When historians of science look back on the century, what are they going to see as the most significant development in science and technology? Will it be our first steps into space, or the development of nuclear energy, or the understanding of how genes affect biology? Perhaps the invention of plastics or the discovery of antibiotics such as penicillin deserve a place in the limelight.
1999 may be remembered as the year of Y2K frenzy, or the year in which the world's population hit six billion. Other science in the news this year included advances in the study of stem cells, the creation of two new chemical elements, NASA's loss of two Mars missions, and a growing distrust of genetically-modified foods.
On this hour of Science Friday, join guest host David Baron for a discussion of the top stories in science.