Editing 2003 (section)

== Science ==

=== Archaeology ===
The 2002 discovery of the [[James Ossuary]], the suspected resting place of [[James, brother of Jesus]], was challenged by the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] when it accused [[Oded Golan]] of fabricating the discovery.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=150}} A [[Liao dynasty]] coffin was opened during a live televised broadcast in Mongolia, revealing the remains of a nobleman.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=151}}

Other discoveries announced in 2003 include a religious burial site from {{Circa|9000 BC}} in [[Kfar HaHoresh]], [[Archaeological Park of Dion|a sanctuary to Zeus]] in the Greek city [[Dion, Pieria|Dion]], the first [[Pleistocene]] cave art to be found in Great Britain at [[Creswell Crags]], [[Bronze Age]] weapons and jewelry in [[Tyrol]],<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=150}} [[Viking]] treasure from c. 1020 on the [[Isle of Man]], six 4th-century Roman shoes near [[Amsterdam]], a [[Spring and Autumn period]] tomb in [[Henan]], a wall of [[Mandan]] defensive fortifications at [[Double Ditch]] in North Dakota, a [[Mississippian culture|Mississippian]] building in Illinois, [[Olmec]] seals that are among the oldest New World writing, burial sites in [[Teotihuacan]],<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=151}} and the 1898 wreckage of the [[Portland (shipwreck)|Portland]] off the coast of Massachusetts.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=152}}

=== Biology and genetics ===
The [[Herto Man]] fossils, first discovered in Ethiopia in 1997, were dated to approximately 160,000 years ago and proposed as a human subspecies ''Homo sapiens idaltu''. The findings provided additional evidence for the theory that humans [[Recent African origin of modern humans|originated in Africa]].<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=149}} A set of skulls, first discovered in Mexico in 1959, were dated to approximately 13,000 years ago.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=151}}

The first report for the 2000 [[Census of Marine Life]] was published in October, announcing that it had catalogued 15,304 species, including 500 newly discovered during the program.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=480}} A plan to breed the [[Iberian lynx]] was made in April to protect it from extinction.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=489}} An alternate theory for the [[Permian–Triassic extinction event]] was proposed in a study published on November 21, suggesting that it was caused by an asteroid impact instead of the more commonly accepted theory of volcanic activity.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=480}} Study of ''[[Microraptor]]'' fossils provided support for the hypothesis that dinosaurs evolved from gliding animals.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=142}} The use of [[genetically modified crops]] was a controversial issue, particularly in the European Union where a moratorium on [[genetically modified food]] remained in effect. Many other countries expanded their production of genetically modified crops.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=147}}

[[Human cloning]] was a subject of international scrutiny in 2003, triggered in part by the disputed claims of the [[Raëlist]] company [[Clonaid]] that they had produced human clones. Several countries supported international bans on human cloning.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=478}} The cloned sheep [[Dolly (sheep)|Dolly]] died on February 21 after living only six years, raising doubts about the viability of cloning. A study of mouse [[stem cells]] announced the creation of artificial eggs, while another announced that adult cells could be converted into stem cells by combining them with rabbit eggs. A study on chimpanzee DNA indicated that chimpanzees share 99.4 percent of their DNA with humans, instead of the previous estimate of 95 percent.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=479}}

=== Space exploration ===
{{Main|2003 in spaceflight}}
The American [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] was [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|destroyed]] in the atmosphere as it returned to Earth on February 1, killing all seven on board.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=130}} NASA lost contact with the ''[[Pioneer 10]]'' probe (launched in 1972) and ended the mission of the [[Galileo (spacecraft)|''Galileo'']] probe (launched in 1989) by sending it into Jupiter's atmosphere. The ''[[Voyager 1]]'' probe became the first man-made object to reach the [[termination shock]] zone at the edge of the Solar System.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=477}} China became the third country to launch a human into space with the ''[[Shenzhou 5]]'' mission on October 15, in which taikonaut [[Yang Liwei]] was in space for 21 hours.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=476}}

[[NASA]] and the [[European Space Agency]] (ESA) scheduled several launches toward Mars for 2003 as the planet's orbit brought it its closest to Earth in approximately 60,000 years. NASA launched two Mars rovers, the [[Spirit (rover)|''Spirit'']] on June 10 and the [[Opportunity (rover)|''Opportunity'']] on July 7.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=477}} The ESA launched the ''[[Mars Express]]'' orbiter with the ''[[Beagle 2]]'' lander on June 2, but contact was lost with the ''Beagle 2'' when it landed on December 25.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=476}} The ESA's [[Rosetta (spacecraft)|''Rosetta'']] mission to the comet [[46P/Wirtanen]] was scheduled for January 12 but set back a year for a safety evaluation of the [[Ariane 5]] rocket following an incident the previous month.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=476}} NASA launched the [[Space Infrared Telescope Facility]] (later renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope) on August 2, and the ESA launched the [[SMART-1]] satellite on September 27 to study the Moon.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=477}}

The first results from the [[Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe]] were published in 2003. Its measurements of [[cosmic background radiation]] indicated that the universe is 13.7 billion years old and the first stars formed 200 million years after the Big Bang.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=142}} This provided evidence of the existence of [[dark matter]] and [[dark energy]].<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=477}}

=== Technology ===
[[Intel]] and [[AMD]] released [[64-bit computing|64-bit]] processors in 2003, popularizing what was previously a niche hardware amid the more common [[32-bit computing|32-bit]] systems.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=483}} [[Broadband]] internet and [[Cable modem|cable modems]] gained popularity at the expense of [[Dial-up internet access|dial-up]] and [[DSL modem|DSL modems]]. [[Wi-Fi hotspot|Wi-Fi hotspots]] became more common, and they were increasingly found in businesses for customers' use.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=165}}

Computing was the subject of multiple legal and philosophical disputes in 2003. The [[European Commission]] considered legalizing [[software patents]], triggering strong [[Software patents and free software|backlash]].<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=481}} [[SCO–Linux disputes|A dispute]] began between [[SCO Group]] and [[IBM]] over the [[open source]] status of [[UNIX]], triggering [[SCO Group, Inc. v. International Business Machines Corp.|a lawsuit]] in March. The [[State Council of China]] required that government ministries move away from software developed by [[Microsoft]] in favor of locally produced software.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=482}} Approximately 55 percent of emails sent in 2003 were [[Spamming|spam emails]], which led to the implementation of the [[Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive 2002|Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive]] in the European Union and the [[CAN-SPAM Act of 2003|CAN-SPAM Act]] in the United States.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=483}} The United Nations [[World Summit on the Information Society]] took place in December to organize the expansion of internet access throughout the world.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=484}}

The [[SQL Slammer]] worm was among several major malware programs to spread during the year through vulnerabilities in Microsoft operating systems. Its effects included the disabling of all 13,000 [[Bank of America]] ATMs in the United States and days of internet outage for customers of [[KT Corporation]] in South Korea.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=484}} The [[Welchia]] worm was created to download a patch that countered the malicious [[Blaster (computer worm)|Blaster]] worm but caused its own inadvertent system issues. The [[Sobig]] virus, transmitted through email, became the world's fastest spreading virus.<ref name=":52" />{{Rp|page=163}}

[[Camera phones]] became widespread in 2003 as millions were sold.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=88}} The original [[Volkswagen Beetle]], the most widely produced car ever designed, ended production with a final run of 3,000 cars for collectors.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=92}} The [[Concorde]] supersonic airliner ended services on October 24 after operating for 27 years.<ref name=":15" />{{Rp|page=93}} The United Kingdom installed the first rotating underwater turbine in June to generate tidal power.<ref name=":162" />{{Rp|page=488}}