Brain Wiring and Disease: Several studies in 2005 suggest that diseases such schizophrenia, Tourette syndrome, and dyslexia are rooted in "faulty wiring" of the brain's neural circuitry during development in the womb.
Where Did Earth Come From?: This year, researchers took another look at Earth rocks and meteorites that resemble the starting material of the solar system and found that their atoms were significantly different. So where did Earth get its building blocks? Some scientists now say early Earth materials come from a different part of the solar system, while others say parts of early Earth are just sunk deep in the planet, hidden from view.
Key Protein's Close-up: The most detailed molecular portrait to date of a voltage-gated potassium channel was unveiled in 2005. These channels, gatekeeper proteins that usher potassium ions in and out of cells, are as key to nerve and muscle functioning as transistors are to computers.
Changing Climate of Climate Change?: In 2005, evidence linking humans to global warming continued to accumulate and U.S. politicians began to take notice. From the warming of deep ocean waters and increased frequencies of the most intense tropical cyclones to continued reductions in ice cover in the Arctic Ocean and altered bird migratory patterns, scientific evidence for climate change built up in 2005 and non-scientists seem to have listened.
Cell Signaling Steps Up: Dynamic views of how cells respond to the chemical and environmental signals all around them took hold in 2005 thanks to efforts to track multiple inputs and outputs of cell signaling networks simultaneou
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Source:American Association for the Advancement of Science