DISCOVER MAGAZINE
Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific and technological accomplishments of the past 12 months and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events.
Here is the full list of the biggest 100 science and tech stories of 2011, divided up into seven topical sections. We’ll be publishing the stories in each topic over the rest of the month. Click on the orange headlines to read more.
The Top 14 Living World Stories of 2011
18. Genome of Vegetables Remains Active After You Eat Them: In a new twist on the old saw, “you are what you eat,” microRNAs from rice were observed surviving digestion and altering human gene expression.
19. Killer Chimps Overhunt Monkeys: Humans are not the only primates that hunt other primate species to the edge of extinction.
24. Gut Microbes Establish Your Identity: Like blood types, you’ve got an enterotype: one of just three kinds of gut ecosystem.
30. New Fossil Casts Doubt on Oldest Bird: A new Cornish hen-sized creature, discovered by Chinese paleontologists, throws the traditional chronology into question.
35. Fossil Stirs Debate Over Dinosaurs’ Last Days: A horn discovered in southeastern Montana may be the remains of one of Earth’s very last dinosaurs.
43. Skin Cells Could Help Revive Rare Species: Turning them into eggs and sperm, courtesy of stem cell techniques, could make all the difference.
45. Have Humans Left a Permanent Scar on the Geologic Record?: The Anthropocene is a man-made era, an increasingly vocal group of scientists holds.
48. Strongest Repellent Found: It’s 100,000 times stronger than DEET.
49. Arsenic-Based Life Shakes Up Science (Again): Rosie Redfield takes scientific controversy out into the open.
51. Stone Age Art Studio Unearthed: Early humans were able to plan and knew more about chemistry than we’d thought.
61. Aging Effects Reversed in Mice: Eliminating dying cells keeps a mouse healthy, wealthy, and wise.
63. How Many Species Inhabit the Earth?:It’s a tough question, but we now have the best answer yet.
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