2021's top science stories from Science Magazine, WatchMojo, and Nerdist

After looking at 2021 in space, it's time for me to examine the year in science as a whole. I begin, as I have the past four years, with Science Magazine and Science’s 2021 Breakthrough of the Year: AI brings protein structures to all.

Bounty of new structures will forever change biology and medicine
...
0:00 Introduction
0:13 Runner-up: Ancient human DNA in soil
1:07 Runner-up: NASA lander detects Red Planet's core
1:56 Runner-up: Psychedelic treatment for PTSD
2:39 Runner-up: Potent pills boost COVID-19 arsenal
3:35 The 2021 Breakthrough of the Year: Protein structures for all

This top five list pretty much covered my scientific interests, biology, including paleontology and medicine, and space. All it needed was a story about the environment. That will be the subject of tomorrow's retrospective, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The video above reflects the expert's opinions about what was important in science this year. Now for the first of two popular lists, beginning with WatchMojo's Top 10 Biggest Scientific Discoveries of 2021.

These scientific discoveries will shape the world for years to come. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most fascinating and significant things that scientists learned about the world in 2021. Our countdown includes The Maximum Human Lifespan, Complex Thoughts Mirror Fractals, New Organic Molecules on Mars, and more! What recent scientific discovery excites you? Tell us in the comments.

I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling my reaction from last year.

As much as I'm aware that WatchMojo and its sister channel MsMojo are premiere clickbait factories, at least they produce high-quality, well-researched clickbait, so I'm going to keep using their videos. Besides, this was a good list.

I'm not as sure about the next source whose video I'm embedding, Nerdist's The Best Tech and Science Breakthroughs of 2021 (Nerdist Now w/ Dan Casey).

With 2021 coming to an end, it’s time to look back on all the year’s most exciting and bizarre contributions in the world of science and tech. From monkey’s playing pong with their minds to helicopters on Mars, Dan’s here’s to break down everything you might have missed on today’s episode of Nerdist Now!

The one topic all three videos agreed on was NASA's exploration of Mars, although the scientists preferred Mars InSight to the popular journalists choice of Perseverance and Ingenuity. Give the latter time and I expect it will produce amazing scientific data to go along with its amazing technology.

Stay tuned for more retrospectives through to New Year's Eve.