Science Breakthroughs 2012

British physicist Peter Higgs, who first theorized the existence of the boson 40 years ago, attends a scientific seminar near Geneva following the discovery of the subatomic particle on July 4, 2012.

Researchers working with a $5.5 billion atom smasher at the CERN particle physics lab in Geneva observed the elusive Higgs boson particle, which holds the key to explaining how other elementary particles get their mass. (Maximilien Brice and Claudia Marce

A new technique that binds special molecules to single strands of DNA allowed researchers to sequence the complete Neanderthal-related Denisovan genome from a tiny fragment of ancient finger bone. (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

Japanese researchers show that embryonic stem cells from mice could be coaxed into becoming viable egg cells. (Katsuhiko Hayashi)

Though unable to test their rover’s entire landing system under Martian conditions, mission engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory safely and precisely placed the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A team of physicists and chemists in the Netherlands provided the first solid evidence of the existence of particles that act as antimatter and annihilate themselves. (Mourik, K. Zuo, S. M. Frolov, S. R. Plissard, E. P. A. M. Bakkers, L. P. Kouwenhoven)

A new scientific tool gave researchers the ability to activate or alter specific genes in Zebra fish, toads, livestock and other animals, even cells from patients with disease. (Science/AAAS)

Researchers used a laser one billion times brighter than conventional X-ray sources to determine the structure of an enzyme required by the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness. (Michael Duszenko, University of Tübingen)

A decade-long project found the human genome is more “functional” than believed and may help clarify genetic risk factors for disease in the future. (Sciece/AAAS)

Survivors sit in front of their tents near the site of the landslide that killed hundreds of people. Authorities are trying to help the 700 families displaced by the torrent of mud that swept through their village, in Badakhshan province, northeastern Afghanistan, May 6, 2014.

Hundreds of researchers in China described how elusive particles called neutrinos, born in the sun’s nuclear furnace, morph as they travel to earth at near-light speed. (NASA/SDO/GSFC)