This year has been a remarkable period for science. Everything from space to earth has been touched by many discoveries.
The science has created history across all lines from discovering Higgs Bososn to NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover. Not just the inventions, the year 2012 also scripted many historical records - the best one may be the new skydiving record created by the Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner. The passing year also blessed the science world with a Diamond planet, which is double the size of the earth.
As the year comes to an end, we give you sneak peak of the most important breakthroughs of this year.
Discovery of Diamond Planet
A new diamond planet has been discovered by India-born astronomer Nikku Madhusudhan. The planet which is named '55 Cancri e' is double the size and eight times the mass of the earth. The planet is said to be very hot and is composed of carbon.
NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover
The year witnessed another historic moment when NASA launched its car-sized robotic rover Curiosity on the Red planet. NASA's Curiosity rover is on a two-year mission to find evidence of life on Mars.
The rover was launched with a mission of investigating the Martian climate and geology, assessment of environmental conditions and planetary habitability. In its mission to find earth-like life on Mars, rover has found geological evidence of dried river beds, giving an indication of a once flooded water body on the Red Planet.
Higgs Boson
In July 2012, an elementary particle has been identified which is believed to be key to the formation of stars, planets and eventually life after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.
The discovery of Higgs Boson, which is also called as God particle, is expected to redefine the human understanding of the universe. The particle is named after Physicist Peter Higgs, who along with other physicist, proposed a mechanism that suggested elementary particle in 1964.
Record-breaking Skydive
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner rewrote the history when he jumped from more than 24 miles above Earth. The daredevil shattered a string of records in this freefall. He reached 120,000 feet in a stratospheric balloon and arrived at the destination above the earth after two and a half hours.
SpaceX Dragon Space Capsule
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched NASA's Dragon space capsule into the orbit from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States. The capsule is carrying about 1,200 pounds of supplies for the crew of international station and experiments designed by students that will be unloaded after the spacecraft reaches the station on May 24.
