2011 in science

The year 2011 involved many significant scientific events, including the first artificial organ transplant, the launch of China's first space station and the growth of the world population to seven billion. The year saw a total of 78 successful orbital spaceflights, as well as numerous advances in fields such as electronics, medicine, genetics, climatology and robotics.

List of years in science (table)
26 November 2011: NASA launches its Curiosity rover (pictured), the largest Mars rover yet built.

2011 was declared the International Year of Forests and Chemistry by the United Nations.[1][2]

Events, discoveries and inventions

January
18 January 2011: scientists prove that sharks are functionally colorblind.
20 January 2011: researchers demonstrate a medical technique that renders human T-cells (pictured, right) resistant to HIV.

February
3 February 2011: the Kepler space telescope discovers a solar system of six planets orbiting the star Kepler-11 (artist's impression pictured).

March
18 March 2011: the MESSENGER probe (artist's rendering shown) becomes the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury.
27 March 2011: American scientists successfully demonstrate a fire-suppression system which uses electric fields to extinguish open flames.
  • 24 March
  • 27 March – Harvard University scientists demonstrate use of an electric field to extinguish an open flame more than 1 foot tall, a development they say could yield fire-suppression alternatives to water and chemical retardants. (CNN) (American Chemical Society)
  • 31 March – Scientists announce the successful controlled entanglement of 14 quantum bits (qubits), realizing the largest quantum register yet produced—nearly double the previous record for the number of entangled quantum bits realized. (ZDnet) (Phys. Rev. Lett.)

April
6 April 2011: scientists in Japan grow working retinas from mouse stem cells.
  • 6 April – Japanese scientists announce that they have created working retinas from mouse stem cells. (BBC) (Nature News)
  • 11 April – ZRTP, a cryptographic key-agreement Real-time Transport Protocol devised by Phil Zimmermann, is published.[4]
  • 12 April
  • 13 April
    • Cellphones may be contributing to a global decline in honeybee populations, according to researchers. (Toronto Star) (Apidologie)
    • American scientists discover that light can demonstrate strong magnetic effects when travelling through certain materials at certain intensities. This finding, which overturns a century-old scientific assumption that light's magnetic effects are too weak to be tangible, may lead to the development of solar panels capable of storing energy magnetically. (Michigan Today)
  • 14 April
  • 15 April
    • The world's first human brain map is unveiled, providing an interactive research tool that will help scientists to understand how the brain works. The map is hoped to aid new discoveries in disease and treatments; one thousand anatomical sites in the brain can be searched, supported by more than 100 million data points that indicate the gene expression and biochemistry of each site. (New Scientist)
  • 17 April – Researchers have injected biodegradable nanofiber spheres carrying cells into wounds to grow tissue.(Nat. Mater.)
  • 18 April
    • Scientists demonstrate mathematically that asymmetrical materials should be possible; such material would allow most light or sound waves through in one direction, while preventing them from doing so in the opposite direction; such materials would allow the construction of true one-way mirrors, soundproof rooms, or even quantum computers that use light to perform calculations. (Phys. Rev. Lett.)
    • A new design for thin-film solar cells has been developed that requires significantly less silicon than standard models, and may be more efficient at capturing solar energy. (Appl. Phys. Lett.)
  • 19 April – An international research team publishes a new method to produce belts of graphene, called nanoribbons. By using hydrogen, they have managed to transform single-walled carbon nanotubes into ribbons. (ACS Nano)
  • 20 April – Scientists describe a Chinese spider they say is the biggest fossilised arachnid yet found; Nephila jurassica, as they have called their specimen, would have had a leg span of some 15 cm. (BBC) (Biol. Lett.)
21 April 2011: a modified anti-malaria gene is successfully introduced to a population of mosquitoes.

May
4 May 2011: NASA's orbiting Gravity Probe B (pictured pre-launch) experimentally confirms two aspects of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.
12 May 2011: astronomers state that the exoplanet Gliese 581d (artist's impression pictured) could potentially support Earth-like life.
26 May 2011: American scientists successfully transmute human skin cells directly into neurons (pictured).
  • 25 May
  • 26 May
    • Stanford University researchers have managed to turn human skin cells directly into neurons, without first turning them into pluripotent stem cells. (Discover) (Nature)
    • Researchers believe they have made the first experimental observation of the dynamical Casimir effect, using a rapidly moving mirror that turns virtual photons into real ones. (Technology Review) (arXiv)
  • 29 May – Human organs could be grown inside pigs for use in transplant operations, following research using stem cells. (The Telegraph) (EHGC 2001)
  • 31 May
    • A team of Chinese physicists successfully entangles eight photons simultaneously and observes them in action; the previous record was six. (arXiv)
    • Researchers have demonstrated the first true nanoscale waveguides for next generation on-chip optical communication systems; this holds potential for nanoscale photonic applications such as intra-chip optical communication, signal modulation, nanoscale lasers and bio-medical sensing.(Nat. Commun.)
    • A NASA-led research team unveils the most precise map ever produced of the carbon stored in Earth's tropical forests; the data is expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and research. (PNAS)

June
1 June 2011: two new chemical elements, 114 and 116, are officially added to the periodic table.
  • June – Baltic Sea anomaly discovered.[6]
  • 1 June
  • 2 June – A team of students at the University of California is developing a first-of-its kind, phase-change memory solid-state storage device that provides performance thousands of times faster than a conventional hard drive, and up to seven times faster than current state-of-the-art solid-state drives. (Jacobs School of Engineering)
  • 3 June
  • 6 June – A team of Virginia Commonwealth University scientists has discovered a new class of 'superatoms' – a stable cluster of atoms that can mimic different elements of the periodic table – with unusual magnetic characteristics.(PNAS)
  • 7 June – Fragranced clothing, triggered by scent molecules that are stable in the dark and only release their aroma when exposed to light, has been described in a thesis written by scientist Dr. Olga Hinze of Cologne University. (Henkel)
  • 8 June – China's carbon dioxide emissions rose 10.4 percent in 2010 compared with the previous year, as global emissions rose at their fastest rate for more than four decades, according to data released by BP. (Reuters) (BP)
  • 9 June
    • Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in anti-bacterial science, identifying natural ingredients capable of eradicating bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics. (TNO)
    • Type 2 diabetes, previously regarded as inevitably progressive, is successfully reversed in a group of newly diagnosed patients by an extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day. (BBC) (Diabetologia)
  • 10 June
12 June 2011: the Nabro Volcano erupts in Eritrea (ash plume pictured), despite having been considered extinct.
22 June 2011: Stanford University engineers develop nanowire electronics that can be attached to nearly any surface (gold nanowires pictured).
  • 22 June
    • A newly developed multiferroic composite of nickel, cobalt, manganese and tin can be either non-magnetic or highly magnetic, depending on its temperature, making it capable of converting heat into electricity. (PopSci) (Adv. Energy Mat.)
    • The brains of people living in cities operate differently from those in rural areas, according to a brain-scanning study. (The Guardian) (Nature)
    • Scientists demonstrate an acoustic "cloaking device" that makes objects invisible to sound waves; such acoustic cloaking was proposed theoretically in 2008, but has only this year been put into practice. (BBC) (Phys. Rev. Lett.)
    • Stanford University researchers have developed a new method of attaching nanowire electronics to the surface of virtually any object, regardless of its shape or composition. The method could be used in making everything from wearable electronics and flexible computer displays to high-efficiency solar cells and ultrasensitive biosensors.(Nano Lett.)
  • 23 June – Single-celled yeast has been observed to evolve into a multicellular organism, complete with division of labour between cells. This suggests that the evolutionary leap to multicellularity may be a surprisingly small hurdle.(New Scientist) (PNAS)
  • 24 June
  • 25 June – Stanford researchers have developed a microphone that can be used at any depth in the ocean, even under crushing pressure, and is sensitive to a wide range of sounds, from a whisper in a library to an explosion of TNT. They modeled their device after the extraordinarily acute hearing of orcas. (J. Acoust. Soc. Am.)

26 June

July
7 July 2011: Swedish surgeons successfully carry out the world's first artificial organ transplant, giving a cancer patient a new, lab-grown trachea.
16 July 2011: NASA's Dawn spacecraft successfully enters orbit around the asteroid 4 Vesta (pictured).
21 July 2011: the final mission of the Space Shuttle program, STS-135, ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis (pictured) at Kennedy Space Center.

August
10 August 2011: a new gene therapy successfully kills off leukemia lymphocytes (pictured) in three advanced patients.
  • 8 August – A report, based on NASA analysis of meteorites found on Earth, suggests that the building blocks of DNA (adenine, guanine and related organic molecules) may have been formed in outer space. (PNAS)
  • 10 August – A new gene therapy that has successfully neutralized advanced cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 3 patients is published. (Fox News) (NEJM) (Scientific American)
  • 11 August
    • Researchers say they have created the first-ever animal with artificial information in its genetic code. The technique, they say, could give biologists "atom-by-atom control" over the molecules in living organisms. (BBC) (J. Am. Chem. Soc.)
    • Arctic ice might be thinning four times faster than predicted by the IPCC, according to a new study by MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). (MIT) (J. Geophys. Res.)
    • Scientists have shown how an enzyme from a microbe can quickly and cheaply produce hydrogen from water. Hydrogen is seen as vital to future energy systems, but its production has previously been too costly and time-consuming to be viable on a large scale. (BBC) (Science)
  • 12 August – An ultra-thin, flexible electronic circuit that can be stuck to the skin like a temporary tattoo is developed, with possible applications in cellphone and mobile computing technology. (The Independent) (Science)
  • 16 August
    • Private donors, including actress Jodie Foster, raise enough money to re-open the mothballed SETI radio telescope array, allowing SETI to continue its search for extraterrestrial intelligence. (BBC)
    • A study of fossilised plants suggests that woody plants first appeared on the Earth about 10 million years earlier than previously thought. (BBC) (Science)
    • Taiwanese researchers report that 15 minutes of exercise a day can boost life expectancy by three years and cut death risk by 14%. (BBC) (The Lancet)
  • 17 August
  • 18 August
    • IBM has developed a microprocessor which it claims comes closer than ever to replicating the human brain. The system is capable of "rewiring" its connections as it encounters new information, similar to the way biological synapses work. (BBC) Comm. ACM
    • Within decades, solar storms are likely to become more disruptive to planes and spacecraft, say researchers at Reading University. (BBC) (Geophys. Res. Lett.)
19 August 2011: the American Office of Naval Research successfully tests a new class of conventional explosive, reportedly five times more powerful than existing explosives.
  • 19 August – The US Office of Naval Research says that it has successfully tested a new type of explosive material that can dramatically increase weapons' impacts. Missiles made from the high-density substance can explode with up to five times the energy of existing explosives. (BBC)
  • 22 August – American researchers prototype a basic form of bulletproof skin, based on genetically modified silkworm threads. (Police One)
  • 23 August
    • The natural world contains about 8.7 million species, according to a new estimate described by scientists as the most accurate ever. However, the vast majority of these species have not been identified – cataloguing them all could take more than 1,000 years. (BBC) (PLoS Biol.)
    • Computer simulations suggest that violent asteroid impacts flinging life from Earth to other planets is more likely than previously thought. (BBC) (ArXiv)
  • 24 August – Antibiotics' impact on gut bacteria is permanent—and so serious in its long-term consequences that medicine should consider whether to restrict the prescription of antibiotics to pregnant women and young children, according to a new study. (Wired) (Nature)
  • 25 August – A monkey sporting a ginger beard and matching fiery red tail, discovered in a threatened region of the Brazilian Amazon, is believed to be a species new to science. (The Guardian)
  • 26 August – An atomic clock at the UK's National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has the best long-term accuracy of any clock in the world, researchers from NPL and Penn State University have found. (BBC) (Metrologia)
  • 29 August – Japanese scientists announce an innovation in wind turbine technology, the wind lens, which could triple the energy output of wind turbines, making wind energy affectively cheaper than nuclear energy. (Mother Nature Network) (Kyushu University)
  • 31 August

September
2 September 2011: scientists create a working electric motor made from a single molecule (molecular-scale computer pictured).
14 September 2011: NASA publishes the design of its future heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (concept art shown).

October
12 October 2011: scientists reconstruct the genome of the Black Death which devastated Europe in the 14th century.
26 October 2011: the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first major airliner to significantly incorporate composite materials, completes its first commercial flight.
31 October 2011: the world population reaches seven billion, according to a United Nations estimate.
  • 28 October
    • British scientists report that a daily dose of aspirin can reduce the incidence of bowel cancer in people at high risk of the disease. (BBC) (The Lancet)
    • Human-caused climate change is already a major factor in more frequent Mediterranean droughts, according to a new study, which shows that the magnitude and frequency of drying is too great to be explained by natural variability alone. (NOAA) (J. Clim.)
    • NASA launches the NPOESS Preparatory Project – the first of its next generation of polar-orbiting satellites dedicated to gathering weather and climate data. (BBC) (NASA)
  • 29 October – CERN researchers attempt to repeat a recent experiment that apparently yielded faster-than-light neutrinos, using a more efficient system of measurement to validate their results. (The Guardian)
  • 31 October

November
4 November 2011: the MARS-500 isolation experiment (facility diagram shown) ends in Moscow, having simulated a 520-day human mission to Mars.
  • 1 November
  • 2 November
    • China's uncrewed Shenzhou 8 spacecraft robotically docks with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space station module, marking China's first orbital docking, and a major milestone in its efforts to construct a full-scale space station by 2020. (BBC)
    • American researchers delay, and in some cases even eliminate, the onset of age-related symptoms such as wrinkles, muscle wasting and cataracts in mice. The development may have significant implications for the study and treatment of such symptoms in humans. (BBC) (Nature)
    • Morocco is chosen as the first location for Desertec – a German-led, €400bn project to build a vast network of solar and windfarms across North Africa and the Middle East, with the aim of providing 15% of Europe's electricity supply by 2050. (The Guardian)
  • 4 November
    • Six men emerge from the 520-day MARS-500 isolation experiment, which aimed to simulate a human mission to Mars. The experiment, undertaken at a Moscow scientific institute, was intended to investigate the isolation of long-duration spaceflight and its effects on the human body and mind. (BBC)
    • A 20-year-old alternative solar cell design using dye-sensitized nanocrystal cells (DSC) could lead to cheap, printable cells, revolutionising solar power use worldwide, according to a new study. (KurzweilAI) (J. Am. Chem. Soc.)
  • 5 November
    • An American doctor claims that brown eyes can safely and permanently be turned blue by using short laser pulses to destroy pigment in the iris. (BBC)
    • An official White House report states that "The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race." It furthermore asserts that there is "no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public's eye." Although odds are "pretty high" that there may be life on other planets, "the odds of us making contact with any of them—especially any intelligent ones—are extremely small, given the distances involved." (UniverseToday) (White House)
  • 6 November – Dopamine-producing brain cells that are killed off by Parkinson's disease have been grown from stem cells and grafted into monkeys' brains by American researchers, in a major step towards new treatments for the condition. (The Guardian) (Nature)
8 November 2011: Honda releases an enhanced version of its Asimo humanoid robot (earlier version pictured).
  • 8 November
    • The asteroid YU55 makes a close Earth flyby, passing within 0.85 lunar distances (about 201,700 miles) of the Earth. YU55 is approximately 400 metres (1,300 ft) across, and is the largest asteroid to make a close pass since 1976. Another comparable flyby will not occur until 2028. (BBC)
    • Russia launches the Fobos-Grunt probe, marking the nation's first attempt at an interplanetary mission since 1996. The mission's goal is to obtain samples from Phobos' surface and return them to Earth in 2014. The Chinese Yinghuo-1 probe, China's first Mars-exploration spacecraft, is also launched. However, despite reaching orbit successfully, the two spacecraft are left unable to begin their journey to Mars, due to the failure of a secondary engine to ignite. (Space.com) (BBC)
    • Honda revamps its humanoid robot, Asimo, giving it enhanced artificial intelligence, the ability to move without being controlled by an operator, and a greater capability to cope with different situations. (USA Today)
    • A Scottish-designed bionic leg exoskeleton, designed to allow handicapped people to walk, is approved for sale in the United Kingdom. (BBC)
  • 9 November
    • Dutch scientists build a nanoscopic "electric car" made of a single complex molecule, capable of travelling small distances when an electric current is applied to it. Though currently at a rudimentary level of development, the invention may have applications in the fields of nanorobotics and molecular machinery. (BBC) (Nature)
    • A team of scientists in Japan synthesize the world's first stem-cell-derived pituitary gland. (Technology Review) (Nature)
    • If current trends continue, Earth will almost certainly suffer a mass extinction of species, according to a major new survey of 583 conservation scientists published in Conservation Biology. (Conserv. Biol.)
  • 10 November
    • No wild black rhinos remain in West Africa, according to the latest global assessment of threatened species. (BBC) (IUCN)
    • British computer chip designer ARM unveils its latest graphics processing unit (GPU) for mobile devices. The Mali-T658 offers up to ten times the performance of its predecessor, and may start to appear in devices towards the end of 2013. (BBC) (ARM)
    • A method of communicating with brain-damaged patients who appear to be in a vegetative state is discovered by scientists in the UK and Belgium. (BBC) (The Lancet)
  • 14 November
  • 15 November
    • 95% of adults worldwide now own cellphones, according to a new study. (Market Watch)
    • British doctors report that they have cured a baby boy of a life-threatening liver disease using implanted cells which acted like a temporary liver, allowing the damaged organ to recover. The cell implant technique, developed by researchers at King's College Hospital, London, is described as a world first. (BBC)
    • American researchers report that the recharge speed of lithium-ion batteries can be significantly enhanced by making millions of tiny holes in them. The discovery could lead to laptop and cellphone batteries which recharge ten times faster and hold a charge ten times larger than current technology allows. (BBC) (Adv. Energy Mater.)
  • 16 November
  • 17 November
    • Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology design a computer chip that mimics the way that the human brain's neurons adapt in response to new information. (BBC) (MIT) (PNAS)
    • China's uncrewed Shenzhou 8 spacecraft returns to Earth after successfully docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 laboratory module. The crewed Shenzhou 9 and 10 follow-up missions are expected to visit Tiangong-1 in 2012. (BBC)
    • For the first time, astronomers have produced a complete description of a black hole. The American team conducted precise measurements using ground- and orbit-based telescopes, allowing them to reconstruct the complete history of the Cygnus X-1 object from its birth some six million years ago. (Astrophys. J.)
  • 18 November
  • 19 November – A computer system able to read scientific papers in a similar way to humans promises breakthroughs in cancer research, according to scientists at Cambridge University. Called CRAB, the system is able to trawl through millions of peer-reviewed articles for clues to the causes of tumours. (The Telegraph)
  • 22 November – Washington University scientists successfully trial a new generation of contact lenses capable of projecting images in front of the eyes. Human trials are expected to follow the successful animal trials. (BBC)
  • 23 November – A study published in Nature shows that recent melting of Arctic sea ice is unprecedented on a historic timescale and cannot be explained by natural processes alone.[9]
  • 24 November – Japanese researchers have developed a way to illuminate tiny, hidden tumors with a fluorescent spray. Within minutes, doctors can track down residual cancer that has spread and scattered throughout the body, helping to ensure that no tumors are left behind during surgery. (Smart Planet) (Sci. Transl. Med.)
26 November 2011: NASA successfully launches its Mars Science Laboratory mission, which landed the Curiosity Mars rover (artist's impression pictured) on Mars in 2012.[10]
  • 26 November – NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission successfully launches for Mars. The mission landed the robotic Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars in August 2012,[10] whereupon the rover began its search for evidence of past or present life on Mars. (Chicago Tribune) (Launch Video – 04:00)
  • 28 November
  • 30 November
    • Researchers at Washington State University develop an artificial bone "scaffold" which can be produced using 3D printers, potentially allowing doctors to quickly print replacement bone tissue for injured patients. (BBC)
    • As the Arctic warms, thawing permafrost will release greenhouse gases faster and at significantly higher levels than previous estimates, according to survey results from 41 international scientists. (Nature)

December
1 December 2011: Oxford University scientists successfully induce quantum entanglement in two diamonds, the first time entanglement has been achieved in objects visible to the naked eye.
  • 1 December – Oxford University researchers successfully entangle two millimeter-scale diamonds using controlled laser pulses. This represents the first known instance of quantum entanglement in objects large enough to see with the naked eye. (Nature News) (Science)
  • 2 December
  • 5 December
    • NASA's exoplanet-hunting Kepler mission confirms its first extrasolar planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. The planet, Kepler-22b, is around 2.5 times the size of Earth, and may have a surface temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, making it potentially suitable for terrestrial life. (BBC) (NASA)
    • New research suggests that at least three-quarters of the rise in average global temperatures since the 1950s is due to human activity. (The Age) (Nat. Geosci.)
    • American scientists report the discovery of the two largest supermassive black holes known to science. The two black holes each have a mass nearly 10 billion times greater than the Sun. (BBC) (Nature)
    • German researchers have demonstrated a graphene-based transistor array that is compatible with living biological cells and capable of recording the electrical signals they generate. (The Engineer) (Adv. Mater.)
  • 6 December – When climate data is adjusted to remove the impact of short-term factors such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation, volcanic aerosols and solar variability, the global warming signal becomes even more evident, according to a new study. (Environ. Res. Lett.)
  • 8 December
    • NASA's Opportunity Mars rover finds veins of gypsum on the surface of Mars, strongly implying the presence of liquid water on the planet. (BBC)
    • Spanish researchers unveil a process which allows highly complex shapes to be "carved" into nanoparticles, potentially revolutionising medical tests and drugs treatments. (BBC) (Science)
  • 9 December – Biologists at Tufts University coax tissue to grow a new organ by simply altering the membrane voltage gradients of cells. In the experiment, tadpoles were made to grow new eyes outside of their head areas. (Development)
  • 13 December
14 December 2011: scientists develop an imaging system which can capture images at one trillion frames per second, allowing it to image the motion of individual light waves.
  • 14 December
    • MIT scientists develop an imaging system capable of capturing images at one trillion frames per second – fast enough to image individual light waves travelling through space. (MSNBC)
    • Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace engineer Burt Rutan announce plans to develop a commercial spaceflight venture, dubbed Stratolaunch Systems, using a giant carrier aircraft to launch rockets from the upper atmosphere. The first uncrewed test flights of the system are expected to begin in 2016. (Huffington Post)
  • 15 December
  • 16 December
    • Chinese engineers demonstrate a chemical coating, based on titanium dioxide, which allows cotton clothes to clean themselves of stains when exposed to sunlight. (ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces)
    • The Energy Saving Trust (EFT) reports the results of a trial of LED light fittings in social housing in the United Kingdom. The LED fittings offered significant improvements in efficiency over traditional light fittings, and also proved more popular with residents. The EFT predicts a substantial market share for LED lighting by 2015. (BBC) (EST)
    • Brown University engineers reveal a system that can efficiently remove traces of toxic heavy metals from water. The technique is reportedly scalable and commercially viable. (Chem. Eng. J.)
  • 17 December – American researchers report advances in solar cell efficiency, using quantum dot technology to capture additional electrons from photons striking solar panels. (CNET) (Science)
  • 19 December – Scientists at the University of California report a major breakthrough in the cultivation of drought-tolerant crops. (PNAS)
  • 20 December
21 December 2011: researchers report that non-native snakes have devastated populations of small mammals in the Florida Everglades.
  • 21 December
  • 22 December
    • China conducts its 18th successful orbital launch of 2011, marking the first year that more Chinese than American spacecraft were launched. (Wired)
    • University of Texas researchers report that solar cells can be made to yield more energy by exploiting a so-called "shadow state" of photons, doubling the number of electrons that may be harvested in the process. The discovery could allow the theoretical maximum efficiency of silicon solar cells to be increased from 31% to 44%. (GizMag) (Science)
    • American researchers unveil self-repairing electronic chips that can repair broken circuits by releasing microcapsules of conductive liquid metal. (BBC) (Adv. Mater.)
    • Harvard University researchers develop a method of supercooling that could generate the lowest temperatures yet achieved on Earth, potentially aiding the creation of quantum computers. (BBC) (Nature)
    • Researchers at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) report the discovery of a new particle, dubbed Chib(3P). The discovery marks the LHC's first clear observation of a new particle since it became operational in 2009. (BBC) (arXiv)
  • 27 December
    • China activates its Compass satellite navigation system, a rival to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), offering navigation services on the Chinese mainland. The system, also known as Beidou-2, is expected to offer global coverage by 2020. (BBC)
    • China unveils a prototype high-speed train capable of reaching speeds of over 310 mph (500 km/h), the first ultra-high-speed train developed by China without the aid of international partnerships. (Financial Times)
  • 29 December
    • South Korean researchers begin the development of microscopic robots capable of entering human blood vessels to treat illnesses. The microbots, which measure just 1 millimeter in diameter, are steered and propelled by externally induced magnetic fields. (Innovation News Daily)
    • The wildlife trade monitor group Traffic reports that more ivory was seized in 2011 than in any year since 1989. Around 23 tonnes (51,000 lb) of ivory – representing at least 2,500 dead elephants – were intercepted in 13 operations, mostly in shipments intended for the Asian market. (BBC) (Traffic)
    • Chemists at Harvard University report the creation of a self-assembling artificial cell membrane, formed from an oil/detergent emulsion mixed with copper ions.[11][12]
  • 31 December – NASA's GRAIL-A satellite enters lunar orbit, to be joined the following day by its twin, GRAIL-B. The two spacecraft will map the Moon's gravitational field in unprecedented detail, with the aim of improving scientists' understanding of how the Moon formed. (NASA)

Prizes

Abel Prize
Main article: Abel Prize

Nobel Prize
Main articles: List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine, List of Nobel laureates in Physics, and List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry

Deaths
11 February 2011: Christian J. Lambertsen, the inventor of the SCUBA device, dies aged 93.

January

February

March
1 March 2011: John M. Lounge, a former NASA astronaut, dies aged 64.

April
5 April 2011: Baruch Samuel Blumberg, a Nobel Prize-winning American physician, dies aged 85.

May
30 May 2011: Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, a Nobel Prize-winning American physicist, dies aged 89.

June

July
23 July 2011: Robert Ettinger, the "father of cryonics", dies aged 92.

August

September
14 September 2011: Rudolf Mössbauer, a Nobel Prize-winning German physicist, dies aged 82.

October
5 October 2011: Steve Jobs, an American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc., dies aged 56.

November
  • 2 November – John F. Burke, American physician (b. 1922).[26]
  • 4 November – Norman Foster Ramsey, Jr., American Nobel physicist, key contributor to the atomic clock (b. 1915).
  • 22 November – Lynn Margulis, American evolutionary biologist (b. 1938).
  • 25 November – T. Franklin Williams, American physician and specialist in geriatrics (b. 1921).[27]
  • 28 November – Lloyd J. Old, American physician (b. 1933).

December
gollark: HelloBoi transferred some?
gollark: What, seriously? Wow.
gollark: So we have... 22 for gibson + 2 for umnikos?
gollark: There is wide support for replacing Lyric with someone, and Gibson is generally considered a fairly okay choice.
gollark: We could elect a leader in some way.

See also

References
  1. International Year of Forests 2011 – Celebrating Forests for People. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  2. International Year of Chemistry 2011 – About IYC Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  3. The article was published in the March 3 issue of the journal.
  4. RFC 6189. Zimmermann, Phil (2010-06-17). "Internet-Draft. ZRTP: Media Path Key Agreement for Unicast Secure RTP". Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  5. The paper was presented at the CLEO conference on 2 May, and published on 9 May.
  6. Wolchover, Natalie (2012-08-30). "'Mysterious' Baltic Sea Object Is a Glacial Deposit". Live Science. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  7. "Neptune Completes First Orbit Since Its Discovery in 1846". Space.com.
  8. https://www.nature.com/news/2011/111101/full/479015a.html
  9. Kinnard, Christophe; Zdanowicz, Christian M.; Fisher, David A.; Isaksson, Elisabeth; De Vernal, Anne; Thompson, Lonnie G. (23 November 2011). "Reconstructed changes in Arctic sea ice over the past 1,450 years". Nature. 479 (7374): 509–512. Bibcode:2011Natur.479..509K. doi:10.1038/nature10581. PMID 22113692.
  10. "Nasa's Curiosity rover successfully lands on Mars". BBC. 6 August 2012.
  11. Budin, Itay; Devaraj, Neal K. (December 29, 2011). "Membrane Assembly Driven by a Biomimetic Coupling Reaction". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 134 (2): 751–753. doi:10.1021/ja2076873. PMC 3262119. PMID 22239722.
  12. Staff (January 26, 2012). "Chemists create artificial cell membrane". kurzweilai.net. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  13. Dr. James J. Rahal, 77, Virus Expert, Dies
  14. Rudiger ‘Roger’ Haugwitz, chemist who used science to create art, dies at 79. Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
  15. Harold Kosasky, 83, pioneer in treatment of infertility. Boston Globe, 26 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
  16. Dr. Max Harry Weil dies at 84: pioneer in critical care. Articles.latimes.com (2011-08-06). Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
  17. Dr. Charles C. Edwards, Influential F.D.A. Commissioner, Dies at 87
  18. Fritz Bach, Who Aided Transplant Survival, Dies at 77
  19. William Kannel, 87; force behind pioneering Framingham Heart Study. Boston.com (2011-09-18). Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
  20. W. B. Kannel, Who Led Historic Heart Study, Dies at 87. Nytimes.com (2011-08-23). Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
  21. Dr. William Wolff, Colonoscopy Co-Developer, Dies at 94
  22. Bruce Dan, Who Helped Link Toxic Shock and Tampons, Is Dead at 64. The New York Times, 10 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  23. Dr. Richard Koch dies at 89; medical pioneer. Los Angeles Times, 8 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  24. Dr. J. Willis Hurst, Cardiologist to Lyndon B. Johnson, Dies at 90
  25. Morris Chafetz, 87, Dies; Altered View of Alcoholism
  26. Dr. John F. Burke, Dies at 89; Created Synthetic Skin
  27. "T. Franklin Williams, Early Geriatric Specialist, Dies at 90". The New York Times, 3 December 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
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