Editing 1992 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|1992|science}}
{{Science year nav|1992}}

The year '''1992 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved many significant events, some listed below.

==Anthropology==
* June – British [[anthropologist]] [[Robin Dunbar]] proposes [[Dunbar's number]] (approximately 150) as a [[Cognition|cognitive]] limit to the number of people with whom an [[interpersonal relationship]] can be maintained in human communities.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Dunbar|first=R. I. M. |title=Neocortex size as a constraint on group size in primates|journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]]|volume=22|issue=6|pages=469–493|doi= 10.1016/0047-2484(92)90081-J |date=June 1992|doi-access=free|bibcode=1992JHumE..22..469D }}</ref>

==Astronomy==
* January 5 – [[Asteroid]] [[5751 Zao]] is discovered by [[Masahiro Koishikawa]].
* January 9 – First confirmed detection of [[exoplanet]]s with announcement of the discovery of several terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the [[pulsar]] [[PSR B1257+12]] by radio astronomers [[Aleksander Wolszczan]] and [[Dale Frail]] working in the United States.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wolszczan|first1=A.|bibcode=1992Natur.355..145W|last2=Frail|first2=D. A.|doi=10.1038/355145a0|title=A planetary system around the millisecond pulsar PSR1257+12|journal=Nature|volume=355|issue=6356|pages=145–7|year=1992|s2cid=4260368 }}</ref>
* August 30 – Discovery of [[15760 Albion]], the first [[trans-Neptunian object]] to be found after [[Pluto]] and [[Charon (moon)|Charon]].
* October 31 – [[Pope John Paul II]] issues an apology and lifts the [[1633 in science|1633]] edict of the [[Inquisition]] against [[Galileo Galilei]].

==Biology==
* May 21 – [[Saola]] first identified in the [[Vũ Quang]] rainforest reserve of northern [[Vietnam]]. This member of the [[bovini]] tribe is the first large mammal new to science anywhere in the world for more than fifty years and it will take another two decades before live specimens are recorded.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1038/363443a0|title=A new species of living bovid from Vietnam|year=1993|last1=Dung|first1=Vu Van|last2=Giao|first2=Pham Mong|last3=Chinh|first3=Nguyen Ngoc|last4=Tuoc|first4=Do|last5=Arctander|first5=Peter|last6=MacKinnon|first6=John|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=363|issue=6428|page=443|bibcode = 1993Natur.363..443V |s2cid=4243603 }}</ref>
* British evolutionary biologist [[Richard Dawkins]] delivers the 1992 [[Voltaire Lecture]], "[[Viruses of the Mind]]", describing religion and the belief in god as a parasitic memetic virus that infects human minds.<ref>Dawkins, Richard (1992). Viruses of the Mind. 1992 Voltaire Lecture. London: British Humanist Association. Republished in 1993 in the book, ''Dennett and His Critics: Demystifying Mind''.</ref>

==Computer science==
* March 9 – [[ViolaWWW]], the first popular [[Web browser]], created by [[Pei-Yuan Wei]] in the United States, is publicly released for [[Unix]].
* September – The [[SOCKS]] Internet protocol is made public.<ref>{{citation|first=David|last=Koblas|title=SOCKS|work=Proceedings of the Third USENIX UNIX Security Symposium|location=Baltimore, MD|publisher=USENIX Association|date=September 1992}}</ref>

==Earth sciences==
* September 2 – The [[1992 Nicaragua earthquake]] registering 7.7 {{M|w|link=y}} becomes the first [[tsunami earthquake]] to be captured on modern broadband seismic networks.

==Mathematics==
* [[International Society for Bayesian Analysis]] founded by [[Arnold Zellner]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Crilly|title=50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know|location=London|publisher=Quercus|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84724-008-8|page=129}}</ref>

==Medicine==
* October – First [[Cochrane Collaboration|Cochrane Centre]] opens (in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]) and the first Cochrane Review Groups (Pregnancy & Childbirth and Subfertility) are registered.
* October 29 – The [[Food and Drug Administration]] approves [[Depo Provera]] for use as a [[contraceptive]] in the United States.
* [[Brugada syndrome]] first recognised.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brugada |first1=P. |last2=Brugada |first2=J.|title=Right bundle branch block, persistent ST segment elevation and sudden cardiac death: a distinct clinical and electrocardiographic syndrome. A multicenter report|journal=[[Journal of the American College of Cardiology]]|volume=20|issue=6|pages=1391–6|date=November 1992|pmid=1309182|doi=10.1016/0735-1097(92)90253-J|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Physics==
* [[Hungary]] becomes a member of [[CERN]].

==Technology==
* November 23 – The [[IBM Simon]], a touchscreen [[mobile phone]] and [[personal digital assistant]] considered the first [[smartphone]], is introduced.
* December 3 &ndash; The first [[text message]] is sent. The message reads "Merry Christmas".<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-12-03/after-25-years-of-sms-were-still-anxious-about-text-speak/9205734 | title=It's been 25 years since the first-ever text message and the kids are alright| newspaper=ABC News| date=2017-12-02}}</ref>

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]]: [[Georges Charpak]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]]: [[Rudolph A. Marcus]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]]: [[Edmond H. Fischer]], [[Edwin G. Krebs]]
* [[Turing Award]]: [[Butler Lampson]]
* [[Wollaston Medal|Wollaston Medal for Geology]]: [[Martin Bott|Martin Harold Phillips Bott]]

==Births==
* [[July 23]] – [[Diwakar Vaish]], Indian [[roboticist]]

==Deaths==
* January 1 – [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Grace Hopper]] (b. [[1906 in science|1906]]), [[Americans|American]] pioneer [[computer scientist]].
* April 6 – [[Isaac Asimov]] (b. [[1920 in science|1920]]), American science author.
* April 10 – [[Peter D. Mitchell]] (b. 1920), [[English people|English]] [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel laureate in chemistry]].
* June 13 – [[Remziye Hisar]], (b. [[1902 in science|1902]]), [[Turkey|Turkish]] chemist.
* July 24 – [[Gavriil Ilizarov]] (b. [[1921 in science|1921]]), [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[orthopedic surgeon]].
* August 26 – [[Daniel Gorenstein]] (b. [[1923 in science|1923]]), American [[mathematician]].
* November 5 – [[Jan Oort]] (b. [[1900 in science|1900]]), [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[astronomer]].

==References==
{{Portal|1990s|Science}}
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1992 in science| ]]
[[Category:20th century in science]]
[[Category:1990s in science]]