National Geographic Presents Top 5 Scientific Discoveries of 2013
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A strategy for detecting planets similar to the Earth and the cloning of adult human embryonic stem cells were among the top five most relevant scientific discoveries of 2013 selected by National Geographic magazine.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft entering interstellar space in August, and becoming the first man-made object to go past the solar system, was another achievement cited by the magazine.
NASA's Curiosity rover also made the list. In 2013, the Curiosity found that a vanished lake on Mars could have supported life there more than three billion years ago, given the existence of necessary biological elements like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur.
Finally, the discovery of six Homo erectus skulls believed to be two million years old at the Dmanisi site in the Republic of Georgia created new theories on human evolution, given that what seemed to be different sub-species of the Homo erectus could be variants of the same species.
