Our understanding of the Universe around us continues to grow at an exponential pace, as does our ability to exploit and utilize that knowledge. While many people fear that the world will end next December, in reality we are seeing the beginnings of a series of scientific and technological breakthroughs on par with the industrial revolution. Here’s a quick preview of what to expect from the coming year in science and technology.

Physics

This past year was an exciting one for physicists, with many interesting discoveries that raised even more interesting questions. In the fall, a team from Gran Sasso Italy published incredible results from a series of experiments in which they appeared to be detecting neutrinos emitted from CERN’s physics laboratory traveling faster than the speed of light. If this result is true, it would alter Einstein’s famous theory of relativity and send us back to the drawing board, where particle physics is concerned. However, these findings are being widely disputed. In Antarctica, physicists have created an instrument called IceCube that detects neutrinos emitted naturally when cosmic rays come into contact with our atmosphere. IceCube has detected neutrinos with 10,000 times the energy of those created at CERN, but never seen any evidence that they travel faster than the speed of light. However, the OPERA project that published the initial results checked, double-checked, and triple-checked their experiment for mistakes and could not find any, so the mystery remains.

Even more exciting, researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva believe they are close to discovering the Higgs boson, the elusive sub-atomic particle that gives other particles their mass. The Higgs has been predicted to exist by the Standard Model – our current understanding of the rules by which particles interact – but has never been detected. At a seminar on December 6th, the heads of two different experiments at the LHC said they found tantalizing indications that it may exist in the 124-125 gigaelectronvolt range (about 130 times as heavy as the protons in atomic nuclei). The results are exciting, but researchers are cautious as it could be due to small fluctuations in the data. However, the two different experiments have produced corresponding results, and so researchers are hopeful that they have finally found an important missing component of the Standard Model. “Within one year we will probably know whether the Higgs particle exists,” claimed Professor Stefan Soldner-Rembold from the University of Manchester.

Cosmology

The number of exoplanets continues to grow as NASA’s Kepler mission sweeps the stars. December was an exciting time for the mission; on the 5th the team announced they had found the first planet to orbit its star in the habitable zone – a disc-shaped area around each star where water can exist in its liquid form. While the planet in question is too large to have a rocky surface like Earth’s, on December 20th, they announced the discovery of the first Earth-sized exoplanets. Unfortunately, these planets orbit much too close to their parent stars to be considered habitable, but the team is confident that we are getting closer and closer to finding our extra-solar twin. “The tremendous growth in the number of Earth-size candidates tells us that we’re honing in on the planets Kepler was designed to detect: those that are not only Earth-size, but also are potentially habitable,” stated Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead. “We are on the edge of our seats knowing that Kepler’s most anticipated discoveries are still to come.”

Medicine

Recent advances in cancer vaccines have many researchers in the field optimistic for the future. According to the National Cancer institute, there are more than 250 clinical trials of vaccines underway at the moment. “It bodes well for what you’re going to be seeing in the future,” said Dr. Larry Kwak, professor and chairman of lymphoma and myeloma at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. While radiation and chemotherapy are still the most widely used of cancer therapies, that could change in the coming year. Cancer vaccines work differently than traditional vaccines, and are generally not administered until after a patient has already come down with the disease. Depending on the type of cancer, a more general vaccine may be used, or it may need to be tailored to a specific patient’s tumors.

Another exciting advance in this field is the use of targeted viruses to attack cancer cells. In August, a team at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in Canada claimed they have shown that these viruses can be delivered through the bloodstream to cancer cells without harming other tissues. According to lead researcher John Bell, cancer cells have defects that make them more susceptible to viral infection than normal cells. This makes the use of targeted viral therapy a much safer option than radiation and chemotherapy, which have very serious side affects. What’s more, since the virus is in the patient’s bloodstream, it can seek out and find cancer cells that have metastasized and are spreading throughout the patient’s body. Surgery removes only the tumor itself, not these metastasized cells, and they are often missed by chemotherapy as well. “We will need to do more trials to know if this virus can truly make a difference for patients,” Bell said, but they are hopeful that soon we will have a more selective and powerful tool in our fight against cancer.

Gadgets and Technology

2012 promises to be a good year for the technophile. As advances in personal computing combine with cheaper, easier-to-manufacture electronics, a plethora of new consumer technologies have come onto the scene. Here are just a few of the products expected to make a big impression in the coming twelve months.

3-D Printing for the Masses: Makerbot has created the Thing-o-Matic, a commercially available 3-D printer, and while the price may be a little hefty, it is available for individual purchase. Designed to be more user-friendly than traditional 3D printers, Thing-o-Matic carves solid objects out of a plastic automatically, and features USB connectivity so you can create plastic replacement parts, sculptures, or your very own dinosaur-with-Stephen-Colbert’s-head.

Intwine Connected Thermostat Monitors your Eco-Footprint: for the technology lover with a green, guilty conscience, this is the perfect power-monitoring tool. Working with nearly any HVAC system, the device allows the user to watch their energy usage over the web via wi-fi connection, and adjust it accordingly.

Remote Control Robots: spy on your neighbors, race your friends, or simply terrorize the cat with these awesome new remote control robots available at Brookstone. From your computer or smartphone you can now operate a real flying drone just like the US Military and law enforcement (AGM-114 Hellfire missiles not included). There is also a spy tank with night vision that is sure to be used for legitimate, wholesome purposes only.

While 2011 was an incredible year for many branches of science, 2012 looks to be even more fascinating. Whether you’re hoping to find another habitable planet, break the speed of light, cure cancer, or simply keep tabs on your neighbors with a flying robot, 2012 holds a lot of promise for you. Have a safe, happy, and illuminating New Year.