A number of significant scientific events occurred in 2014, including the first robotic landing on a comet and the first complete stem-cell-assisted recovery from paraplegia. The year also saw a significant expansion in the worldwide use and sophistication of technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles and wearable electronics.
The United Nations declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming and Crystallography.
Events, discoveries and inventions
January
1 January – A study published in Nature shows that the role of cloud formation in climate change has been underestimated. As a result, global temperatures could increase by 4 °C by 2100 and possibly 8 °C by 2200. 2 January Researchers have shown in precise detail how a molecular defect is responsible for myotonic dystrophy type 2, then designed a potential drug candidate to reverse the disease. The asteroid 2014 AA impacts the Earth a few hours after it was first sighted. This was the second time an asteroid was observed before it impacted with Earth (the first being 2008 TC3). 5 January – A launch of the communication satellite GSAT-14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre aboard the GSLV Mk.II D5 marks the first successful flight of an Indian cryogenic rocket engine, the CE-7.5. 6 January – A new way to destroy metastasizing cancer cells traveling through the bloodstream has been discovered by researchers at Cornell University. 7 January – NASA releases the deepest image ever taken of a galaxy cluster not long after the Big Bang. The image includes Abell 2744, a galaxy cluster in the Sculptor constellation, and was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. 8 January Using the Sloan Digital Telescope, astronomers have measured the distance to galaxies six billion light-years away – about halfway back to the Big Bang – to an accuracy of just 1 percent. This could aid in the understanding of dark energy, which is thought to be driving the expansion of the universe. A detailed survey of lion populations has revealed that in West Africa, their numbers have collapsed with less than 250 adults remaining. 13 January New analysis of a Tiktaalik roseae fossil, dating back 375 million years, has revealed a key link in the evolution of hind limbs that challenges existing theories on how they first developed. Chemists have engineered a plastic artificial cell containing organelles capable of producing the various steps in a chemical reaction. 14 January A giant trench deeper than the Grand Canyon has been discovered under Antarctic ice. Illumina, Inc. has demonstrated the first $1,000 genome. 16 January A new gene therapy technique has restored the sight of six patients who would otherwise have gone blind. Google reports the development of a contact lens glucose monitor. China's Yutu rover completes its first examination of the lunar soil.
17 January – NASA reports that a Mars rock, named "Pinnacle Island", that was not in an Opportunity rover image taken on Sol 3528, "mysteriously" appeared 13 days later in a similar image taken on Sol 3540. – UPDATE (14 February 2014): "Mystery" seems to have been solved – the location where the rock was dislodged by the rover has been found. (image) 20 January – The ESA's Rosetta spacecraft "wakes up" from hibernation mode to monitor comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for the next 16 months as the comet travels into, and then out of, the inner Solar System. The spacecraft is expected to deploy the Philae lander on the comet's surface in November 2014. 21 January Globally, 2013 was tied with 2003 as the fourth warmest year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). One quarter of the world's cartilaginous fish, namely sharks and rays, face extinction within the next few decades, according to latest research. A new device created by the University of California enables real-time measurements of drug metabolism and concentration in the bloodstream, potentially improving the way doses are administered. Extreme air pollution in Asia and China in particular is having a clear impact on weather and climate patterns, according to a study of aerosols and meteorology over the past 30 years. 22 January ESA scientists report the detection, for the first definitive time, of water vapor on the dwarf planet, Ceres, largest object in the asteroid belt. The detection was made by using the far-infrared abilities of the Herschel Space Observatory. The finding is unexpected because comets, not asteroids, are typically considered to "sprout jets and plumes". According to one of the scientists, "The lines are becoming more and more blurred between comets and asteroids." Researchers have determined that the earliest memories prior to the age of three will tend to disappear when a child reaches the age of seven, a phenomenon known as "childhood amnesia." The leech Ozobranchus jantseanus has been shown to survive for 24 hours at −321 °F (−196 °C) and for nine months at −130 °F (−90 °C), a finding that could yield insights into cryopreservation for humans. 23 January – A new microscopy technique can eliminate distortion from nano-scale images. 24 January – NASA reports that current studies on the planet Mars by the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers will now be searching for evidence of ancient life, including a biosphere based on autotrophic, chemotrophic and/or chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms, as well as ancient water, including fluvio-lacustrine environments (plains related to ancient rivers or lakes) that may have been habitable. The search for evidence of habitability, taphonomy (related to fossils), and organic carbon on the planet Mars is now a primary NASA objective. 26 January – New research indicates that most of the Grand Canyon is much younger than previously thought, having formed as recently as 5 or 6 million years ago, compared to 70 million years as previously estimated. 27 January – Genetic analysis of a European male from 7,000 years ago has revealed he had dark skin, dark hair and blue eyes – suggesting that lighter skin colour evolved much later than was previously assumed. 28 January – A new study shows that living near a fracking site may increase the risk of some birth defects by as much as 30 percent. As many as 15 million Americans may live within one mile of a drilling well. 29 January The axolotl may have gone extinct in the wild. None were found in a recent survey of its only remaining natural habitat, Lake Xochimilco. Japanese researchers have reported that they developed a way of turning adult mice cells into stem cells by dipping them in acid. If true, this could pave the way for routine use of stem cells in regenerative medicine with a technique that is cheaper, faster and more efficient than before. However, other investigators could not reproduce the effect, and so this "discovery" remains controversial.
31 January A new way of electrochemically converting CO2 – a greenhouse gas – into carbon monoxide has been developed at the University of Delaware. The world's first monkeys with genes modified by CRISPR/Cas9, a new form of DNA engineering, have been created in a Chinese laboratory. Despite warnings from scientists about the ecological impact, Australia's government has approved plans to dump three million cubic metres of sediment near the Great Barrier Reef, as part of the world's largest coal port.
February 3 February By the 2080s, most former Winter Olympics venues will no longer be suitable for hosting the games due to lack of snow, according to a new study. As larger mammals become extinct, rats could dominate many ecological niches and evolve to huge sizes in the future, according to an academic from the University of Leicester. The first single-molecule LED has been created. 5 February – A Danish man has been fitted with a prosthetic hand capable of delivering a sense of touch. 6 February NASA releases the first image by the Curiosity rover of the Earth and the Moon in the night sky of Mars. NASA reports that the Mars Curiosity rover, in order to reduce wear on its wheels by avoiding rougher terrain, has successfully crossed (image) the "Dingo Gap" sand dune and is now expected to travel a smoother route to Mount Sharp. 7 February – Archaeologists report that human footprints, possibly from Homo antecessor, that may be as much as 1 million years old, were found at Happisburgh in eastern England, in May 2013. 7 February – New species of wild pepper, Piper kelleyi, is described in PhytoKeys. 9 February – The discovery of one of the oldest known stars in the Universe, SMSS J031300.36-670839.3, is announced. 10 February New and more precise dating techniques indicate that the End Permian extinction event happened over the course of 60,000 years, about 10 times faster than previously thought. Nanomotors have been controlled inside living cells for the first time. 11 February – Scientists at King's College London have identified a gene linking brain structure to intelligence. 12 February The discovery of four new galactic clusters is announced in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The first global geologic map of Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System, has been produced. A newly discovered ichthyosaur fossil has revealed the earliest live reptile birth, dating back 248 million years. It suggests that live-bearing evolved on land and not in the sea. 14 February – New evidence, revealed in a study of 400 gay men, has strengthened the idea that male sexual orientation is influenced by genes. 17 February Genetically modified potatoes capable of resisting blight have been developed by British scientists. An abrupt stop to geoengineering with sulfate particle injections will make global warming even worse, according to researchers. 18 February – Astronomers report that asteroid 2000 EM26, a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) and Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA), in diameter, safely passed by the Earth at a distance about 8.8 times further from Earth than the Moon. The event was broadcast live (YouTube archive) at 09:00pm EST (02:00 UTC, 18 February 2014) by the Slooh community observatory. (image of Earth-Asteroid orbits). 19 February Melting sea ice in the Arctic and the resulting exposure of dark water is reducing Earth's albedo more than previously forecast, according to NASA. The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) observatory as the third medium-sized (M) mission in its Cosmic Vision programme. This will begin operation in 2024, looking for truly Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars, in sufficient detail to examine their atmospheres for signs of life. German and Ukrainian scientists prepared a photoactivated peptide, antibiotic Gramicidin S analogue, antimicrobial activity of which can be reversibly switched "off" by UV light and "on" by visible light 20 February – The biggest ever stem cell trial involving heart attack patients has commenced in London. It will examine 3,000 patients in 11 European countries, determining whether death rates can be reduced and damaged tissues repaired after a heart attack. 21 February – NASA announces a greatly upgraded database for tracking polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the universe. According to scientists, more than 20% of the carbon in the universe may be associated with PAHs, possible starting materials for the formation of life. PAHs seem to have been formed shortly after the Big Bang, are abundant in the universe, and are associated with new stars and exoplanets. 22 February – ISMCBBPR through their president, Isidro A. T. Savillo, announces the Molecule of the Year 2012 as Desmosterol. 24 February Following a long delay due to technical issues, the first 128 GB microSD card has been announced, based on 16 memory dies vertically stacked, each shaved to be thinner than a strand of hair.