Special Online Collection: Breakthrough of the Year 2009

In the 18 December 2009 issue, the editors and news staff of Science look back at the big science stories of the past 12 months and dub one of them the Breakthrough of the Year. A special section showcases the top breakthrough and the nine runners-up, rates last year's predictions, and forecasts areas to watch in 2010. Science Careers profiles two young researchers involved in this year's Breakthrough achievement and a video presentation and special edition of the Science Podcast round out the special section.

[Available in Chinese] [Available in Japanese]

A video introduction to the year's top science story, featuring scientists C. Owen Lovejoy, Tim White, Giday WoldeGabriel, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Science contributing correspondent Ann Gibbons, and commentary by paleoanthropologist Andrew Hill.

In a special edition of the Science Podcast, the journal's news staff reviews the top scientific stories of 2009. [More podcasts]

Breakthrough of the Year: A Tale of Two Paleontologists

E. Pain

Two young paleontologists tell how they got involved in the field work that uncovered Ardipithecus ramidus in Ethiopia.