Editing 2001 in science

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2011}}
{{Year nav topic5|2001|science}}
{{Science year nav|2001}}

The year '''2001 in science''' and technology involved many events, some of which are included below.

==Astronomy and space exploration==
* February 12 – The ''[[NEAR Shoemaker]]'' spacecraft lands in the "saddle" region of [[433 Eros]], becoming the first [[spacecraft]] to land on an [[asteroid]].
* June 21 – [[Solar eclipse of June 21, 2001]], a total eclipse.
* August 8 – [[NASA]]'s ''[[Genesis (spacecraft)|Genesis]]'' spacecraft is launched.
* October 15 – NASA's ''[[Galileo (spacecraft)|Galileo]]'' spacecraft passes within 112 miles (180&nbsp;km) of [[Jupiter]]'s moon [[Io (moon)|Io]].
* November 27 – The [[Hubble Space Telescope]] detects [[sodium]] in the atmosphere of [[HD 209458 b]], the first [[exoplanet]] atmosphere to be measured.
* December 14 – [[Solar eclipse of December 14, 2001]], an annular eclipse.

==Biology==
* January 8 – The first animal from an [[endangered species]] produced by [[cloning]], a [[gaur]] named Noah, is born at Trans Ova Genetics in [[Sioux Center, Iowa]]. He dies within 48 hours of a common [[dysentery]].<ref>{{cite news|date=2001-01-12|publisher=[[Advanced Cell Technology]], Inc.|title=First cloned endangered animal was born at 7:30&nbsp;pm on Monday, 8 January 2001|accessdate=2006-09-18|url=http://www.advancedcell.com/press-release/advanced-cell-technology-inc-announced-that-the-first-cloned-endangered-animal-was-born-at-730-pm-on-monday-january-8-2001|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531142827/http://www.advancedcell.com/press-release/advanced-cell-technology-inc-announced-that-the-first-cloned-endangered-animal-was-born-at-730-pm-on-monday-january-8-2001|archivedate=2008-05-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Britt|last=Bailey|title=Cloning the Gaur|url=http://environmentalcommons.org/cetos/articles/cloninggaur.html|publisher=CETOS|year=2000|accessdate=2011-11-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228161917/http://environmentalcommons.org/cetos/articles/cloninggaur.html|archive-date=February 28, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>
* January – The second animal from an endangered species produced by [[cloning]], a European [[mouflon]] lamb, is born in Italy.<ref>{{cite web|first=Helen|last=Briggs|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1573309.stm|title=Endangered sheep cloned|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=2001-10-01|accessdate=2011-11-02}}</ref>
* February – The publicly funded [[Human Genome Project]], led by [[Francis Collins]] and the privately funded Celera effort, led by [[Craig Venter]] simultaneously publish their decoding of the human [[genome]] (in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' and ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'', respectively).
* April 6 – [[Linda Partridge]] and colleagues publish their identification of the role of a specific gene in animal [[ageing]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Extension of Life-Span by Loss of CHICO, a ''Drosophila'' Insulin Receptor Substrate Protein|author=Clancy, David J.|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=2001-04-06|volume=292|issue=5514|pages=104–106|doi=10.1126/science.1057991|display-authors=etal|pmid=11292874|bibcode=2001Sci...292..104C|s2cid=30331471|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=bioscifacpub|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* April 19 – [[Pygmy three-toed sloth]] first [[Species description|described]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Anderson|first1=R. P.|last2=Handley Jr.|first2=C. O.|title=A new species of three-toed sloth (Mammalia: Xenarthra) from Panama, with a review of the genus ''Bradypus''|journal=[[Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington]]|volume=114|issue=1|pages=1–33|year=2001|url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofb1142001biol|accessdate=2016-06-13}} {{open access}}</ref>
* Craig Venter and Mark Adams complete the [[genetics|genetic]] map of the [[laboratory mouse]].
* [[Fossil]] remains of the whale ''[[Rodhocetus balochistanensis]]'' found in [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]] province, Pakistan, by [[Philip D. Gingerich]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/public/experts/ExpDisplay.php?ExpID=293|title=Philip D. Gingerich Ph.D.|publisher=[[University of Michigan]]|work=Expert List|accessdate=2011-11-02|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090714132040/http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/public/experts/ExpDisplay.php?ExpID=293|archive-date=July 14, 2009|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==Chemistry==
* February 15 – Production of a capsule-based fibre-reinforced polymer composite [[self-healing material]] is announced.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=White|first1=Scott R.|last2=Sottos|first2=Nancy R.|last3=Geubelle|first3=P. H.|last4=Moore|first4=J. S.|last5=Kessler|first5=M. R.|last6=Sriram|first6=S. R.|last7=Brown|first7=E. N.|last8=Viswanathan|first8=S.|title=Autonomic healing of polymer composites|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=2001-02-15|volume=409|issue=6822|pages=794–797|doi=10.1038/35057232|pmid=11236987|bibcode=2001Natur.409..794W |s2cid=11334883|authorlink2=Nancy Sottos}}</ref>

==Computer science==
* January 9 – [[Apple Inc.]] releases the [[iTunes]] [[Media player (software)|media player]] (modified from [[SoundJam MP]]).
* January 15 – [[Wikipedia]] launches on the internet.
* May – [[Tim Berners-Lee]] and colleagues name the [[Semantic Web]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Berners-Lee|first=Tim|author2=Hendler, James|author3=Lassila, Ora|title=The Semantic Web|journal=[[Scientific American]]|date=May 17, 2001|volume=284|issue=5|pages=34–43|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0501-34|bibcode=2001SciAm.284e..34B |url=http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-semantic-web&print=true|accessdate=2012-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081114135540/http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-semantic-web&print=true|archive-date=November 14, 2008|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* August 24 – [[Windows XP]] [[personal computer]] [[operating system]] released by [[Microsoft]]; it is available for retail sale on October 25.
* October 23 – [[Apple Inc.]] unveil the [[iPod classic#First generation|first generation]] [[iPod]] [[portable media player]].
* December 1&ndash;2 – The [[Budapest Open Access Initiative]], a public statement of principles promoting [[open access]] to research literature, is launched at a conference convened in [[Budapest]] by the [[Open Society Institute]].
* December – The [[C Sharp (programming language)|C# programming language]] specification is released.
* In [[quantum computers|quantum computing]], the first working 7-qubit NMR computer is demonstrated at [[IBM]]'s Almaden Research Center, demonstrating [[Shor's algorithm]].
* [[Chatterbot]] [[Eugene Goostman]] is developed.
* The [[Walkman Circ]] is released.

==Medicine==
* July 2 – The world's first self-contained [[artificial heart]] is implanted in [[Robert Tools]] in the United States.
* [[Adult-onset basal ganglia disease]] caused by [[Ferritin light chain]] (FTL) mutations is described.

==Paleontology==
* July – First fossil skull fragments of the [[hominid]] 'Toumaï' (''[[Sahelanthropus]] tchadensis''; 7 million years [[Before Present|BP]]) found by a team led by [[Michel Brunet (paleontologist)|Michel Brunet]] in [[Chad]].<ref>{{cite web|work=TchadActuel|url=http://www.tchadactuel.com/n6.php?2006/10/05/23-toumai-histoire-des-sciences-et-histoire-dhommes-alain-beauvilain|title=Toumaï: Histoire des Sciences et Histoire d'Hommes|first=Alain|last=Beauvilain|date=2006-10-05|accessdate=2012-03-15|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308103755/http://www.tchadactuel.com/n6.php?2006%2F10%2F05%2F23-toumai-histoire-des-sciences-et-histoire-dhommes-alain-beauvilain|archivedate=March 8, 2012|df=mdy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Toumaï|url=http://toumai.site.voila.fr/2.humanadventure.html|first=Alain|last=Beauvilain|accessdate=2012-03-15|archive-date=March 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306210453/https://www.118712.fr/sortir.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Philosophy==
{{main|2001 in philosophy}}

==Physics==
* Francisco-Miguel Marqués and co-workers at the [[Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds]] in [[Caen]] claim to detect a [[tetraneutron]];<ref>{{cite journal|last=Marqués|first=F. M.|display-authors=etal|year=2002|title=Detection of neutron clusters|journal=[[Physical Review C]]|volume=65|issue=4|pages=044006|doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.65.044006|arxiv=nucl-ex/0111001|bibcode=2002PhRvC..65d4006M|s2cid=37431352}}</ref> [[reproducibility]] of this observation has not been possible.

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]s
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]] – [[Eric Allin Cornell]], [[Wolfgang Ketterle]], [[Carl E. Wieman]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]] – [[William S. Knowles]], [[Ryōji Noyori]], [[K. Barry Sharpless]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]] – [[Leland H. Hartwell]], [[R. Timothy Hunt]], [[Paul M. Nurse]]
* [[Turing Award]]: [[Ole-Johan Dahl]], [[Kristen Nygaard]]
* [[Wollaston Medal]] for Geology: [[Harry Blackmore Whittington]]

==Deaths==
* February 9 – [[Herbert A. Simon]] (b. [[1916 in science|1916]]), American [[polymath]], recipient of the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Herbert A. Simon, 1916-2001 |last1=Edward Feigenbaum |date=2001 |journal=Science |volume=291 |issue=5511 |pages=2107 |doi=10.1126/science.1060171 |s2cid=180480666 |author1-link=Edward Feigenbaum }}</ref>
* February 13 – [[Ugo Fano]] (b. [[1912 in science|1912]]), Italian-born American physicist.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Clark | first1 = Charles W. | journal = Nature | title = Obituary: Ugo Fano (1912–2001)| volume = 410 | issue = 6825 | pages = 164 | doi = 10.1038/35065786 | year = 2001 | bibcode = 2001Natur.410..164C | s2cid = 26743870 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
* February 24 – [[Claude Shannon]] (b. 1916), American [[mathematician]].
* March 31 – [[Clifford Shull]] (b. 1915), American physicist, [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prize]] laureate<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/apr/07/guardianobituaries.physicalsciences|title=Clifford Shull|date=April 7, 2001|newspaper=The Guardian|author=Pearce Wright|access-date=April 8, 2021}}</ref>
* May 5 – [[Wang Yinglai]] (b. [[1907 in science|1907]]), [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[biochemist]].
* May 8 – [[William T. Stearn]] (b. 1911), English [[botanist]].
* May 28 – [[Francisco Varela]] (b. 1946), [[Chile]]an [[biologist]] and philosopher.
* June 4 – [[Lu Jiaxi (chemist)|Lu Jiaxi]] (b. [[1915 in science|1915]]), Chinese physical chemist.
* June 18 – [[René Dumont]] (b. [[1904 in science|1904]]), French [[agronomist]].
* June 26 – [[John F. Yardley]] (b. [[1925 in science|1925]]), American aeronautical engineer.
* August 9 – Sir [[Alec Skempton]] (b. [[1914 in science|1914]]), English pioneer of [[soil science]] and engineering historian.
* August 15 – [[Kateryna Yushchenko (scientist)|Kateryna Yushchenko]] (b. [[1919 in science|1919]]), Ukrainian computer scientist and academic.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Perevozchikova |first=O. L. |title=Ekaterina Logvinovna Yushchenko |journal=Cybernetics and Systems Analysis |volume=45 |number=6 | year=2009| page=843|doi=10.1007/s10559-009-9161-x |s2cid=116901283 }}</ref>
* August 20 – Sir [[Fred Hoyle]] (b. [[1915 in science|1915]]), English [[astronomer]] and science fiction writer.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Burbidge | first1 = G. | author-link = Geoffrey Burbidge| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.2003.0013 | title = Sir Fred Hoyle. 24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001 Elected FRS 1957 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 49 | pages = 213–247 | year = 2003 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
* August 31 – [[Doris Calloway]] (Nesheim) (b. [[1923 in science|1923]]), American [[nutritionist]].
* September 2 – [[Christiaan Barnard]] (b. 1922), [[South Africa]]n [[cardiac surgeon]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Autopsy confirms asthma killed Barnard | date= 5 September 2001 | url =http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main_old.php?id=4655&archive=1 | work =[[Cyprus Mail]] | access-date =15 March 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202905/http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main_old.php?id=4655&archive=1 <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 27 September 2007}}</ref>
* October 31 – [[Warren Elliot Henry]] (b. 1909), [[African American]] [[physicist]].
* November 30 – [[Robert Tools]] (b. 1942), American first recipient of a self-contained artificial heart, after 151 days without a living heart.
* December 5 – [[Franco Rasetti]] (b. 1901), [[Italian American]] nuclear physicist.
* December 12 – [[Robert Schommer]] (b. 1946), American astronomer.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:2001 In Science}}
[[Category:2001 in science| ]]
[[Category:21st century in science]]
[[Category:2000s in science]]