Since there is no universal metric how to measure significance of scientific work , the question is highly subjective , vague and it has no definitive answer. Anybody due to his/her education , profession, age , social position , can say something but the sum of those suggestions reflects only an average state of a scientific progress. If there would be discovered something which would benefit all the humanity , for instance like a vaccine against cancer, then for sure it would be the greatest discovery ever.

Hello,

as a representant of Biogical sciences and geneticist I vote for CRISPR techique of genome editing.

On RG you can find a lot of papers devoted to the technique itself and its application.

Best wishes

Piotr

Internet could be considered as one of the most impact-full creations. But its a pity that although having such a powerful tool and unbelievable amount of knowledge available over the internet, still people are asking an illogical question, that what is the most important breakthrough in science? Such question seems good in a primary schools for writing essays.

Ulrich Müller for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZjNJy9RJks&t=109s

Discovery of Graphene and its vast applications-

Scientists theorized about graphene for years. It had been produced unintentionally in small quantities for centuries through the use of pencils and other similar graphite applications. It was observed originally in electron microscopes in 1962, but it was studied only while supported on metal surfaces.

The material was later rediscovered, isolated, and characterized in 2004 by Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov at the University of Manchester. This work resulted in the two winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene.

Graphene has many uncommon properties. It is the strongest material ever tested, conducts heat and electricity efficiently, and is nearly transparent. These uncommomn properties leads to major application in electronics, optics, energy storage, environment protection (heavy metal and dye removal from waste water) etc.

Ulrich Müller Thank you. It was really very stupid. Assay (LOL). Corrected the mistakes. You see, the phones became smarter and can auto-write, but the users became stupid. Thanks for saving.

1. Quantum technology (super power computers,...)

2. Application of data obtained from sputnik about the Earth.

3. Designing robots and other autonomous systems.

4. Convergence of IT technologies with biological technologies. Genetic engineering for the treatment, creation of healthy food and heating.

5. Regenerative medicine for the repair and replacement of damaged human tissue.

6. Green revolution in agricultural technology using genetics.

7. New materials based on biological organisms and first principles.

8.Using solar energy and hydrogen technology

Low cost Grid tie inverter for solar and long range electric car

The development and wider use of artificial intelligence. Regards,

Thank you for your significant contributions to the discussion.

Kind Regards,

Since there is no universal metric how to measure significance of scientific work , the question is highly subjective , vague and it has no definitive answer. Anybody due to his/her education , profession, age , social position , can say something but the sum of those suggestions reflects only an average state of a scientific progress. If there would be discovered something which would benefit all the humanity , for instance like a vaccine against cancer, then for sure it would be the greatest discovery ever.

Yuri Mirgorod, I totally agree on your 3rd point. I personally think that Robotics was the most important breakthrough in Science, it is still currently the topic in any industry, from supply chain production factories, to medicine, transport and even construction. My forecast is that AI and improvements on technology around robotics will drive our future in civilisation. My biggest fear in all of this is how we are going to do so in a sustainable way.

Solar Electric Car

green chemistry

Thank you for your important responses.

I think that there is not one important contribution to science. I am a materials scientist, but I believe that the most important contributions are in medicine. In Physics there are important contributions around Higgs bosson but actually one can follow the Nobel prizes in sciences and they are all given for important contributions. So my reply is-- as per Nobel prizes in Chemistry, Physics and Medicine.

Developments of Software for a large applications, Artificial intelligence, Robot and Mobile technology. Google has a big role.

Dear Ajitanshu,

I can recommend couple of very important discoveries by world scientists had been last decade. Some of them are related with physics, engineering and biology-medicine.

Greatest Scientific Discoveries Past Decades

· Evidence of Water on Mars. Is there life on Mars? The presence of water would also be a big help when we finally go on a manned mission to Mars in around 2024, as astronauts could use less resources if they could simply use the resources that are already present on the Martian surface.

· Robotic Body Parts. A step closer to robot world domination(2014). 1,024 “kilobots”

· T. Rex Tissue.

· Advancement in HIV Cure.

· Existence of Dark Matter confirmed(2009).

· Sequencing Genome of Cancer Patient.

· Creation of Human Organs.

· The reprogramming of stem cells.

· Memory Manipulation(2014).. scientists Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu made negative memories in the brain of mice be viewed by the mice as positive, and vice-versa. They implanted light-sensitive proteins into the mice and, you guessed it, shined a light into their eyes.

· The largest black hole ever discovered.

· A computer chips that mimics the human brain(2014).. Containing 5.4 billion transistors and consuming 10,000 times less power than conventional computer chips, SyNAPSE works by simulating the synapses found in your brain. 256 million of them, to be precise. These can be programmed to do whatever the user wants them to, making them incredibly useful in supercomputers and distributed sensors.

· Re-usable rockets. This saves the company billions of dollars in rockets, since they can be refurbished, refueled, and reused as opposed to dumped somewhere in the Pacific—bringing us a few steps closer to Mars.

· Gravitational waves in 2016.

From water on Mars to memory manipulation to a crazy thing called “dark matter,” everything on this list proves that if the next decade is anywhere near as important for science as the last, we are truly living in exciting times.

Hope it helps you out.

Ashish