TechSmart 121, October 2013 TechSmart 123, December 2013 | Page 26

1.6 cm

SCIENCE

The diameter of the hole
drilled in Martian rock by
Curiosity.

Life could have been possible on Mars1
Rock samples collected from what was likely
an ancient river system on Mars contained
elements found in all organic molecules. The
wet environment seems to not have been
harshly salty or acidic and likely also
provided chemical energy necessary to
sustain microbes. It seems Mars had
everything to make a happy home
for simple life forms.

30 hrs
The age at which
antiretroviral
treatment started

The Big
(Sci)Five
of 2013

Although the Higgs boson was
suggested to have been found
last year already, it could only be
confirmed this year. Further analysis
of the original data showed with a
high level of certainty that the elusive
particle does indeed exist. If it didn’t,
the physics of our universe would
have been turned on its head.

1 in 3.5 million

1.98
Reconstructions of the skeleton of
Australopithecus sediba discovered
at the Cradle of Humankind, suggest
that it was human-like but also apelike. The journal Science allocated
substantial space to the findings,
which included teeth and jaw
characteristics similar to humans and
a form of upright walking that was
part human, part ape. The discovery
suggests a close evolutionary
relationship between Sediba and
modern humans.

24

The chance of finding the energy signal associated with the
Higgs boson if the particle didn’t exist.

million
years

1&0

The age of the
Sediba fossil.

SOURCES: 1. NASA: bit.ly/ZGbCWO 2. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: 1.usa.
gov/Z83M6X 3. European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN): bit.ly/XKLKey 4. University
of the Witwatersrand: bit.ly/Ii2ZPb 5. Stanford University: stanford.io/14vhNTC.

Starting antiretroviral
treatment in an HIV-positive
newborn just hours after birth
seems to have stopped the
virus from settling down. After 29
days of treatment the viral load
had dropped to undetectable
levels. And 18 months after all
treatment stopped, there was
still no sign of the virus returning.
This brings hope for new treatment
strategies in HIV-positive infants.

Subatomic particle
confirmed as the Higgs
boson3

Science hit the headlines with some pretty big
stories this year. Here is our pick of the best
science news of 2013.

SA hominin finds its place in
our evolutionary tree4

The first case of HIV
remission in a child2

The Binary equivalents
of true and false.

Transistors built from genetic material5
Scientists managed to build the third – and final – component needed for
a computer that can work in a living cell. Using one enzyme to control the
flow of another along a strand of DNA, they created biological logic gates
that can control molecular processes. This is similar to the way transistors
control the flow of electrons in electronics. [LP]

Images:
1. NASA/JPL/Cornell University, Maas Digital LLC 2. Stock image, Shutterstock 3. CERN 4. Photo
by Lee Berger, courtesy of the University of the Witwatersrand. 5. Stock image, Shutterstock.

December 2013 | TechSmart