2013: A breakthrough year for science

UNSEATING 2012 from its throne as one of the most remarkable years for science in the 21st century would require a truly brilliant discovery or breakthrough.

After all, 2012 was the year of the Higgs boson, the so-called ‘God particle’ that gives everything in the universe mass. When the scientists at CERN proclaimed its discovery, it immediately ranked as one of the most important insights into nature’s secrets, right up there with the revelations by Newton and Einstein.

However, though 2013 did not involve a final piece in the Standard Model of physics jigsaw, it was still a great year for science...