Top 10 scientific discoveries!!!!

Some of these discoveries occupied front pages, others, however, went unnoticed by the press unscientific. But both will go down in history as a great step of mankind. And we can not understand the world that comes without them. The philosopher and broadcaster Eduardo Punset chooses and explains the most important scientific advances of the past ten years.

1. Genes of eternal life

If a gene is problematic, or just not in our genome, we can insert a functional copy and eliminate the symptoms of the disease (especially if hereditary). The idea is not new, the first gene therapy treatment was performed in 1990 - but the most promising developments have occurred in the last decade. It is still under development, but in 2008 was successfully implemented at the University of Pennsylvania to treat blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis and could also fight adrenoleukodystrophy, periodontitis, hemophilia ...

2. We know how old the universe!

 On June 30, 2001 took off from Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA) with a probe rocket on board and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). Their goal: to measure the cosmic background radiation, a form of energy that permeates all of space and is a remnant of the early universe. Here are some achievements of this probe NASA has provided a highly accurate map of the early universe. Thanks to her, we know that the universe is 13,700 million years. Has the 'composition' of the universe: a 5 percent ordinary matter, 23 percent dark matter (not made of atoms) and 72 percent dark energy, a force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.

3. The best kept secret of Mars

The definitive proof that water exists on Mars was found in June 2008. And the protagonist was the Phoenix Mars Lander, after locating ice under a thin layer of dust. In the past, possibly Mars harbored large amounts of liquid water and it is possible that still contained a small amount below the polar ice caps. It is not about giving a shot, but it does increase the possibility of finding microbial life on the planet.

4. The map of life, decryption

In 2003 he completed the Human Genome Project, one of the largest research projects in history, which was obtained with the map of the genetic code that makes the lives of humans. The sequencing of the genome of other species is ongoing and will be key to developing medicines and other health-related issues.

5. The 'sprint' that can explain the world

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN-dependent and based on the French-Swiss border, and is the most powerful particle accelerator in the world. But that's not his only record: the largest experiment ever. For now, the LHC is just great promise. Its implementation has been uneven and still have not achieved great results, but all the world's physicists have their attention focused on him because they expect their disclosing particle collisions, for example, the origin of mass or give clues to understand the origin of the universe, dark matter or antimatter.

6. The man who wants to imitate God

A team of scientists led by geneticist (and seasoned businessman) Craig Venter has taken the first steps to creating life in the lab. Thus begins a biological revolution unprecedented. Venter managed to assemble the 582,000 base pairs necessary to invent a new bacterium called Mycoplasma Laboratorium. The next step is to install the synthetic DNA into a living bacterium to see if the agency can work with the new synthetic code. 





7. We are not slaves to our genetic heritage!

Advances in recent years forced to rethink the classic way to understand key concepts such as what is a gene. According to the classical view, the gene was a discrete and identifiable unit that was used to encode a protein. It was, in short, the smallest unit of meaning in biology. Of the three billion bases of the human genome, it was found that only 1.2 percent was genes. The rest was considered junk DNA, or `junk DNA '. But new studies show that these bases fulfill key functions. There are also essential discoveries on ribonucleic acid (RNA). Before he was considered as a simple messenger for DNA and now it looks almost like a partner. l Another finding: once thought that DNA was the only responsible for transmitting the secret of life. We now know that there are external elements or epigenetic that interfere with gene expression. There biomolecular level events that have nothing to do with the DNA molecule itself, but also code inherited characteristics. What we do, eat and experience change our genetics.

8. With all of you ... 'Ardi', our great-grandmother

Ardipithecus ramidus fossils were discovered in Ethiopia in 1994, but the publication of research on origin was made earlier this year. The remains of the female specimen, known as Ardi, have 4.4 million years and are older than the famous Lucy, an Australopithecus 3.2 million years. Today, Ardi is the oldest hominid fossil evidence we have.


9. The hardest math problem in the world: solved!

The Poincaré conjecture was considered the greatest enigma twentieth century mathematician and was one of the Seven Millennium Problems proposed by the Clay Mathematics Institute (which rewards its resolution with a million dollars). This hypothesis is about a topological question in a three-dimensional spherical surface has collected a range of `theorem '(ie, the statement shown) when the eccentric Russian mathematician Gregori Perelman solved it. He received the medal for it Field (equivalent to a Nobel Prize in mathematics nonexistent) in 2006, which rejected his enormous disdain for public life.

10. And citizens conquered Earth


The World Wide Web has existed since the early nineties, but it was not until the last decade, with the advent of Web 2.0, where the real power of communication and democratization of Internet information is shown with all his might. The rise of blogs, social networking sites like Facebook or YouTube, where content is generated by the public, has reduced the weight and mass media has given prominence to the anonymous citizens