The journal "Science" proclaimed that the fresh evidence of "evolution in action" was the "Top Scientific Breakthrough of 2005."
The Nine Runner-ups:
Planetary Exploration: With spacecraft at or on the way to the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, a comet, an asteroid, Saturn, and the very edge of the solar system, planetary discovery soared in 2005. The high point may have been the landing of Europe's Huygens probe on Titan, Saturn's largest moon.
Plant Research: Several key molecular cues behind flowering and other plant mysteries and surprises came to light in 2005. For example, plant molecular biologists pinned down the identity of a signal that initiates the seasonal development of flowers.
Neutron Stars: In 2005, new instruments yielded vivid insights into the most violent behaviors of neutron stars. An intense pulse of radiation from near the center of the Milky Way may have been the result of a short gamma-ray burst — a rapid merger of two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole.
Brain Wiring and Disease: Several studies in 2005 suggest that diseases such schizophrenia, Tourette syndrome, and dyslexia are rooted in "faulty wiring" of the brain's neural circuitry during development in the womb.
Earth's Origin: Researchers looked at earthly rocks and meteorites that resemble the starting material of the solar system — and found that their atoms were significantly different. Some scientists say early Earth materials came from a different part of the solar system, while others say parts of early Earth are hidden deep within the planet.
Protein Research: The most detailed molecular portrait to date of a voltage-gated potassium channel was unveiled in 2005. These channels, gatekeeper proteins that usher potassium ions in and out of cells, are as key to nerve and muscle functioning as transistors are to computers.
Global Warming and Climate Change: In 2005, evidence linking humans to global warming continued to accumulate, and U.S. politicians began to take notice.
Cell Signaling: Dynamic views of how cells respond to the chemical and environmental signals all around them took hold in 2005, thanks to efforts to track multiple inputs and outputs of cell signaling networks simultaneously.
Fusion Research: The struggle over the location of the world's first fusion reactor has ended — the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor will be built at Cadarache in southern France and not in Japan.
They also said that research in particle physics ranked as the "breakdown of the year," due in part to the U.S. federal government's cancellation of two multimillion-dollar experiments (BTeV and RSVP). The journal's roundup didn't mention the late-breaking controversy over South Korean stem cell research.
Eight fields were identified as "areas to watch in 2006": the avian flu, gravity-wave detection, RNAi-based treatments, ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, microbial evolution, the "superflow" of solidified helium, high-temperature superconductivity — and the potential for continued sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker, long presumed extinct but recently rediscovered.
Source: "Evolution evidence rated as top ‘breakthrough’: Science selects ‘hot topic’ to lead its annual list of research highlights," MSNBC news service reports, Dec. 22, 2005.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10574901/
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