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Inventions/Discoveries of
2008
By Alex Michalski
Stem Cell Breakthrough
 A stem cell is a cell that gives rise to
other types of cells
 Scientists reprogrammed regular skin
cells to become stem cells in a monkey
Human Mapped
 Scientists discovered what a human
actually looked like on the inside
Brightest Supernova
Recorded
 Observed in Texas
 Star approximately 100 to 200 times the
size of our Sun
Hundreds of New Species
Discovered
 In the Weddell Sea, carnivorous sea
sponges and giant sea spiders found
 In Suriname, 12 dung beetles, a new
species of ant, 6 fish species and 5 new
types of frogs were discovered
 A legless amphibian was found in India
 11 types of plants were found in Vietnam
Building a Heart Valve
 Dr. Magdi Yacoub and his team of
researchers discovered how to build a
human heart valve
 Could help with human heart transplants
in the next 3 to 5 years
“Hot Jupiters” Discovered
 Three planets discovered outside our
solar system
 Named WASP 3, WASP 4, and WASP 5
after Wide Search Area for Planets
(WASP)
 About the size of Jupiter and
temperatures can reach 2,000 degrees
Celsius
Big Birdlike Dinosaur
 Paleontologists discovered a giant, 3,000
pound bird like dinosaur in Inner
Mongolia
 Scientists were surprised by bird-like
qualities of the skeleton-like the long,
slender limbs
Man’s Migration out of
Africa
 Scientists discovered that humans left
Africa between 65,000 and 25,000 years
ago
 Scientists determined that humans
originated in the Sub- Sahara Desert
area
World’s Oldest Animal
 Clam that can live for 200 to 300 years
found off the coast of Northern Iceland
 The clam that was found is 405 years old
Real-Life Kryptonite
 A white, powdery material was
discovered in Serbia
 Has the exact same chemistry of
Superman’s kryptonite
 Was named jadeite because krypton is
already an element