2012 held a ton of scientific milestones, advancements and discoveries. Take the landing of NASA's mobile laboratory on Mars, for example, that was no easy feat. As always though, science is defined by its ability to move on and march forward; there is always more to learn and more questions to answer. After putting together 2012's most surprising (and significant) scientific events, the Smithsonian brought us the most exciting studies, projects and science developments to watch for in 2013. (And let me tell you, you'll be glad you were watching for these!)
1. Comet Ison: In September, a pair of Russian astronomers discovered a new comet heading in our direction. While it was only detectable with the most sophisticated microscopes then, now astronomers are predicting that when it passes by us and closely orbits the sun in November and December of 2013, it could be the astronomical sight of our lifetime. Sounds memorable to me!
2. Lake Vostok: For over a decade now, a team of Russian scientists have worked to drill just about 12,000 feet down into Antarctica with one goal: to obtain samples from the ultra-deep isolated subglacial lake known as Lake Vostek. It's estimated that the lake has been isolated for as long as 15 to 25 million years and after just reaching the water's surface last Antarctica summer, the team will return at the end of 2013 to drill fully into the lake and use a robot to collect water and sediment samples. This has potential to be some of the coolest H2O out there - literally!
3. Algae Fuel: Predictions say that 2013 will be the year! For vehicle fuels derived from algae of course. A small number of biofuel stations in the San Francisco area started selling algae-based biodiesel commercially for the first time last month, and after the product met state fuel standards, the plot program is expected to expand. This could be the best of two worlds for the states: there is a possibility that algae-based fuels could wean us off petroleum without using up precious food crops. Score! We'll definitely have to see how this one pans out.
4. Cosmic Microwave Background: Since there's still energy left from the Big Bang radiating thorough the universe, why not make some sense of it? The European Space Agency plans to use the Planck satellite to measure the leftover energy more precisely than ever before to help us better understand the formation of the universe. The Planck satellite actually launched in 2009 - and has already collected a wide range of valuable astronomical data and images - but has plans to release all of this data in early 2013. Finally - something we won't have to wait until the end of the year for!
5. Supercomputers: Who needs Superman when you have Supercomputers? Over the next year, it's speculated that various supercomputers around the world could have a remarkable impact at solving problems in health, the environment and other fields. Yellowstone, a 1.5 petaflops cluster computer in Wyoming, was installed this past summer and will spend 2013 crunching numbers to refine climate models and help us better understand how storms and wildfires move across the planet. Then there's Watson. Watson, IBM's world-famous Jeopardy winning supercomputer, is currently being trained by doctors (yes, trained) to recognize medical symptoms and serve as a diagnostic tool, providing treatment options based on case histories and clinical knowledge. Thus far, Watson has been trained to recognize breast, lung and prostate cancer. A win for technology and humanity!
Learn more about the five science stories to watch for in 2013.
