Editing 2003 in science

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{{Year nav topic5|2003|science}}
{{Science year nav|2003}}

The year 2003 was an exciting one for new scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs progress in many scientific fields. Some of the highlights of 2003, which will be further discussed below, include: the anthropologic discovery of 350,000-year-old footprints attesting to the presence of upright-walking humans; SpaceShipOne flight 11P making its first supersonic flight; the observation of a previously unknown element, moscovium was made; and the world's first digital camera with an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display is released by Kodak.

The year 2003 is also notable for the disintegration of the [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'' Space Shuttle]] upon its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, a tragic disaster which took the lives of all seven astronauts on board; the Concorde jet made its last flight, bringing to an end the era of civilian supersonic travel, at least for the time being; and the death of Edward Teller, physicist and inventor of the hydrogen bomb.

==Anthropology==
*March 13 – The journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' reports that 350,000-year-old upright-walking human [[footprint]]s have been found in Italy.

==Astronomy==
[[File:Apparent retrograde motion of Mars in 2003.gif|thumb|Mars retrograde motion during perigee 2003]]
*February 11 – [[NASA]]'s [[WMAP]] satellite completes the first detailed [[cosmic microwave background radiation]] map of the [[universe]]. The image reveals the universe is 13.7 billion years old (within one percent error) and provides evidence that supports the [[cosmic inflation|inflationary]] theory.
*May 16 – [[May 2003 lunar eclipse|Total lunar eclipse]]
*May 31 – [[Solar eclipse of May 31, 2003|Annular solar eclipse]] in Northern Scotland, [[Faroe Islands]], [[Greenland]], and [[Iceland]], with partial eclipse covering much of Europe and Russia.
*August 27 – [[Opposition (planets)|Opposition]] of [[Mars]], closest approach to earth of Mars since [[57,617 BC]], at a distance of 55,758,006 kilometers.<ref>{{cite web|work=Starry Nights |first=Gary |last=Boyle |title=Seeing the Red Planet |url=http://www.ottawaweb.ca/starrynights/vol07.html |date=2003-08-25 |accessdate=2011-10-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827190423/http://www.ottawaweb.ca/starrynights/vol07.html |archivedate=2011-08-27 }}</ref>
*October–November – The [[Sun]] is at solar maximum with a period of high activity, generating many large [[solar flare]]s and [[coronal mass ejection]]s.
*November 9 – [[November 2003 lunar eclipse|Total lunar eclipse]].
*November 14 – [[Trans-Neptunian object]] [[90377 Sedna]], one of the most distant objects in the [[Solar System]], discovered by [[Palomar Observatory]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Discovery of a Candidate Inner Oort Cloud Planetoid|author=Brown, Michael E.|authorlink2=Chad Trujillo|authorlink3=David L. Rabinowitz|last2=Trujillo|first2= Chadwick|last3=Rabinowitz|first3= David|journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal]]|bibcode=2004ApJ...617..645B|date=10 December 2004|volume=617|pages=645–649|issue=1|arxiv=astro-ph/0404456|doi=10.1086/422095|s2cid=7738201 |author-link=Michael E. Brown}}</ref>
*November 23 – [[Solar eclipse of November 23, 2003|Total solar eclipse]] in Antarctica.
*The [[2dF Survey]] of [[galaxy]] [[redshift]]s is published.

==Biology==
*April 1 – A [[banteng]] delivered in the United States is the second successful [[cloning]] of an [[endangered species]] and the first such clone to survive beyond infancy.
*October – The last native wild [[crested ibis]] in Japan dies.
*October 13 – The [[Open access (publishing)|open access]] [[scientific journal]] ''PLoS Biology'' from the [[Public Library of Science]], commences operation.
*November 20 – A new species of [[baleen whale]], [[Omura's whale]] (''Balaenoptera omurai''), is described by Japanese scientists in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wada|first1=S.|last2=Oishi|first2=M.|last3=Yamada|first3=T. K.|year=2003|title=A newly discovered species of living baleen whale|journal=Nature|volume=426|pages=278–281|oclc=110553472|doi=10.1038/nature02103|pmid=14628049|issue=6964|bibcode = 2003Natur.426..278W |s2cid=4301170 }}</ref>

==Chemistry==
*August – Chemical elements
**[[Moscovium]] first synthesized.
**[[Nihonium]] first identified.

==Mathematics==
*Danish computer scientist Peter Bro Miltersen poses the [[100 prisoners problem]] in [[probability theory]].

==Medicine==
*February 26 – A US businessman is diagnosed with the first known case of [[SARS]] in Hanoi, Vietnam, by [[World Health Organization|WHO]] doctor [[Carlo Urbani]].
*June – The concept of Acute Traumatic [[Coagulopathy]] (ATC) is introduced by Karim Brohi, Professor of [[Traumatology|Trauma Sciences]] at [[Queen Mary University of London]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brohi|first1=Karim|last2=Singh|first2=Jasmin|last3=Heron|first3=Mischa|last4=Coats|first4=Timothy|date=June 2003|title=Acute Traumatic Coagulopathy|url=http://insights.ovid.com/|journal=The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care|volume=54|issue=6|pages=1127–1130|doi=10.1097/01.TA.0000069184.82147.06|issn=0022-5282|pmid=12813333|s2cid=7583542 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
*October 16 – China becomes the first country to approve the commercial production of a [[gene therapy]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Pearson | first1=Sue | last2=Jia | first2=Hepeng | last3=Kandachi | first3=Keiko | title=China approves first gene therapy | journal=Nature Biotechnology | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=22 | issue=1 | year=2004 | issn=1087-0156 | doi=10.1038/nbt0104-3 | pages=3–4| pmid=14704685 | pmc=7097065 }}</ref>

==Meteorology==
*[[NOAA]] [[hurricane]] experts issue first experimental Eastern Pacific Hurricane Outlook.

==Philosophy==
{{main|2003 in philosophy}}

==Space exploration==
*February 1 – [[Space Shuttle Columbia|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'']] [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|disintegrates]] over [[Texas]] upon [[Atmospheric reentry|reentry]] killing all seven [[astronauts]] on board. Specimens of ''[[Caenorhabditis elegans]]'' survive.
*June 2 – The first [[European Space Agency|European]] Mars mission ''[[Mars Express]]'' launched.
*September 27 – The first [[European Space Agency|European]] lunar mission ''[[Smart 1]]'' launched.
*October 15 – The People's Republic of China launches [[Shenzhou 5]], their first human spaceflight mission.
*December 25 – ''[[Mars Express]]'' enters orbit around [[Mars]]. Its lander, ''[[Beagle 2]]'', lands on the surface but is unable to deploy its communications equipment and its fate is discovered only in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-30784886|title=Lost Beagle2 probe found 'intact' on Mars|first=Jonathan|last=Amos|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=2015-01-16|accessdate=2015-01-17}}</ref>

==Technology==
*March – The world's first [[digital camera]] with an [[organic light-emitting diode]] (''OLED'') display is released by [[Kodak]].
*April 24 – [[Microsoft]] released a server operating system [[Windows Server 2003]] to manufacturing.
*July 30 – The last old-style [[Volkswagen Beetle]] rolls off its production line in [[Puebla, Puebla]], Mexico.
*October 24 – [[Concorde]] makes its last flight, bringing the era of civilian [[supersonic travel]] to a close for the foreseeable future.
*December 17 – [[SpaceShipOne]], piloted by [[Brian Binnie]], [[SpaceShipOne flight 11P|makes]] its first [[Rocket engine|rocket-powered]] flight, the first [[private spaceflight|privately built]] craft to ever achieve supersonic flight.<ref name=belfiore2007>
{{cite book |last1=Belfiore |first1=Michael |title=Rocketeers: how a visionary band of business leaders, engineers, and pilots is boldly privatizing space |date=2007 |publisher=Smithsonian Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-114903-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/rocketeershowvis00belf/page/8 8] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/rocketeershowvis00belf/page/8 }}</ref><!-- and on the 100th anniversary of the [[Wright Brothers'' first aircraft flight (same source) -->
*[[Intel]] releases the [[Pentium M]] [[microprocessor]].

==Awards==
*Nobel Prize
**[[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]]: [[Alexei Alexeevich Abrikosov]], [[Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg]], and [[Anthony James Leggett]]
**[[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]]: [[Peter Agre]] and [[Roderick MacKinnon]]
**[[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Medicine]]: [[Paul Lauterbur]] and Sir [[Peter Mansfield]]
*[[Turing Award]] for Computing: [[Alan Kay]]
*[[Abel Prize]] in Mathematics (first award): [[Jean-Pierre Serre]]
*[[Wollaston Medal]] for Geology: [[Ikuo Kushiro]]

==Births==
*May 4 – [[Idaho Gem]], the first [[Cloning|cloned]] [[mule]].
*May 23 – [[Dewey (deer)|Dewey]], the first cloned deer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3316718/Dewey-the-deer-is-latest-clone.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/3316718/Dewey-the-deer-is-latest-clone.html|archive-date=2022-01-11|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Dewey the deer is latest clone|last=Highfield|first=Roger|date=2003-12-24|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=2003-07-01}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
*May 28 – [[Prometea]], the first cloned horse.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4026-worlds-first-cloned-horse-is-born|title=World's first cloned horse is born|last=Bhattacharya|first=Shaoni|date=2003-08-06|work=New Scientist|access-date=2016-07-01}}</ref>

==Deaths==
*February 1 – Astronauts, crew of [[STS-107]]
**[[Michael P. Anderson]] (b. [[1959 in science|1959]]), American.
**[[David M. Brown]] (b. [[1956 in science|1956]]), American.
**[[Kalpana Chawla]] (b. [[1961 in science|1961]]), Punjabi-born American.
**[[Laurel Clark]] (b. [[1961 in science|1961]]), American.
**[[Rick Husband]] (b. [[1957 in science|1957]]), American.
**[[William C. McCool]] (b. [[1961 in science|1961]]), American.
**[[Ilan Ramon]] (b. [[1954 in science|1954]]), Israeli.
*February 14 – [[Dolly (sheep)|Dolly]] (b. [[1996 in science|1996]]), Scottish sheep, the world's first cloned [[mammal]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Dolly the sheep|url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/natural-world/dolly-the-sheep/|website=National Museums Scotland|accessdate=21 February 2018|archive-date=21 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221101206/https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/natural-world/dolly-the-sheep/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*March 29 – [[Carlo Urbani]] (b. [[1956 in science|1956]]), Italian physician, discoverer of [[SARS]].
*April 17 – [[Robert Atkins (physician)|Dr. Robert Atkins]] (b. [[1930 in science|1930]]), American [[nutritionist]].
*May 10 – [[Eleanor C. Pressly]] (b. [[1918 in science|1918]]), American mathematician and aeronautical engineer.
*May 28
**[[Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov]] (b. [[1933 in science|1933]]), Soviet [[Astronaut|cosmonaut]].
**[[Ilya Prigogine]] (b. [[1917 in science|1917]]), Russian-born chemist, [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel laureate in chemistry]].
*September 9 – [[Edward Teller]] (b. [[1908 in science|1908]]), Hungarian American [[physicist]], inventor of the [[hydrogen bomb]].
*October 15 – [[Bertram Brockhouse]] (b. [[1918 in science|1918]]), Canadian physicist.
* December 31 – [[Arthur R. von Hippel]] (b. [[1898 in science|1898]]), German-born American physicist

==Notes==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 In Science}}
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[[Category:21st century in science]]
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