December 2005 in science

December 31, 2005

• A leap second is added to UTC at midnight GMT to keep clocks worldwide synchronized with the Earth's rotation. (BBC)

December 28, 2005

• The GIOVE-A satellite is successfully launched. (BBC)

December 23, 2005

• A Progress resupply ship docks with the International Space Station. (Reuters/YahooNews)
• During the first night of testing a new Moon monitoring observatory on November 7, researchers photograph a meteor impact on its surface. (NASA)
• Hwang Woo-suk resigns from his professor position at Seoul National University after an investigation reveals that his stem cell research results were fake. The South Korean government also starts an investigation of the alleged misconduct. (AP/YahooNews) (BBC)

December 22, 2005

• Using pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope researches discover two new rings around the planet Uranus, as well as two new moons. (AP/YahooNews) (CNN) (SpaceRef.com)
• The European Commission takes steps to fine Microsoft €2 million a day if it does not comply by January 25 with an antitrust ruling issued in 2004. (AP/YahooNews)

December 21, 2005

• Researchers describe two human cases of Avian flu that exhibit resistance to the drug Oseltamivir in the New England Journal of Medicine. (BBC)
• Two studies published in Nature propose explanations for the data collected by the Opportunity rover on Mars that do not postulate a sea or lake of standing water. (AP/YahooNews)

December 20, 2005

• The judge presiding over the Dover Area School Board trial concludes that it is unconstitutional to teach ID as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom. (AP/YahooNews)
• Members of the Beagle 2 team announce that a picture of the surface of Mars in their interpretation shows the remnants of the failed lander. (BBC)

December 19, 2005

• Craig Venter is spearheading a project to create the first synthetic lifeform by designing its DNA from scratch and then fusing it with a microbe membrane. (Globe&Mail)
• The launch of the commercial rocket Falcon 1 is scrubbed after damage to the first stage fuel tank during a weather induced hold of the countdown. The SpaceX managers decide to move the launch to at least late January 2006. (SpaceflightNow.com)

December 18, 2005

• The Mitochondrial DNA of the Mammoth is decoded. Its sequence supports the notion of a close relationship between the Mammoth and the Asian Elephant. (BBC)

December 16, 2005

• The launch of GIOVE-A is rescheduled due to problems with the ground station network. (ESA)
• A study of dinosaur bones indicates that at least one species (Plateosaurus engelhardti) was adjusting the length of its growth period, which would lead to contradictions to the theory that dinosaurs had a single warm-blooded common ancestor. (BBC)
• Hwang Woo-suk defends his work in a press conference, stating that he intends to retract the controversial Science article because of problems with pictures and other documentation, not because of allegedly falsified data. (AP/YahooNews)

December 15, 2005

• Roh Sung-il, a scientist connected to the research of Hwang Woo-suk, states on television that most of the data published in a groundbreaking paper in the journal Science was faked. (AP/YahooNews) (BBC)

December 14, 2005

• Astronomers have spotted a sun-like star with possible planet formation 137 light years away. (Spitzer.CalTech.edu)
• The discovery of an unusual Kuiper belt object, designated 2004 XR190, is announced. Although classified as a scattered disc object, its orbit can not easily be explained. (SpaceflightNow.com)
• Due to problems controlling the attitude and thrusters of Hayabusa, JAXA mission managers decide to delay the return of the spacecraft to Earth until 2010. (AP/YahooNews)
• Flint tools unearthed in Pakefield, Suffolk, indicate that humans lived in the United Kingdom about 700,000 years ago - 200,000 years earlier than previously thought. (BBC)
• The International Society for Molecular and Cell Biology Protocols and Researches (ISMCBPR) awards the Molecule of the Year 2005 to Scientists of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI, La Jolla, California, U.S.A.). The choice of 4E10 as the Molecule of the Year 2005 is based on a 2005 publication written by Dr. Ian Wilson, Dr. Dennis Burton and co authors. This announcement was made by Isidro A. T. Savillo, President, ISMCBPR. (Press release:TSRI) (Hum-MolGen)

December 13, 2005

• The mass of the star Sirius B is determined by measuring the gravitational redshift of light emitted from its surface. The researchers obtained this observationally challenging data using the Hubble Space Telescope. (SpaceRef.com)
• Scientists at the Salk Institute embed human nerve cells in the brain of mice. Even though they arrived at only 0.1 percent of the brain being made of human cells, this work spurs discussion of ethical limits of biological research. (AP/YahooNews)
• An international collaboration of astronomers re-analyse archived Hubble Space Telescope pictures to map the distribution of dark matter in the Universe. The results seem to support the theory that both visible and dark matter are clumped into "web like" structures. (space.com/YahooNews)

December 12, 2005

• The Opportunity rover reaches one Martian year on the surface of Mars. (NASA)
• Engineers evaluating data from the NASA shuttle test flight mission find evidence for an oxygen leak in the rear engine compartment. Managers comment that this potentially dangerous problem must be fixed before the shuttle can fly again. (BBC)

December 10, 2005

• The Kyoto Protocol is extended beyond the original final year 2012 by the countries that have signatory status. Targets for this period still need to be set. (BBC)

December 9, 2005

• The discovery of a security flaw in Firefox 1.5 is announced by the Mozilla Corporation. The problem allows a hacker to freeze the browser program, but it apparently can not be used to take control of the user's computer. (newfactor.com/YahooNews)
• After two weeks of investigation, mission engineers are able to command the arm of the rover Opportunity on Mars to make a slight movement. Scientists and engineers continue to discuss in what position to leave the arm, when it can no longer be moved. (Space.com/YahooNews)

December 7, 2005

• The DNA sequence of the domestic dog (the sample was taken from a boxer) is deciphered and results are published in Nature. (AFP/YahooNews)
• In the journal Nature, a report described a mechanism for how some forms of cancer spread. Special bone marrow cells are sent out and force a new region to produce a protein called fibronectin, which helps create a cancer friendly nest. (MSNBC)
• Scientists at the University of Florida teach brain cells extracted from a rat embryo to fly an F-22 jet simulator. (The Age)
• Mission members for the Hayabusa spacecraft announce that new data indicate that no metal pellets were shot into the surface of 25143 Itokawa during the second sampling touchdown. It is uncertain whether the probe actually collected any asteroid material. (AP/YahooNews)

December 6, 2005

• The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) photographs what appears to be a previously unknown mammal species in Borneo. The lemur-like carnivorous mammal is apparently a member of the viverrid family, related to the mongoose and civet. (BBC)
• India joins the ITER project to build a prototype fusion reactor and pave the way for a fusion based, commercial power plant. The international collaboration announces that it is now supported by countries representing more than half of the world's population. (BBC)

December 5, 2005

• Using nanotechnology scientists from Bar-Ilan University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have produced polyyne (composed of acetylene units), which is 40 times harder than diamond. (Jerusalem Post)

December 3, 2005

• A bright meteor is seen by many people in southwestern Australia around 9 p.m. local time. (AP/YahooNews)

December 2, 2005

• The SOHO satellite reaches 10 years in space while still generating valuable science data, continuously observing the Sun. (ESA)
• Astronomers in the United Kingdom use the low-cost Lucky Imaging technique to determine stars that are in fact binary stars. (BBC)

December 1, 2005

• The fossil of an Archaeopteryx found in Germany reveals that its feet were similar to that of other dinosaurs. This would support the notion of a direct descent of this species from earlier dinosaurs. (Reuters/YahooNews)

Past science and technology events by month

2005 in science: July August September October November
(For earlier science and technology events, see June 2005 and preceding months)

News collections and sources

See: Wikipedia:Current science and technology events sources.

See also

• Science and technology at Wikinews