Top 100 Stories of 2008 - Discover Magazine




Over the course of this month, DISCOVER will be unveiling its list of the top 100 science stories of the year, from #100 (the animal with the strongest bite on Earth) to… Well, you’ll just have to check back to see.

Or click here to sign up for a daily newsletter that will present a few more of the top 100 each day.

The Year in Environment News



Vegetation retreating uphill, bringing dead zones back to life, the global agriculture reboot, and the #1 story of the year…
12.30.2008





The Year in Health & Medicine



The fitness pill, tainted drugs, why you should lick your wounds, and more.
12.29.2008





The Year in Human Origins



Ancient computers, evolving the perfect canoe, the “hobbit” smackdown, and more.
12.28.2008





The Year in Genetics



Musical genes, the platypus as animal grab-bag, cracking the anthrax case, and more.
12.27.2008





The Year in Physics



Hunting the “God particle,” seeking invisibility, instant communication, and more.
12.25.2008





The Year in Earth Science



Life from space, killer hail, bacterial weather, and more
12.24.2008





#2: The LHC Begins Its Search for the “God Particle”



After many years and billions of dollars, the LHC had its fateful first test run.
12.22.2008





#3: The FDA Tackles Tainted Drugs From China



The realities of globalization hit the U.S. drug industry.
12.22.2008





#4: Slime Is Turning the Seas Into Dead Zones



Pollution, overfishing, and the rise of microbes spell doom for many bodies of water.
12.22.2008





#5: Nations Stake Their Claims to a Melting Arctic



Undiscovered oil and gas reserves below the ice set off a polar gold rush.
12.22.2008





#6: Phoenix Lander Strikes Ice on Mars



Finally, positive confirmation of what we long thought and hoped for
12.21.2008





#7: Invisibility Becomes More than Just a Fantasy



Researchers are cloaking materials from light, sound, and even matter itself.
12.21.2008





#8: Cavemen: They’re Just Like Us



Neanderthals were a sophisticated bunch, according to new research.
12.21.2008





#9: Your Genome, Now Available for a (Relative) Discount



The first cost around $1 million; now, it’s more like $200,000.
12.21.2008





#10: Coming to the Americas



Several studies sharpen the picture of life and migration through the Arctic and into the New World.
12.21.2008





#11: Effective Kidney Transplants Without a Lifetime of Powerful Drugs



A new technique help transplant patients live, even with mismatched organs.
12.20.2008





#12: Plastics Come Under Fire



The BPA debate rages on as the public demands action.
12.20.2008





#13: China Takes Its First Space Walk



A nation delights in its pioneering venture.
12.20.2008





#14: All Flus Lead to Asia



The Far East is the incubator of every strain—and the key to treating the disease.
12.20.2008





#15: The Lost Cities of the Amazon



What is now sparsely populated jungle held large urban settlements hundreds of years ago.
12.20.2008





#16: Researchers Produce Human Blood from Stem Cells



It’s not quite the same, but lab-generated blood gets the job done.
12.19.2008





#17: Cell Reprogramming Could Help Cure Diabetes—and Other Diseases



Stem-cell guru says reprogramming adult cells might actually work better.
12.19.2008





#18: Two Alzheimer’s Drugs Show Promise



The new drugs use a totally different mechanism than most would-be treatments.
12.19.2008





#19: Salmonella Outbreak Shines Light on Food Safety



Two deaths and countless dollars later, the chinks in the food system are exposed.
12.19.2008





#20: The “Doomsday Vault” Stores Seeds for a Global Agriculture Reboot



Humanity’s chances to survive global warming and nuclear attacks just increased.
12.19.2008





#21: Plants Inspire a Better Way to Store Solar Energy



Using the principles of photosynthesis, scientists create more efficient storage for solar power.
12.18.2008





#22: Mercury Reveals Its Secrets



The planet comes into focus during NASA’s first visit in 33 years.
12.18.2008





#23: Black Holes Birth Baby Stars



Computer simulations reveal the source of mystery constellations.
12.18.2008





#24: Gene Therapy Returns (Some) Sight to (Some) Blind People



Genetic tinkering helps repair one rare form of congenital blindness.


12.17.2008





#25: EPA Searches Soul, Tries to Figure out If It’s a Climate Cop



The agency moves toward acting on greenhouse gases, but change will probably wait for Obama.
12.17.2008





#26: Sun Catcher Promises Cheaper Solar Power



Using laser technology, scientists build a low-cost solar concentrator.
12.17.2008





#27: Astronomers Spy the Youngest Planet Ever Found



The latest, newest protoplanet is a “dusty, rocky, gaseous lump.”
12.17.2008





#28: Lithium May Be the Answer for Lou Gehrig’s Disease



A new study brings some hope that the disease can be treated.
12.17.2008





#29: A New Law Bans Genetic Discrimination



After over a decade, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act becomes law.
12.17.2008





#30: Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror



The birds pass the test for “rudimentary sense of self.”
12.17.2008





#31: Fish Farming Threatens Wild Salmon



Lice, interbreeding, and contaminants are killing off the species.
12.16.2008





#32: DNA Sleuthing Cracks the Anthrax Case



Microbial forensics seems to have solved an infamous whodunnit.
12.16.2008





#33: The First Known Case of Virus-Attacks-Virus



Sputnik virus seems to have influenced evolution of the Mamavirus.
12.16.2008





#34: Anti-Malaria Gene Boosts HIV Vulnerability



An adaptation against tropical disease makes people of African descent more prone to AIDS.
12.16.2008





#35: Scientists Find the Key to Bringing Dead Zones Back to Life



Phosphorus levels can make or break a lake, it turns out.
12.16.2008





#36: Creationism Lurks in Public High Schools



One in six teachers say they believe the earth is 6,000 years old.
12.15.2008





#37: Shorebird Population Is in Rapid Decline



Australian and Asian birds are a clear example of population collapse.
12.15.2008





#38: Cholesterol Drugs Are Prescribed for High-Risk Kids



8-year-olds can now take statins to reduce the chances of heart disease.
12.15.2008





#39: Amazonian Tribe Doesn’t Have Words for Numbers



The Pirahã people overturned scientists’ belief about human cognition.
12.15.2008





#40: The First Known Binary Black Hole System



One of the most massive things in the universe turns out to have a little buddy.
12.15.2008





#41: A Synthetic Genome Is Built From Scratch



The art of recreating an entire bacterial genome.
12.14.2008





#42: Geneticists Uncover the Origin of Blue Eyes



A single genetic mutation gives life to baby blues.
12.14.2008





#43: Next-Level Quantum Spookiness



Photons instantaneously send signals over 11 miles. Einstein remains perplexed.
12.14.2008





#44: The Baffling Bee Die-Off Continues



Colony Collapse Disorder continues its relentless march.
12.14.2008





#45: Huge Population of Lowland Gorillas Found



For once, researchers come up with good news for an endangered species.
12.14.2008





#46: FDA Approves Food From Cloned Animals



Meat and milk products from cloned livestock may soon hit the shelves.
12.13.2008





#47: Biologists Watch HIV Replicate in Real Time



Using fluorescent proteins, researchers observer the virus forming.
12.13.2008





#48: Cyber Attacks May Be Connected With Real War



As tensions with Russia mounted, Georgia got slammed by hackers.
12.13.2008





#49: Plant Migration Tied to Climate Change



When the going gets hot, vegetation runs for the hills.
12.13.2008





#50: Confirmed: 1969 Meteorite Brought Genetic Building Blocks From Space



More evidence that asteroids may have led to the emergence of life on earth.
12.13.2008





#51: Physicists Build the World’s Smallest Transistor



The tiny device measures an astonishing 10 atoms by 1 atom.
12.12.2008





#52: Musical Ability Seems to Be 50 Percent Genetic



Beethovens of the world may have innate advantages like better signaling from inner-ear hair cells.
12.12.2008





#53: Bizarre Aquatic Creatures Are Secretly “Lesbian Necrophiliacs”



Asexual bdelloids aren’t really asexual after all.
12.12.2008





#54: An “Elite” Immune System Can Prevent AIDS



A select few infected with HIV never become ill.
12.12.2008





#55: Polar Bears (Finally) Make the Endangered Species List



At long last, the government acknowledges the species is threatened.
12.12.2008





#56: Memory Training Can Make You Smarter



Your intelligence isn’t just what you’re born with.
12.11.2008





#57: Schizophrenia Linked to Large Genetic Alterations



Some sufferers of the disease have entirely unique DNA duplications or deletions.
12.11.2008





#58: Smart People Are Better Able to Keep a Beat



Good neural functioning is good neural functioning.
12.11.2008





#59: Low-Fat Is Officially Inferior to Low-Carb



A comprehensive study gives a big piece of ammunition to the Atkins crowd.
12.11.2008





#60: Mars Became Lopsided After Massive Asteroid Collision



After 30 years, the debate over the red planet’s shape may be over.
12.11.2008





#61: A New Drug Delivers “Fitness” Without the Workout



Take a pill and simulate the effects of exercise.
12.10.2008





#62: Researchers Discover Why Wound-Licking Works



Compounds in saliva actually do speed healing.
12.10.2008





#63: Lizardlike Tuatara Sets a Speed Record for DNA Change



The reptile undergoes rapid molecular evolution but is largely unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs.
12.10.2008





#64: Spain Gives Great Apes Legal Rights



The animals have the right to life and protection from harmful research practices.
12.10.2008





#65: Long-Prophesied Circuit Element Could Revolutionize Computing



Instant booting and decreased power consumption may soon be realities with the new “memristor.”
12.10.2008





#66: Natural Selection Helped Indonesians Find the Perfect Canoe



Darwinian-style evolution pushes cultural change, a new paper argues.
12.10.2008





#67: Drilling, Not Earthquake, Caused Giant Hot Mud Volcano



Some claim an earthquake caused this mud river, but new research says otherwise.
12.10.2008





#68: Solved: The Mystery of Gravity-Defying Sap



One synthetic tree accomplishes what loads of scientists never could.
12.10.2008





#69: Physicists Create a Perfect Place to Store Electricity



New “superinsulator” can hold a charge forever without leakage
12.10.2008





#70: A Single Electron Is Caught on Film



Scientists make one of the world’s most remarkable movies.
12.10.2008





#71: Slime Molds Show Surprising Degree of Intelligence



A creature with no brain can learn from and even anticipate events.
12.09.2008





#72: Prozac Cures Lazy Eye



The antidepressent might be the answer to wiping out amblyopia for good.
12.09.2008





#73: Giant Ice Meteors Fall From Clear Skies



20-pound chunks of ice falling on a sunny day? It’s no urban myth.
12.09.2008





#74: Viruses Are Put to Work Building Superbatteries



Engineers turn viruses into little engineers.
12.09.2008





#75: Chilies’ Fire Is Self-Defense Against a Surprising Foe



Capsaicin keeps fungus from chomping on pepper plants but does nothing to dissuade hungry bugs.
12.09.2008





#76: Europe’s Oldest Hominid Makes Its Debut



Archaeologists in Spain uncover the remains of a 1.2-million-year-old human.
12.09.2008





#77: X-Rays Reveal Ship-Wreckage to Be 2,000-Year-Old Astronomy Computer



The Antikythera Mechanism tracked heavenly movements like clockwork.
12.09.2008





#78: The Galaxy that Spins a Giant Magnetic Web



This “fiery spiderweb” uses magnetic fields to survive tough storms.
12.09.2008





#79: The Ancient Rat as Big as a Bull



This giant rodent weighed as much as a compact car.
12.09.2008





#80: Invented: Self-Healing Rubber Made From Vegetable Oil and Pee Ingredient



Hydrogen bonds let ripped material re-form.
12.09.2008





#81: Smart-Matter Robots Reassemble Themselves



Like the Terminator T-1000, these robots can fix themselves after being scattered.
12.08.2008





#82: The New Immune System Weapon: A DNA Catapult in Your Gut



Triggered by harmful bacteria, cells fling killer webs of DNA to ensnare the intruder.
12.08.2008





#83: Bulletproof Paper Is Stronger Than Kevlar



New nanopaper is not only super-strong, but made from renewable materials.
12.08.2008





#84: 9,000-Year-Old Milk Cartons Found



A new study examines the world’s oldest cattle ranchers.
12.08.2008





#85: Smackdown Over Ancient “Hobbit” Continues



A mysterious skeleton puzzles scientists who wonder if it was human.
12.08.2008





#86: You, Too, Have a Photographic Memory



When put to the test, your brain remembers images with astonishing accuracy.
12.07.2008





#87: Speedy Sperm Explains Flower Power



The quickest out of the gate, angiosperms dominate the plant world.
12.07.2008





#88: Bacteria Can Control the Weather



The tiny organisms may play a big role in causing precipitation.
12.07.2008





#89: Archaeologists Find the World’s Oldest Arrowheads



While others were still hurling spears, these ancient people were felling prey with arrows.
12.07.2008





#90: The Platypus Genome Is a Mash-Up of Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals



One animal, three completely different ancestors.
12.07.2008





#91: Humans Have 5 Universal Facial Muscles—and 10 Optional Ones



For the first time, psychologists mapped muscle variation in the face.
12.05.2008





#92: A 380-Million-Year-Old Fish Gives Birth



Paleontologists unearth a prehistoric pregnant skeleton.
12.05.2008





#93: Physicists Discover the Source of Earth’s “Mystery Hiss”



A strange electromagnetic wave follows the path of sound waves through water.
12.05.2008





#94: Seaweed Creates Its Own Sunscreen



The soggy brown kelp protects itself with iodides.
12.05.2008





#95: Organic Matter Found in Saturn’s Mystery Moon



Icy Jets from the planet’s sixth-largest moon contain primitive components of life.
12.05.2008





#96: Ancient Traders Sailed the South American Seas



Using no more than sail-bearing rafts, these travelers carried goods almost 4,000 miles.
12.04.2008





#97: All-Powerful Astronomers Turn “Dwarf Planets” Into “Plutoids”



Faced with an outcry over ungainly titles, the IAU comes up with a better alternative.
12.04.2008





#98: You’re More Like a Sponge Than a Comb Jelly



A gelatinous zooplankton can now trace its roots back to the world’s first life.
12.04.2008





#99: Jupiter Grows (and Loses) a New Spot



The massive planet passed behind the sun and arrived with a brand new decoration.
12.04.2008





#100: This Animal Has the Strongest Bite on Earth



A bite from the biggest great white sharks leaves nearly every other species—both alive and extinct—in the dust.
12.04.2008


You can return to the main Market News page, or press the Back button on your browser.