Feature
- Science & Society
Science’s good, bad, ugly year
In the race for Top Science Story of 2014, some of the contenders stumbled before reaching the finish line.
- Microbes
Year in review: Science faces Ebola epidemic
West Africa’s 2014 Ebola epidemic showed what can happen when a contagious virus emerges where cultural practices, public fears and porous borders fuel the spread of disease.
- Astronomy
Year in review: Dust obscures possible gravitational wave discovery
A possible signal from moments after the Big Bang may be due to dust in the Milky Way galaxy.
- Humans
Year in review: Old humans reveal secrets
DNA of the oldest modern humans is rewriting the prehistories of Europe, Siberia and the Americas.
- Planetary Science
Year in review: Rosetta mission hits its target
The Rosetta spacecraft and its lander Philae are providing an intimate look at the life of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
- Neuroscience
Year in review: Memories vulnerable to manipulation
New experimental results in 2014 helped bring scientists closer to understanding how the brain manipulates memories to make sense of the world.
- Astronomy
Year in review: Kepler gets second chance at life
This year, Kepler engineers figured out how to stabilize the almost-defunct Kepler telescope, while astronomers found hundreds more worlds.
- Health & Medicine
Year in review: Risks of e-cigarettes emerge
Electronic cigarettes dispense water vapor laced with flavors and often a hefty dose of nicotine. These vapors may be far from benign, studies in 2014 suggested.
- Neuroscience
Year in review: Young blood aids old brains
Ingredients in young blood can rejuvenate old mice’s bodies and brains, scientists reported in 2014.
- Health & Medicine
Year in review: Gut reacts to artificial sweeteners
Saccharin messes with the body’s ability to metabolize fuel, a condition that often precedes diabetes, obesity and other metabolic problems.
- Planetary Science
Year in review: Tectonics active on Europa
Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa has a shifting exterior analogous to Earth’s plate tectonics.
- Earth
Year in review: Life thrives under Antarctica
Thousands of microbe species thrive in Lake Whillans deep beneath the West Antarctic ice sheet.
