50 Years Ago
- Agriculture
Bacterium still a major source of crop pesticide
Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria have provided pest-fighting toxins for over 50 years.
- Health & Medicine
Environment still tied to MS risk
50 years ago, scientists reported a possible connection between the environment and multiple sclerosis risk.
- Astronomy
Quasars’ distance no longer in question
Astronomers now know quasars live around black holes in remote galaxies, but 50 years ago, one researcher argued they were much closer.
- Neuroscience
Scientists still haven’t solved mystery of memory
50 years have refined a basic understanding of the brain, but scientists are still exploring how memories form, change and persist.
- Chemistry
After 75 years, plutonium is still NASA’s fuel of choice
On the 75th anniversary of the discovery of plutonium, the radioactive element is still not a major source of fuel for nuclear power plants in the United States.
- Science & Society
Soviets nailed first landing on moon
The first spacecraft to safely land on the moon touched down on the lunar surface in 1966.
- Physics
Early quark estimates not entirely realized
Decades of research have shed a little light on quarks, the mysterious building blocks of atoms.
- Earth
Succession of satellites keep eye on Earth
50 years after plans were laid for the first Earth-observing spacecraft, the youngest Landsat satellites are still flying and imaging the planet’s surface.
- Health & Medicine
50 years ago, a promising agent pulled
DMSO was promised to cure everything from headache to the common cold. But human testing stopped in 1965.
- Science & Society
Links between scrapie and MS less likely
Five decades later, scientists still puzzle over what causes multiple sclerosis.
- Archaeology
Mystery still surrounds Neandertals
Neandertals’ relationship to modern humans is still a matter of debate.
- Astronomy
Cosmic rays maintain their mystery
Cosmic rays come from all over the universe, including some places we’re not so sure about.
