Most Influential Scientists of 2012

MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS OF 2012 Let's explore some of the most important science of the past year and celebrate those who helped make it happen. Л Biology Climate change Statistics Engineering Physics Medicine Genetics Microbiology Filmmaking Virology JOHN HAFERNIK Area: From: SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY Hafernik's team of researchers revealed a startling factor in the potentially dangerous disappearance of honey bees worldwide: a parasitic fly that essentially hijacks the bees' minds, leading them to abandon the hive. Bees are responsible for pollenating about a third of the U.S. food supply. CYNTHIA ROSENZWEIG Area: From: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University Nearly 15 years ago, Rosenzweig and her colleagues at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies explored the effect of a superstorm on a major city. Such predictions came to life when Superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast, causing dozens of deaths and widespread damage. NATE SILVER Area: From: The New York Times Silver's ever-growing Résumé of stunningly accurate predictions got a bit stouter as he accurately predicted the 3100 2012 Presidential election results for all 3050 50 states, as well as the outcome of 31 3000 2950 out of 33 Senate races. 2900 2850 2800 ADAM STELTZNER Area: From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Steltzner led the team behind the successful landing of NASA's rover Curiosity, which safely touched down on the surface of Mars and quickly began beaming back stunning images of the Red Planet. ROLF-DIETER HEUER Area: From: CERN Heuer, as the director general of CERN, the host lab of the Large Hadron Collider, urged his colleagues to go public with their discovery of the so-called "God" particle, the Higgs boson, which was one of the most exciting scientific announcements of 2012. D00000 00000 00 GARY LANDRETH Area: CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVE R SITY From: EST 1826 Leading a team at Case Western Reserve University, Landreth and his colleagues discovered that a skin cancer drug when used in mice with Alzheimer's began reversing plaque build-up in the brain almost immediately. Human trials are set to begin soon. ELIZABETH IORNS Area: Jt Science From: EXCHANGE In launching the Reproducibility Initiative, lorns aims to shake up the scientific community by having third-party researchers attempt to replicate important experiments to ensure consistent results. JO HANDELSMAN Area: From: YALE Handelsman's study lent credence to the belief that there's a gender bias in science by revealing that research teams offered fictitious female applicants thousands less in salary and rated them less competent than male applicants. JAMES CAMERON Area: From: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC The Oscar-winning director of "Titanic" and "Avatar" became the first person to visit the Marianas Trench's Challenger Deep, Earth's deepest area, in a solo craft. RON FOUCHIER Area: Erasmus MC From: Using a few key genetic tweaks, Fouchier created a highly lethal strain of bird flu that could spread through the air, sparking a controversy over such work. Fouchier maintained that the research is necessary and safe, and he's now begun research on a deadly pneumonia that has emerged from a bat virus in the Middle East. SOURCES National Geographic CNN.com livescience.com Huffington Post WWW.BESTCOLLEGEREVIEWS.ORG/INFLUENTIAL-SCIENTISTS