So what is the biggest news story in the realm of science for this past decade?  CosmicLog listed some highs and lows in the realm of science and I’m curious if anyone has na opinion on which story is the biggest.

1. The human genome decoded – 2001 – this is helping with the study of disease origins
2. The age of the universe – 2001 – according to calculation, the universe is 13.7 billion years old which is nice because it doesn’t look a day over 10 billion.
3. Targeted cancer therapy – 2001 – Gleevec is introduced as a drug to target the chemical mechanism that leads to the spread of cancer
4. Titan revealed – 2005 – Saturn’s moon Titan receives a visitor and the images we receive from that meeting of water ice led to speculation of possible life forms on moons in the galaxy.
5. Pluto demoted – 2005 – After much heated debate and a re-definition of the word “planet”, our Solar System becomes a little smaller with the demotion of Pluto.
6. T. Rex Tissue – 2005 – Scientists are able to recover soft tissue from fossilized T. Rex bones.
7. Cloaking Devices – 2006 – While not on par with the Romulan and Klingon birds of prey, scientists developed materials that cancel certain reflective radiations from an object.
8. Martian Water – 2008 – NASA manages to safely land a probe on Mars’ polar cap and collect samples.
9. Water on the Moon – 2009 – NASA launches a probe, this time at the moon, and the impact from that reveals significant amounts of water ice.

In my opinion, the water on the moon story is the biggest and here’s why.  If we want to establish a more permanent foothold in space, we need to be able to go to nearby moons and planets that have some of the necessary elements for us to live, water being top on the list.  If the moon has reserves of water, sustained colonies on the moon seem more feasible.