Editing 1986 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1986|science}}
{{Science year nav|1986}}

The year '''1986 in science''' and technology involved many significant events, some not listed below.

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* January 24 – NASA ''[[Voyager 2]]'' space probe makes first encounter with [[Uranus]].
* January 28 – NASA [[Space Shuttle Challenger|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'']] explodes on launch, killing all seven astronauts aboard. Their bodies are located by [[United States Navy]] divers on March 9.
* February 19 – The [[Soviet Union]] launches the ''[[Mir]]'' [[space station]].
* March 8 – Japanese spacecraft ''[[Suisei (spacecraft)|Suisei]]'' flies by [[Halley's Comet]], studying its UV hydrogen corona and solar wind.
* October 10 – [[Aten asteroid]] [[3753 Cruithne]], in [[co-orbital configuration]] with Earth, is identified by [[Duncan Waldron]].

==Biology==
* May – First reported methods for constructing a [[monoclonal antibody]] containing parts from mouse and human antibodies, a required first step toward the development of [[Humanized antibody|humanized antibodies]] used later as medical therapeutics (such as [[Infliximab]]).<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Jones, Peter T. |author2=Dear, Paul H. |author3=Foote, Jefferson |author4=Neuberger, Michael S. |author5=Winter, Greg |year=1986|title=Replacing the complementarity-determining regions in a human antibody with those from a mouse|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=321|issue=6069|pages=522–525|pmid=3713831|doi=10.1038/321522a0|bibcode=1986Natur.321..522J|s2cid=4315811 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Waldman |first=Thomas A. |year=2003 |title=Immunotherapy: past, present and future |journal=[[Nature Medicine]] |volume=9 |pages=269–277 |issue=3 |doi=10.1038/nm0303-269 |pmid=12612576 |s2cid=9745527 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* English epidemiologist [[David Barker (epidemiologist)|David Barker]] proposes his [[fetal origins hypothesis]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Barker|first1=David|last2=Osmond|first2=C.|title=Infant mortality, childhood nutrition and ischaemic heart disease in England and Wales|journal=[[The Lancet]]|location=London|date=1986|pages=1077–1081|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(86)91340-1|pmid=2871345|volume=327|issue=8489|s2cid=35375657}}</ref>

==Computer science==
* January 16 – The [[Internet Engineering Task Force]], a [[standards organization]] that develops and promotes [[Internet standards]], holds its first meeting, consisting of 21 United States government-funded researchers.
* January 19 – The first [[MS-DOS]]-based personal [[computer virus]], [[Brain (computer virus)|Brain]], starts to spread.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/19/pc_virus_at_20/|title=PC virus celebrates 20th birthday|last=Leyden|first=John|date=January 19, 2006|work=[[The Register]]|accessdate=July 29, 2011}}</ref>
* April 3 – [[International Business Machines|IBM]] unveils the [[PC Convertible]], the first laptop computer.
* June 23 – Eric Thomas develops [[LISTSERV]], the first email list management software.<ref>{{cite web|title=1986|url=https://www.nic.funet.fi/index/FUNET/history/internet/en/1986.html|accessdate=2013-01-25}}</ref>
* [[Internet Message Access Protocol]] (IMAP) is visualized by [[Mark Crispin]].
* [[3D printing]] is developed by [[Chuck Hull|Charles Hull]].
* [[Pixar]] is founded.

==Mathematics==
* Summer – [[Kenneth Alan Ribet]] demonstrates proof of the ε-conjecture, subsequently known as [[Ribet's theorem]]<ref>{{cite journal|first=Ken|last=Ribet|title=On modular representations of Gal({{overline|'''Q'''}}/'''Q''') arising from modular forms|journal=[[Inventiones Mathematicae]] |volume=100|year=1990|issue=2|pages=431–471|url=https://math.berkeley.edu/~ribet/Articles/invent_100.pdf|bibcode=1990InMat.100..431R|doi=10.1007/BF01231195|hdl=10.1007/BF01231195|s2cid=120614740}}</ref> confirming [[Gerhard Frey]]'s suggestion that the [[Modularity theorem|Taniyama–Shimura conjecture]] implies [[Fermat's Last Theorem]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Frey|first=Gerhard|title=Links between stable elliptic curves and certain Diophantine equations|mr=853387|year=1986|journal=Annales Universitatis Saraviensis. Series Mathematicae|issn=0933-8268|volume=1|issue=1|pages=iv+40}}</ref>
* [[Lawrence Paulson]] makes the first release of [[Isabelle (proof assistant)]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/0743-1066(86)90015-4|title=Natural deduction as higher-order resolution|journal=The Journal of Logic Programming|volume=3|issue=3|year=1986|last1=Paulson|first1=L. C.|pages=237–258|arxiv=cs/9301104|s2cid=27085090}}</ref>
* [[Lee Sallows]] introduces the [[alphamagic square]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/alphamagic_square.html|title=alphamagic square|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Science|accessdate=2012-05-12|archive-date=October 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010024434/http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/alphamagic_square.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Technology==
* January 11 – The [[Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges|Gateway Bridge]] is opened in [[Brisbane]], Australia, the world's largest [[prestressed concrete]] single box bridge.
* April 26 – [[Chernobyl disaster]]: An [[RBMK]] at [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] in the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]] reaches [[prompt criticality]].
* December 23 – [[Rutan Voyager]] becomes the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, landing at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] in [[California]] after a nine-day trip piloted by [[Dick Rutan]] and [[Jeana Yeager]].

==Awards==
*[[Crafoord Prize|Crafoord Prize in Geosciences]]: [[Gerald Wasserburg]] and [[Claude Jean Allègre]]
*[[Fields Medal|Fields Prize in Mathematics]]: [[Simon Donaldson]], [[Gerd Faltings]] and [[Michael Freedman]]
* Nobel Prizes
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Ernst Ruska]], [[Gerd Binnig]], [[Heinrich Rohrer]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[Dudley R. Herschbach]], [[Yuan T. Lee]], [[John C. Polanyi]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Stanley Cohen (biochemist)|Stanley Cohen]], [[Rita Levi-Montalcini]]
* [[Turing Award]] – [[John Hopcroft]], [[Robert Tarjan]]
* [[Wollaston Medal|Wollaston Medal for Geology]] – [[Claude Jean Allègre]]

==Births==
* November 8 – [[Aaron Swartz]] (suicide [[2013 in science|2013]]), American computer programmer and Internet [[hactivist]].

==Deaths==
[[File:Challenger flight 51-l crew.jpg|thumb|Crew of NASA [[Space Shuttle Challenger|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'']] mission [[STS-51-L]]]]
* January 7 – [[Rex Wailes]] (b. [[1901 in science|1901]]), English engineer and historian of technology.
* January 28
** Crew of United States [[Space Shuttle Challenger|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'']] mission [[STS-51-L]]:
*** [[Greg Jarvis]] (b. 1944)
*** [[Christa McAuliffe]] (b. 1948)
*** [[Ronald McNair]] (b. 1950)
*** [[Ellison Onizuka]] (b. 1946)
*** [[Judith Resnik]] (b. 1949)
*** [[Dick Scobee]] (b. 1939)
*** [[Michael J. Smith (astronaut)|Michael J. Smith]] (b. 1945)
** [[Dorothée Pullinger]] (b. [[1894 in science|1894]]), French-born British production engineer.
* April 22 – Dame [[Honor Fell]] (b. [[1900 in science|1900]]), English biologist.
* July 6 – [[William Rashkind]] (b. [[1922 in science|1922]]), American [[cardiologist]].
* July 21 – [[Zhang Yuzhe]] (b. [[1902 in science|1902]]), Chinese [[astronomer]].
* October 22 – [[Albert Szent-Györgyi]] (b. [[1893 in science|1893]]), [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]] [[physiologist]], winner of the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]].
* October 31 – [[Edward Adelbert Doisy]] (b. [[1893 in science|1893]]), American [[biochemist]], winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
* June 7 – [[Robert S. Mulliken]] (b. [[1896 in science|1896]]), American [[physicist]], winner of the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]].
* November 25 – Sir [[Ivan Magill]] (b. [[1888 in science|1888]]), British [[anesthesiologist]].

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 In Science}}
[[Category:1986 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1980s in science]]