A year in science

With Britain being touted as the ‘best place in the world to do science’, what part have British scientists played in this years’ scientific success?

In Science Britannica, Professor Brian Cox illustrated the rich and varied history of scientific discoveries and advances made here in Great Britain. As the world has become a much smaller place, and science evermore collaborative, discoveries and advances are no longer made by a single institution in one country – rather it is a team of interdisciplinary scientists from a number of institutions from around the world.

This isn’t a bad thing. As a result, British scientists get to work on an amazing range of experiments and projects – like the LHC, or various NASA and ESA missions. British scientists have their hands in a lot of international scientific pies, but what part have they played in the successes of these last 12 months?

One of the major stories of the year – if not the century – came in March when CERN tentatively confirmed the Higgs Boson.

The search for the Higgs began with Peter Higgs, who along with François Englert was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics for their theory of how particles acquire mass. In 1964, Higgs – currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh – was one of six physicists who proposed the now eponymous particle, which was detected in 2012.

British scientists – including teams from 21 universities and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory – have played an important role in not only designing the experiments to detect conditions moments after the Big Bang, but also in deciphering their results. The Higgs is arguably one of our generation’s greatest achievements in physics this century.

The LHC has been in a period of planned shut down since February – but not before reporting a new state of matter, colour-glass condensate, had been produced by colliding protons and lead ions. Elsewhere at CERN, researchers have been examining B_s particles, exotic calcium nuclei and the rare radioactive element astatine.

Also in physics, the National Physical Laboratory and the University of Cambridge joined forces to redefine the ampere in terms of fundamental constants of physics, while a revolutionary project allowing anyone free access to a miniature quantum processor chip has made quantum computing available to the world via the University of Bristol.

In space, Mars rover Curiosity drilled for its first deep rock sample – the first ever retrieved from the surface of another planet – and the rover reached another major milestone; travelling 1km since landing in 2012. LADEE was also launched to study the Moon’s environment and Voyager 1 entered interstellar space.

Although largely American projects, British scientists have played an important role via the European Space Agency (ESA):for example, ESA ground stations are in contact with LADEE; scientists at Imperial College London are working with Curiosity to analyse the Martian atmosphere; and Leicester and Open University (OU) researchers are analysing Martian meteors.

But what about our own space program? On 20^th December there are plans to launch Gaia – an important mission for the UK, which won €80 million in contracts from ESA to build the spacecraft. We will also provide a data processing centre and lead the prime photometric processing at the University Cambridge with RAL Space, Edinburgh and Leicester Universities. MSSL also has a major role in the spectroscopic science, studying stellar velocity with the OU.

Elsewhere, two new moons of Pluto have been officially named, Hubble has photographed a new moon around Neptune, and a 10 ton meteoroid streaked across the sky before crash-landing in Chelyabinsk, Russia. And Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic completed the first rocket powered flight of SpaceShipTwo bringing space travel closer to the ‘normal’ citizen…well those of us that can afford it anyway!

In chemistry, a team from the University of Manchester succeeded in developing a functional molecular machine resembling a ribosome, capable of assembling complex molecular structures. This could find uses in developing new drug molecules, or new types of plastics. Elsewhere, researchers in Sweden confirmed element 115 – currently named ununpentium, while Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshal shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems  which have become crucial for most chemical advances today.

Medicine has also seen some great advances this year. In January, British surgeons completed the first hand transplant, while researchers in Oxford cured blindness in mice with a complete lack of light-sensing photoreceptor cells in their retinas. In April, British researchers found that a mutation of BRCA2 – a gene associated with breast cancer – increased the risk and severity of prostate cancer in men, while in July scientists in Cambridge discovered the mechanism which causes human allergy to cats. They hope a cure might be commercially available within five years.

Around the world, viable lab-grown ears, teeth, livers and blood vessels were developed and American scientists reported that they had cured AIDS in an infant by giving them a course of antiretroviral drugs very early in its life. The previously HIV-positive child has reportedly shown no HIV symptoms since its treatment, despite having no further medication for a year. This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof who solved the mystery of how cells organise their transport system.

Also this year, the IPCC released the 5^th Assessment Report on Climate Change, which stated ‘human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century’.  And researchers from the Netherlands developed the first hamburger made of lab-grown in vitro meat ­– cooked and eaten in London. Food writer Josh Schonwald tried the burger, saying: "The mouthfeel is like meat. I miss the fat, there's a leanness to it, but the general bite feels like a hamburger.

Closer to home, it was announced that 21 Albemarle Street – the home of the Royal Institution since 1799 – was to be put up for sale. A sale was necessary to cover the Charity’s debts and it would have been a real shame for such an institution to lose its home of over 200 years – and the scientific heritage associated with it. A £4.4m donation meant that the RI’s debts were cleared and the building was saved – thanks to an anonymous donor, science lives on in Mayfair.

So British scientists – and those from around the world – have a lot to celebrate, it’s been another successful year in science.