2017 delivered humility, and proved our potential
The Top 10 science stories of 2017, selected by Science News staff and presented in this year-end issue, have the potential to make you feel small and certainly humble. Our No. 1 story of the year takes place an unfathomably distant 130 million light-years away, where a neutron star smashup produced, by some estimates, 10 Earth masses worth of gold — wow! That’s enough for many trillions of trillions of wedding bands. A bit closer to home, in a solar system just 39 light-years away, seven Earth-sized worlds, at least three of them potentially habitable, had astrobiologists buzzing. That story, No. 5, forces us to dismiss any lingering notions that Earth is unique.
Here on Earth, but also in remote and unfamiliar territory, an iceberg the size of Delaware broke away from the fourth largest ice shelf in Antarctica, earning our No. 3 spotand offering scientists a chance to study newly forming ecosystems. This year was heavy with science events — both energizing and fear-provoking. A vast stretch of the United States stopped in wonder as the moon slid between us and the sun, turning day into dark. And the destructive power of nature was on full display during hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires that pay no heed to human life or property.