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Nov 30: STS-126 ends Dec 9: Mouse 40th Anniversary
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Nov 18: MySpace suicide trial Jan 5-9: Macworld 2009
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Jan 8-11: CES 2009 Dec: Pan-STARRS online TBD: STS-125

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• 2008 in science
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[edit] Events in science and technology

[edit] January 5, 2009 (Monday)

The Milky Way appears to be as large as the Andromeda Galaxy, with revised data showing our galaxy has 50% more mass than previously thought. (AP)
Celebrity Twitter accounts were hacked. (CNet)

[edit] January 3, 2009 (Saturday)

Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity celebrate their 5th anniversary. (BBC)

[edit] January 2, 2009 (Friday)

Nanodiamonds indicate comet impacts on Earth created a sudden cooling period 12,000 years ago, making large mammals like mammoths extinct and starting a new ice age. (SciAm)

[edit] December 31, 2008 (Wednesday)

The first high definition imprints (CymaGlyphs) of the sounds dolphins make are taken. There is growing evidence dolphins can scan an object and then send that ultrasonic image to other dolphins; making their language picture based. (AlphaGalileo)

[edit] December 30, 2008 (Tuesday)

Religion may have evolved because it helps followers have more self-control. Which is important for achieving long term goals, avoiding substance abuse and having longer lives. (Physorg)
Exercise has been shown to improve memory by allowing glucose to be quickly absorbed by muscles. This improves the function of the dentate gyrus, a part of the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory. (SciAm)

[edit] December 27, 2008 (Saturday)

A leap second will be added to 2008 to synchronize Earth's rotation with the time. (NYTimes)
The Molecule of the Year 2008 is the anti- SAG 421-433 catalytic IgA as announced by Isidro T. Savillo, President of ISMCBBPR (International Society for Molecular and Cell Biology and Biotechnology Protocols and Researches). (ScientistSolutions)

[edit] December 26, 2008 (Friday)

Verizon wins a $33.15 million judgment against cybersquatter OnlineNIC. (Register)

[edit] December 24, 2008 (Wednesday)

A PEW study shows the internet has overtaken newspapers as a news source. (CNet)
For the first time notebook sales surpass desktop computers. (eWeek)

[edit] December 23, 2008 (Tuesday)

Lack of sleep linked to calcium deposits and a higher chance of heart disease. (NYTimes)
Artificial human bone marrow is created in a test tube. This will permit faster testing of new drugs. (EurekAlert)

[edit] December 22, 2008 (Monday)

Glasses developed by Joshua Silver allow people in developing countries to adjust the thickness of the lenses to their prescription. The goal is to improve the sight of 1 billion people and to design the glasses to cost $1. (Guardian)
A new way to protect teeth from cavities has been found by using silica nanoparticles. (ScienceDaily)
The last large U.S. supplier of VHS tapes sends out its final shipment. (LATimes)

[edit] December 21, 2008 (Sunday)

The enzyme horseradish peroxidase along with hydrogen peroxide has been found to biodegrade carbon nanotubes. (Pitt)

[edit] December 19, 2008 (Friday)

A new early cancer detection using magnetoresistance could be significantly more sensitive than standard tests. (TechReview)

[edit] December 18, 2008 (Thursday)

Foresight Institute Feynman Prize winners announced. (ComputerWorld)
Proteins have been identified that regulate neuron growth. (PhysOrg)
Higher density biofuel has been made possible by creating long-chain alcohols with genetically modified Escherichia coli. It is also less corrosive and easier to process. (PhysOrg)

[edit] December 16, 2008 (Tuesday)

Researchers have found that by manipulation stem cell electrical signals they can suppress or increase growth. They hope to use this to precisely control organ growth for transplantation. (NewScientist)
Quantum memory stored in gas has been made to last 7.2 microseconds, two orders of magnitude longer than previously, sufficiently long to transmit over 1000 km. (NewScientist)

[edit] December 15, 2008 (Monday)

The first Airborne Laser was successfully tested on the ground integrated with its aircraft. (NewScientist)
Carbon nanotubes with structural defects built-in could make ideal circuits. (NewScientist)

[edit] December 12, 2008 (Friday)

The first commercial self-healing coatings are possibly months away, enabling robust protection of equipment and structures in harsh conditions. (TechReview)
The Moon will appear 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter. Its orbit brings it 30,000 km closer to Earth every 15 years. This time it has coincided with a full moon. (CBC)

[edit] December 11, 2008 (Thursday)

IBM creates graphene transistors able to clock 26 GHz. (arxivblog)

[edit] December 10, 2008 (Thursday)

Google releases its 2008 zeitgeist list. (CTV)

[edit] December 9, 2008 (Tuesday)

The mouse celebrates its 40th anniversary. (BBC)
Research shows there could be no end in sight for Moore's Law. The fast pace of growing computing power could be sustained for many years to come thanks to new research from the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) that is applying advanced techniques to magnetic semiconductors. (PhysOrg)

[edit] December 8, 2008 (Monday)

The article Virgin Killer on Wikipedia has been blocked in the United Kingdom by the Internet Watch Foundation because the album cover depicts a naked child. It remains viewable on other U.K. websites and sparks a debate on internet censorship and free speech. (BBC)
Broadcom releases the BCM4329 wireless chip that combines 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and FM. This will allow portable devices to efficiently receive and send large files. (InformationWeek)

[edit] December 7, 2008 (Saturday)

Intel says it has made further progress in developing a silicon-based avalanche photodetector. If done cost effectively it would greatly increase the speed and efficiency of processor communication. (eWeek)

[edit] December 4, 2008 (Thursday)

Mars Science Laboratory is delayed 2 years to 2011 because of slower than expected progress on resolving issue. (BBC)

[edit] December 3, 2008 (Wednesday)

University of Geneva researchers create the first superconducting FET transistor. This could spur the creation of much faster and more efficient microchips. (NewScientist)

[edit] December 2, 2008 (Tuesday)

Engineering piezoelectrics to a size of 21 nanometers can significantly increase the power it generates. This could make cell phones powered by voice vibrations possible. (ScienceDaily)

[edit] November 30, 2008 (Sunday)

Space Shuttle Endeavour lands safely at Edwards Air Force Base, completing STS-126. (BBC)

[edit] November 26, 2008 (Wednesday)

Palaeontologists discover Odontochelys semitestacea, a marine turtle that lived 220 million years ago, suggesting that turtles evolved in the sea. (Nature)
A key ageing mechanism has been found with protein SIRT1. Usually it suppresses genes from being activated, but it also fixes DNA; in doing so SIRT1 abandons its suppression role. (NewScientist)
In the first U.S. cyberbullying court case the defendant Lori Drew was cleared of felony charges and given 3 misdemeanor counts. The case could set significant precedents on how a websites "terms of service" are applied to criminal cases. (Reuters)
Spam is increasing after the 80% drop in volume when McColo was shutdown on November 12th. (CNet)
A hormone family called NAPEs produced by the small intestine have been identified that suppress appetite, which could lead to new obesity treatments. (Reuters)

[edit] November 25, 2008 (Tuesday)

The first cyborg leaf is created by attaching photosynthetic molecules to thin sheets of gold. (NewScientist)

[edit] November 24, 2008 (Monday)

Facebook is awarded $873 million against a Canadian spammer. The largest settlement yet under the CAN-SPAM Act. (CNet)
Twitter rejects Facebook's $500 million buyout offer. (TheDeal)

[edit] November 23, 2008 (Sunday)

The WaterMill, a device that creates clean drinking water from humidity, is showcased by Wired (magazine). (Guardian)
Truly random numbers are generated 10 times faster than existing methods using laser feedback. (NewScientist)

[edit] November 21, 2008 (Friday)

The first logic gate is built that can process data carried by spin waves, a key component of spintronics. (NewScientist)

[edit] November 19, 2008 (Wednesday)

Personalised cancer treatment improves with a test of 49 genes that indicate which patients will respond to common treatments. (NewScientist)
President-elect Barack Obama announces a policy working group on technology for his upcoming administration. (CNet)
The DNA of the extinct woolly mammoth is sequenced from mummified hair. (Reuters)
Google publishes 2 million photos from Life's archives, with plans to make all 10 million available free of charge. (AP)

[edit] November 18, 2008 (Tuesday)

NASA successfully tests a Disruption-Tolerant Networking to extend the Internet into outer space. (NASA)
The USB 3.0 specification is finalized, which promissd to be 10 times faster than USB 2.0. (MaximumPC)
Nvidia announces a personal supercomputer design based on using multiple GPU's. (eWeek)

[edit] November 17, 2008 (Monday)

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory create a large number of positrons by shooting a laser on a small sample of gold. This will assist in understanding black holes and gamma ray bursts. (LLNL)
Google Voice Search becomes available on the iPhone. (CNet)
A new lab-on-a-chip can analyze 35 proteins in a drop of blood within 10 minutes. Reducing the cost and time it takes to conduct standard blood testing by at least an order of magnitude. (TechReview)

[edit] November 15, 2008 (Saturday)

The first divorce directly attributed to cheating as an avatar occurs in Second Life, a virtual world. (eFluxMedia)

[edit] November 13, 2008 (Thursday)

Land based telescopes and Hubble capture the first images of exoplanets in the visual spectrum. Until now, researchers have used gravity changes to identify extrasolar planets. For the first time in history, pictures of extra-solar planets in HR 8799 have been released. (CNN) (Reuters)

[edit] November 12, 2008 (Wednesday)

The Martin jetpack is invented. (PopSci)
Chandrayaan-1 reaches its operational (100 km) orbit around the moon. (ISRO)
McColo a web host responsible for as much as 75% of the world's spam is taken offline by its ISPs. (eWeek)

[edit] November 11, 2008 (Tuesday)

The Phoenix Mars mission ends as the probe stops communicating with Earth. (NPR)

[edit] Wikinews

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[edit] Events in science and technology by month

2008 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2007 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2006 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2005 in science: January February March April May June July August September October November December
2004 in science: November December
(For earlier science and technology events, see October 2004 and preceding months)

[edit] News collections and sources

See: Wikipedia:Current science and technology sources.