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Shutdowns, lethal viruses, typhoons and meteorites — much of this year’s science news seemed to come straight from the set of a Hollywood disaster movie. But there were plenty of feel-good moments, too. Space exploration hit a new high, cash poured in to investigate that most cryptic of human organs, the brain, and huge leaps were made in stem-cell therapies and the treatment of HIV. Here, captured in soundbites, statistics and summaries, is everything you need to know about the science that mattered in 2013.
As emerging players jostle old ambitions, Nigel Lockyer calls for the next generation of particle-physics projects to be coordinated on a global scale.