:00:00. > 3:59:59It has been a remarkable year in many ways, including in the world of
:00:00. > :00:00.science. Rebecca Morelle looks back
:00:00. > :00:00.on the year in science - from British astronaut Tim Peake's
:00:00. > :00:00.adventures in space, to a discovery that will transform
:00:00. > :00:08.our understanding of the universe. That's Review 2016:
:00:09. > :00:16.The Year in Science. From the mission of a lifetime,
:00:17. > :00:19.this was the year British astronaut In 2016, the world's largest radio
:00:20. > :00:36.telescope was unveiled. We also learned about
:00:37. > :00:41.the secret life of seals And saw advances in a controversial
:00:42. > :00:50.new genetic technique. Human organs are growing
:00:51. > :00:52.inside these pigs. This was also the year a global
:00:53. > :00:55.climate deal came into force but the election of Donald Trump
:00:56. > :00:57.placed a question And after decades of searching,
:00:58. > :01:03.scientists have detected It's been called the discovery
:01:04. > :01:08.of the century, making 2016 a truly I'm here at the Jodrell Bank
:01:09. > :01:18.Observatory in the north of England. For more than half a century,
:01:19. > :01:21.scientists have been using this vast telescope to gaze up
:01:22. > :01:29.into the heavens, transforming our Some people have been lucky enough
:01:30. > :01:34.to experience the wonders This year it was the turn of British
:01:35. > :01:38.astronaut Tim Peake. Blasting off, the start
:01:39. > :01:45.of a remarkable mission. He was heading for the space station
:01:46. > :01:53.to join its international crew The first British
:01:54. > :01:59.astronaut now on board In his first live broadcast,
:02:00. > :02:06.he said the experience We always talk about seeing
:02:07. > :02:13.the view of planet Earth But, when you look the opposite
:02:14. > :02:19.direction and you see how dark space is, the black is black
:02:20. > :02:22.and you realise how small the Earth His space moves though
:02:23. > :02:32.still needed a bit of work. But, before long, Tim got
:02:33. > :02:41.a chance to put on his space suit and head outside,
:02:42. > :02:43.joining Nasa astronaut Tim, it's really cool seeing
:02:44. > :02:52.the Union Jack going outside. It's explored all over the world
:02:53. > :02:55.and now it's explored space. The task was to carry
:02:56. > :03:01.out essential repairs. At 400 kilometres above the Earth,
:03:02. > :03:08.what better place to take a selfie! Science was also key for this
:03:09. > :03:11.European Space Agency mission. Tim became a human guinea pig,
:03:12. > :03:15.seeing how the body changes in this He even found time to squeeze
:03:16. > :03:20.in the London Marathon, and, But, after six months, it was time
:03:21. > :03:32.to say goodbye and head home. Strapped into the Soyuz capsule,
:03:33. > :03:37.Tim and his crew mates Awaiting them, a support team
:03:38. > :03:40.circling above the grassy Then, suddenly, above the clouds,
:03:41. > :03:48.the capsule appeared. And, with a firing of its thrusters,
:03:49. > :03:52.it finally touched down. Weak after six months in space
:03:53. > :04:00.but happy to be home. And it's wonderful to be
:04:01. > :04:12.back in the fresh air. Since his return, Tim's been meeting
:04:13. > :04:21.schoolchildren around the UK. He hopes his mission might just
:04:22. > :04:30.inspire the next generation Jodrell Bank was built back
:04:31. > :04:38.in the 1950s and this dish In China, the Government
:04:39. > :04:43.is investing heavily in science and they've decided it's time
:04:44. > :04:51.for their own record-breaker, a radio telescope that's
:04:52. > :04:58.half a kilometre across. Hidden in the remote mountains
:04:59. > :05:00.of south-west China, This is the largest radio
:05:01. > :05:10.telescope ever built. Earlier this year, as it neared
:05:11. > :05:18.completion, I was given rare access and a chance for a view
:05:19. > :05:21.unlike any other. It's only when you get up close that
:05:22. > :05:25.you really get a sense Bigger is better when it
:05:26. > :05:34.comes to astronomy. The larger the dish,
:05:35. > :05:36.the more signals can be collected from space,
:05:37. > :05:38.helping us to see deeper In China, astronomy,
:05:39. > :05:46.we are far behind the world. I think it is time for us to build
:05:47. > :05:51.something in China and used by a lot of Chinese users,
:05:52. > :05:54.and also welcome the The telescope works by listening
:05:55. > :06:07.to radio waves emitted The dish is so big it will reveal
:06:08. > :06:16.the first stars in galaxies and even hunt for signs
:06:17. > :06:18.of extraterrestrial life. Building it has taken
:06:19. > :06:21.the Chinese just five years. At a cost of $180 million,
:06:22. > :06:23.it is part of the country's unprecedented investment in science,
:06:24. > :06:25.that's on the verge By September, the final pieces
:06:26. > :06:32.were slotted into place. China is now hoping its super-sized
:06:33. > :06:44.project will transform it For the medical world it's also been
:06:45. > :06:54.a year of breakthroughs. These miniature brains,
:06:55. > :06:58.called orgnoids. They're grown from a single cell,
:06:59. > :07:00.donated by patients. And they're helping
:07:01. > :07:01.scientists to understand We can actually compare
:07:02. > :07:13.the organoids to the patient and see some of the features of the disorder
:07:14. > :07:16.and try to understand I think it's a really huge step
:07:17. > :07:22.toward some hopefully really amazing breakthroughs in what has been
:07:23. > :07:25.a desert in the field And in Poland, this man
:07:26. > :07:28.was completely paralysed Now he is relearning
:07:29. > :07:35.how to use his legs. Two years ago he had
:07:36. > :07:37.a cell transplant to Now scientists want to see if these
:07:38. > :07:43.outstanding results can And in America, the technology
:07:44. > :07:47.called gene editing Here, human stem cells are being
:07:48. > :07:57.injected into a pig embryo. Scientists are attempting to grow
:07:58. > :08:00.a human pancreas inside a pig. Our hope is that the embryo
:08:01. > :08:14.will develop normally. But the pancreas will be made up
:08:15. > :08:19.almost exclusively out of human cells. So that then that pancreas
:08:20. > :08:25.could be compatible with a patient for transplantation. These peaks are
:08:26. > :08:30.present -- pregnant with the embryos. They won't reach full term
:08:31. > :08:36.that they will be removed after a month and carefully analysed. Every
:08:37. > :08:39.organ we tried to make rugby at kidney, liver or lung, we will look
:08:40. > :08:45.at what is happening in the brain full if we find it is too human
:08:46. > :08:50.like, we won't let those foetuses be born. The hope is this technology
:08:51. > :08:58.could eventually solve organ shortages but it also raises
:08:59. > :09:04.profound, ethical questions. In 2016, we've also been learning about
:09:05. > :09:11.the inhabitants of our oceans. These incredible animals were found in the
:09:12. > :09:18.Mariano trench, as scientists explored the deepest place on the
:09:19. > :09:23.planet. And an animal that's a record-breaker. Scientists believe
:09:24. > :09:32.the Greenland shark can reach 400 years old, making it the world's
:09:33. > :09:37.longest living vertebrate. And this year, we learned about the secret
:09:38. > :09:43.lives of seals. Beneath the waves, these animals are a mystery. They
:09:44. > :09:49.spend two thirds of their time in the water. But down here, they have
:09:50. > :09:53.been little studied. We travelled to their home in the north of England,
:09:54. > :10:03.the farm islands. It's a grey seal haven. Bill Ababy seals! It was a
:10:04. > :10:12.chance to join these animals in the freezing North three. -- C. The
:10:13. > :10:17.animals seemed as interested in us as we work in them. The Alan Alger
:10:18. > :10:22.it is cold but if you want to study these incredible animals up close,
:10:23. > :10:27.you do have to get into the water. Around the coast of the UK, nearly
:10:28. > :10:35.40% of grey seals live here. There are 5000 here in the farm islands.
:10:36. > :10:41.Ben has been guiding with seals for years. Now he is capturing them on
:10:42. > :10:45.camera. Recording behaviour that surprisingly has never been seen
:10:46. > :10:49.before. What we are seeing is a lot of mating behaviour under water,
:10:50. > :10:55.down to depths of nearly eight metres. A lot of balls seal activity
:10:56. > :11:00.where they will wrestle each other, pushing each other and turning each
:11:01. > :11:03.other. By having these competitions underwater, whether that reduces
:11:04. > :11:10.that conflict on the land and they remember that behaviour. We are
:11:11. > :11:13.getting an intriguing glimpse of the hidden world. Understanding these
:11:14. > :11:21.animals could be the key to keeping their population thriving. With this
:11:22. > :11:25.beautiful and intricate model we can see our solar system at a glance and
:11:26. > :11:33.explore how the planets move around the sun. There is one that dominates
:11:34. > :11:38.all others, Jupiter. It's the biggest planet in our solar system
:11:39. > :11:46.in this year had a new visitor. Beneath its swirling clouds, Jupiter
:11:47. > :11:51.is a world shrouded in mystery. These images, though spectacular,
:11:52. > :12:01.were taken from afar. Nasa wanted to see this giant up close. Three, two,
:12:02. > :12:05.one. Ignition, and lift off. In 2011, the mission blasted off. The
:12:06. > :12:14.spacecraft called Juno embarking on an epic journey. As it neared its
:12:15. > :12:19.destination, it faced its biggest challenge, to get into orbit it had
:12:20. > :12:25.to slam on its brakes and survived everything Jupiter could throw at
:12:26. > :12:30.it, including its deadly radiation. When Juno goes into orbit around
:12:31. > :12:33.Jupiter, we're going to go through a really nasty, hazardous region,
:12:34. > :12:37.radiation belts that are very close to the planet. They are nasty and
:12:38. > :12:43.can destroy an attack all the electronics. We have to be careful.
:12:44. > :12:47.Scientists faced a tense wait at mission control in California to
:12:48. > :12:52.learn the fate of their billion-dollar spacecraft. Then, a
:12:53. > :12:59.signal. APPLAUSE
:13:00. > :13:05.The mood is pure elation here. After more than a decade of work and a
:13:06. > :13:11.journey through space, Juno is the closest we have ever been to
:13:12. > :13:17.Jupiter. We compared -- prepared a contingency procedure. Guess what?
:13:18. > :13:26.We don't need that anymore. And then came the pictures. For the first
:13:27. > :13:31.time, its South Pole was revealed. Covered in storms, many even bigger
:13:32. > :13:36.than the Earth. In the north, it's blanketed by a thick atmosphere. In
:13:37. > :13:41.this infrared view, at the top you can see Jupiter's Northern lights.
:13:42. > :13:50.And the sound was captured as the spacecraft through dash flew through
:13:51. > :13:54.the spectacular space show. The reaction was amazement. Look at
:13:55. > :14:01.these images X the measure we are flying over the poll for the first
:14:02. > :14:07.time. It is jaw-dropping. Eye-macro we are expecting more images like
:14:08. > :14:15.this over the course of the mission. -- We are expecting. It is nothing
:14:16. > :14:20.like they have ever seen before. But Mars was the destination for the
:14:21. > :14:26.European Space Agency. The mission had two aims. Firstly to get the
:14:27. > :14:30.spacecraft into orbit, which went exactly as planned. Scientists also
:14:31. > :14:38.wanted to set down a lander on the planet's said this. But the signal
:14:39. > :14:46.was never sent back to Earth. Days later, these images revealed the
:14:47. > :14:50.crash site. The spacecraft had failed in the final moments of its
:14:51. > :14:56.descent. This year we have been pushing the boundaries of space
:14:57. > :15:00.exploration. Our focus has been on our own planet. 2016 has been
:15:01. > :15:03.declared the hottest year on record, putting climate change and how to
:15:04. > :15:13.tackle it in the spotlight once again. This year, our planet United,
:15:14. > :15:16.at least for a while. For the world's ger is, a plan to cut
:15:17. > :15:25.greenhouse gases became international law. The groundwork
:15:26. > :15:32.was laid at the climate summit in Paris last year. After years of
:15:33. > :15:37.negotiations, and historic global agreement had been reached.
:15:38. > :15:41.Countries must now move away from fossil fuels and instead adopt a
:15:42. > :15:47.green energy approach will do just as the Paris deal came into force,
:15:48. > :15:53.Donald Trump was elected as the US president. He once called climate
:15:54. > :15:59.change a hoax. In 2012, he tweeted it was invented by the Chinese to
:16:00. > :16:05.harm US businesses. During his campaign, he said this is what he
:16:06. > :16:11.would do. We are going to cancel the Paris climate agreement and stop all
:16:12. > :16:17.payments of the United States textiles to UN global warming
:16:18. > :16:23.programmes. Island nations affected by rising sea levels pleaded with
:16:24. > :16:26.him to change his mind. President-elect Tramp I formally
:16:27. > :16:32.invite you to Fiji and promise you the warmest of welcomes. We will
:16:33. > :16:39.show you how we are already having to move entire communities out of
:16:40. > :16:43.the way the rising seas. With its reliance on fossil fuels like coal,
:16:44. > :16:47.the United States is the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.
:16:48. > :16:54.Its participation in the global climate deal was seen as vital. No
:16:55. > :16:57.one knows what Trump will do. He has recently appointed a climate sceptic
:16:58. > :17:07.to lead on the environment. Some fear the future of the Paris deal
:17:08. > :17:12.now looks uncertain. In 2016, protection for the animals living in
:17:13. > :17:18.the icy wilderness of Antarctica was also a focus. In October, a great
:17:19. > :17:24.swathes of its ocean was declared a marine protected area, the largest
:17:25. > :17:28.in the world. It is hoped, even for tiny creatures like Quayle, the
:17:29. > :17:34.foundation of the food chain, the future of this unique and fragile
:17:35. > :17:42.environment will be preserved. And this will be vital for the
:17:43. > :17:47.continent's 's charismatic animals. These penguins started nesting here
:17:48. > :17:51.just ten years ago. It is thought they may have moved because of
:17:52. > :17:56.climate change. Now scientists have set up a network of cameras to
:17:57. > :18:02.monitor them. It shows how the colony is changing, hour by hour,
:18:03. > :18:04.over the course of a year. At another site, scientists are
:18:05. > :18:12.counting the birds but numbers are down. We are in a colony of
:18:13. > :18:16.penguins. This particular region, this particular species, has seen a
:18:17. > :18:22.decline in the past two decades. There may be a link with competition
:18:23. > :18:27.from fisheries, as in humans obtaining the same food, kreel, as
:18:28. > :18:30.the penguins would normally eat. Scientists say only by tracking
:18:31. > :18:35.these birds will we see how they fare in this changing world. And
:18:36. > :18:50.coming soon to Antarctica, Boaty McBoatface, well,
:18:51. > :18:56.almost. The British public voted for OT to be its name. The public over
:18:57. > :19:00.ruled them. They dedicated the vessel to Sir David Attenborough, a
:19:01. > :19:06.more fitting title, they said. The public post-match choice will live
:19:07. > :19:12.on. Boaty McBoatface is now the name of the robotic submersible. In the
:19:13. > :19:24.world of tech, there was a battle between man and machine. A champion
:19:25. > :19:27.player of the ancient game of Go went up against an artificial
:19:28. > :19:35.intelligence programme developed by Google's deep mined. After four
:19:36. > :19:38.hours, the cumin resigned. The computer had one. Advances in AI are
:19:39. > :19:47.also enabling developments in driverless cars. This vehicle was
:19:48. > :19:53.made by Tesla, the company owned by a tech entrepreneurs. Only a car
:19:54. > :19:57.that is not self driving in the long-term will be like owning a
:19:58. > :20:05.horse. You would use it for sentimental reasons but not for
:20:06. > :20:09.daily use, really. But the burgeoning industry came under the
:20:10. > :20:15.spotlight earlier this year. Joshua Brown was a huge fan of Tesla cars
:20:16. > :20:20.and their autopilot feature. It takes all the stress out of it. His
:20:21. > :20:25.vehicle collided with a lorry and he was killed. It seems his car failed
:20:26. > :20:31.to recognise the trap crossing in front of it on a Florida highway.
:20:32. > :20:36.The vehicle's safety features have been upgraded and Elon musk still
:20:37. > :20:44.maintains they are safer than a car with a human in control.
:20:45. > :20:52.In 2016, it was time to take a last look at this comet, as we said
:20:53. > :20:58.farewell to the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission. It had
:20:59. > :20:59.given us these stunning images, revealing an alien world in
:21:00. > :21:11.incredible detail. Two years before, scientists
:21:12. > :21:16.attempted something many thought was impossible. Landing a robot on the
:21:17. > :21:25.comet's said this. It was a moment of space history in the making. --
:21:26. > :21:29.surface. Fantastic! The robots stopped working after a few days but
:21:30. > :21:33.it did manage to collect vital data. Continuing the mission was the
:21:34. > :21:37.Rosetta mothership, which remained in orbit around the comment. This
:21:38. > :21:41.year its power began to fade and it was time to bring the mission to a
:21:42. > :21:48.close. The spacecraft would go out with a crash landing. The Rosetta
:21:49. > :21:54.spacecraft was designed to fly to the comet, around the comet, but not
:21:55. > :21:59.to land on it. There is no doubt that as soon as it touches down, it
:22:00. > :22:02.is going to be destroyed. It gives scientists the chance to squeeze
:22:03. > :22:05.every last drop of science out of this mission. All the way down it
:22:06. > :22:10.will be taking close-up photos and collecting data. We will be
:22:11. > :22:15.listening to the signal from the Rosetta. Scientists waited for
:22:16. > :22:21.Rosetta to defend. The signal vanishing forever. And so, this is
:22:22. > :22:30.the end of the Rosetta mission. Thank you and goodbye. It is like
:22:31. > :22:35.RIP Rosetta. It is really sad, really, really sad. The legacy lives
:22:36. > :22:40.on. You just know when you do these things it comes to an end. But, you
:22:41. > :22:50.know, it is the end in a long, long Russian. But with more than 100,000
:22:51. > :22:55.photos and countless scientific observations, the work for the team
:22:56. > :22:59.is not over. The mission has captured the world's imagination and
:23:00. > :23:06.we may well be hearing about its discoveries for the next years to
:23:07. > :23:10.come. For researchers at this observatory and around the world,
:23:11. > :23:16.2016 is a year that will go down in history. After decades of searching,
:23:17. > :23:20.scientists finally discovered gravitational waves. Invisible
:23:21. > :23:28.ripples that pass through our cosmos. It is a breakthrough of
:23:29. > :23:34.simply astronomical proportions. It all started with Albert Einstein.
:23:35. > :23:39.This is the equation behind his theory of general relativity,
:23:40. > :23:42.conceived 100 years ago. A pillar of modern science. It told us
:23:43. > :23:49.everything from the motion of the planet to the presence of black
:23:50. > :23:57.holes. But this year, the final piece of Einstein's 's was found. We
:23:58. > :24:03.have detected gravitational waves. We did it. The idea is, as any
:24:04. > :24:07.object moves through the fabric of the universe, it gives off waves of
:24:08. > :24:11.gravitational energy, much like the ripples that emanate across the
:24:12. > :24:17.surface of the water when you throw a stone into a pond. And the ones we
:24:18. > :24:22.have spotted emanated from this cataclysmic event which took place
:24:23. > :24:27.1.3 billion light years away. Two black holes moving ever closer
:24:28. > :24:31.together. Eventually they smashed into one another, merging. The
:24:32. > :24:35.collision generated a surge of gravitational ripples that
:24:36. > :24:39.eventually reached Earth. They were spotted by this vast experiment in
:24:40. > :24:46.America. Tunnels carrying laser beams, sensitive enough to pick-up
:24:47. > :24:51.the minute disturbances caused by the oscillations. These black holes
:24:52. > :24:56.actually spiralled in over a billion years ago. The signal has been
:24:57. > :25:01.travelling to us since then and we turned on our detectives at just the
:25:02. > :25:05.right time to detect it arriving. It is a discovery that not only
:25:06. > :25:11.provides another feather in Einstein's at. He has been proved
:25:12. > :25:15.right once again. It also howls in the new Iraq in science.
:25:16. > :25:20.Gravitational waves provide a completely new way of looking at the
:25:21. > :25:31.universe. The ability to detect them as the dead shall to revolutionise
:25:32. > :25:34.astronomy. Until now, even our most advanced telescopes could show us
:25:35. > :25:37.only a fraction of the cost Mars. The rest was dark, unseen. Now we
:25:38. > :25:41.can detect gravitational waves, we can look deeper into space and
:25:42. > :25:46.further back in time than ever before, perhaps all the way to the
:25:47. > :25:50.Big Bang. The NBA with a brand-new perspective of the universe, one
:25:51. > :26:09.that will usher in new discoveries for decades to come.
:26:10. > :26:10.Hello. Things are set to turn very lively indeed over the next 24, 36