The biggest scientific news of 2020

Illustration for article entitled The Biggest Science News of 2020

Photo: Ricardo Arduengo / AFP (Getty Images)

Annual reviewAnnual reviewWe look back on the best, worst and most important times of the year and look forward to next year.

[Yelling into a cavernous chamber as supernovae explode in the dark and a gust of hot wind comes whistling through] SCIENCE!!!!

Friends, this is how you introduce an end-of-year list for science. Like everything else in 2020, science had a great year. There were exciting highs, such as the record speed of coronavirus vaccine creation and our closest ever look to the sun’s surface, but there were also deep lows, such as the virus toll, the worsening climate crisis and the tragic collapse of the iconic Arecibo Observatory dish.

We have collected the most important scientific stories of the year. They show the best researchers that have been presented to us, the losses we have suffered, and the cautionary tales of ignoring science.

.Source