It was the year we learned of a spectacular smash-up in space, and scientists working on the world’s biggest physics experiment delighted at collisions of an entirely different sort.
There were shockwaves, too, in Copenhagen, as the summit failed to reach a consensus on tackling climate change, instead merely noting a deal struck by major powers including the US and China.
The BBC’s science reporter Paul Rincon looks back at the twists and turns of a year in science and the environment.
JANUARY
Scientists report that they havedetected large quantities of methane on Mars.The gas should last for only a short time in the atmosphere until it is destroyed by sunlight, so itmust be being replenished.Geochemical processes or microbial lifecould be sources.
Rising greenhouse gases in our own atmosphere seem to be causing Antarctica towarm in stepwith the rest of the world. Trends across the bulk of the continent have been hard to discern, mainly because data from land stations is scarce.
This month also sees Iceland’s outgoing administrationissue whaling quotasthat are substantially enlarged from those in previous years. The incoming interim government allows hunting togo ahead in 2009but leaves in doubt whether the practice will continue.
FEBRUARY
Two satellites - one American, the other Russian - annihilate each other when theycollide in low-Earth orbit.Some commentators put the odds of such an event occurring atbillions to one.Other long-time observers argue that it highlights agrowing problem of overcrowding in space.
There is bad news for another satellite this month. Nasa’s first dedicated mission to measure carbon dioxide from spacecrashes into the ocean near Antarcticafollowing a rocket malfunction.
Meanwhile, Nasa and the European Space Agency decide toforge ahead with an ambitious planto send probes to the Jupiter system and its icy moon Europa. But the missions will cost several billion dollars/euros to build and execute and might never fly if other endeavours become higher research priorities.
MARCH
The biggest ever investigation into a climate change fix known as "ocean fertilisation"reports modest results.The technique involves tipping iron filings into the ocean to stimulate the growth of algae, which absorb the greenhouse gas CO2 from the air.
There are no oceans on Mars today, but the Red Planetdid have running water on its surfacejust over a million years ago, according to a team from Brown University in Rhode Island.
In separate research, the University of Michigan’s Dr Nilton Renno saysdroplets of liquid watercan be seen in photos of a landing leg strut from Nasa’s Phoenix lander, which touched down on Mars in 2008. Dr Renno makes the claim at a meeting in Houston, Texas, where scientistspresent early resultsfrom the mission.
APRIL
Tuned to see the high-energy gamma-rays emitted from extreme cosmic events, Nasa’s Swift telescope picks up themost distant single object ever detected- the cataclysmic explosion of a giant star some 13 billion light-years away.
By comparison, the star Gliese 581 is a mere hop and a skip away. It is around this sun that astronomers findthe “lightest” planet ever detectedoutside our Solar System. This “exoplanet” is about twice as massive as the Earth, but too hot to support life.
This month US President Barack Obama sets a goal ofdevoting 3% of gross domestic product (GDP)to US research and development. During a speech in Washington DC, he says the US should lead on innovation, adding that, over the years, “scientific integrity has been undermined and scientific research politicised”.
MAY
The space shuttle Atlantisblasts off from Floridaon a risky mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope. This is the last re-fit for the orbiting observatory. Nasa subsequentlyreleases remarkable imagesfrom the upgraded telescope - including itsdeepest view of the Universe- proving the servicing mission was an outstanding success.
Just as dazzling were the beautifully preserved remains of a 47-million-year-old fossil primate,unveiled amid great fanfarein New York. The specimen, nicknamed Ida, is claimed to be a “missing link” between today’s higher primates - monkeys, apes and humans - and more distant relatives.
A scientific paperpublished in Nature journallater concludes that Ida belonged to a group more closely linked to lemurs and lorises than to higher primates like humans.
May is also the month that the European Space Agency launches its Herschel and Planck telescopes. The former will study the birth of stars and galaxies; and how they evolve over time; the latter will map the “oldest light” in the cosmos to understand better its contents and structure.
JUNE
The Periodic Table willget a new addition,it is announced. The “super heavy” element 112 isnamed “copernicium”,with the symbol Cp, in honour of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
June also sees the International Whaling Commission (IWC)hold its annual meetingon the Portuguese island of Madeira. Pro- and anti-whaling nations agree tofurther compromise talksat the end of the meeting. But the gathering defers a decision on a controversial bid from Greenland to add humpback whales to its annual hunt.
Meanwhile, a study suggests that climate could have adirect effect on the speed of "molecular evolution"in mammals. The authors found that, among pairs of mammals of the same species, the DNA of those living in warmer climates changes at a faster rate.
JULY
Meeting in the Italian city of L’Aquila, G8 nations agree tocut their greenhouse gas emissionsby 80% by 2050. The world overall should halve them by 2050, say the leaders. But UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says big cuts are needed sooner rather than later.
International co-operation is also on the agenda for the European and US space agencies which announce plans toteam up on unmanned missionsto Mars following atwo-day summit.But the new roadmapmeans a further delayfor Europe’s troubled ExoMars rover mission.
While the “Plymouth Scenario” sets out a plan for the future, this is also a month for celebrating the past. July marks the 40th anniversary of thefirst manned mission to land on the Moon.Nasa releasesimages of the Apollo landing sites on the Moontaken by the recently launchedLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
AUGUST
The mightypolar bearand Scotland’sSoay sheepboth appear to be shrinking in size, according to separate studies. A number of factors are involved, including pollution in the case of the bears, and climate change, in the case of Soay sheep.
Further insights came to light this month from an ongoing effort to unravel the Neanderthal genome. Research shows Neanderthals shared with modern humans thegene for tasting bitter flavours.The full genome will be published next year and could shed light on the appearance, behaviour and intelligence of our close cousins.
Rooks show that they are smarter than the average bird: British researchers manage to get the corvids torecreate one of Aesop’s Fables.In the 2,000-year-old tale, a crow uses stones to raise the water level in a pitcher so it can reach the liquid to quench its thirst. Rooks, which are related to crows, do just the same when presented with a similar scenario.
SEPTEMBER
Satellite data shows this summer’s melt of Arctic sea ice hasnot been as profoundas in the previous two years. Cooler Arctic temperatures this year and winds helping to disperse the sea ice are among the reasons, scientists suggest. But they note the long-term trend is still downwards.
This month also sees the panel set up to review America’s manned spaceflight plansdeliver its summary findings.The final report stronglybacks the use of commercial servicesto launch astronauts, and casts doubt on the future ofNasa’s Ares I rocket.
A manned mission to Mars may be a long way off, but one of the robotic spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet revealsevidence of white materialexposed by fresh meteorite impacts fading over time - behaviour expected of ice. Data from three spacecraft reveal thatvery fine films of H2Ocoat the particles that make up the Moon’s soil.
OCTOBER
Researchers describe a4.4 million-year-old ancient human creature- nicknamed “Ardi” - that may be a direct ancestor to us. The 17-year investigation of the fossils is named as Science journal’sbig breakthrough of 2009.
Nasa was hoping for its own big breakthrough as itsmashed a rocket and probeinto a crater on the Moon in a bid to find water. The mission is hailed as a success when analysis of the impact plumereveals copious quantitiesof water-ice and water vapour.
Another watery tale comes in the form of the fossilised skull, uncovered in Dorset, of a[colossal “sea monster”,](http://www.paklinks.com/gs/either url here)which terrorised the oceans 150 million years ago. Just as ferocious, in its own way, is the chytrid fungus, which isdevastating amphibian populationsworldwide. A major studyunravels the mechanismby which the fungus kills.
NOVEMBER
The Large Hadron Collider experimentre-starts after a 14-month hiatuswhile the machinewas being repaired.Two stable proton beams are circulated in opposite directions around the vast underground machine. The collider swiftly makes itsfirst proton beam collisionsandbreaks the energy recordfor a particle accelerator.
November also sees the publication of a major study showing that mass loss from the Greenland ice sheetquickened between 2006 and 2008.Melting of the entire sheet would raise sea levels globally by about 7m (20ft), scientists say.
This is also the month of “ClimateGate”, in whichhundreds of e-mails hacked or leakedfrom a leading UK climate research unit are released on the web. Some climate sceptic websites seize on the content and anindependent review is set upto look into their allegations of the manipulation or suppression of data.
DECEMBER
After two weeks of frantic negotiations, the 193-nation climate summit in Copenhagen ends with delegatestaking noteof a deal,without formally adopting it. Thenon-binding pactbrokered by US President Barack Obama with China and other main powers islambasted by campaignersand a few developing nations.
On the other side of the world, Australian marine biologists film an octopus snatching and thenmaking off with a coconut.They say it represents the first evidence of “tool use” by an invertebrate. December also sees a decision to bring the many arms of Whitehall with interests in spaceunder the umbrella of a dedicated UK agencyto direct policy in this area. But the UK’s pre-budget reportunveils swingeing cutsto science funding.
As the year draws to a close, researchers in the US say theyhave seen tantalising glimpsesof the elusive “stuff” known as dark matter which makes up some 25% of the Universe. They will try to verify the findings next year, making this story one to watch for 2010.
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