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{{Year nav topic5|2006|science}}
The year '''2006 in [[science]]''' and [[technology]] involved some significant events.

==Events==

===January===
[[File:Diamondring-eclipse-March03-29-2006.jpg|280px|thumb|March 29 total eclipse from [[Turkey]]]]
* January 15
** [[NASA]]'s [[Stardust (spacecraft)|Stardust]] mission successfully ends, the first to return dust from a [[comet]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,181763,00.html|title=Stardust Container in Almost Perfect Condition|date=2006-01-17|accessdate=2009-07-06|agency=Associated Press|work=Fox News}}</ref> ([[Astronomy]])
** The ''[[Stardust (spacecraft)|Stardust]]'' [[spacecraft]] successfully completes its primary mission of returning samples of [[comet]]ary and [[interstellar dust]] to [[Earth]]. Its sample return capsule touches down safely inside its intended landing area in [[Utah]], close to the Army Dugway Proving Ground. ([[Space exploration]])
* January 19
** Australian researchers at the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research centre in [[Hobart]], [[Tasmania]], publish experimental data that matches models of increasing sea level rising.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Philip|last=Ball|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060116/full/060116-11.html|title=Sea-level rise is quickening pace|date=2006-01-19|doi=10.1038/news060116-11|accessdate=2012-04-08|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|location=London|s2cid=128668212 }}</ref> ([[Environment]])
** The [[NASA]] [[spacecraft]] ''[[New Horizons]]'' launches successfully from [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]] and leaves [[Earth]]'s orbit shortly afterwards on its journey to [[Pluto]] ([[Space exploration]])
* January 25 &ndash; The discovery of the planet [[OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb]] through [[gravitational microlensing]] is announced by [[Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork|PLANET]]/RoboNet, [[Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment|OGLE]] and [[Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics|MOA]] ([[Astronomy]])
* January 27 &ndash; [[Scientific misconduct]]: The [[University of Tokyo]] announces that Kazunari Taira's experimental results in [[RNA]] research are irreproducible.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060123/full/060123-14.html|title=Scientist faces irreproducible results|first=Ichiko|last=Fuyuno|date=2006-01-27|accessdate=2012-04-08|doi=10.1038/news060123-14|journal=Nature|s2cid=85108611 }}</ref>

===February===
* February 1 &ndash; [[Eris (dwarf planet)|{{mp|2003 UB|313}}]] is found to be larger than [[Pluto]]. ([[Astronomy]])
* February 2 &ndash; [[NASA]]'s public affairs office is accused of censoring the comments by James Hansen of the [[Goddard Institute for Space Studies]] in New York. [http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060130/full/060130-11.html] ([[Space exploration]])
* February 13 &ndash; The recurrent [[nova]] [[RS Ophiuchi]] erupts. The last outburst occurred in 1985. ([[Astronomy]])

===March===
* March 9 &ndash; [[NASA]]'s [[Cassini-Huygens]] spacecraft discovers [[geysers]] of a liquid substance shooting from [[Saturn]]'s moon [[Enceladus (moon)|Enceladus]], signaling a possible presence of water.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0310_060310_saturn.html?source=rss|title=Saturn Moon Has Water Geysers and, Just Maybe, Life|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|date=2006-03-10|accessdate=2009-07-06|first=Elizabeth|last=Svoboda}}</ref> ([[Astronomy]])
* March 24 &ndash; The maiden flight of the [[SpaceX]] [[Falcon 1]] rocket ends in failure. ([[Space exploration]])
* March 29 &ndash; [[Solar eclipse of 2006 March 29|Total solar eclipse]] ([[Brazil]], Greece, Mid [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] ocean, [[Sahara]], [[Turkey]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], Russia, [[Kazakhstan]], [[Mongolia]]). ([[Astronomy]])

===April===
* April 15 &ndash; [[Anthony Atala]] and team at [[Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center]] in the United States publish their success in transplanting the first laboratory-grown organs, [[bladder]]s, into human patients.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Anthony|last=Atala|title=Tissue-engineered autologous bladders for patients needing cystoplasty|journal=[[The Lancet]]|location=London|volume=367|issue=9518|date=15–21 April 2006|pages=1241–1246|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673606684389|accessdate=2015-11-04|pmid=16631879|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(06)68438-9}}</ref> ([[Biology]])

===May===
* May 15 &ndash; The sequence of the last [[chromosome]] in the [[Human Genome Project]] is published in the journal ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]''. ([[Biology]])

===June===
* June 30 &ndash; The discovery of nine additional [[natural satellite]]s of [[Saturn]] published. ([[Astronomy]])

===July===
* July 12 &ndash; The launch of the first private experimental space habitat, ''[[Genesis I]]''. ([[Space exploration]])
* July 15 &ndash; [[Social networking service]] [[Twitter]] launched publicly.<ref>{{cite web|first=Michael|last=Arrington|url=http://techcrunch.com/2006/07/15/is-twttr-interesting/|title=Odeo Releases Twttr|work=[[TechCrunch]]|publisher=[[AOL]]|date=2006-07-15|accessdate=2014-05-15|authorlink=Michael Arrington}}</ref> ([[Computer science]])

===August===
* August 24 &ndash; [[Pluto]] is redesignated as a [[dwarf planet]] by the International Astronomical Union, joining [[Eris (dwarf planet)|{{mp|2003 UB|313}}]] and [[Ceres (dwarf planet)|1 Ceres]]. ([[Astronomy]])

===September===
* The Western Balsam Poplar (''[[Populus trichocarpa]]'') is the first tree whose full [[DNA]] code has been determined by [[DNA sequencing]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Joint Genome Institute|url=http://genome.jgi-psf.org/Poptr1_1/Poptr1_1.home.html|title=Populus trichocarpa|work=Genome Portal|accessdate=2015-11-06}}</ref> ([[Biology]])
* September 12 &ndash; The construction of the [[International Space Station]] is continued for the first time after a hiatus of almost four years. ([[Space exploration]])
* September 13 &ndash; {{mp|2003 UB|313}} is assigned the name [[Eris (dwarf planet)|Eris]]. ([[Astronomy]])
* September 22 &ndash; [[Solar eclipse of September 22, 2006|Annular solar eclipse]] in South America, [[West Africa]], and Antarctica. ([[Astronomy]])

===October===

===November===
* November 1 &ndash; [[Sony Reader#Models and availability|Sony PRS500]] [[e-book reader]] launched in the [[United States]]. ([[Computer science]])

===December===
* December 19 &ndash; [[Baiji]] declared "[[Functional extinction|functionally extinct]]".<ref>{{cite news|title=The Chinese river dolphin is functionally extinct|url=http://www.baiji.org/expeditions/1.html|publisher=baiji.org|date=2006-12-13|accessdate=2006-12-13|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104192730/http://www.baiji.org/expeditions/1.html|archivedate=4 January 2007 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status=live}}</ref> ([[Biology]])

===Date Unknown===
* Last sightings of the [[Western black rhinoceros]] and of the natural-born [[Northern white rhinoceros]]. ([[Biology]])
* The great prime search project finds the 44th [[Mersenne prime]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Tony|last=Crilly|title=50 Mathematical Ideas you really need to know|location=London|publisher=Quercus|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84724-008-8|page=41}}</ref> ([[Mathematics]])

==Awards==
* [[Nobel Prize]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]]: [[Andrew Fire]] and [[Craig Mello]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]: [[John C. Mather]] and [[George Smoot]]
** [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]]: [[Roger Kornberg]]
* [[Abel Prize|Abel Prize in Mathematics]]: [[Lennart Carleson]]
* [[Fields Medal|Fields Prize in Mathematics]]: [[Andrei Okounkov]], [[Grigori Perelman]] (''declined''), [[Terence Tao]], and [[Wendelin Werner]]

==Deaths==
* January 24 – Sir [[Nicholas Shackleton]] (b. [[1937 in science|1937]]), English Quaternary geologist and paleoclimatologist, recipient of the [[Vetlesen Prize]] (2004).
* February 28 – [[Owen Chamberlain]] (b. [[1920 in science|1920]]), American [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel laureate in physics]] (1959).
* May 1 – [[Kikuo Takano]] (b. [[1927 in science|1927]]), Japanese poet and [[mathematician]].
* May 14 – [[Robert Bruce Merrifield|Bruce Merrifield]] (b. [[1921 in science|1921]]), American [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel laureate in chemistry]] (1984) for developing a rapid, automated system for making [[peptide]]s.
* May 31 – [[Raymond Davis, Jr.]] (b. [[1914 in science|1914]]), American Nobel laureate in [[physics]] (2002) for pioneering the detection of cosmic [[neutrino]]s.
* August 9 – [[James Van Allen]] (b. 1914), American space scientist.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[:Category:2006 in science| ]]
[[:Category:21st century in science]]
[[:Category:2000s in science]]