Tau.Neutrino said:

Year in science: 15 amazing things humans discovered in 2016

1. There is a planet orbiting Proxima
2. Gravitational waves were observed
3. Dinosaur feathers were found trapped in amber
4. Humans have been living in Australia’s interior for at least 49,000 years
5. Male redbacks have developed a trick to have sex more than once in their lives
6. World’s oldest fossils are 3.7 billion years old
7. Some scientists think there is a ninth planet in the solar system
8. Chinese scientists used CRISPR gene-editing technology in a human for the first time
9. The radiation resistance of weird microscopic animals could help humans survive space travel
“biologists at the University of Tokyo announced their discovery of DNA in tardigrades that protect them from X-rays. The scientists also said they could transfer this resistance to human cells.”
10. Four new chemical elements were named
11. World’s largest radio telescope is finished, with a CSIRO sensor in its heart
12. Greenland shark lives about 400 years
13. World’s first baby with three genetic parents is born
14. Ho hum
15. The spectrum of antimatter hydrogen is measured for the first time

Gravity waves, lab-grown bones and bullet-shredding foam: The year in science

Tau.Neutrino said:

Gravity waves, lab-grown bones and bullet-shredding foam: The year in science

“Earlier this year, a man who had lost his hand in an accident tried out a bionic fingertip wired into the nerves of his upper arm and was able to distinguish between rough and smooth surfaces with 96 percent accuracy. Later in the year, a man who was paralyzed in a car accident in 2004 received a robotic arm equipped with sensors that were wired directly into his brain, which allowed him to feel each of his bionic fingers along with sensations of touch and pressure.”

“This year also saw lab-grown bone fuse with a pig’s jaw that eventually got taken over by the animal’s actual bone structure; lab-grown eye tissue bring back sight to blind rabbits; lab-grown mini brains that could replace animal testing and provide more reliable results; and lab-made liver tissue that could help us safely test new drugs.”

Was talking to a cancer expert yesterday. “High throughput” cancer testing oif carcinogens is done partly on lab-grown tissue like this, and partly on the effect directly on enzyme activity. No more carcinogen testing on lab rats.

“the octopus to find out how to make a next-gen adhesive that is temperature sensitive; they looked to the mantis shrimp for inspiration on making robotic eyes as well as better body armor; and they tapped the wisdom of owl feathers to improve turbine design. Meanwhile, moth eyes were the inspiration for self-cleaning windows and beetle shells just might lead to ice-free aircraft wings.”

Nice.

“a strange new state of water called tunnelling, that added to the ubiquitous substance’s well-known states of solid, liquid and gas. Scientists at UC San Diego, MIT and Harvard University, meanwhile, created new energy-carrying particles at the nanoscale called plexcitons, which are something of a marriage between excitons and plasmons”.

“34.5 percent sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency by using a prism to break sunlight into four bands, beating the previous record of 24 percent.”

New Scientist The 12 biggest and best science stories of 2016

What goes up: The year in space, 2016