The Year In Science: From Gravitational Waves To CRISPR, Here Are The Biggest Science Newsmakers Of 2016

The same can be said about the world of science, which witnessed some of the biggest breakthroughs in decades, even as it provided several grim reminders about the impact of climate change on planet Earth. One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein predicted that the collision of massive objects such as black holes and neutron stars can create "ripples" in the curvature of space-time. Earlier this year, scientists associated with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) discovered these distortions. "The achievement fulfilled a 100-year-old prediction, opened up a potential new branch of astronomy, and was a stunning technological accomplishment," the journal Science, which was one of the many publications that termed the discovery of gravitational waves "Breakthrough of the Year," said in a recent statement. Currently, all we know about the cosmos is what we have gathered from electromagnetic radiation such as radio waves, visible light, infrared light, X-rays and gamma rays.