This is my list of the top 10 science stories of the 2000s. They are in no particular order; I don’t think you can really rank things like this in order of importance.

1. The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, with all 3 billion base pairs of the human genome having been sequenced. Since then quite a number of other genomes have been sequenced, most notably the chimpanzee genome in 2005. The sequenced genome has revolutionized both our understanding of what makes us human and has led to medical and developmental research.

2. Astrophysicists have made a number of discoveries about the nature of our universe. They have confirmed that the universe is 13.77 billion years old. They have settled the decades-old question about the fate of the universe by showing conclusively that it will continue to expand forever. And they have confirmed that the vast majority of the mass of the universe (96%) consists of the still enigmatic dark matter and dark energy.

3. After 15 years and $9 billion, the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva came online in 2008. Although it has been plagued by technical problems, the LHC set the record for the most powerful collisions yet achieved (1.18 trillion electron volts) on November 30, 2009. The LHC will be brought up to 5 trillion electron volts in 2010 before being shut down for repairs. It will eventually be run at its maximum power of 7 trillion electron volts.

4. NASA has discovered the presence of frozen water on both Mars and the Moon. This could be used both to establish colonies and to fuel manned exploration further into the solar system. In 2003, tantalizing evidence of life on Mars was discovered; methane has been found to be present on parts of the planet, a common sign of life on Earth. In 2011 a new probe from NASA will touch down on Mars to search for more signs of life.

5. On April 24, 2007 astronomers from the Geneva Observatory discovered the extrasolar planet Gliese 581 d. In April 2009 it was confirmed that the planet is in its star’s habitable zone, meaning that liquid water, and thus life, could exist on it. This was the first planet outside of our solar system found to be in the habitable zone.

6. On August 28, 2009 Voyager 1 passed what is known as the “termination shock,” entering the very edge of our solar system. Launched on September 5, 1977 it is the farthest human-made object from Earth. Voyager 1 provided astronomers with the first close-up images of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons. It will eventually become the first human-made object to leave the solar system. If Voyager 1 continues on its current course, it will reach the nearest star in about 75,000 years.

7. The 2000s were an important decade for fossils. Most notable were Tiktaalik roseae, Darwinius masillae and Ardipithecus ramidus. Tiktaalik is a 375 million year old transitional form between fish and amphibians; it is one of the most important fossils ever discovered. Darwinius masillae, also known as Ida, was originally discovered in 1983, but was divided into two parts. It was finally reassembled in 2007. Ida is a 47 million year old primate. Ardipithecus, also known as Ardi, was originally discovered in 1994. However, it was not unveiled by scientists until October 1, 2009 when they published a number of articles in Science. Ardi is a 4.4 million year old primate, probably on the hominid line. Statistically speaking its species is almost certainly not ancestral to modern humans. However, the fossil does provide us with new insight into how our ancestors would have looked at the time.

8. The 2000s were a big decade for genetics. There was significant progress made in genetic engineering, although most of that has been confined to animal experiments. The first successful genetic engineering of humans occurred in 2000, when a patient with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency was given a functional immune system. In 2005 Craig Ventur, the man behind the private-sector drive to sequence the human genome, founded Synthetic Genomics, a company devoted to work on developing synthetic biological systems and functions. In 2009 it signed a $600 million deal with ExxonMobil to develop next-generation biofuels.

9. In 2007, the first induced pluripotent stem cells created from human cells were developed by two independent research teams at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the University of Kyoto. These iPS were made from skin cells, representing the first human stem cells that did not come from embryos. This would have allowed researchers to eventually move forward with stem cell research under the Bush administration’s restrictions on the use of embryonic stem cells. (The restrictions have since been lifted, though research on iPS continues.)

10. In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its Fourth Assessment Report in four parts. This report represents the work of thousands of scientists from dozens of countries. It explicitly states that climate change is occurring and that it is almost certainly caused primarily by human activity. In 2009, the number of Americans who accepted the fact of climate change declined, as did the number of Americans who accepted the almost certainty of human causation. 2009 as saw the release of over a thousand e-mails hacked from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, which has led to a media controversy. Tellingly, there are only two statements from all of those e-mails that climate-change deniers have been able to highlight. Both statements are clearly taken out of context and distorted. Although these statements cast absolutely no doubt on the fact of climate change, we have been told repeatedly that they prove a conspiracy. Yet those two statements come from only one scientist among thousands working on this issue. In December 2009 the governments of 193 nations failed to come to a meaningful agreement on how to move forward with curbing greenhouse emissions at the Copenhagen Summit.

Moving into the next decade, look for stories on the following: commercial space flight, an HIV vaccine, progress on quantum computers, answering the abiogenesis question, progress on the genographic project and the continuingly diminishing cost of genome sequencing.

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In honor of tomorrow’s NHL Winter Classic at Fenway with the Bruins taking on the Flyers, I reached deep into the vault to find the following short poem with a lengthy footnote. The footnote includes the first poem I wrote, which was about hockey. It was 1972, and I had no idea I’d write another poem. I can’t remember when I wrote the main poem, “A Streetcar Named Frank,” maybe 1979. It’s a tribute to one of my pond-hockey buddies from Dracut whom we sometimes called “Mahovlich.” He turned the nickname into “Streetcar” in honor of the Detroit winger’s barreling style. We also called my friend “Fly” in basketball season, for Walt Frazier of the NY Knicks.—PM

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A Streetcar Named Frank

Fly was Peggy Fleming with a wrist shot.

His specialty was slick:

Yelling, “Clear the track; here comes Shack!”

He’d charge the puck carrier and spin up

To deliver a hip check in the neck,

Knocking some kid into frozen weeds,

Then sweep the puck ahead,

Deke the defense, and flip a little backhander

Over the sprawling goalie.

—–

Title: Frank Mahovlich, Detroit Red Wings.

Line 1: Olympic Gold Medal, 1968.

Line 2: Home-grown pro.

Line 3: Eddie Shack, old  Bruins’ hacker.

Line 4: One motion.

Line 5: Still one move.

Line 6: Cause and effect.

Line 7: Head-man the puck (Montreal style)

Line 8: Head fake or stick-handling trick.

Line 9: a. “Holy Moly, mother of goalies!” (anon.)

          b. “He shoots; he scores!” (Dan Kelly)

          c. My first poem was about hockey:

“Bruins-Blackhawks”

Bruins’ defensemen skate ’round Boston’s net.

The puck is dropped, and Bobby is set.

He crosses the blue-line, stick-handles past Hull,

Gets by Pit Martin, and then there’s a lull.

Orr’s blades are flashing; Mikita’s in shock.

He passes to Pie and heads for the slot

(Tony O’s nervous, expecting a shot).

Number 4 gets the goal, Pie the assist,

And big chief Magnuson gets Sanderson’s fist.

—Paul Marion (c) 1972, 1979

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Politico offers another of those ubiquitous “top” list for 2009 on its website today - the “top 30 personal explanations of 2009.” Reminding us of all the times we’ve needed an excuse - you know like “the dog ate my homework” - Politico researched some of the “personal explanations” - the official excuses - given by Members of Congress this past year for missing a vote or two.  The excuses range from the serious to the no-so-serious: ”I was at the White House” - “on the advice of my doctor” - “in a classified national security meeting” - “due to inclement weather” - an assortment of “airline flight” or other traffic problems - the ever popular “personal reasons” and so on.

Our 5th District Congresswoman Niki Tsongas made the top 30 list with this one:

“Mr. Speaker, due to my daughter’s wedding I was absent from the House of Representatives on October 7th and October 8th. As a result, I was unable to cast a vote on rollcall votes Nos. 756 to 771.” — Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.)

Other popular lists around the internet today are about music, television, controversies, books, disasters, celebrities, food, fads, diets, sports, politics - well you get the picture. Do you have a list that you’d like to share?  Or an opinion about lists?

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As we reach the end of the first decade of the Twenty-First Century, how do folks in Lowell and vicinity celebrate New Years Eve?  Chinese food?  Go out to eat?  A house party?  The Three Stooges Marathon?  Share your plans with us.

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Blue Moon fire in Lowell, MA (photo courtesy of Gary Francis)

Tony did a post yesterday linking the astrological phenomenon of a Blue Moon (i.e., the second full moon in the same month) with a song by the same name.  Comments to the post addressed both of those themes and, as is usually the case, linked everything back to Lowell where there was once a night club named the Blue Moon.  The above picture from Gary Francis (thanks for sharing!) shows the demise of the Blue Moon while the comments below recount a few reader memories of the place.  If you remember Lowell’s Blue Moon, please share your story using the “comment” feature:

Gary Francis

The Blue Moon was also the name of a former business in Lowell…..a nightclub at the corner of Wood Street and Princeton Blvd….right where Market Basket/Osco Drug is today….except that the building was orientated to face the Blvd as oppposed to Wood St. It was owned by the Molansen (sp?) family who lived on Westchester St in the Highlands - right across the street from where I grew up. It burned down in the 1960’s. I have a picture of the building at the height of the fire….if anyone wants a copy send me an e-mail and I will forward it off to you.

John Quealey

Years ago a nightclub named Blue Moon was on Woods Street beside the First National Store which is now Market Basket.I was invited to the breakfast there after serving a wedding Mass at Sacred Heart.Blue Moon was the only business in that shopping center when I was at the breakfast in 1950.

Marie

Love the Marcels and love this version of “Blue Moon” although there are many more.
Re: Lowell’s Blue Moon - Many a celebrity played there and they hosted many a wedding and special social event. Sampascoopies often noted people “seen at the Blue Moon.”

DickH

I remember Lowell’s Blue Moon although I wasn’t old enough to go inside. Diagonally across the intersection of Wood St and Princeton Blvd was the Hi-Hat roller skating rink. My mom tells me that on the other corner - where the White Hen Pantry now stands - was a small house that served as a veterinarian’s office. When the White Hen was to be built, the house was moved a few blocks over to Ostrander Ave where it still stands as someone’s residence.

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The Globe and the Herald both explore the possibility of UML Chancellor Marty Meehan moving on to the presidency of Suffolk University in competing stories in this morning’s editions.  The president of Suffolk, David Sargent, will be 82 when his current $1.5 million contract expires and the speculation is that he will retire then if not sooner.

The Globe reports that Meehan, who had been a member of the Suffolk board of trustees for some time but who stepped down temporarily to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest while the UMass system was deciding whether to open a law school – Suffolk, which has its own law school, opposes such a move – is now uncertain about whether he will rejoin the Suffolk board at all.  According to the Globe, “Meehan said yesterday that he is not vying for the Suffolk presidency, despite the fact his Umass Lowell contract expires in June – He is negotiating a new three- to five-year contract with UMass.”  The Globe goes on to quote Marty as saying “There’s still a lot I want to accomplish at UMass Lowell” but the paper then adds “After that, he said, he would consider the Suffolk presidency along with other options.”

The Herald story, by former Sun reporter Hillary Chabot, covers much of the same ground as the Globe report, but includes a much more emphatic slamming-shut-the-Suffolk-door quote from Meehan.  “’I’m staying at UMass-Lowell’ said Meehan, adding he is not interested in the $1.5 million-a-year Suffolk position, ‘in any way, shape or form.’”   

It’s hard to believe that Meehan’s contract is up this coming June.  It seems like such a short time ago that he decided to leave Congress.  Since then, however, the University has been a whirlwind of activity, acquiring the Tsongas Arena and the downtown hotel, moving forward on the construction of a new academic building and invigorating the relationship between the city and the university.  For those reasons alone, it would be best to keep the current leadership of the university in place for the foreseeable future.

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October 5, 1988 vice-presidential debate, Omaha, Nebraska
Dan Quayle (Republican VP): I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency.
Lloyd Bentsen (Democrat VP): Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.
Quayle: That was really uncalled for, Senator.
Bentsen: You are the one that was making the comparison, Senator — and I’m one who knew him well. And frankly I think you are so far apart in the objectives you choose for your country that I did not think the comparison was well-taken.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on US Senatorial candidate Scott Brown’s JFK Ad. The question… should  Brown, a Republican, invoke the memory of Democratic president, John F Kennedy in a political Ad? And lets not forget, this isn’t Nebraska…firing the Kennedy name in Massachusetts is nuclear.

Take a look…

What do you think?

Here are some reader opinions published on the comments section of boston.com

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Declared as the poorest city in Massachusetts and perhaps the 23rd poorest in the United States, Lawrence - the City of Imnmigrants - struggles to survive. Hunger and housing emerge as leading characters along with individuals wanting to be better. The Pastor and people of St. Patrick’s - not without controversy and some resistance - successfully rally and fundraise to create “Cor Unum” a building, a cause and commitment to feed hungry individuals and families in Lawrence. Many did not accept the fact of hungry people in Lawrence. Some saw food stamps and schools breakfasts and lunches as dealing with the problem. The core members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and others persevered. The running thread of immigration, differing cultures, experiences and goals carries the film through the challenges of life in this neighborhood of Lawrence.

You will see: Fr. Paul’s Harvard classmate Conan O’Brien; scenes from the liturgical year as celebrated at St. Patrick’s; the mills, bridges and other architectural elements of the city and the people - old, young, ethnic, bilingual, Catholic, traditional and struggling.

I highly recommend this episode of Independent Lens. Here’s the schedule for the next few days:

Scenes From a Parish

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Tomorrow night there will be a New Years Eve Blue Moon. To be perfectly honestly, until recently I thought Blue Moon was the title of the hit song in the early 60’s by the Marcels. I figured, some guy was losing his girlfriend so he wrote a song about a “blue” moon, like his sad feelings. Hey, I never listened to the lyrics! I was paying attention to the catchy doo wop sounds… “bopa da bopa da bopa da ringa da ringa da ring” (you try spelling it). Oh, was I wrong! Astronomically speaking, there really are blue moons. This according to wikipedia…

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (on average about every 2.7154 years), there is an extra full moon.

Simply put, a blue moon is a second full moon in one month.

Blue Moons are rare. In the entire Twentieth Century there have only been 40 blue moons, (not counting the song). The rarity spawned the modern day express “Once in a Blue Moon”. And it is believed that if you make a wish under a blue moon it will come true, but maybe not quite in the way you want or expect it (sounds like a Twlight Zone Episode).

There have only been three other blue moons this decade…November 30, 2001; July 31, 2004 and May 31, 2007 and tomorrow nights, December 31, 2009 makes four.

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The Boston Red Sox announced yesterday that they had extended their player development contract with the Lowell Spinners for two more years, ensuring that the Lowell team will be affiliated with the Red Sox until at least the end of the 2012 season.  With the city of Lowell earlier this year extending the Spinners’ lease on Lelacheur Park for an additional ten years, 2009 has indeed been a good year for minor league baseball in Lowell.  The Spinners first came to Lowell in 1996 and began playing at Lelacheur in 1998.

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