1978 in science

none 1978 science 1978 The year 1978 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below. Astronomy and space science March 2 – Vladimír Remek becomes the first Czechoslovak in space and the first cosmonaut from a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States, onboard Soyuz 28. June 22 – James W. Christy at the United States Naval Observatory discovers Charon, the first moon of Pluto identified. October – It is first proposed that Janus and Epimetheus are two separate moons of Saturn sharing the same orbit.10.1016/0019-1035(78)90076-3 Fountain J. W. Larson S. M. 1978 Saturn's ring and nearby faint satellites Icarus 36 1 92–106 1978Icar...36...92F Computer science February 16 – The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois). The RSA algorithm for public-key cryptography, based on the factoring problem, is first publicly described by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman.R. Rivest Shamir A. Adleman L. http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/rsapaper.pdf A Method for Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key Cryptosystems Communications of the ACM 21 2 120–126 1978 10.1145/359340.359342 2012-01-28 https://web.archive.org/web/20070127130201/http://theory.lcs.mit.edu/~rivest/rsapaper.pdf 2007-01-27 2873616 Geophysics James Byerlee determines Byerlee's law which gives the stress circumstances in the Earth's crust at which fracturing along a geological fault takes place.Byerlee J. D. 1978 Friction of rocks Pure and Applied Geophysics 116 4–5 615–626 10.1007/BF00876528 1978PApGe.116..615B 128666327 History of science October 17 – James Burke's history of science series Connections first airs, on BBC Television in the United Kingdom (with accompanying book).0-333-24827-9. Paleontology Fossils of Saint Bathans mammal first collected. Fossil footprints of bipedal hominini from 3.6M BP found at Laetoli in Tanzania in 1976 are excavated by Mary Leakey's team. A fossilized partial human cranium is among hominid remains found in Apidima Cave in southern Greece; in 2019 it is announced as dating to more than 210,000 years BP, making it the earliest example of Homo sapiens outside Africa.Harvati, Katerina Röding, Carolin Bosman, Abel M. Karakostis, Fotios A. Grün, Rainer Stringer, Chris Karkanas, Panagiotis Thompson, Nicholas C. Koutoulidis, Vassilis Moulopoulos, Lia A. Gorgoulis, Vassilis G. Kouloukoussa, Mirsini 2019 Apidima Cave fossils provide earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in Eurasia Nature 571 7766 500–504 10.1038/s41586-019-1376-z 31292546 2019Natur.571..500H 195873640 https://zenodo.org/record/6646855 10072/397334 free Physiology and medicine May 13 – "Basaglia Law" (Mental Health Act) in Italy requires closing down of all psychiatric hospitals and their replacement with community services. July 25 – Louise Brown becomes the world's first human born from in vitro fertilisation, in England.https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2499000/2499411.stm 1978: First 'test tube baby' born 2013-12-18 1978-07-25 On This Day BBC News https://web.archive.org/web/20071221044857/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/25/newsid_2499000/2499411.stm 2007-12-21 live August – Osteocalcin first identified in animal bone.Hauschka, P. V. Reid. M. L. Timed appearance of a calcium-binding protein containing gamma-carboxyglutamic acid in developing chick bone Developmental Biology 65 2 426–34 1978 680371 10.1016/0012-1606(78)90038-6 September 6 – Production of the first genetically engineered synthetic "human" insulin using E. coli by Arthur Riggs and Keiichi Itakura at the Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope National Medical Center in collaboration with Herbert Boyer at Genentech is announced in California.http://www.gene.com/gene/news/press-releases/display.do?method=detail&id=4160 First Successful Laboratory Production of Human Insulin Announced 1978-09-06 News Release Genentech 2014-01-06http://www.littletree.com.au/dna.htm Recombinant DNA Technology in the Synthesis of Human Insulin Tof Ilanit 1994 Little Tree 2014-01-06 The rare genetic disorder Pitt–Hopkins syndrome is first described.Pitt, D. Hopkins, I. 1978 A syndrome of mental retardation, wide mouth and intermittent overbreathing Australian Paediatric Journal 14 3 182–184 10.1111/jpc.1978.14.3.182 728011 45629810 Victor Skumin first describes "cardioprosthetic psychopathological syndrome",https://biblmdkz.ru/articles/kardiologiia.html 7392405 1980 Bendet Ia. A. Morozov S. M. Victor Skumin Skumin V. A. Psychological aspects of the rehabilitation of patients after the surgical treatment of heart defects ru:Психологические аспекты реабилитации больных после хирургического лечения пороков сердца Psychological aspects of the rehabilitation of patients after the surgical treatment of heart defects Russian 20 6 45–51 Kardiologiia 25 June 2024 later known as "Skumin syndrome",Skumin syndrome https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2569523 wikidata.org 30 January 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20120426035327/http://genex.ua/site/page.php?lang=RU&id_part=148&id_word=85&bp=4 2012-04-26 live a form of anxiety suffered by recipients of artificial heart valves. Imposter syndrome is first described as a phenomenon.Clance Pauline R. Imes Suzanne A. 1978 The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention http://mpowir.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Download-IP-in-High-Achieving-Women.pdf Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice 15 3 241–247 10.1037/h0086006 Awards Fields Prize in Mathematics: Pierre Deligne, Charles Fefferman, Grigory Margulis, Daniel Quillen Nobel Prizes Physics – Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Arno Allan Penzias, Robert Woodrow Wilson Chemistry – Peter D. Mitchell Medicine – Werner Arber, Daniel Nathans, Hamilton O. Smith Turing Award – Robert Floyd Births March 16 – Jemma Redmond (d. 2016), Irish biochemist, pioneer of 3D bioprinting July – Caucher Birkar, born Fereydoun Derakhshani, Kurdish-born mathematician November 1 – Helen Czerski, English physicist and science populariser Deaths January 14 – Kurt Gödel (b. 1906), American mathematician February 25 – Edith Humphrey (b. 1875), English chemist March 9 – Gaston Julia (b. 1893), French mathematician March 23 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer (b. 1893), Jewish biochemist March 30 – Bill Hamilton (b. 1899), New Zealand mechanical engineer March 31 – Charles Best (b. 1899), Canadian medical scientist April 21 – Thomas Wyatt Turner (b. 1877), American civil rights activist, biologist and educator; first black person ever to receive a doctorate from Cornell University July 22 – André Chapelon (b. 1892), French steam locomotive designer September 15 – Willy Messerschmitt (b. 1898), German aircraft engineer November 15 – Margaret Mead (b. 1901), American cultural anthropologist References Category:20th century in science Category:1970s in science