-Cas9. The gene editing tool works by locating a targeted section of DNA and “cutting” out that section with the Cas9 enzyme. An optional third step involves replacing the deleted section of DNA with new genetic material. The technique can be used for a wide range of applications, from increasing the muscle mass of livestock, to producing resistant and fruitful crops, to treating diseases like cancer by removing a patient’s immune system cells, modifying them to better fight a disease, and reinjecting them into the patient’s body."

US gene-editing trials underway (What in the World?)

Future Humans: Genetic Modifications for Space Travel and Climate Change (What in the World?)

Mysteries of Other Worlds Revealed

Spacecraft and telescopes have revealed a wealth of information about worlds beyond our own.  Among the discoveries mentioned  - Pluto was found to be geologically active with 20,000 foot high icy mountains;  the Cassini spacecraft "discovered the processes that feed Saturn’s rings, observed a global storm encircle the gas giant, mapped the large moon Titan and found some of the ingredients for life in the plumes of icy material erupting from the watery moon Enceladus"; discoveries on Mars and Jupiter; and two space telescopes, Kepler and TESS, have found thousands of planets orbiting other stars. 

The past and future of the rings of Saturn (What in the World?)

InSight lands on Mars  (What in the World?)

Recently discovered "missing link" planets may be able to support life (What in the World?)

The discoveries that won the 2019 Nobel Physics Award (What in the World?)

Fossilized Pigments Reveal the Colors of Dinosaurs

"The decade began with a revolution in paleontology as scientists got their first look at the true colors of dinosaurs" - a reddish brown Sinosauropteryx and a black-and-white Anchiornis with a red plume.  "The study of fossilized pigments has continued to expose new information about prehistoric life, hinting at potential animal survival strategies by showing evidence of countershading and camouflage."

Redefining the Fundamental Unit of Mass

"In November 2018, measurement scientists around the world voted to officially changed the definition of a kilogram, the fundamental unit of mass. Rather than basing the kilogram off of an object—a platinum-iridium alloy cylinder about the size of a golf ball—the new definition uses a constant of nature to set the unit of mass. The change replaced the last physical artifact used to define a unit of measure." 

First Ancient Human Genome Sequenced

"In 2010, scientists gained a new tool to study the ancient past and the people who inhabited it. Researchers used a hair preserved in permafrost to sequence the genome of a man who lived some 4,000 years ago in what is now Greenland, revealing the physical traits and even the blood type of a member of one of the first cultures to settle in that part of the world...Thousands of ancient human genomes have been sequenced since the first success in 2010, revealing new details about the rise and fall of lost civilizations and the migrations of people around the globe.