2010 in science
Encyclopedia
The year 2010 in science and technology involved numerous significant events and discoveries, some of which are listed below. The United Nations
declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity
.
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity
International Year of Biodiversity
The International Year of Biodiversity was a year-long celebration of biological diversity and its value for life on Earth, taking place around the world in 2010...
.
January
- 3 January – British scientists report that they have made artificial arteries. (PressTV) (Royal Free Hampstead)
- 7–10 January – The Consumer Electronic Show takes place in Las Vegas, with 3DTV technology being highly promoted during the event. (CNN)
- 28 January – A joint American-Australian team construct a quantum computerQuantum computerA quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. Quantum computers are different from traditional computers based on transistors...
that can correctly simulate a hydrogenHydrogenHydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
molecule. (Wired)
February
- 1 February – The President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, Barack ObamaBarack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, announces that he will cancel 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...
's plans to return to the MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
by 2020, due to budget constraints. (BBC) - 3 February
- Scientists announce that they are on the verge of creating pills that target specific genes in the human genomeHuman genomeThe human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is stored on 23 chromosome pairs plus the small mitochondrial DNA. 22 of the 23 chromosomes are autosomal chromosome pairs, while the remaining pair is sex-determining...
to increase longevityLongevityThe word "longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography or known as "long life", especially when it concerns someone or something lasting longer than expected ....
. They reveal that the pills may be ready for human testing within three years. (Sky News) - Scientists develop a way of communicating with a brain-damaged man by accessing his thoughts. (BBC)
- Scientists studying fossils in an open coal mine in ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
determine that the giant prehistoric snake TitanoboaTitanoboaTitanoboa, , meaning "titanic boa," is a genus of snake that lived approximately 58 to 60 million years ago, in the Paleocene epoch, a 10-million-year period immediately following the dinosaur extinction event...
, which measured up to 45 feet (13.7 m) in lengths, hunted and ate crocodileCrocodileA crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
s. (MSNBC)
- Scientists announce that they are on the verge of creating pills that target specific genes in the human genome
- 4 February – Scientists use direct fossil evidence to make a reasonable interpretation of a dinosaur's color.(BBC) (Wired)
- 5 February
- Cambridge University researchers develop an artificial pancreasPancreasThe pancreas is a gland organ in the digestive and endocrine system of vertebrates. It is both an endocrine gland producing several important hormones, including insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin, as well as a digestive organ, secreting pancreatic juice containing digestive enzymes that assist...
to help regulate blood sugarBlood sugarThe blood sugar concentration or blood glucose level is the amount of glucose present in the blood of a human or animal. Normally in mammals, the body maintains the blood glucose level at a reference range between about 3.6 and 5.8 mM , or 64.8 and 104.4 mg/dL...
levels in children with Type 1 diabetes. (MSNBC) - The Hubble Space TelescopeHubble Space TelescopeThe Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...
provides new images of the dwarf planetDwarf planetA dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting the Sun that is massive enough to be spherical as a result of its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite...
PlutoPlutoPluto, formal designation 134340 Pluto, is the second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the tenth-most-massive body observed directly orbiting the Sun...
, revealing that it has an ever-changing surface. (NASA) (BBC) - Scientists demonstrate a method to alter the properties of a lone electronElectronThe electron is a subatomic particle with a negative elementary electric charge. It has no known components or substructure; in other words, it is generally thought to be an elementary particle. An electron has a mass that is approximately 1/1836 that of the proton...
without disturbing nearby electrons, a feat important in the development of quantum computerQuantum computerA quantum computer is a device for computation that makes direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform operations on data. Quantum computers are different from traditional computers based on transistors...
s. (ScienceDaily)
- Cambridge University researchers develop an artificial pancreas
- 8 February – Researchers at the University of LeicesterUniversity of LeicesterThe University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
and Kings College London discover gene variations that control how fast people age, and could help spot and cure potential age-related illnesses in people. (BBC) - 9–13 February – The TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
innovation conference is held in Palm SpringsPalm Springs, CaliforniaPalm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. (Wired) - 10 February
- Scientists discover several genes linked to human stutteringStutteringStuttering , also known as stammering , is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds...
, hoping that the findings may lead to a possible enzymeEnzymeEnzymes are proteins that catalyze chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates...
treatment for the condition. (MSNBC) - Scientists decipher the genetic code of the hairHairHair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
of a 4,000-year-old man who was mummified in the permafrostPermafrostIn geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
of GreenlandGreenlandGreenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. They discover that his genetic pattern resembles those of modern day AsianAsian peopleAsian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
s and Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
s. (MSNBC) (BBC) - The EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an-owned Paranal ObservatoryParanal ObservatoryParanal Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Paranal at 2,635 m altitude and operated by the European Southern Observatory. The Very Large Telescope is the largest telescope on Paranal, actually composed of four separate 8.2 m telescopes...
in ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
provides new images of the Orion NebulaOrion NebulaThe Orion Nebula is a diffuse nebula situated south of Orion's Belt. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light...
, photographing beyond the numerous gas clouds by taking advantage of the facility's new Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for AstronomyVISTA (telescope)The VISTA is a reflecting telescope with a 4.1 metre mirror, located at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. It is operated by the European Southern Observatory and saw first light in December 2009...
(VISTA) technology. (MSNBC)
- Scientists discover several genes linked to human stuttering
- 12 February – The results of a genetic study on the tigerTigerThe tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
reveal that it began evolving 3.2 million years ago, and that its closest living relative is the snow leopardSnow LeopardThe snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia...
. (BBC) - 15 February – Scientists confirm that the Murchison meteoriteMurchison meteoriteThe Murchison meteorite is named after Murchison, Victoria, in Australia. It is one of the most studied meteorites due to its large mass , the fact that it was an observed fall, and it belongs to a group of meteorites rich in organic compounds....
that crashed onto EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's surface in 19691969 in scienceThe year 1969 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below.-Astronomy and space exploration:* January 15 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5.* March 3 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module....
contains millions of organic compoundOrganic compoundAn organic compound is any member of a large class of gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical compounds whose molecules contain carbon. For historical reasons discussed below, a few types of carbon-containing compounds such as carbides, carbonates, simple oxides of carbon, and cyanides, as well as the...
s. (BBC) - 16 February
- A study published in Biological PsychiatryBiological PsychiatryBiological Psychiatry is an international, peer-reviewed scientific journal of psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics published by Elsevier and the Society of Biological Psychiatry...
announces that insomniaInsomniaInsomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
and chronic lack of sleep are linked to lower grey matterGrey matterGrey matter is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil , glial cells and capillaries. Grey matter contains neural cell bodies, in contrast to white matter, which does not and mostly contains myelinated axon tracts...
density in the human brainHuman brainThe human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...
. (MSNBC) - A medical study of 4,000 American nurses reveal that aspirinAspirinAspirin , also known as acetylsalicylic acid , is a salicylate drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an antipyretic to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. It was discovered by Arthur Eichengrun, a chemist with the German company Bayer...
lowers the risk of breast cancerBreast cancerBreast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
returning or spreading by 50%. (MSNBC)
- A study published in Biological Psychiatry
- 17 February – Scientists at the University College DublinUniversity College DublinUniversity College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
's Animal Genomics Laboratory and Conway Institute analyse the DNA of a species of European cattle that died out 400 years ago by extracting material from a bone found in an EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cavern. (BBC) - 18 February – Scientists discover that the fear of spidersArachnophobiaArachnophobia or arachnephobia is a specific phobia, the fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions. It is a manifestation of zoophobia, among the most common of all phobias. The reactions of arachnophobics often seem irrational to others...
and snakes may develop before birth through the experiences of the pregnant mother. (MSNBC) - 21 February – Researchers report that teaching strokeStrokeA stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
victims to sing can help them regain their speech. (BBC) - 27 February – Physicists discover that a similar technique used primarily for tattoo removalTattoo removalTattoo removal has been performed with various tools during the history of tattooing. While tattoos were once considered permanent, it is now possible to remove them with treatments, fully or partially...
can be applied to the cleaning and rejuvenating of centuries-old artwork. (BBC)
March
- 1 March – 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...
announces that the Moon'sMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
northern poleNorth PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
contains millions of tons of water iceIceIce is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
. (MSNBC) - 10 March – Botanists discover that BorneoBorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
's giant pitcher plantPitcher plantPitcher plants are carnivorous plants whose prey-trapping mechanism features a deep cavity filled with liquid known as a pitfall trap. It has been widely assumed that the various sorts of pitfall trap evolved from rolled leaves, with selection pressure favouring more deeply cupped leaves over...
s, which were previously thought to be large enough to devour small rodentRodentRodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s, instead have a diet composed of rodent droppingFecesFeces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
s. (BBC) - 11 March – Scientists discover the reasons behind malformed limbs in embryoEmbryoAn embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
s exposed to thalidomideThalidomideThalidomide was introduced as a sedative drug in the late 1950s that was typically used to cure morning sickness. In 1961, it was withdrawn due to teratogenicity and neuropathy. There is now a growing clinical interest in thalidomide, and it is introduced as an immunomodulatory agent used...
. (BBC) - 13 March – While researching nanotechnologyNanotechnologyNanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
applications, scientists at M.I.T.Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
find a new energy source involving carbon nanotubes. (CNN) - 17 March – Scientists create a quantum state in an object large enough to be visible to the naked eye, billions of times larger than any previous quantum state. (BBC)
- 25 March – A genetic analysisGenetic analysisGenetic analysis can be used generally to describe methods both used in and resulting from the sciences of genetics and molecular biology, or to applications resulting from this research....
of a pinky finger bone found in SiberiaSiberiaSiberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
indicates it to be that of a distant and previously unknown relative of homo sapiens. (TIME)
April
- 5 April – Space Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle DiscoverySpace Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
uses the MPLM RaffaelloMulti-Purpose Logistics ModuleA Multi-Purpose Logistics Module is a large pressurized container used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station . An MPLM was carried in the cargo bay of a Shuttle and berthed to the Unity or Harmony modules on the ISS. From there, supplies were...
to deliver science racks to the International Space StationInternational Space StationThe International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
(ISS) on the STS-131STS-131STS-131 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station . launched on 5 April 2010 at 6:22 am from Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A, and landed at 9:08 am on 20 April 2010 on runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility...
mission. (NASA) - 7 April
- A team of Russian and American scientists announce the creation of the newest superheavy element, element 117. (Science Daily)
- The first known animals to live their lives entirely without oxygen - members of the phylumPhylumIn biology, a phylum The term was coined by Georges Cuvier from Greek φῦλον phylon, "race, stock," related to φυλή phyle, "tribe, clan." is a taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. "Phylum" is equivalent to the botanical term division....
LoriciferaLoriciferaLoricifera is a phylum of very small to microscopic marine sediment-dwelling animals with twenty-two described species, in eight genera. Aside from these described species, there are approximately 100 more that have been collected and not yet described. Their size ranges from 100 µm to ca....
- are discovered in the L'Atalante basinL'Atalante basinL'Atalante basin is a hypersaline brine lake at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea about west of the island of Crete. It is named for one of the oceanographic research vessels involved in its discovery in 1993...
deep under the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. (Science Daily)
- 8 April – Newly-published results reveal that two partial skeletons unearthed in 2008 in a cave in South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
belong to a previously unclassified species of hominid, Australopithecus sedibaAustralopithecus sedibaAustralopithecus sediba is a species of Australopithecus of the early Pleistocene, identified based on fossil remains dated to about 2 million years ago....
, an upright walker that shared many physical traits with the earliest known HomoHomo (genus)Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....
species. (Science Daily) - 13 April – Europe's LOFARLOFARLOFAR is the Low Frequency Array for radio astronomy, built by the Netherlands astronomical foundation ASTRON and operated by ASTRON's radio observatory....
radio astronomyRadio astronomyRadio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The initial detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was made in the 1930s, when Karl Jansky observed radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identified a number of...
array releases its first images. (Science Daily) - 14 April – Researchers produce human embryoEmbryoAn embryo is a multicellular diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development, from the time of first cell division until birth, hatching, or germination...
s containing DNA from three people. (Wired)
May
- 13 May – Scientists create robotic nanoNanotechnologyNanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
-spiders. (TechEYE) - 17 May – Scientists in the United States and Canada link pesticidePesticidePesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s use on food crops to the rise of ADHD and other attention-deficit disorderADD* A.D.D. , a song on System of a Down's album Steal This Album!* A.D.D. , the first studio album by Blake Lewis, the runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol...
cases in children. (MSNBC) - 20 May
- One of 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,...
's stripes is found to be missing, with scientists reportedly unsure as to why. (CNN) (Science@NASA) - Researchers in the United States announce the creation of a synthetic living cellArtificial lifeArtificial life is a field of study and an associated art form which examine systems related to life, its processes, and its evolution through simulations using computer models, robotics, and biochemistry. The discipline was named by Christopher Langton, an American computer scientist, in 1986...
. (BBC)
- One of Jupiter
- 26 May – The Alaotra grebeAlaotra GrebeThe Alaotra Grebe , also known as Delacour's Little Grebe or Rusty Grebe, was a grebe endemic to Lake Alaotra and surrounding lakes in Madagascar. The last sighting was in 1985 and the species was declared extinct in 2010...
is declared extinct, marking the first confirmed bird extinction since 2008. (BBC) (BirdLife internaional)
June
- 1 June – A record high temperature of 53.7C (129F) is confirmed by government meteorologists in PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. (The Guardian) - 3 June – An unknown object impacts Jupiter2010 Jupiter impact eventThe 2010 Jupiter impact event was a bolide impact event on Jupiter by an object estimated to be about 8–13 meters in diameter. The impactor may have been an asteroid, comet, centaur, extinct comet, or temporary satellite capture.-Observation:...
. (Astronomy Magazine) - 13 June – Data indicates that up to one-third of MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
' surface was once covered by an oceanOceanAn ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
. (Christian Science Monitor) - 21 June – Scientists studying the behavior of chimpanzeeChimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s note that they will kill each other in rival turf warTurf warAccording to Wordnet the definition of a turf war is "a bitter struggle for territory or power or control or rights". For example: a turf war erupted between street gangs; the president's resignation was the result of a turf war with the board of directors. In larger companies Turf wars could...
s. (MSNBC)
July
- 14 July – Scientists in the United Kingdom announce that they have discovered a protein in henHen-Animals:*A female chicken or other poultry*Cornish game hen, a hybrid chicken sold whole*A female game bird*A female octopus*A female lobster-Places:*Hen, Buskerud, a village in Ringerike municipality, Buskerud, Norway...
s that is necessary for the production of eggs. (MSNBC) (CBS) - 16 July – Scientists in the United States succeed in genetically engineeringGenetic engineeringGenetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
a malariaMalariaMalaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
-resistant mosquitoMosquitoMosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
. (BBC) - 19 July – A vaginaVaginaThe vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
l gelGelA gel is a solid, jelly-like material that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute cross-linked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state...
which reduces the risk of HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
infection in women is developed. (New York Times) - 30 July – 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...
's Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...
reveals potential sites for the search for fossilized remains on the surface of Mars. (MSNBC) (Christian Science Monitor)
August
- August 12 – 318-million-year-old fossilFossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s of reptileReptileReptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
footprints found in New BrunswickNew BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
provide evidence that reptiles were the first creatures to live exclusively on land. (Telegraph) (CBC News)
September
- 14 September – A car powered by hydrogen fuel cells, reportedly the world's first production-line hydrogen car, arrives in the UK. (BBC)
- 29 September – Astronomers report the discovery of Gliese 581 gGliese 581 gGliese 581 g , also Gl 581 g or GJ 581 g, is a hypothesized extrasolar planet proven nonexistent by the Geneva Team, orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581, 20.5 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Libra. It is the sixth planet discovered in the Gliese 581 planetary system and the fourth...
, the first exoplanet lying within its star's habitable zoneHabitable zoneIn astronomy and astrobiology, a habitable zone is an umbrella term for regions that are considered favourable to life. The concept is inferred from the empirical study of conditions favourable for Life on Earth...
. (Wired) (arXiv)
October
- 11 October – American doctors begin the first official human trial of a treatment using embryonic stem cellStem cellThis article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
s. (BBC) - 14 October – RinderpestRinderpestRinderpest was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelopes and deer, giraffes, wildebeests and warthogs. After a global eradication campaign, the last confirmed case of rinderpest was diagnosed in 2001...
is announced as having been eradicated worldwide. (BBC) - 20 October – Scientists announce the discovery of the galaxyGalaxyA galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
UDFy-38135539UDFy-38135539UDFy-38135539 is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field identifier for a galaxy which has been calculated to have a light travel time of 13.1 billion years with a present comoving distance of around 30 billion light-years...
, the most distant object yet discovered in the universe. (New Scientist) arXiv - 26 October – Sony retires the cassette WalkmanWalkmanWalkman is a Sony brand tradename originally used for portable audio cassette, and now used to market Sony's portable audio and video players as well as a line of Sony Ericsson mobile phones...
, which was first sold in 1979. (CNN)
November
- 3 November – The cometCometA comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
Ikeya-MurakamiComet Ikeya-MurakamiComet Ikeya–Murakami is a short-period comet with period of approximately 5.29 years first identified independently by the two Japanese amateur astronomers Kaoru Ikeya and Shigeki Murakami on November 3, 2010. Ikeya identified the comet using a 25-cm reflector at 39x, while Murakami used a 46-cm ...
is discovered. (NASA) - 8 November – Researchers at McMaster UniversityMcMaster UniversityMcMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
report that they have converted skin cells into blood cellBlood cellA blood cell, also called a hematocyte, is a cell normally found in blood. In mammals, these fall into three general categories:* red blood cells — Erythrocytes* white blood cells — Leukocytes* platelets — Thrombocytes...
s. (CNN) - 17 November – AntimatterAntimatterIn particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles...
is successfully trapped for the first time, with 38 antihydrogenAntihydrogenAntihydrogen is the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. Whereas the common hydrogen atom is composed of an electron and proton, the antihydrogen atom is made up of a positron and antiproton...
atoms held in place for a fraction of a second. (BBC) - 28 November – Scientists reportedly reverse the ageing process in miceMICE-Fiction:*Mice , alien species in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*The Mice -Acronyms:* "Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions", facilities terminology for events...
. (The Guardian)
December
- 2 December – 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...
-supported researchers discover the first microorganismMicroorganismA microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
known to be able to thrive and reproduce using the toxic chemical arsenicArsenicArsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
. (NASA) - 15 December – A US cancer patient who received a stem cell transplant has been cured of HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, say a team of German doctors whose research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Blood. (AFP) - 22 December – Fossil hunters in southwestern ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
uncover the remains of an ancient marine ecosystem; dating back 252 million years, the site is filled with over 20,000 fossils, including plants, carnivorous fish and large reptiles. (The Guardian) - 26 December – Michał Kusiak of PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
's Jagiellonian UniversityJagiellonian UniversityThe Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
discovers the Solar and Heliospheric ObservatorySolar and Heliospheric ObservatoryThe Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is a spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on December 2, 1995 to study the Sun, and has discovered over 2100 comets. It began normal operations in May...
's (SOHO) 1,999th and 2,000th cometCometA comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
s. (SOHO)
January
- 3 January
- John Keith IrwinJohn Keith IrwinJohn Keith Irwin was an American sociologist who was known internationally as an expert on the American prison system. He published dozens of scholarly articles and seven books on the topic.-Early life and education:...
(b. 1929), sociologist, specialist in the American prison system. - Francis Gillingham (b. 1916), neurosurgeon, stereotactic surgery pioneer.
- John Keith Irwin
- 10 January - Donald AchesonDonald AchesonSir Donald Acheson KBE was a British physician and epidemiologist who served as Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom from 1983–91...
(b. 1926), epidemiologist, former UK Chief Medical Officer. - 12 January - Masoud AlimohammadiMasoud AlimohammadiMasoud Alimohammadi was an Iranian quantum field theorist and elementary-particle physicist and a distinguished professor of elementary particle physics at Department of Physics of University of Tehran...
(b. c. 1960), physicist, assassination victim. - 13 January - Edward BrintonEdward BrintonEdward Brinton was a professor of oceanography and research biologist. His particular area of expertise was Euphausiids or Krill, small shrimp-like creatures found in all the oceans of the world.-Early life:...
(b. 1924), oceanograph and marine biologist. - 15 January - Marshall Warren NirenbergMarshall Warren NirenbergMarshall Warren Nirenberg was an American biochemist and geneticist of Jewish origin. He shared a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968 with Har Gobind Khorana and Robert W. Holley for "breaking the genetic code" and describing how it operates in protein synthesis...
(b. 1927), biochemist and geneticist, Nobel laureate. - 15 January - Michael CreethMichael CreethJames Michael Creeth was an English biochemist whose experiments on DNA viscosity confirming the existence of hydrogen bonds between the purine and pyrimidine bases of DNA were crucial to Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.He was educated at Northampton Town and...
(b. 1924), biochemist, confirmed hydrogen bonds in DNA. - 21 January - Lawrence GarfinkelLawrence GarfinkelLawrence Garfinkel was an American epidemiologist involved in demonstrating the link between smoking and lung cancer....
(b. 1922), epidemiologist, worked on link between lung cancer and smoking. - 26 January - Geoffrey BurbidgeGeoffrey BurbidgeGeoffrey Ronald Burbidge FRS was an English astronomy professor, most recently at the University of California, San Diego. He was married to astrophysicist Dr. Margaret Burbidge.-Education:...
(b. 1925), astronomer, B²FHB²FHThe B2FH paper, named after the initials of Margaret Burbidge, Geoffrey Burbidge, William Fowler and Fred Hoyle, is a landmark paper of stellar physics published in Reviews of Modern Physics in 1957...
coauthor. - 28 January - Patricia ClarkePatricia ClarkePatricia Hannah Clarke, née Green, FRS was a British biochemist.Clarke was born in Pontypridd, South Wales, and was educated at Howell's School, Llandaff, from 1930 to 1937, before studying the Natural Sciences Tripos at Girton College, Cambridge, from 1937 to 1940.After graduating she took a post...
(b. 1919), biochemist. - 30 January - Bruce MitchellBruce Mitchell (scholar)-Early life, Australia:Mitchell was born in Lismore, New South Wales. He won a free place at the University of Melbourne but was unable to take it up and instead after leaving school at 15, worked as a student teacher while studying part-time...
(b. 1920), Old English scholar. - 31 January - Howard LotsofHoward LotsofHoward Lotsof was an American scientific researcher and patent holder.When he was 19 years old and addicted to heroin, he accidentally discovered the anti-addictive effects of ibogaine in 1962. He later attended Fairleigh Dickinson University and then New York University, graduating with a degree...
(b. 1943), discovered anti-addictive properties of ibogaineIbogaineIbogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance found in a number of plants, principally in a member of the Apocynaceae family known as Iboga . A hallucinogen with both psychedelic and dissociative properties, the substance is banned in some countries; in other countries it is being used...
.
February
- 2 February
- Donald WisemanDonald WisemanDonald John Wiseman OBE, FBA was a Biblical scholar, archaeologist and Assyriologist. He was Professor of Assyriology at the University of London from 1961 to 1982.-Early life and beliefs:...
(b. 1918), archeologist, specialist in AssyriologyAssyriologyAssyriology is the archaeological, historical, and linguistic study of ancient Mesopotamia and the related cultures that used cuneiform writing. The field covers the Akkadian sister-cultures of Assyria and Babylonia, together with their cultural predecessor; Sumer...
. - Svetozar KurepaSvetozar KurepaSvetozar Kurepa was a mathematician whose main contributions were in the areas of functional analysis and operator theory. Kurepa published over 70 articles, 16 books, and numerous scientific reviews. He taught at the University of Zagreb, where he also served as the Dean of the College of Sciences...
(b. 1925), mathematician.
- Donald Wiseman
- 4 February
- Carl E. TaylorCarl E. TaylorCarl Ernest Taylor MD, DrPH, founder of the academic discipline of international health who dedicated his life to the well-being of the world's marginalized people. He was the founding chair of the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He was a...
(b. 1916), physician, key author of Alma Ata DeclarationAlma Ata DeclarationThe Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care , Almaty , currently in Kazakhstan, 6-12 September 1978. It expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the...
. - D. Van HollidayD. Van HollidayDr. Dale Vance Holliday was born in Ennis, Texas and attended the University of Texas at Austin. He graduated with a B.S. and M.A. in Physics and did extensive theoretical and experimental research on the Mössbauer effect...
(b. 1940), underwater acoustics specialist. - Richard LashofRichard LashofRichard K. Lashof was an American mathematician. He contributed to the field of geometric and differential topology, working with Shiing-Shen Chern, Stephen Smale, among others...
(b. 1922), topologist.
- Carl E. Taylor
- 9 February - Albert KligmanAlbert KligmanAlbert Montgomery Kligman was a dermatologist who invented Retin-A, the popular acne medication.-Biography:Kligman was born in Philadelphia to poor Jewish immigrants, his father from Ukraine and mother from England...
(b. 1916), controversial dermatologist, discovered tretinoin topical uses. - 11 February - Arthur H. Hayes Jr.Arthur H. Hayes Jr.Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. was an American pharmacologist. As Commissioner of Food and Drugs, he led the Food and Drug Administration.-Early life:...
(b. 1933), pharmacologist, former US Commissioner of Food and Drugs. - 12 February - Sheldon GilgoreSheldon GilgoreSheldon Gilgore was an American physician and executive who served as president of Pfizer and CEO of G.D. Searle. He also served as chairman of the board of Clark University and was a member of the founding family of the Connecticut Grand Opera.Gilgore was trained as an endocrinologist. Gilgore...
(b. 1932), endocrinologist and pharmaceutical executive. - 14 February - John ThorbjarnarsonJohn ThorbjarnarsonJohn Bjorn Thorbjarnarson was a crocodilia conservationist known for helping rescue numerous species from the brink of extinction....
(b. 1957), crocodilian specialist. - 17 February - Hans Henning ØrbergHans Henning ØrbergHans Henning Ørberg was born in Denmark and received a master's degree in English, French and Latin at the University of Copenhagen...
(b. 1920), linguist. - 19 February - Walter PlowrightWalter PlowrightWalter Plowright, CMG, FRS, FRCVS was an English veterinary scientist who devoted his career to the eradication of the cattle plague rinderpest....
(b. 1923), veterinary scientist, developed rinderpest vaccine. - 21 February - Jacek KarpińskiJacek KarpinskiJacek Karpiński was a Polish pioneer in computer engineering and computer science.During WW2 he was a soldier of Batalion Zośka of Polish Home Army, awarded multiple times with a Cross of Valour...
(b. 1927), computer scientist. - 26 February - Jacques J. PolakJacques J. PolakJacques Polak was a Dutch economist. He received his doctorate in economics in 1937 from the University of Amsterdam. His first professional work was with Professor Jan Tinbergen. In 1937 he began his international service as an economist with the League of Nations...
(b. 1914), IMFInternational Monetary FundThe International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
economist. - 27 February - Eli Fischer-JørgensenEli Fischer-JørgensenEli Fischer-Jørgensen was professor emeritus of linguistics at the University of Copenhagen, she was a member of the Danish resistance movement fighting against the German occupation of Denmark....
(b. 1911), phonetician.
March
- 2 March - Charles B. MooreCharles B. MooreCharles B. Moore, Jr. was an American physicist, engineer and meteorologist, known for his work with gas balloons...
(b. 1920), engineer. - 4 March
- André BouchardAndré BouchardAndré Bouchard was a Canadian ecologist and environmentalist who worked primarily at Université de Montréal and the Montreal Botanical Garden during his career...
(b. 1946), ecologist, landscape ecology specialist. - Joanne SimpsonJoanne SimpsonJoanne Simpson was the first woman to ever receive a Ph.D. in meteorology. She eventually became NASA's lead weather researcher and authored or co-authored over 190 articles. Simpson contributed to many areas of the atmospheric sciences, particularly in the field of tropical meteorology...
(b. 1923), first female meteorologyMeteorologyMeteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
PhD recipient.
- André Bouchard
- 6 March - Cho Gyeong-chulCho Gyeong-chulCho Gyeong-chul was a South Korean astronomer.He was born in Sonchon, Pyongannam-do. He finished his middle and high school courses at Pyongyang and was then admitted to Yonhui University. During the Korean War he served in the South Korean army, and in 1952 he was a professor at the South Korean...
(b. 1929), astronomer. - 8 March - Georgiy ZatsepinGeorgiy ZatsepinGeorgiy Timofeyevich Zatsepin was a Soviet/Russian astrophysicist known for his works in cosmic rays physics and neutrino astrophysics. He was born in Moscow....
(b. 1917), astophysicist, co-namesake of the Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limitGreisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limitThe Greisen–Zatsepin–Kuzmin limit is a theoretical upper limit on the energy of cosmic rays coming from "distant" sources. The limit is 5×1019 eV, or about 8 joules. The limit is set by slowing-interactions of cosmic ray protons with the microwave background radiation over long distances...
. - 11 March
- Colin WellsColin Wells (historian)Colin Michael Wells was a British historian of ancient Rome, as well as scholar and archaeologist of classical antiquities and Punic.-Biography:...
(b. 1933), historian and archeologist. - Arnall PatzArnall PatzArnall Patz was an American medical doctor and research professor at Johns Hopkins University. In the early 1950s, Patz discovered that oxygen therapy was the cause of an epidemic of blindness among some 10,000 premature babies. Following his discovery, there was a sixty percent reduction in...
(b. 1920), ophthalmologist, Lasker Award recipient.
- Colin Wells
- 13 March - Ian AxfordIan AxfordSir William Ian Axford, FRS, FRSNZ , was a New Zealand space scientist who was director of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy from 1974 to 1990...
(b. 1933), space scientist. - 15 March - Lucien CampeauLucien CampeauDr. Lucien Campeau was a Canadian cardiologist. He was a full professor at the Université de Montréal.In his lifetime, he was awarded the Research Achievement Award of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. In 2004 he was named by the Association des cardiologues du Québec.-Further reading:...
(b. 1927), cardiologist, pioneered several techniques. - 20 March - Robin MilnerRobin MilnerArthur John Robin Gorell Milner FRS FRSE was a prominent British computer scientist.-Life, education and career:...
(b. 1934), computer scientist. - 22 March
- Ky FanKy FanKy Fan was an American mathematician and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Santa Barbara .-Biography:...
(b. 1914), mathematician. - James W. BlackJames W. BlackSir James Whyte Black, OM, FRS, FRSE, FRCP was a Scottish doctor and pharmacologist. He spent his career both as researcher and as an academic at several universities. Black established the physiology department at the University of Glasgow, where he became interested in the effects of adrenaline...
(b. 1924), physician and pharmacologist, Nobel laureate.
- Ky Fan
- 24 March - Oswaldo Frota-PessoaOswaldo Frota-PessoaOswaldo Frota-Pessoa was a noted Brazilian physician, biologist and geneticist.Oswaldo Frota-Pessoa was born in Rio de Janeiro, where he did all his studies, first in natural history at the Federal District University , graduating in 1938; and subsequently medicine at the National School of...
(b. 1917), physician and biologist.
April
- 2 April - David Halliday (b. 1916), physics textbooks author.
- 5 April - Helen RanneyHelen RanneyHelen Ranney was an American doctor and hematologist that researched Sickle Cell Anemia. Ranney was a faculty member, and the first female head of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. She attended medical school at Columbia University.-References:...
(b. 1920), hematologist, sickle cell anemia specialist. - 7 April - Valentin TurchinValentin TurchinValentin Fyodorovich Turchin was a Soviet and American cybernetician and computer scientist. He developed the Refal programming language, the theory of metasystem transitions and the notion of supercompilation...
(b. 1931), computer scientist. - 8 April - Guy KewneyGuy KewneyGuy Kewney was a South African-born British journalist, regarded by some as the first UK technology journalist. He was best known as a personal computing pundit, starting with Personal Computer World writing a monthly column for the magazine from its launch in 1978 until its closure in June 2009...
(b. 1946), early technology journalist. - 9 April - Guyford SteverGuyford SteverHorton Guyford Stever was an American administrator, physicist, educator, and engineer.-Biography:Stever was raised in Corning, New York, principally by his maternal grandmother. He played football in high school...
(b. 1916), physicist and engineer. - 12 April - James F. MastersonJames F. MastersonJames F. Masterson was a prominent American psychiatrist.James Francis Masterson was born March 25, 1926, in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. He was an internationally recognized psychiatrist who helped inaugurate a new approach to the study and treatment of personality disorders including borderline...
(b. 1926). psychiatrist. - 14 April - Alice MillerAlice Miller (psychologist)Alice Miller née Rostovski was a psychologist and world renowned author, who is noted for her books on child abuse by their own parents, translated in several languages...
(b. 1923), psychologist. - 24 April - Angus MaddisonAngus MaddisonAngus Maddison was a British economist and a world scholar on quantitative macroeconomic history, including the measurement and analysis of economic growth and development...
(b. 1926), economist. - 26 April - Aksel C. Wiin-NielsenAksel C. Wiin-NielsenAksel C. Wiin-Nielsen was a Danish professor of meteorology at University of Copenhagen.- Career :Wiin-Nielsen became the first director of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in January 1974...
(b. 1924), meteorologist. - 27 April
- Nossrat PeseschkianNossrat PeseschkianNossrat Peseschkian, M.D., Doctor of Medicine , Hon. Professor lived in Germany since 1954. He was a specialist in neurology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine...
(b. 1933), neurologist and psychiatrist. - Stanley GreenspanStanley GreenspanStanley Greenspan was a clinical professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Science, and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School and a practicing child psychiatrist...
(b. 1941), pediatric psychiatrist.
- Nossrat Peseschkian
May
- 3 May - Guenter WendtGuenter WendtGünter F. Wendt was a German-American engineer noted for his work in the U.S. manned spaceflight program. An employee of McDonnell Aircraft and later North American Aviation, he was in charge of the spacecraft close-out crews at the launch pads for the entire Mercury and Gemini programs , and the...
(b. 1923), space engineer. - 4 May - Hadi SoesastroHadi SoesastroHadi Soesastro was an Indonesian economist, academic and public intellectual. He was one of the founders of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies , a think tank founded in 1971, where he served as an executive director and economist...
(b. 1945), economist. - 11 May - Robert H. BurrisRobert H. BurrisRobert H. Burris was a professor in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1961...
(b. 1914), biochemist, pioneer in nitrogen fixationNitrogen fixationNitrogen fixation is the natural process, either biological or abiotic, by which nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonia . This process is essential for life because fixed nitrogen is required to biosynthesize the basic building blocks of life, e.g., nucleotides for DNA and RNA and...
research. - 13 May - Paul GarabedianPaul GarabedianPaul Roesel Garabedian was an applied mathematician and numerical analyst. Garabedian was the Director-Division of Computational Fluid Dynamics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University...
(b. 1927), applied mathematician. - 15 May - John Shepherd-BarronJohn Shepherd-BarronJohn Adrian Shepherd-Barron, OBE was a Scottish inventor, who pioneered the development of the cash machine, sometimes referred to as the Automated Teller Machine or ATM.-Early life:...
(b. 1925), inventor of the automatic teller machine. - 17 May
- Fritz SennheiserFritz SennheiserFritz Sennheiser was a German inventor and entrepreneur who founded and served as chairman of Sennheiser Electronic, a manufacturer of audio equipment.-Early life and education:...
(b. 1912), engineer and inventor of the shotgun microphone. - Richard GregoryRichard GregoryRichard Langton Gregory, CBE, MA, D.Sc., FRSE, FRS was a British psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol.-Life and career:...
(b. 1913), neuropsychologist.
- Fritz Sennheiser
- 18 May
- Devendra SinghDevendra SinghDevendra Singh was a professor of Psychology at the University of Texas, known largely for his research regarding the evolutionary significance of human attraction.-Biography:...
(b. 1938), evolutionary psychology pioneer. - John GoodersJohn GoodersJohn Gooders was a writer who first came to prominence with his first book Where to Watch Birds. At the time he was a teacher, and a lecturer at the Avery Hill teacher training college.-Television Biography:...
(b. 1937), birdwatcher and ornithology writer.
- Devendra Singh
- 20 May - Walter RudinWalter RudinWalter Rudin was an American mathematician, for most of his career a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
(b. 1921), mathematics textbook author. - 22 May - Martin GardnerMartin GardnerMartin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
(b. 1914), recreational mathematics writer and debunker of pseudosciencePseudosciencePseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to a valid scientific method, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status...
. - 28 May - Hugh FordHugh Ford (engineer)Sir Hugh Ford FREng FRS was a British engineer. He was Professor of Applied Mechanics at Imperial College London from 1951 to 1978....
(b. 1913), engineer. - 30 May - Paul MüllerPaul Müller (biologist)Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Paul Müller was a German professor of biology in Trier .. He died in Saarland on 29 May 2010....
(b. 1940), biologist.
June
- 3 June
- Paul MalliavinPaul MalliavinPaul Malliavin was a French mathematician. He was Professor Emeritus at the Pierre and Marie Curie University. He was a member of the Academy of Sciences since 1979.-Domains of research:...
(b. 1925), mathematician. - Vladimir ArnoldVladimir ArnoldVladimir Igorevich Arnold was a Soviet and Russian mathematician. While he is best known for the Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem regarding the stability of integrable Hamiltonian systems, he made important contributions in several areas including dynamical systems theory, catastrophe theory,...
(b. 1937), mathematician, solved Hilbert's thirteenth problemHilbert's thirteenth problemHilbert's thirteenth problem is one of the 23 Hilbert problems set out in a celebrated list compiled in 1900 by David Hilbert. It entails proving whether or not a solution exists for all 7th-degree equations using functions of two arguments...
.
- Paul Malliavin
- 4 June - Raymond Allchin (b. 1923), archeologist.
- 8 June - Joan HintonJoan HintonJoan Hinton was a nuclear physicist and one of the few women who worked for the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos. She lived in the People's Republic of China after 1949, where she and her husband Erwin Engst participated in China’s efforts at developing a socialist economy, working extensively in...
(b. 1921), nuclear physicist, Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
participant. - 11 June - Fred PlumFred PlumFred Plum was an American neurologist who developed the terms"persistent vegetative state" and "locked-in syndrome" as part of his continuing research on consciousness and comas and care of the comatose....
(b. 1924), neurologist, coma specialist. - 12 June - Richard KeynesRichard KeynesRichard Darwin Keynes, CBE, FRS was a British physiologist. He was a great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and edited accounts and illustrations of Darwin's famous voyage aboard the HMS Beagle into The Beagle Record: Selections From the Original Pictorial Records and Written Accounts of the Voyage of...
(b. 1919), physiologist, edited Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
's works. - 15 June - Charles Thomas BeerCharles Thomas BeerCharles Thomas Beer, CM was a Canadian organic chemist who helped in the discovery of Vinblastine.Born in Leigh, Dorset, England, he received a D.Phil in Chemistry from Oxford in 1948. He came to North America in the early 1950s to the department of medical research at the University of Western...
(b. 1915), organic chemist. - 18 June - Robert GalambosRobert GalambosRobert Carl Galambos was an American neuroscientist whose pioneering research demonstrated how bats use echolocation for navigation purposes, as well as studies on how sound is processed in the brain....
(b. 1914), neuroscientist, demonstrated use of echolocationEcholocationEcholocation may refer to:* Acoustic location, the general use of sound to locate objects* Animal echolocation, non-human animals emitting sound waves and listening to the echo in order to locate objects or navigate...
in bats. - 20 June - Harry B. WhittingtonHarry B. WhittingtonHarry Blackmore Whittington FRS was a British paleontologist based at the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge, and was affiliated to Sidney Sussex College. He attended Handsworth Grammar School in Birmingham, followed by a degree and Ph.D in geology from the University of Birmingham...
(b. 1916), paleontologist, Woodwardian Professor of GeologyWoodwardian Professor of GeologyThe Woodwardian Professor of Geology is a professorship held in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. It was founded by John Woodward in 1728...
. - 25 June - Brian Flowers, Baron FlowersBrian Flowers, Baron FlowersBrian Hilton Flowers, Baron Flowers FRS was a British physicist and academican.-Early life and studies:The son of Reverend Harold Joseph Flowers, he was educated at the Bishop Gore School in Swansea and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Master of Arts...
(b. 1924), physicist. - 28 June - Clement FinchClement FinchClement Alfred Finch often deemed “The Iron Man”, was a Physician specializing in Hematology whose research on iron metabolization in the bloodstream at the University of Washington led to significant advancements in accurately diagnosing and treating anemia during a time period in which little...
(b. 1915), hematologist.
July
- 2 July
- Leonard SearleLeonard SearleLeonard Searle was an English-born American astronomer who worked on theories of the Big Bang. He was born in Mitcham, a suburb of London, and studied at St Andrews in Scotland and Princeton in New Jersey. After receiving his doctorate he started working at the University of Toronto in 1953,...
(b. 1930), astronomer. - Carl Adam PetriCarl Adam PetriCarl Adam Petri was a German mathematician and computer scientist. He was born in Leipzig.Petri nets were invented in August 1939 by Carl Adam Petri – at the age of 13 – for the purpose of describing chemicalprocesses...
(b. 1926), mathematician.
- Leonard Searle
- 8 July
- Thomas C. PeeblesThomas C. PeeblesThomas Chalmers Peebles was an American physician who made multiple discoveries in the field of medicine, including being the first to isolate the measles virus...
(b. 1921), physician, isolated the measlesMeaslesMeasles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
virus. - David BlackwellDavid Blackwell-Honors and awards:*President, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 1956*National Academy of Sciences, 1965*American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1968*Honorary Fellow, Royal Statistical Society, 1976*Vice President, American Statistical Association, 1978...
(b. 1919), statistician, first African-American member of the United States National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
.
- Thomas C. Peebles
- 19 July
- Stephen SchneiderStephen SchneiderStephen Henry Schneider was Professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change at Stanford University, a Co-Director at the Center for Environment Science and Policy of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a Senior Fellow in the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment...
(b. 1945), climate scientist. - Gerson GoldhaberGerson GoldhaberGerson Goldhaber was an American particle physicist and astrophysicist. He was one of the discoverers of the J/ψ meson which confirmed the existence of the charm quark...
(b. 1924), particle physicist.
- Stephen Schneider
- 21 July - Herbert GierschHerbert GierschHerbert Giersch was a German economist. He was one of the initial members of the German Council of Economic Experts in 1964, serving on the council until 1970, and also was president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy 1969–1989...
(b. 1921), economist. - 29 July
- Zheng Ji (b. 1900), biochemist and nutritionist.
- Nicolae PopescuNicolae PopescuNicolae Popescu was a Romanian mathematician and Emeritus Professor. Popescu was elected a Member of the Romanian Academy in 1992. He is best known for his contributions to Algebra and the theory of Abelian categories. Since 1964 and until 2007 he collaborated on the characterization of abelian...
(b. 1937), mathematician.
- 30 July - Chien Wei-zang (b. 1913), physicist.
September
- 8 September - George C. WilliamsGeorge C. WilliamsProfessor George Christopher Williams was an American evolutionary biologist.Williams was a professor emeritus of biology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was best known for his vigorous critique of group selection. The work of Williams in this area, along with W. D...
(b. 1926), evolutionary biologist and theorist. - 21 September - Jerrold E. MarsdenJerrold E. MarsdenJerrold Eldon Marsden , was an applied mathematician. He was the Carl F. Braun Professor of Engineering and Control & Dynamical Systems at the California Institute of Technology. Marsden is listed as an ISI highly cited researcher.-Career:Marsden earned his B.Sc...
(b. 1942), applied mathematician.
October
- 14 October - Benoît MandelbrotBenoît MandelbrotBenoît B. Mandelbrot was a French American mathematician. Born in Poland, he moved to France with his family when he was a child...
(b. 1924), Polish-born French-American mathematician, pioneer of the study of fractals.
See also
- List of years in science
- 2010 in spaceflight2010 in spaceflightThe year 2010 saw a number of notable events in spaceflight. These included the first test flight of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which is intended to conduct commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, and the...
- List of emerging technologies