2006 in science

The year 2006 in science and technology involved some significant events.

Astronomy

• January 25 - The discovery of the planet OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing is announced by PLANET/RoboNet, OGLE and MOA
• February 1 - 2003 UB₃₁₃ is found to be larger than Pluto.
• February 13 - The recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi erupts. The last outburst occurred in 1985.
• March 29 - Total solar eclipse (Brazil, Greece, Mid Atlantic ocean, Sahara, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia).
• June 30 - The discovery of 9 additional natural satellites of Saturn published.
• August 24 - Pluto is redesignated as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union, joining 2003 UB₃₁₃ and 1 Ceres.
• September 13 - 2003 UB₃₁₃ is assigned the name Eris.
• September 22 - Annular solar eclipse in South America, West Africa, and Antarctica.

Environment

• January 19 - Australian researchers at the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research centre in Hobart, Tasmania, publish experimental data that matches models of increasing sea level rising. [1]

Space exploration

• January 15 - The Stardust spacecraft successfully completes its primary mission of returning samples of cometary and interstellar dust to Earth. Its sample return capsule touches down safely inside its intended landing area in Utah, close to the Army Dugway Proving Ground.
• January 19 - The NASA spacecraft New Horizons launches successfully from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and leaves Earth's orbit shortly afterwards on its journey to Pluto
• February 2 - NASA's public affairs office is accused of censoring the comments by James Hansen of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. [2]
• March 24 - The maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket ends in failure.
• July 12 - The launch of the first private experimental space habitat, Genesis I.
• September 12 - The construction of the International Space Station is continued for the first time after a hiatus of almost four years.

Science ethics

• January 27 - The University of Tokyo announces that Kazunari Taira has produced irreproducible results [3]

Awards

• Nobel Prize
  • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Andrew Fire and Craig Mello
  • Nobel Prize in Physics: John C. Mather and George Smoot
  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Roger Kornberg
• Abel Prize in Mathematics: Lennart Carleson
• Fields Prize in Mathematics: Andrei Okounkov, Grigori Perelman (declined), Terence Tao, and Wendelin Werner

Deaths

• May 14 - Bruce Merrifield (b. 1921), Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1984) for developing a rapid, automated system for making peptides.
• May 31 - Raymond Davis Jr. (b. 1914), Nobel laureate in Physics (2002) for pioneering the detection of cosmic neutrinos.
• August 9 - James Van Allen (b. 1914), American space scientist.