2011 in science
The year 2011 involved many significant scientific events and discoveries, some of which are listed below. 2011 was declared the International Year of Forests and Chemistry by the United Nations.[1][2]
Events and discoveries
January
- 3 January – American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson announces a partnership for the development of a test for the detection of metastatic cancer in the bloodstream. (Belfast Telegraph) (The Independent)
- 5 January
- 6 January – The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Psychological Association, announces that it will shortly publish a paper presenting strong evidence of ESP, the ability to sense future events.[3] (CBS) (ABC) (J. Pers. Soc. Psychol.)
- 10 January – Kepler-10b, the first confirmed small rocky exoplanet, is discovered in the Draco constellation using NASA's Kepler space telescope. (BBC) (NASA) (Astrophys. J.)
- 12 January – Researchers announce that salty junk food can damage arteries in as little as thirty minutes after being eaten. (MSNBC) (Am. J. Clin. Nutr.)
- 14 January – A study conducted at the Innsbruck Medical University in Austria reveals that stainless steel or titanium tongue piercings harbor more bacteria than plastic piercings. (Science News) (J. Adolesc. Health)
- 15 January – In a study funded by the US National Cancer Institute, researchers reveal that smoking cigarettes damages the body in minutes rather than years. (BBC) (Chem. Res. Toxicol.)
- 18 January – Researchers in Australia announce that sharks are colourblind, after examining the eyes of 17 separate shark species. (BBC) (Naturwissenschaften)
- 19 January – A Cochrane Library review suggests that antioxidants may improve male fertility. (BBC) (Cochrane Datb. Syst. Rev.)
- 20 January
- 21 January – An article in Science reveals the discovery of a Darwinopterus pterosaur in China with an unhatched egg, thereby allowing the genders to be differentiated. (BBC) (Science)
- 24 January
- 26 January – The number of Internet users worldwide reaches approximately 2 billion. (PhysOrg)
- 27 January – Under pressure from industry and governments, the European Commission is putting the final touches on a strategy to reduce Europe’s dependence on Chinese-supplied rare earth metals, which are essential in export products like cars and electronics. (New York Times)
- 30 January – Molybdenite is revealed to be up to 100,000 times more efficient than silicon transistors, and to have better electrical properties than graphene. (EurekAlert) (Nat. Nanotechnol.)
February
- 2 February – The Linac Coherent Light Source, an X-ray source a billion times brighter than previous sources, becomes operational at Stanford University, potentially revolutionizing existing 3D bioanalysis techniques, especially in the analysis of proteins and viruses. (Stanford)
- 3 February
- A blood test to detect vCJD is developed by British scientists, who say it could identify healthy people who are carriers of the disease. (BBC) (The Lancet)
- Further data from the Kepler space telescope published in Nature reveals that the star Kepler-11, located 2,000 light years from Earth, has a solar system including six planets, which range between two and four-and-a-half times the radius of Earth, and between two and thirteen times its mass. Five orbit the star closer than Mercury orbits our Sun, and all are likely to have atmospheres made of light gases, and to be too hot to support life. The data also includes details of more than 1,000 additional exoplanet candidates. (BBC) (Nature)
- 4 February – Scientists reveal a tiny artificial brain, derived from rat neurons, that exhibits 12 seconds of short-term memory. (PopSci) (Lab on a Chip)
- 7 February – Scientists at Oxford University successfully test a universal flu vaccine, which should work against all known strains of the illness. (The Guardian) (Clin. Infect. Dis.)
- 9 February – Using 25 years of evidence from over 470,000 participants, researchers show that sleep deprivation and disrupted sleep patterns can have long-term, serious health implications. (EurekAlert) ( Eur. Heart J.)
- 10 February – Scientists identify the root molecular cause of a variety of illnesses brought on by advanced age, including waning energy, failure of the heart and other organs, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes. (PhysOrg) (Nature)
- 11 February – Scientists show that stem cells delivered via a nasal spray lead to an improvement of motor functions in rats with Parkinson's disease-like symptoms. (Neuroscience News) (Rejuven. Res.)
- 15 February
- 16 February – Researchers find a way of manipulating tiny swimming robots, just 1.3 millimetres long, using electric currents in water. (New Scientist) (American Physical Society)
- 17 February
- Scientists build the world's first anti-laser, capable of absorbing an incoming laser beam entirely. (BBC) (Science)
- A hummingbird-like "Nano Air Vehicle" is demonstrated for the first time, in an attempt to secure a DARPA contract to create small surveillance aircraft. (AeroVironment)
- 19 February – Scientists reveal the results of a cosmic census, which suggest there are at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way, at least 500 million of which are in the Goldilocks zone where life could exist. (PhysOrg)
- 20 February – Stanford University researchers create new stretchable solar cells that could power artificial electronic 'super skin', capable of detecting chemicals and biological molecules. The potential applications include clothing, robotics, prosthetic limbs and more. (Stanford) (AAAS)
- 21 February – New research indicates that bilingual speakers are better at multitasking, because they are better at editing out irrelevant information; this overturns previous assumptions of bilingualism causing confusion, especially in children. (PennState) (AAAS)
- 22 February
- 28 February
March
- 1 March
- 4 March
- 8 March – The world's first tissue-engineered urethras are successfully used. (BBC) (The Lancet)
- 14 March – Archeologists believe that they have found the lost city of Atlantis in mud swamps near Cadiz, Spain. They theorize that a tsunami struck the ancient settlement; a television special on the National Geographic Channel later investigates their findings. (MSNBC) (FOX News)
- 16 March – Scientists report the first successful use of microcarriers to bring anti-cancer drugs to the targeted area in the liver of a living rabbit. (EurekAlert) (Biomaterials)
- 18 March – NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft successfully enters orbit around the planet Mercury– the first probe to do so. (BBC)
- 20 March
- A new way of delivering drugs to the brain, using the body's own exosomes, is developed by scientists, overcoming a major barrier to the delivery of potential new drugs for many neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's. (BBC) (Nat. Biotechnol.)
- Researchers announce the development of a three-dimensional nanostructure for battery cathodes that allows for dramatically faster charging, without sacrificing energy storage capacity. This could lead to cellphones that charge in seconds, and electric cars that charge in minutes. (EurekAlert) (Nat. Nanotechn.)
- A new way of making battery electrodes, based on nanostructured metal foams, can be used to make a lithium-ion battery that recharge by 90% in under two minutes. (TechReview) (Nat. Nanotechn.)
- Scientists demonstrate how SHANK3, a brain protein, may trigger autism-like behavior in mice by stopping effective communication between brain cells. (BBC) (Nature)
- 22 March – A 6 cm-by-6 cm chip holding nine quantum devices, among them four "quantum bits", is demonstrated at the American Physical Society meeting in Dallas, Texas. It is hoped that further scaling up to 10 qubits should be possible later this year. (BBC) (American Physical Society)
- 24 March
- 25 March – British and French scientists announce a plan to drill into the Earth's mantle, a feat never before accomplished. (PhysOrg)
- 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) (EurekAlert) (American Chemical Society)
- 30 March – Scientists design robots able to hit a ball to and fro while hovering in the air. (Daily Mail)
- 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
- 4 April
- 5 April
- 6 April – Japanese scientists announce that they have created working retinas from mouse stem cells. (BBC) (Nature News)
- 7 April – Political views are determined to some extent by differences in brain structure, according to a report published in Current Biology. (PhysOrg)
- 12 April
- 13 April – Cellphones may be contributing to a global decline in honeybee populations, according to researchers. (Toronto Star) (PhysOrg) (Apidologie)
- 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)
- Scientists have teleported wave packets of light by destroying them in one location and re-creating them in another. (PhysOrg) (Science)
- 17 April – Researchers have injected biodegradable nanofiber spheres carrying cells into wounds to grow tissue. (PhysOrg) (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. (PhysOrg) (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. (PhysOrg) (Appl. Phys. Lett.)
- April 19 – 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.(Science Daily) (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
- 22 April – Gene transcription is observed in real time in a live cell. (U.S. News and World Repor) (Techno-science.net) (Science)
- 24 April – Small lasers capable of igniting a fuel/air mixture more efficiently, resulting in less pollution, may replace spark plugs in gasoline engines. (BBC) (CLEO) (Opt. Express)[4]
- 25 April
- Some microbes can survive gravity more than 400,000 times that felt on Earth, a new study says. By contrast, most humans can tolerate three to five times Earth's surface gravity before losing consciousness. (National Geographic) (PNAS)
- The European Commission has approved plans to build a trio of lasers that will each dwarf the power of any previous laser. The project, called the Extreme Light Infrastructure, will lay the groundwork for building an even more powerful laser that could try to pull "virtual" particles out of the vacuum of space-time. (New Scientist)
- 28 April
May
- 1 May
- 3 May
- 4 May
- 6 May
- 9 May – Smog-eating aluminium panels which clean themselves and the air around them are unveiled; their titanium dioxide coating, when combined with sunlight, acts as a catalyst to break down pollutants into harmless matter that rain washes away. (Alcoa) (USA Today) (Forbes via MSNBC)
- 11 May
- 12 May – The exoplanet Gliese 581d can be considered the first confirmed exoplanet that could potentially support Earth-like life, according to a team of French scientists. (Science Daily) (Astrophys. J. Lett.)
- 13 May
- 15 May – Researchers have found that KLF14, a gene linked to type 2 diabetes and cholesterol levels, is in fact a 'master regulator' gene, which controls the behaviour of other genes found within fat in the body. (Medical Xpress) (Nat. Genet.)
- 16 May – NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on its final mission. (BBC)
- 18 May
- 19 May
- By using electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, a man from Oregon who became paralyzed after being hit by a car can stand and move his legs on his own. (BBC) (The Lancet)
- Scientists have developed an open-source desktop genome analyzer. It works in conjunction with a browser that allows biologists to rapidly and easily analyze and process their high-throughput information. (TG Daily) (Bioinformatics)
- 20 May – A highly developed sense of smell kick-started the evolution of mammals' big brains, according to new research. (BBC) (Nature News) (Science)
- 23 May
- 24 May – A superhot substance recently made in the Large Hadron Collider is the densest form of matter ever observed, scientists have announced. (National Geographic)
- 25 May
- 26 May
- 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. (PhysOrg) (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. (Science Daily) (Nat. Comm.)
- 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. (Science Daily) (PNAS)
June
- 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. (Science Daily) (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 – The Nabro Volcano begins to erupt, releasing the highest quantity of sulfur dioxide ever observed by satellite. (Earthquake-Report.com)
- 13 June – A study suggests that protostars may be seeding the universe with water. These stellar embryos shoot jets of material from their north and south poles as their growth is fed by infalling dust, which circles the bodies in vast disks. (National Geographic) (Astron. & Astrophys.)
- 14 June
- Ten new planets outside our Solar System have been spotted by the French-led COROT satellite, bringing the total number of known exoplanets to 561. (BBC)
- A Japanese experiment sees hints that neutrino particles can oscillate between all three types, opening new lines of research to test why matter became more prevalent than antimatter in the Big Bang. (BBC) (arXiv)
- 15 June – A central lunar eclipse takes place, with a totality of 1 hour and 40 minutes.[5]
- 16 June – Researchers have developed a scalable approach to fabricating high-speed graphene transistors. (Science Daily)
- 17 June
- The United States Department of Energy reports that it will invest $150 million in a private company that has developed a silicon-wafer solar cell that can be manufactured twice as cheaply as standard solar cells. (Huffington Post)
- Thousands of insects are being lined up to have their genomes sequenced. The five-year project will help researchers pinpoint vulnerable regions of insects' genomes, which could be targeted with pesticides. (BBC)
- Scientists have developed a nano-device that powers itself by harvesting energy from vibrations, while at the same time transmitting data wirelessly with a range of up to 10 metres (33 ft). (PopSci) (Nano Lett.)
- 19 June
- 20 June – A Japanese computer has taken first place on the Top 500 supercomputer list, ending China's reign at the top after just six months. Capable of operating at 8.16 petaflops (quadrillion floating-point calculations per second), the K computer is more powerful than the next five systems combined. (ComputerWorld)
- 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. (PhysOrg)
- 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) (Evolution 2011)
- 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. (Science Daily)
- 26 June – A new gene-editing technique provides the first published successful healing of a genetic condition in a live animal, by curing mice of haemophilia B. (The Guardian) (Nature News)
- 27 June – A new bacterium is reported to have been produced from an engineered DNA sequence, in which thymine was replaced by the synthetic building block 5-chlorouracil – a substance "toxic to other organisms".[6][7]
- 28 June – The United Nations holds a ceremony in Rome, declaring the once-widespread cattle disease rinderpest to be globally eradicated.[8]
- 30 June – Computer corporation IBM develops a form of 'instantaneous' memory, 100 times faster than flash memory. (engadget)
July
- 1 July – Based on results from the Tevatron particle accelerator, scientists have reported stronger evidence that a small excess of matter over antimatter was present during the Big Bang as particles decayed. (BBC)
- 3 July
- China's monopoly over rare-earth metals could be challenged by the discovery of massive deposits of these widely-used minerals on the floor of the Pacific Ocean, a new study suggests. (PhysOrg)
- Warming oceans will melt glaciers quicker than expected, according to a new study. As oceans heat up, they could erode ice sheets much faster than warmer air alone. (LiveScience)
- 7 July
- 9 July – Researchers have reprogrammed brain cells to become heart cells. (Science Daily)
- 10 July – An international team of scientists based in Scotland have decoded the full DNA sequence of the potato, one of the world's most important staple crops, for the first time. (BBC)
- 12 July
- 13 July – A string of a dozen underwater volcanoes, several of them active, has been found near Antarctica, the first such discovery in that region. (Yahoo!)
- 14 July
- A "fountain of youth" that sustains the production of new neurons in the brains of rodents may also be present in the human brain, researchers have found. (KurzweilAI)
- Technicians from Kagawa University have developed a robotic, bionic mouth that can sing. The design replicates almost all the human organs that are required for singing. (CrazyEngineers)
- 16 July
- 19 July
- 20 July
- 21 July
- A 120-million-year-old fossil is the oldest pregnant lizard ever discovered, according to scientists. The fossil, found in China, is a very complete 30-cm (12-in)-long specimen with more than a dozen embryos in its body. (BBC)
- Researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered a gene required to maintain male gender throughout life. (Medical Xpress)
- 26 July
- 27 July – Japanese researchers have developed an electric vehicle motor not reliant on rare-earth metals. (PhysOrg)
- 28 July – A Chinese fossil of a previously unknown bird-like dinosaur is estimated by scientists to be about 155 million years old – five million years older than Archaeopteryx, which for 150 years has been assumed to be the world's earliest bird. (Daily Telegraph)
- 29 July – A major clinical trial will investigate whether stem cells can be safely used to stop or even reverse the damage caused by multiple sclerosis. (BBC)
August
- 3 August – Researchers suggest that Earth once had a small second Moon that was destroyed in a slow-motion collision with the far side of its larger companion.[9] (BBC)
- 4 August
- 5 August
- The solar-powered probe Juno is launched from Kennedy Space Center on a five-year mission to Jupiter. (BBC)
- Bypassing stem cells, scientists have made neurons directly from human skin. (PhysOrg)
- Scientists have developed a new class of molecules that target cells' entry systems to ensure harmful organisms do not gain access. The molecules, nicknamed pitstops, could lead to new therapeutic approaches to prevent the spread of viral and bacterial infections. (ABC Science)
- 6 August – A study postulates that the demise of the world's forests 250 million years ago was likely accelerated by aggressive tree-killing fungi, who flourished in conditions brought about by global climate change. (PhysOrg)
- 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.[10][11][12]
- 10 August – An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine describes a new therapy that has successfully neutralized advanced cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 3 patients.[13][14][15]
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- Taiwanese researchers report that 15 minutes of exercise a day can boost life expectancy by three years and cut death risk by 14%. (BBC)
- 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)
- Within decades, solar storms are likely to become more disruptive to planes and spacecraft, say researchers at Reading University. (BBC)
- 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)
- Computer simulations suggest that violent asteroid impacts flinging life from Earth to other planets is more likely than previously thought. (BBC)
- Researchers at the University of Leeds have discovered a pain-free way of tackling dental decay that reverses the damage of acid attack and re-builds teeth as new. (Science Daily)
- 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)
- 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)
- 31 August
September
- 2 September
- 8 September
- 9 September – Feeding a supercomputer with news stories could help predict major world events, according to US researchers. (BBC)
- 12 September
- 13 September
- 14 September
- NASA unveils the design for a new heavy-lift rocket to take humans to Mars and the asteroids. (BBC)
- Researchers may have discovered how to safely open and close the blood-brain barrier so that therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and cancers of the central nervous system might effectively be delivered to the brain. (MedicalXpress)
- A British chemist creates cell-like bubbles out of metal-containing molecules, giving them life-like properties in the process. The metallic cells could then be induced to evolve into inorganic self-replicating entities. (New Scientist)
- 15 September – A piece of amber discovered in Alberta, Canada, contains an 80-million year old feather that could provide clues to the relationship between dinosaurs and modern avian species. (BBC)
- 16 September
- 19 September – People with schizophrenia are six times more likely to develop epilepsy, reports a Taiwanese study, which found a strong relationship between the two diseases. (BBC)
- 20 September – US researchers say they have demonstrated how fuel cells powered by bacteria can be "self-powered" and produce a limitless supply of hydrogen for hydrogen cars. (BBC)
- 22 September
- 24 September – NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) deorbits and impacts the Pacific Ocean, having been decomissioned in 2005. UARS, which was launched in 1991, was designed for the study of Earth's atmosphere, particularly the ozone layer. (NASA)
- 26 September – Researchers have demonstrated that electrons can move freely in layers of linked semiconductor nanoparticles under the influence of light. This discovery may assist the development of cheap and efficient quantum dot solar cells. (Science Daily)
- 27 September
- Scientists have successfully replaced an injured part of a rat’s brain with a synthetic substitute. (SmartPlanet)
- Scientists have created a nanostructure which can multiply stem cells used in therapies – a first step towards developing large-scale stem cell culture factories. (Labmate online)
- 29 September
- 30 September – Scientists release the most accurate simulation of the structure of the universe to date. (ScienceDaily) (YouTube)
October
- 3 October
- 4 October – The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics is shared by Drs Adam Riess, Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt for their discoveries relating to dark energy. (New York Times)
- 5 October
- 6 October – A "smart pill" has been developed that is able to record accurate information about internal conditions in the gut, such as acidity, pressure and temperature. (The Yorkshire Post)
- 7 October – Data from the ESA's Venus Express probe reveals that the planet Venus has an ozone layer in its upper atmosphere. (BBC)
- 10 October
- 12 October
- The genetic code of the germ that caused the 14th-century Black Death has been reconstructed by scientists for the first time. The British researchers extracted DNA fragments of the ancient bacterium from the teeth of medieval corpses found in London. (BBC)
- Ginger supplements may boost digestive and colon health, according to a new study. (Dr Cutler)
- 13 October – Silencing a protein known as BCL11A can reactivate fetal hemoglobin production in adult mice and effectively reverse sickle cell disease, according to a new study. (MedicalXpress)
- 14 October
- 16 October – For the first time, researchers have found a way to inject a precise dose of a gene therapy agent directly into a single living cell without using a needle. The technique uses electricity to fire therapeutic biomolecules through a tiny channel and into a cell in a fraction of a second. (PhysOrg)
- 17 October – The world's first commercial spaceport, Spaceport America, is opened by Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson in the U.S. state of New Mexico. The SpaceShipTwo spaceplane is expected to begin commercial flights from the spaceport by 2013. (BBC)
- 18 October
- 19 October
- 21 October
- 24 October – India's Minister of Health, Ghulam Nabi Azad, reports that the country has almost entirely eradicated polio through a vaccination program which immunises over 170 million children every year. No new polio cases have been reported in India for over nine months. (BBC)
- 25 October
- Human DNA may carry a ‘memory’ of living conditions in childhood, according to a new study. (Science Blog)
- Space telescope observations indicate that the supernova RCW 86, first seen by Chinese astronomers in 185 AD, expanded at an unprecedented rate due to the formation of a vacuum-like "cavity" around it in the early stages of the death of its star. The expansion of the supernova, which was visible even in daylight when first discovered, has remained a mystery for nearly 2,000 years. (BBC)
- The last of the United States' B53 nuclear warheads is disassembled near Amarillo, Texas. The nine-megaton bomb, which first entered service in 1962, was formerly the most powerful nuclear weapon in the country's nuclear arsenal, possessing nearly 600 times the yield of the Little Boy atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. (AP)
- 26 October
- 27 October
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
- 1 November
- 2 November
- China's unmanned 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 manned mission to Mars. The experiment, undertaken at a Moscow scientific institute, was intended to find out how the human mind and body would cope with the isolation of a long-duration spaceflight. (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)
- 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."[20][21]
- 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)
- 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)
- A team of scientists in Japan synthesize the world's first stem-cell-derived pituitary gland. (Technology Review)
- 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. (MongaBay.com)
- 10 November
- No wild black rhinos remain in West Africa, according to the latest global assessment of threatened species. (BBC)
- 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 has been discovered by scientists in the UK and Belgium. (BBC)
- 14 November
- A study of heart failure patients treated with their own stem cells has achieved striking results and could result in the biggest breakthrough in a generation. (Daily Telegraph)
- Scientists have used brain scan images to create the world's first movie of the female brain as it approaches, experiences and recovers from an orgasm. (The Guardian)
- New research suggests that owning a cat has a positive impact on mental wellbeing. (MentalHealth.org.uk)
- 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)
- 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)
- China's unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft returns to Earth after successfully docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 laboratory module. The manned 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. (Science Daily)
- 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)
- 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)
- 26 November – NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission successfully launches for Mars. The mission is scheduled to land the robotic Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars in August 2012, whereupon the rover will search for evidence of past or present life on Mars. (Chicago Tribune) (Launch Video – 04:00)
- 28 November
- 30 November
December
- 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)
- 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. (NASA) (BBC)
- New research suggests that at least three-quarters of the rise in average global temperatures since the 1950s is due to human activity. (Nature Geoscience)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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. (IOP Publishing)
- 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)
- 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. (Kurzweil AI)
- 13 December
- 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 unmanned test flights of the system are expected to begin in 2016. (Huffington Post)
- 15 December – Columbia University researchers publish a survey, began in 2003, revealing that same-sex marriage improves the health of gay men overall. The study recorded a reduction in depression, blood-pressure issues, and stress-related disorders. The reaction of lesbians was not studied. (BBC News)
- 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. (PhysOrg)
- 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)
- 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. (Science Daily)
- 17 December – American researchers report advances in solar cell efficiency, using quantum dot technology to capture additional electrons from photons striking solar panels. (CNET)
- 19 December – Scientists at the University of California report a major breakthrough in the cultivation of drought-tolerant crops. (Science Daily)
- 20 December
- 21 December – Researchers at the University of Notre Dame reveal an inexpensive "solar paint" that uses semiconducting nanoparticles to capture solar energy. (Science Daily)
- 22 December
- American researchers unveil self-repairing electronic chips that can repair broken circuits by releasing microcapsules of conductive liquid metal. (BBC)
- 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)
- 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)
- 27 December
- 29 December – 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)
- 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)
Deaths
January
- 1 January – Louise Reiss, American physician, co-ordinated the Baby Tooth Survey (b. 1920).
- 3 January – Anatoliy Skorokhod, Ukrainian mathematician (b. 1930).
- 4 January – Jack Richardson, British chemical engineer (b. 1920).
- 5 January – Jack Ertle Oliver, American scientist, provided seismic evidence supporting plate tectonics (b. 1923).
- 8 January – Willi Dansgaard, Danish paleoclimatologist and geophysicist (b. 1922).
- 17 January
- 18 January – John Herivel, British historian of science and former cryptanalyst (b. 1918).
- 19 January – Ernest McCulloch, Canadian haematologist, pioneer of stem cell science (b. 1926).
- 25 January – Daniel Bell, American sociologist (b. 1919).
- 31 January – Charles Kaman, American aeronautical engineer (b. 1919).
February
- 2 February – Rodney Hill, British mathematician, pioneer of plasticity theory (b. 1921).
- 6 February – Ken Olsen, American engineer, Digital Equipment Corporation founder (b. 1926).
- 8 February – Bradley C. Livezey, American ornithologist (b. 1954).
- 10 February – Oleg Lavrentiev, Soviet physicist (b. 1926).
- 11 February – Christian J. Lambertsen, American physician and engineer, developer of the first SCUBA device (b. 1917).
- 13 February
- 15 February – Charles Epstein, American geneticist and Unabomber victim (b. 1933).
- 17 February – Richard F. Daines, American physician and health official (b. 1951).
- 19 February – Anson Rainey, American scholar of Near East history and Linguistics (b. 1930).
- 20 February – Frank A. McClintock, American mechanical engineer (b. 1921).
- 21 February – Edwin D. Kilbourne, American research scientist and influenza vaccine expert (b. 1920).
- 26 February – Zhu Guangya, Chinese nuclear physicist, helped develop China's first atomic bomb (b. 1924).
March
- 1 March – John M. Lounge, American astronaut (b. 1946).
- 3 March
- 4 March
- 5 March – Alberto Granado, Argentine founder of the Santiago School of Medicine (b. 1922).
- 6 March – Marie-Andrée Bertrand, Canadian criminologist (b. 1925).
- 8 March
- 11 March – Donny George Youkhanna, Iraqi archaeologist and anthropologist (b. 1950).
- 13 March – David Rumelhart, American applied psychologist (b. 1942).
- 14 March
- 17 March – Murdoch Mitchison, British biologist (b. 1917).
- 19 March – Robert Ross, American physician and educator, founder of the Ross University School of Medicine and the University of Medicine and Health Sciences (b. 1918).
- 21 March – Bohumil Fišer, Czech cardiologist and health minister (b. 1943).
- 23 March
- 25 March – Thomas Eisner, German-American entomologist and pioneer of chemical ecology (b. 1929).
- 26 March
April
May
- 1 May
- 2 May – David Sencer, American physician and former director of the CDC (b. 1924).
- 3 May – Robert Brout, American-born Belgian physicist (b. 1928).
- 5 May
- 6 May – Horace Freeland Judson, American science historian (b. 1931).
- 7 May – Willard Boyle, Canadian Nobel physicist (b. 1924).
- 8 May – Corwin Hansch, American chemist (b. 1918).
- 9 May – Henry Feffer, American surgeon (b. 1918).
- 11 May – Maurice Goldhaber, Austrian-born American physicist (b. 1911).
- 12 May
- 19 May
- 20 May – Steve Rutt, American engineer and early pioneer of video animation (b. 1945).
- 26 May – Irwin D. Mandel, American dentist (b. 1922).
- 28 May
- 30 May – Rosalyn Sussman Yalow, American physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine (b. 1921).
June
- 3 June – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, advocate of euthanasia (b. 1928).
- 8 June – Anatole Abragam, Russian-born French physicist (b. 1914).
- 11 June – James Rahal, Jr., American physician, West Nile virus expert (b. 1933).[28]
- 16 June – Östen Mäkitalo, Swedish electrical engineer, cell phone inventor (b. 1938).
- 17 June – Nathan Sharon, Israeli biochemist (b. 1925).
- 18 June – Bob Pease, American electrical engineer (b. 1940).
- 20 June – Robert H. Widmer, American aeronautical engineer (b. 1916).
- 23 June – Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, French Egyptologist (b. 1913).
- 26 June – Robert Morris, American cryptographer (b. 1932).
July
- 7 July – Ricardo Alegría, Puerto Rican anthropologist and archeologist (b. 1921).
- 8 July – William R. Corliss, American physicist (b. 1926).
- 11 July – Tom Gehrels, Dutch-born American astronomer (b. 1925).
- 15 July – John S. Toll, American physicist and university chancellor (b. 1923).
- 16 July – John Crook, British ethologist (b. 1930).
- 18 July – Rudiger D. Haugwitz, German-born American chemist (b. 1932).[29]
- 21 July
- Franz Alt, Austrian-born American mathematician (b. 1910).
- Harold J. Kosasky, Canadian-born American physician (b. c. 1928).[30]
- 23 July
- 27 July – John Rawlins, British Surgeon Vice Admiral (b. 1922).
- 28 July – Max Harry Weil, Swiss-born American physician (b. 1927).[31]
- 30 July – Daniel D. McCracken, American computer scientist (b. 1930).
August
September
- 5 September – Angioletta Coradini, Italian astrophysicist (b. 1946).
- 6 September – Bruce B. Dan, American physician (b. 1946).[37]
- 9 September – Valentino Braitenberg, Italian neuroscientist and cyberneticist (b. 1926).
- 14 September – Rudolf Mössbauer, German Nobel physicist (b. 1929).
- 16 September – William Hawthorne, British aeronautical engineer (b. 1913).
- 17 September – Julius Blank, American mechanical engineer (b. 1925).
- 20 September – Oscar Handlin, American historian (b. 1915).
- 21 September – Michael Julian Drake, American astronomer (b. 1946).
- 22 September – Margaret Ogola, Kenyan physician (b. 1958).
- 23 September – Carl Wood, Australian physician (b. 1929).
- 24 September – Richard Koch, American physician, advocate for phenylketonuria neonate screening (b. 1921).[38]
- 25 September – Wangari Maathai, Kenyan veterinary anatomist and Nobel Peace Prize winner (b. 1940).
- 26 September – Robert Blinc, Slovene physicist (b. 1933).
- 27 September – Wilson Greatbatch, American electrical engineer and the inventor of the implantable cardiac pacemaker (b. 1919).
- 28 September – Pierre Dansereau, Canadian biologist (b. 1911).
- 30 September
October
- 1 October – J. Willis Hurst, American physician (b. 1920).[39]
- 3 October – Aden Meinel, American astronomer (b. 1922).
- 5 October – Steve Jobs, American computer engineer and technology entrepreneur (b. 1955).
- 8 October – Milan Puskar, American pharmaceutical executive (b. 1934).
- 11 October – Bob Galvin, American electronics executive (b. 1922).
- 12 October – Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist (b. 1941).
- 14 October – Morris Chafetz, American psychiatrist (b. 1924).[40]
- 23 October – Herbert A. Hauptman, American mathematical biophysicist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (b. 1917).
- 24 October – John McCarthy, American computer scientist and cognitive scientist (b. 1927).
- 30 October – David Utz, American surgeon (b. 1923).
November
December
See also
References
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- ^ International Year of Chemistry 2011 - About IYC. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
- ^ The article was published in the March 3 issue of the journal.
- ^ the paper was presented at the CLEO conference on May 2, and published on May 9.
- ^ Brown, Terry; Peddie, Clare (2011-06-16). "Longest lunar eclipse for a decade turns moon blood red". Herald Sun (Melbourne). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/longest-lunar-eclipse-for-a-decade-for-south-australia-stargazers/story-fn7x8me2-1226075835237. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
- ^ Marlière, Philippe; Patrouix, Julien; Döring, Volker; Herdewijn, Piet; Tricot, Sabine; Cruveiller, Stéphane; Bouzon, Madeleine; Mutzel, Rupert (27 June 2011). "Chemical Evolution of a Bacterium’s Genome". Angewandte Chemie. doi:10.1002/anie.201100535.
- ^ Staff (29 June 2011). "Bacterium Engineered With DNA in Which Thymine Is Replaced by Synthetic Building Block". Science Daily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110628132438.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
- ^ McNeil Jr, Donald G. (2011-06-27). "Rinderpest, Scourge of Cattle, Is Eradicated". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/health/28rinderpest.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
- ^ Jutzi, M.; Asphaug, E. (4 August 2011). "Forming the lunar farside highlands by accretion of a companion moon". Nature 476: 69–72. doi:10.1038/nature10289. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7358/full/nature10289.html. Retrieved 2011-08-04.
- ^ Callahan; Smith, K.E.; Cleaves, H.J.; Ruzica, J.; Stern, J.C.; Glavin, D.P.; House, C.H.; Dworkin, J.P. (11 August 2011). "Carbonaceous meteorites contain a wide range of extraterrestrial nucleobases". PNAS. doi:10.1073/pnas.1106493108. http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/08/10/1106493108. Retrieved 2011-08-15.
- ^ Steigerwald, John (8 August 2011). "NASA Researchers: DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/dna-meteorites.html. Retrieved 2011-08-10.
- ^ ScienceDaily Staff (9 August 2011). "DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space, NASA Evidence Suggests". ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110808220659.htm. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
- ^ 'Amazing' Therapy Destroys Leukemia in 3 Patients. Fox News, 11 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
- ^ Chimeric Antigen Receptor–Modified T Cells in Chronic Lymphoid Leukemia. New England Journal of Medicine, 25 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
- ^ Redirecting T Cells. New England Journal of Medicine, 25 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
- ^ "Cuba Announces Release of the World's First Lung Cancer Vaccine". PopSci. 2011-08-09. http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-09/cuba-releases-worlds-first-lung-cancer-vaccine. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
- ^ Chow, Denise (26 October 2011). "Discovery: Cosmic Dust Contains Organic Matter from Stars". Space.com. http://www.space.com/13401-cosmic-star-dust-complex-organic-compounds.html. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
- ^ ScienceDaily Staff (26 October 2011). "Astronomers Discover Complex Organic Matter Exists Throughout the Universe". ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111026143721.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
- ^ Kwok, Sun; Zhang, Yong (26 October 2011). "Mixed aromatic–aliphatic organic nanoparticles as carriers of unidentified infrared emission features". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature10542.
- ^ Larson, Phil (5 November 2011). "Searching for ET, But No Evidence Yet". White House. https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/response/searching-et-no-evidence-yet. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ Atkinson, Nancy (5 November 2011). "No Alien Visits or UFO Coverups, White House Says". UniverseToday. http://www.universetoday.com/90717/no-alien-visits-or-ufo-coverups-white-house-says/. Retrieved 2011-11-06.
- ^ Overbye, Dennis (18 November 2011). "Scientists Report Second Sighting of Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/science/space/neutrino-finding-is-confirmed-in-second-experiment-opera-scientists-say.html. Retrieved 2011-11-18.
- ^ Adam, T. et al. (OPERA Collaboration) (17 November 2011). "Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam". arXiv:1109.4897v2 [hep-ex].
- ^ NASA Staff (20 December 2011). "Kepler: A Search For Habitable Planets - Kepler-20e". NASA. http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/kepler20e/. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ NASA Staff (20 December 2011). "Kepler: A Search For Habitable Planets - Kepler-20f". NASA. http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/kepler20f/. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
- ^ Johnson, Michele (20 December 2011). "NASA Discovers First Earth-size Planets Beyond Our Solar System". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-20-system.html. Retrieved 2011-12-20.
- ^ Hand, Eric (20 December 2011). "Kepler discovers first Earth-sized exoplanets". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2011.9688.
- ^ Dr. James J. Rahal, 77, Virus Expert, Dies
- ^ Rudiger ‘Roger’ Haugwitz, chemist who used science to create art, dies at 79. Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
- ^ Harold Kosasky, 83, pioneer in treatment of infertility. Boston Globe, 26 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
- ^ Dr. Max Harry Weil dies at 84: pioneer in critical care. Articles.latimes.com (2011-08-06). Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
- ^ Dr. Charles C. Edwards, Influential F.D.A. Commissioner, Dies at 87
- ^ Fritz Bach, Who Aided Transplant Survival, Dies at 77
- ^ William Kannel, 87; force behind pioneering Framingham Heart Study. Boston.com (2011-09-18). Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
- ^ W. B. Kannel, Who Led Historic Heart Study, Dies at 87. Nytimes.com (2011-08-23). Retrieved on 2011-10-10.
- ^ Dr. William Wolff, Colonoscopy Co-Developer, Dies at 94
- ^ Bruce Dan, Who Helped Link Toxic Shock and Tampons, Is Dead at 64. New York Times, 10 September 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ^ Dr. Richard Koch dies at 89; medical pioneer. Los Angeles Times, 8 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ^ Dr. J. Willis Hurst, Cardiologist to Lyndon B. Johnson, Dies at 90
- ^ Morris Chafetz, 87, Dies; Altered View of Alcoholism
- ^ Dr. John F. Burke, Dies at 89; Created Synthetic Skin
- ^ "T. Franklin Williams, Early Geriatric Specialist, Dies at 90". New York Times, 3 December 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-08.