1994 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 1994 in science
and technology
involved many significant events, listed below.
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
and technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
involved many significant events, listed below.
Astronomy and space exploration
- July 16 – July 22 – The fragments of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 was a comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in July 1994, providing the first direct observation of an extraterrestrial collision of solar system objects. This generated a large amount of coverage in the popular media, and the comet was closely observed by...
impact the planet JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,... - July 21 – R. Ibata, M. Irwin, and G. Gilmore discover the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical GalaxySagittarius Dwarf Elliptical GalaxyThe Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is an elliptical loop-shaped satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy. It consists of four globular clusters, the main cluster being discovered in 1994...
, a satellite galaxy of the Milky WayMilky WayThe Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
. It was considered the closest galaxy to the Milky Way from its discovery until 2003. - October 12 – NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
lost contact with the Magellan spacecraft after a successful mission. The probe crashed into VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
shortly after. - Asteroid 7484 Dogo Onsesn7484 Dogo Onsen7484 Dogo Onsen is a main-belt asteroid discovered on November 30, 1994 by Nakamura, A. at Kuma.- External links :*...
is discovered by Masahiro KoishikawaMasahiro Koishikawais a Japanese astronomer He has studied both major and minor planets, and has discovered asteroids and comets.- Employment :Koishikawa has been a staff member of the Sendai Astronomical Observatory since 1972. His research is based out of the Sendai's Ayashi station.- Asteroid 6097 :Asteroid 6097...
. - 14032 Mego14032 Mego14032 Mego is a main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1493.7144496 days . The asteroid was discovered on December 4, 1994 by Masahiro Koishikawa.-References:...
is discovered. - 8C 1435+63 is discovered and at z=4.25 becomes the most distant known galaxy.
Archaeology
- March 31 – The journal NatureNature (journal)Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
reports the finding in EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
of the first complete Australopithecus afarensisAustralopithecus afarensisAustralopithecus afarensis is an extinct hominid that lived between 3.9 and 2.9 million years ago. A. afarensis was slenderly built, like the younger Australopithecus africanus. It is thought that A...
skull, significant in the study of human evolutionHuman evolutionHuman evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
.
Biology
- September 10 – Wollemia (the 'Wollemi Pine'), previously known only from fossils, is discovered living in remote rainforestRainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
gorges in the Wollemi National ParkWollemi National ParkWollemi National Park is the second largest national park in New South Wales, and contains most of the largest wilderness area, the Wollemi Wilderness...
of New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
by David NobleDavid Noble (canyoner)David 'Dave' Noble discovered the Wollemi Pine on 10 September 1994.John and Olive Noble, David's parents, emigrated from England to Australia when he was two years old....
. - The DingisoDingisoThe Dingiso , also known as Bondegezou , is a species of tree-kangaroo native and endemic to Western New Guinea of Indonesia, where it lives in alpine forests in the Sudirman Range at elevations of 3250 to 4200 m, just below the tree line.It was first filmed for the BBC documentary South Pacific in...
or tree-kangarooTree-kangarooTree-kangaroos are macropods adapted for life in trees. They are found in the rainforests of New Guinea, far northeastern Queensland, and nearby islands. Although most are found in mountainous areas, several species also occur in lowlands, such as the aptly named Lowlands Tree-kangaroo...
of Western New GuineaWestern New GuineaWest Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...
is first seen by scientists. - Flora of ChinaFlora of China (journal)Flora of China is a scientific publication aimed at describing the plants native to China.The is a collaborative scientific effort to publish the first modern English-language account of the approximately 31,000 species of vascular plants of China...
begins publication.
Chemistry
- November 9 – Darmstadtium first detected at the Gesellschaft für SchwerionenforschungGesellschaft für SchwerionenforschungThe GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research GmbH in the Wixhausen suburb of Darmstadt, Germany is a federally and state co-funded heavy ion research center. The current director of GSI is Horst Stöcker who succeeded Walter F...
(GSI) in DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, by Peter ArmbrusterPeter ArmbrusterPeter Armbruster is a physicist at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung facility in Darmstadt, Germany, and is credited with co-discovering elements 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , and 112 with research partner Gottfried Münzenberg.He studied physics at the Technical...
and Gottfried MünzenbergGottfried MünzenbergGottfried Münzenberg is a German physicist.He studied physics at Justus-Liebig-Universität in Giessen and Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck and completed his studies with a Ph.D. at the University of Giessen, Germany, in 1971...
, under the direction of Prof. Sigurd Hofmann. - December 8 – The first three atomAtomThe atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...
s of RoentgeniumRoentgeniumRoentgenium is a synthetic radioactive chemical element with the symbol Rg and atomic number 111. It is placed as the heaviest member of the group 11 elements, although a sufficiently stable isotope has not yet been produced in a sufficient amount that would confirm this position as a heavier...
are observed by an international team led by Sigurd Hofmann at the GSIGesellschaft für SchwerionenforschungThe GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research GmbH in the Wixhausen suburb of Darmstadt, Germany is a federally and state co-funded heavy ion research center. The current director of GSI is Horst Stöcker who succeeded Walter F...
in DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
.
Medicine
- October – First public demonstration of the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
- December 15 – Publication of the "FukudaKeiji FukudaKeiji Fukuda is an American physician with expertise in influenza epidemiology. In March 2009, Fukuda was appointed Assistant Director-General for Health, Security and Environment ad interim for the World Health Organization and as of September 2010, he holds this position permanently...
" clinical description of chronic fatigue syndrome.
Molecular biology
- Green fluorescent proteinGreen fluorescent proteinThe green fluorescent protein is a protein composed of 238 amino acid residues that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to blue light. Although many other marine organisms have similar green fluorescent proteins, GFP traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the...
is successfully expressed in C. elegansCaenorhabditis elegansCaenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, transparent nematode , about 1 mm in length, which lives in temperate soil environments. Research into the molecular and developmental biology of C. elegans was begun in 1974 by Sydney Brenner and it has since been used extensively as a model...
, starting its career as a fluorescent marker.
Technology
- May 6 – The Channel TunnelChannel TunnelThe Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
, which took 15,000 workers over seven years to complete, opens between England and France. It is now possible to travel between the two countries in 35 minutes.
Awards
- Fields Prize in MathematicsFields MedalThe Fields Medal, officially known as International Medal for Outstanding Discoveries in Mathematics, is a prize awarded to two, three, or four mathematicians not over 40 years of age at each International Congress of the International Mathematical Union , a meeting that takes place every four...
: Efim Isakovich Zelmanov, Pierre-Louis LionsPierre-Louis LionsPierre-Louis Lions is a French mathematician. His parents were Jacques-Louis Lions, a mathematician and at that time professor at the University of Nancy, who in particular became President of the International Mathematical Union, and Andrée Olivier, his wife...
, Jean BourgainJean BourgainJean Bourgain is a Belgian mathematician. He has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and, from 1985 until 1995, professor at Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques at Bures-sur-Yvette in France, and since 1994 at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton,...
and Jean-Christophe YoccozJean-Christophe YoccozJean-Christophe Yoccoz is a French mathematician. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1994, for his work on dynamical systems.-Biography:... - Nobel PrizeNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
s- PhysicsNobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
– Bertram N. Brockhouse, Clifford G. Shull - ChemistryNobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
– George A. Olah - MedicineNobel Prize in Physiology or MedicineThe Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
– Alfred G. GilmanAlfred G. GilmanAlfred Goodman Gilman is an American pharmacologist and biochemist. He shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Martin Rodbell for their discoveries regarding G-proteins....
, Martin RodbellMartin RodbellMartin Rodbell was an American biochemist and molecular endocrinologist who is best known for his discovery of G-proteins. He shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Alfred G...
- Physics
- Turing AwardTuring AwardThe Turing Award, in full The ACM A.M. Turing Award, is an annual award given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the...
– Edward FeigenbaumEdward FeigenbaumEdward Albert Feigenbaum is a computer scientist working in the field of artificial intelligence. He is often called the "father of expert systems."...
, Raj ReddyRaj ReddyDabbala Rajagopal "Raj" Reddy , a Turing Award winner, is one of the early pioneers in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and has served on the faculty of Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University for over 40 years. He was the founding Director of the Robotics Institute at CMU... - Wollaston Medal for GeologyWollaston MedalThe Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London.The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831...
– William Jason Morgan
Deaths
- January 25 – Stephen Cole KleeneStephen Cole KleeneStephen Cole Kleene was an American mathematician who helped lay the foundations for theoretical computer science...
(b. 19091909 in scienceThe year 1909 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Summer - Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch first demonstrate the Haber process, the catalytic formation of ammonia from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen under conditions of high temperature and...
), mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
. - July 29 – Dorothy Crowfoot HodgkinDorothy Crowfoot HodgkinDorothy Mary Hodgkin OM, FRS , née Crowfoot, was a British chemist, credited with the development of protein crystallography....
(b. 19101910 in scienceThe year 1910 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Chemistry:* Albert Einstein and Marian Smoluchowski find the Einstein-Smoluchowski formula for the attenuation coefficient due to density fluctuations in a gas...
), chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
. - August 19 – Linus PaulingLinus PaulingLinus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
(b. 19011901 in scienceThe year 1901 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Biology:* Okapi, a relative of the Giraffe found in the rainforests around the Congo River in north east Zaire, is discovered ....
), American chemistChemistA chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
.