2009 in science

none 2009 science 2009 thumb|right|260px|22 July 2009: the longest-lasting total solar eclipse of the 21st century occurs. The year 2009 involved numerous significant scientific events and discoveries, some of which are listed below. 2009 was designated the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations.https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/2009-to-be-international-year-of-astronomy-un-declares-1.673603 2009 to be International Year of Astronomy, UN declares 9 July 2010 CBC News December 21, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20080224135119/http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/12/21/science-astronomy.html 24 February 2008 live Events, discoveries and inventions January 1 January – In DNA nanotechnology, Arizona State University researchers Hao Yan and Yan Liu use nanoparticles to make 3D DNA nanotubes.http://phys.org/news150048949.html The gold standard: researchers use nanoparticles to make 3-D DNA nanotubes Phys.org 2009-01-01 2020-10-24 3 January – The Bitcoin cryptocurrency network is created when the developer known as Satoshi Nakamoto mines the genesis block of its blockchain.Davis Joshua Joshua Davis (writer) The Crypto-Currency: Bitcoin and its mysterious inventor http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_davis The New Yorker live https://web.archive.org/web/20130918090443/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_davis 2011-10-11 2013-09-18 2019-01-03 6 January – NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope discovers 12 new gamma-ray-only pulsars, and has detected gamma-ray pulses from 18 others.http://phys.org/news150483177.html Fermi telescope unveils a dozen new pulsars Phys.org 2009-01-06 2020-10-24 26 January – An annular solar eclipse takes place.http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OHfigures/OH2009-Fig01.pdf Annular Solar Eclipse of 2009 Jan 26 NASA 9 July 2010 January – The first animal from an extinct species to be recreated by cloning, a Pyrenean Ibex, is born alive, but dies seven minutes later due to physical defects in its lungs.Richard Gray Roger Dobson https://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/4409958/Extinct-ibex-is-resurrected-by-cloning.html https://web.archive.org/web/20090201152052/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/4409958/Extinct-ibex-is-resurrected-by-cloning.html dead February 1, 2009 Extinct ibex is resurrected by cloning The Daily Telegraph January 31, 2009 2011-11-02 February 1 February – The Cospas-Sarsat satellite search-and-rescue system stops monitoring for outdated 121.5 MHz and 243 MHz (Class B) distress signals from EPIRBs and other emergency beacons.http://www.cospas-sarsat.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=165&catid=29&lang=en 121.5 Phase-Out COSPAS SARSAT 2010-07-09 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101121070529/http://cospas-sarsat.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=165&catid=29&lang=en 2010-11-21 2 February – Omid, Iran's first domestically built satellite, is successfully launched from Semnan Space Center into low Earth orbit;Iran puts Omid data-processing satellite into orbit IRNA http://www5.irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=335409&IdLanguage=3 2009-02-03 2009-02-03 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090206161943/http://www5.irna.ir/En/View/FullStory/?NewsId=335409&IdLanguage=3 2009-02-06 it re-enters the atmosphere on 25 April. 5 February – 28 individual fossils of the giant prehistoric snake T. cerrejonensis are discovered in the coal mines of Cerrejón, La Guajira, Colombia.Scientists find world's biggest snake http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090204/full/news.2009.80.html 2009-02-04 2009-02-04 Roberta Kwok Nature 10.1038/news.2009.80 free subscriptionHead Jason J. Bloch, Jonathan I. Hastings, Alexander K. Bourque, Jason R. Cadena, Edwin A. Herrera, Fabiany A. Polly, P. David P. David Polly Jaramillo, Carlos A. Giant boid snake from the paleocene neotropics reveals hotter past equatorial temperatures Nature 457 2009-02-05 715–718 10.1038/nature07671 2009Natur.457..715H 19194448 7230 4381423 10 February – 2009 satellite collision: The first accidental hypervelocity collision between two intact satellites in low Earth orbit takes place when Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide and destroy each other over Siberia.http://www.space.com/news/090211-satellite-collision.html Space.com U.S. Satellite Destroyed in Space Collision Becky Iannotta Tariq Malik 2009-02-11 2016-02-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20090213230913/http://www.space.com/news/090211-satellite-collision.html 2009-02-13 live 24 February – Comet Lulin, a non-periodic comet, makes its closest approach to Earth, peaking in brightness between magnitude +4 and magnitude +6.2010-03-11 last obs JPL Close-Approach Data: C/2007 N3 (Lulin) http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=C/2007+N3;orb=0;cov=0;log=0;cad=1#cad 2010-03-23 Iranian scientists find that the way in which traditional timber-framed constructions are built makes them earthquake-resistant.Earthquake-Resistant Housing for Developing Countries https://web.archive.org/web/20190825183947/https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/newsletter-2-2009-2-en.html 2019-08-25 humboldt-foundation.de __ 2/2009 March 7 March – The Kepler space observatory is successfully launched, and begins its search for exoplanets.http://astro.phys.au.dk/KASC/news.htm KASC News and Schedule Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University 9 July 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20110408214636/http://astro.phys.au.dk/KASC/news.htm 8 April 2011 dead 12 March – Dartmouth researchers have found a way to develop more robust “quantum gates,” which are the elementary building blocks of quantum circuits.http://phys.org/news156101597.html 'Self-correcting' gates advance quantum computing Phys.org 2009-03-12 2020-10-24 27 March – Iranian researches found that drinking hot tea causes oesophageal cancer.Milky Tea Really *is* a Lifesaver http://www.theothertomelliott.com/node/37 - .theothertomelliott.com 27 March 2009 - 2009-03-27 April 3 April – Dr. Yinfa Ma develops a method for pre-cancer screening that uses urine samples for detection. Ma hopes to be able to predict types of cancer as well as severity.https://medicalxpress.com/news/2009-04-ways-cancer-urine-samples.html Researcher Looks at Ways to Detect Cancer in Urine Samples Medical Xpress 2009-04-03 2020-10-24 4 April – A new method developed by Cornell biological engineers offers an efficient way to make proteins for use in medicine or industry without the use of live cells.http://phys.org/news157827444.html DNA-based gel produces proteins without live cells Phys.org Bill Steele 2009-04-01 2020-10-24 5 April – Japanese engineers build a childlike robot, the Child-robot with Biomimetic Body, or CB2, and report that it is slowly developing social skills by interacting with humans and watching their facial expressions, mimicking a mother-baby relationship.http://phys.org/news158151870.html Japan child robot mimicks infant learning Phys.org Miwa Suzuki 2009-04-05 2020-10-24 May 11–24 May – STS-125, the last Space Shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, takes place.https://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/8501300 Shuttle Atlantis blasts off on last Hubble mission 11 May 2009 Guardian 9 July 2010 19 May – Paleontologists announce the discovery of Darwinius masillae, an evolutionary "missing link" with features similar to lemurs, monkeys, and humans.Franzen Jens L. 2009 Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology PLoS ONE 4 5 e5723 10.1371/journal.pone.0005723 2683573 19492084 2009PLoSO...4.5723F Hawks John etal free July 22 July – A total solar eclipse – the longest-lasting total eclipse of the 21st century – takes place.http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE2001-3000MaxT.html Catalog of Long Total Solar Eclipses: 2001 to 3000 NASA 9 July 2010 23 July – Two teams of Chinese researchers create live mice from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. 10.1038/460560a 19641564 Mice made from induced stem cells Nature 460 7255 560 2009 Cyranoski David free September 3 September – Saturn's rings cross the plane of the Earth's orbit. This was the first such crossing since May 22, 1995, and another will not occur until March 23, 2025.Frequently Asked Questions About Saturn's Rings http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/saturn/faq.html https://web.archive.org/web/19991105133931/http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/saturn/faq.html dead 5 November 1999 NASA 8 November 2011 29 September – NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes its final flyby of Mercury, decreasing velocity enough for its orbital capture in 2011.MESSENGER Gains Critical Gravity Assist for Mercury Orbital Observations http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=136 September 30, 2009 MESSENGER Mission News 9 July 2010 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20130510175510/http://messenger.jhuapl.edu/news_room/details.php?id=136 10 May 2013 October 1 October – Paleontologists announce the discovery of an Ardipithecus ramidus fossil skeleton, deeming it the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor yet found.Gibbons Ann 2009 A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled Science 326 5949 36–40 10.1126/science.326_36 19797636 2009Sci...326...36G http://doc.rero.ch/record/211155/files/PAL_E4410.pdf 2019-07-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20180722121121/http://doc.rero.ch/record/211155/files/PAL_E4410.pdf 2018-07-22 dead 20 October – European astronomers discover 32 new exoplanets.http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20091019/tsc-oukoe-uk-space-planets-1df2b7e.html European scientists find trawl of 32 new planets Reuters 2009-10-20 2009-10-19 Maggie Fox Jackie Frank https://web.archive.org/web/20091022120543/http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20091019/tsc-oukoe-uk-space-planets-1df2b7e.html 22 October 2009 dead December 31 December A partial lunar eclipse is visible from most of Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia.http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2009Dec31P.pdf Partial Lunar Eclipse of 2009 Dec 31 Espenak F. NASA 9 July 2010 Sleeping Beauty Transposase SB 100X is announced as the Molecule of the Year 2009 by Isidro A. T. Savillo, President of the International Society for Molecular and Cell Biology and Biotechnology Protocols and Researches (ISMCBBPR).http://www.scientistsolutions.com/t13521-molecule+of+the+year+2009+is+the+sleeping+beauty+transposase+sb+100x.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100109035121/http://www.scientistsolutions.com/t13521-molecule+of+the+year+2009+is+the+sleeping+beauty+transposase+sb+100x.html 2010-01-09 dead Molecule of the Year 2009 is the Sleeping Beauty Transposase SB 100X Scientist Solutions Isidro T. Savillo 2009-12-30 2020-10-24https://web.archive.org/web/20100505021845/http://www.mdc-berlin.de/en/news/2010/20100119-_sleeping_beauty____molecule_of_the_year/index.html https://www.mdc-berlin.de/en/news/2010/20100119-_sleeping_beauty____molecule_of_the_year/index.html 2010-05-05 dead "Sleeping Beauty" – Molecule of the Year 2020-01-19 MDC Berlin-Buch 2020-10-24 Prizes Abel Prize Abel Prize 2009 Abel Prize: Mikhail Gromov Nobel Prize List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine List of Nobel laureates in Physics List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics: Charles K. Kao, Willard Boyle and George E. Smith 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath Deaths 2 January – Olgierd Zienkiewicz, Polish-British civil engineer (b. 1921). 11 January – Frederic Richards, American biochemist and biophysicist known for solving the crystal structure of the ribonuclease S enzyme in 1967 and for defining the concept of solvent-accessible surface (b. 1925). 14 January – Aron Arthur Moscona, American developmental biologist (b. 1921). 26 January – Nina L. Etkin, American anthropologist and biologist (b. 1948). 30 January – Rudolf Trümpy, Swiss geologist (b. 1921). 11 February – Willem Johan Kolff, American physician, inventor of artificial organs (b. 1911).Moore Carrie A. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705284493,00.html Kolff, 'father of artificial organs,' dies at 97 Deseret News 2009-02-11 2009-02-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20090217040141/http://deseretnews.com/article/1%2C5143%2C705284493%2C00.html 2009-02-17 dead 2 March – Jacob T. Schwartz, American mathematician, and professor of computer science at the New York University Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (b. 1930). 11 March – David Medved, American physicist (b. 1926). 22 March – John L. Harper, British biologist, specializing in ecology and plant population biology (b. 1925). 9 April – Carl Rettenmeyer, American biologist who specialised in army ants (b. 1931). 2 May – Léopold Reichling, Luxembourg biologist and naturalist (b. 1921). 19 May – Robert F. Furchgott, American biochemist and Nobel laureate (b. 1916). 21 May – Albert (Ab) C. Perdeck, Dutch ornithologist, automobile accident (b. 1923). 31 May – Emil L. Smith, American biochemist who studied protein structure and function as well as biochemical evolution (b. 1911). 6 June – Jean Dausset, French immunologist and Nobel laureate (b. 1916). 8 June – Howard McKern, Australian analytical and organic chemist (b. 1917). 10 June – John A. Eddy, American astronomer (b. 1931). 20 June – Ralph F. Hirschmann, German American biochemist who led a team that was responsible for the first organic synthesis of an enzyme, a ribonuclease (b. 1922). 13 August – Laurel van der Wal, American aeronautical engineer (b. 1924). 29 August – Nicole Grasset, Swiss-French medical virologist, microbiologist and epidemiologist (b. 1927). 9 September Patricia Bergquist, New Zealand scientist who specialized in anatomy and taxonomy (b. 1933). Aage Niels Bohr, Danish nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate (b. 1922). 12 September – Norman Borlaug, American agronomist, humanitarian and Nobel laureate (b. 1914). 18 September – Mahlon Hoagland, American biochemist who discovered transfer RNA (tRNA) (b. 1921). 6 October – Ruth L. Kirschstein, American pathologist and science administrator at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (b. 1926). 14 October – Francis Muguet, French chemist who advocated open access to information (b. 1955). 18 October – Ignacio Ponseti, Menorcan-born pediatric orthopedist (b. 1914). 27 October – Paul Zamecnik, American scientist who played a central role in the early history of molecular biology (b. 1912). 29 October – Bei Shizhang, Chinese biologist and founder of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (b. 1903). 8 November – Vitaly Ginzburg, Soviet and Russian theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, Nobel laureate, a member of the Soviet and Russian Academies of Sciences and one of the developers of the Soviet hydrogen bomb. 3 November – Warren Lyford DeLano, American bioinformatician and open source advocate (b. 1972). 9 November – Don Beaven, New Zealand medical researcher in the area of diabetes treatment and prevention (b. 1924). 29 November – Andrew Donald Booth, British physicist and computer scientist (b. 1918). 3 December – Brian Harold Mason, New Zealand-born geochemist and mineralogist, pioneer in the study of meteorites (b. 1917). 8 December – Remy Chauvin, French biologist and entomologist (b. 1913). 17 December – Samuel Victor Perry, English biochemist who was a pioneer in the field of muscle biochemistry (b. 1918). 21 December – Edwin G. Krebs, American biochemist and Nobel laureate (b. 1918). See also List of years in science 2009 in spaceflight List of emerging technologies References Category:21st century in science Category:2000s in science