Editing 2000s (section)

==== Scientific Marks by Field ====
===== Archaeology =====
* 2003 – Fossils of a new dwarf species of human, ''[[Homo floresiensis]]'', were discovered on the island of [[Flores]], [[Indonesia]]. (report published initially October 2004).
* 2009 – Discovery of ''[[Ardipithecus ramidus]]''' a species of [[Hominin]] classified as an [[australopithecine]] of the genus ''[[Ardipithecus]]''. ''[[Ardipithecus kadabba|A. kadabba]]'' was considered to be a subspecies of ''A. ramidus'' until 2004.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haile-Selassie |first1=Yohannes |last2=Suwa |first2=Gen |last3=White |first3=Tim D. |title=Late Miocene Teeth from Middle Awash, Ethiopia, and Early Hominid Dental Evolution |journal=Science |date=5 March 2004 |volume=303 |issue=5663 |pages=1503–1505 |doi=10.1126/science.1092978 |pmid=15001775 |bibcode=2004Sci...303.1503H |s2cid=30387762}}</ref>

===== Biology =====
* 2001 – The world's first self-contained [[artificial heart]] was implanted in [[Robert Tools]].
* 2002 – The [[2002–2004 SARS outbreak]] occurred in China and Hong Kong.
* 2003 – The [[Human Genome Project]] was completed, with a 92% accuracy.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-04-11 |title=First complete sequence of a human genome |url=https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/first-complete-sequence-human-genome |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=National Institutes of Health (NIH) |language=EN}}</ref>
* 2005 – [[National Geographic Society]] and [[IBM]] established [[The Genographic Project]], which aims to trace the ancestry of every living human down to a single male ancestor.
* 2005 – Surgeons in France carried out the first successful partial human [[face transplant]].
* 2005 – Equipped with genome data and field observations of organisms from microbes to mammals, biologists made huge strides toward understanding the mechanisms by which living creatures [[Evolution|evolve]].
* 2006 – Australian scientist [[Ian Frazer]] developed a [[vaccine]] for the [[Human Papillomavirus]], a common cause of [[cervical cancer]].
* 2007 – [[RNA interference|RNA]], long upstaged by its more glamorous sibling, DNA, is turning out to have star qualities of its own. Science hails these electrifying discoveries, which are prompting biologists to overhaul their vision of the cell and its evolution.
* 2008 – By inserting genes that turn back a [[Cellular reprogramming|cell's developmental clock]], researchers are gaining insights into disease and the biology of how a cell decides its fate.
* 2008 – Launch of the [[1000 Genomes Project]] an international research effort to establish by far the most detailed catalogue of [[human genetic variation]].
* 2009 – Launch of the [[Human Connectome Project]] to build a [[connectome|network map]] that will shed light on the anatomical and functional connectivity within the healthy [[human brain]], as well as to produce a body of data that will facilitate research into [[brain disorder]]s.
* 2009 – A new strain of [[H1N1]] virus first detected in [[Mexico]] spread to the world, resulting in the [[2009 swine flu pandemic]].
* 2022 – Scientists successfully sequenced the last 8% of the human genome. The fully sequenced standard reference gene is called GRCh38.p14, and it contains 3.1 billion base pairs.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hartley |first=Gabrielle |date=2022-03-31 |title=The Human Genome Project pieced together only 92% of the DNA – now scientists have finally filled in the remaining 8% |url=https://theconversation.com/the-human-genome-project-pieced-together-only-92-of-the-dna-now-scientists-have-finally-filled-in-the-remaining-8-176138 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref>

===== Mathematics =====
* 2006 – [[Grigori Perelman]] is a Russian [[mathematician]] who has made landmark contributions to [[Riemannian geometry]] and [[geometric topology]]. In 2003, he proved [[geometrization conjecture|Thurston's geometrization conjecture]]. This consequently solved in the affirmative the [[Poincaré conjecture]], posed in 1904, which before its solution was viewed as one of the most important and difficult open problems in [[topology]]. In August 2006, Perelman was awarded the [[Fields Medal]]<ref>{{cite web |work=International Mathematical Union (IMU) – Prizes |title=Fields Medals 2006 |url=http://www.mathunion.org/general/prizes/2006/ |access-date=April 30, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617222042/http://www.mathunion.org/General/Prizes/2006/ |archive-date=June 17, 2013}}</ref> for "his contributions to geometry and his revolutionary insights into the analytical and geometric structure of the [[Ricci flow]]." Perelman declined to accept the award or to appear at the [[International Congress of Mathematicians|congress]], stating: "I'm not interested in money or fame, I don't want to be on display like an animal in a zoo."<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8585407.stm Russian maths genius Perelman urged to take $1m prize] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817211802/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8585407.stm |date=August 17, 2017 }} bbc.co.uk, Wednesday, March 24, 2010.</ref> On December 22, 2006, the journal ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' recognized Perelman's proof of the Poincaré conjecture as the scientific "[[Breakthrough of the Year]]", the first such recognition in the area of mathematics.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mackenzie |first1=Dana |title=The Poincaré Conjecture--Proved |journal=Science |date=22 December 2006 |volume=314 |issue=5807 |pages=1848–1849 |doi=10.1126/science.314.5807.1848 |pmid=17185565 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The Poincaré conjecture is one of the seven [[Millennium Problems]] and the first to be solved.

===== Physics =====
* 2001 – Scientists assembled molecules into basic [[Molecular circuit|circuits]], raising hopes for a new world of [[nanoelectronics]]. If researchers can wire these circuits into intricate computer chip architectures, this new generation of molecular electronics will undoubtedly provide computing power to launch scientific breakthroughs for decades.
* 2008 – [[CERN]]'s [[Large Hadron Collider]], the [[List of accelerators in particle physics#Hadron colliders|world's largest and highest-energy]] [[particle accelerator]] ever made, was completed in 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/11/13/water.moon.nasa/index.html |work=CNN |title=NASA finds 'significant' water on moon |access-date=April 21, 2010 |date=November 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406133228/http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/11/13/water.moon.nasa/index.html |archive-date=April 6, 2010}}</ref>

===== Space =====
[[File:Opportunity in Endurance Crater (cropped).jpg|thumb|Artist Concept of the [[NASA]] [[Mars Exploration Rover]] ''[[Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity]]'' on [[Mars]]]]
[[File:Water Around Fresh Moon Crater.jpg|thumb|These images show water in a very young lunar crater on the side of the Moon that faces away from Earth.]]
* 2000 – Beginning on November 2, 2000, the [[International Space Station]] has remained continuously inhabited. The [[Space Shuttle program|Space Shuttles]] helped make it the largest [[space station]] in history, despite one of the Shuttles [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|disintegrating upon re-entry]] in 2003. By the end of 2009 the station was supporting [[Expedition 22|5 long-duration crew members]].
* 2001 – [[Space tourism]]/[[Private spaceflight]] begins with American [[Dennis Tito]], paying Russia US$20 million for a week-long stay to the [[International Space Station]].
* 2004 – The [[Mars Exploration Rover]] (MER) Mission successfully reached the surface of [[Mars]] in 2004, and sent detailed data and images of the landscape there back to Earth. ''[[Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity]]'' discovers evidence that an area of [[Mars]] was once covered in water. Both rovers were each expected to last only 90 days, however both completely exceeded expectations and continued to explore through the end of the decade and beyond.
* 2004 – [[Scaled Composites]]' [[SpaceShipOne]] becomes the first privately built and operated [[human spaceflight|crewed spacecraft]] to achieve [[spaceflight]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/16769-spaceshipone-first-private-spacecraft.html |title=SpaceShipOne: The First Private Spacecraft – The Most Amazing Flying Machines Ever |last=Sharp |first=Tim |publisher=Space.com |date=July 26, 2012 |access-date=July 18, 2014 |archive-date=November 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115053931/http://www.space.com/16769-spaceshipone-first-private-spacecraft.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2004 – ''[[Cassini-Huygens]]'' becomes the first space probe to orbit [[Saturn]], with ''Huygens'' landing on the moon [[Titan (moon)|Titan]] in 2005.
* 2004 – The [[astrophysicist]] and [[radio astronomer]] [[Naomi McClure-Griffiths]] identifies a new [[spiral arm]] of the [[Milky Way]] galaxy<ref>{{Cite web |title=Milky Way spiral gets an extra arm |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4959-milky-way-spiral-gets-an-extra-arm/ |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=New Scientist |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 2006 – As a result of the discovery of [[Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris]], a [[Kuiper Belt]] object larger than [[Pluto]], Pluto is demoted to a "[[dwarf planet]]" after being considered a planet for 76 years, redefining the [[Solar System]] to have eight planets and three dwarf planets.
* 2009 – After having analyzed the data from the [[LCROSS]] lunar impact, in 2009 [[NASA]] announced that the discovery of a "significant" quantity of [[Lunar water|water]] in the [[Moon]]'s [[Cabeus (crater)|Cabeus]] crater.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/nov/HQ_09-265_LCROSS_Confirms_Water.html |title=NASA's LCROSS Impacts Confirm Water in Lunar Crater |publisher=NASA |date=November 13, 2009 |access-date=November 21, 2009 |quote=Preliminary data from NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115180658/http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/nov/HQ_09-265_LCROSS_Confirms_Water.html |archive-date=November 15, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/11/13/water.moon.nasa/index.html |work=CNN |title=NASA finds 'significant' water on moon |date=November 13, 2009 |access-date=November 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091116064753/http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/11/13/water.moon.nasa/index.html |archive-date=November 16, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* 2009 – [[Physical cosmology|Astrophysicists]] studying the [[universe]] confirm [[Age of the universe|its age]] at 13.7 billion years,<ref>{{cite web |author=WMAP mission |title=The Age of the Universe with New Accuracy |url=http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/mr_age.html |date=March 16, 2006 |publisher=NASA |access-date=November 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224025934/http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/m_mm/mr_age.html |archive-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> discover that it will most likely [[cosmic inflation|expand]] forever without limit, and conclude that only 4% of the universe's contents are ordinary [[matter]] (the other 96% being still-mysterious [[dark matter]], [[dark energy]], and [[dark flow]]).