Physics 2014...

First Realistic Virtual Universe (see 5 below)

In May cosmologists took the place on the pedestal by releasing the first simulated universe of such a large scale: it simulated 13 billion years of cosmic evolution in a cube with 350 million light year long sides. “Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the universe on both large and small scales simultaneously,” said the lead author Mark Vogelsberger.

1. Deepest Image of a Galaxy Cluster (January)
2. NASA Releases First Images Taken by the Curiosity Rover ( February)
3. The Discovery of Gravitational Waves (March), though there's some recent data that cast doubt.
4. NASA’s Exoplanet Discoveries (April)
5. The First Realistic Virtual Universe (May)
6. Hybrid Carbon Nanotube Circuits (June)
7. OCO-2 Launched (July) The OCO-2 will study carbon dioxide concentrations and distributions in the atmosphere.
8. Field Medals and IBM’s Neuromorphic Computer Chip (August)
9. Water Vapour Found on an Exoplanet + India’s First Probe to Mars (September)
10. Nobel Prizes (October), the winners were Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, who were responsible for the development of the efficient blue light diodes.
11. Landing on a Comet (November), the first landing on the surface of a comet performed by the Rosetta spacecraft equipped with Philae landing module.
12. Planck 2014 Results (December)
The newest data suggests that the universe is 13.8 billion years old and is composed of 4.9 percent atomic matter, 26.6 percent dark matter and 68.5 percent dark energy.

Physics Database: Top Physics News of 2014