The year 2008 involved numerous significant scientific events and discoveries, some of which are listed below.
Events, discoveries and inventions
January
2 January – Researchers report that just four months of hormonal therapy before and with standard external beam radiation therapy can slow cancer growth by as much as eight years – especially the development of bone metastases – and increase survival rates in older men with potentially aggressive prostate cancer. 3 January – Gene therapy can reduce long-term drinking among rodents “An ‘experiment of nature’ is observed in some individuals of East Asian origin, who are 66 to 99 percent protected against alcoholism,” explained Yedy Israel, professor of pharmacological and toxicological chemistry. 4 January – The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) jointly achieve a new milestone in scientific ballooning in Antarctica, by launching and operating three long-duration suborbital flights within a single southern hemisphere summer. 5 January – Designer Avery Holleman develops the concept of a Napkin PC, a device that uses e-paper and radio frequency (RF) technology to enable creative groups to collaborate more effectively. 7 January Researchers identify a gene linked to cerebral venous thrombosis, a condition that causes blood clots in the veins of the brain that can lead to stroke. The condition is more common in young and middle-aged women. New research reveals that Pleistocene cave bears, a species which became extinct 20,000 years ago, ate both plants and animals and competed for food with the other contemporary animals, instead of being vegetarian as previously assumed. 8 January – SanDisk Corporation begins to sample 12-gigabyte (GB) microSDHC flash memory cards to major phone manufacturers for testing and evaluation. 10 January NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope detects massive black holes in anomalously small galaxies. Overweight people who lose a moderate amount of weight get an immediate benefit in the form of better heart health, according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine. 11 January – Biologists create baker's yeast capable of living to 800 in yeast years – a tenfold increase in longevity – without apparent side effects. 13 January An international study of 20,000 people discovers seven genes that influence blood cholesterol levels. Following studies involving more than 35,000 people and a survey across the entire human genome, an international team supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) discovers that common genetic variants linked to osteoarthritis are also involved in governing human height. University of Minnesota researchers create a functioning heart in the laboratory by using whole organ decellularization. 14 January An American scientist creates the darkest known material, around four times darker than the previous record holder. Scientists find that dinosaurs' growth and sexual maturation were surprisingly similar to that of mammals, even encompassing teenage pregnancy. 15 January NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft makes the first of its three flybys of Mercury at an altitude of , decreasing its velocity for its 2011 orbital insertion. University of Pennsylvania engineers and physicians develop a carbon nanopipette thousands of times thinner than a human hair that can measure electric currents and deliver fluids into cells. 16 January – NASA begins a collaboration with charities and universities to investigate the potential of carbon nanotubes to diagnose and treat brain tumors. 17 January – Duke University scientists use the brain activity of a monkey to control the real-time walking patterns of a robot halfway around the world. 19 January – The first evidence of a volcanic eruption from beneath Antarctica’s most rapidly changing ice sheet is published in the journal Nature Geoscience. 20 January – British space experts begin constructing an ion drive for a Mercury-bound spacecraft. 23 January – NASA's S-3 Viking aircraft returns to the agency's Glenn Research Center after extensive modifications to transform it from a carrier-based military aircraft to a state-of-the-art icing research aircraft. 24 January – Scientists develop a pill-sized medical camera that can be safely swallowed by patients, allowing illnesses to be diagnosed more quickly. 25 January Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics and Leibniz University Hanover produce a laser beam of especially high quality. European researchers develop a breakthrough interface that allows users to touch, stretch and pull virtual fabrics that feel like the real thing.