page_title: 2011 in science
section_title: December
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 in science / Events, discoveries and inventions / December
caption_attribution_description: A rose-cut synthetic diamond created by Apollo Diamond using a patented chemical vapour deposition process.
context_page_description: The year 2011 involved many significant scientific events, including the first artificial organ transplant, the launch of China's first space station and the growth of the world population to seven billion. The year saw a total of 78 successful orbital spaceflights, as well as numerous advances in fields such as electronics, medicine, genetics, climatology and robotics.
  2011 was declared the International Year of Forests and Chemistry by the United Nations.
context_section_description: 1 December – Oxford University researchers successfully entangle two millimeter-scale diamonds using controlled laser pulses. This represents the first known instance of quantum entanglement in objects large enough to see with the naked eye. (Nature News) (Science)
  2 December
  Scientists suggest "flerovium" and "livermorium" as names for the newest additions to the periodic table. (BBC)
  Researchers have created an advanced fuel cell which could give electric cars greater range, while keeping CO₂ emissions low. (Technology Review)
  Researchers from the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) discover a property of graphene that could widen its applications in nanotechnology. The team of scientists observed the surface of graphene sheets and found a series of ridges on the material, which could improve understanding of superconductivity. (The Engineer)
  5 December
  NASA's exoplanet-hunting Kepler mission confirms its first extrasolar planet in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star. The planet, Kepler-22b, is around 2.5 times the size of Earth, and may have a surface temperature of 22 degrees Celsius, making it potentially suitable for terrestrial life. (BBC) (NASA)
  New research suggests that at least three-quarters of the rise in average global temperatures since the 1950s is due to human activity. (The Age) (Nat. Geosci.)
  American scientists report the discovery of the two largest supermassive black holes known to science. The two black holes each have a mass nearly 10 billion times greater than the Sun. (BBC) (Nature)
  German researchers have demonstrated a graphene-based transistor array that is compatible with living biological cells and capable of recording the electrical signals they generate. (The Engineer) (Adv. Mater.)
  6 December – When climate data is adjusted to remove the impact of short-term factors such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation, volcanic aerosols and solar variability, the global warming signal becomes even more evident, according to a new study. (Environ. Res. Lett.)
  8 December
  NASA's Opportunity Mars rover finds veins of gypsum on the surface of Mars, strongly implying the presence of liquid water on the planet. (BBC)
  Spanish researchers unveil a process which allows highly complex shapes to be "carved" into nanoparticles, potentially revolutionising medical tests and drugs treatments. (BBC) (Science)
  9 December – Biologists at Tufts University coax tissue to grow a new organ by simply altering the membrane voltage gradients of cells. In the experiment, tadpoles were made to grow new eyes outside of their head areas.  (Development)
  13 December
  Plumes of methane – a greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide – are observed bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean by scientists surveying the region. (The Independent)
  Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider report that the elusive Higgs boson may have been glimpsed during particle collisions. (BBC)
  14 December
  MIT scientists develop an imaging system capable of capturing images at one trillion frames per second – fast enough to image individual light waves travelling through space. (MSNBC)
  Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace engineer Burt Rutan announce plans to develop a commercial spaceflight venture, dubbed Stratolaunch Systems, using a giant carrier aircraft to launch rockets from the upper atmosphere. The first uncrewed test flights of the system are expected to begin in 2016. (Huffington Post)
  15 December
  American researchers extend the lifespan of fruit flies by up to 50% by tweaking genes in the flies' intestines. (GizMag) (Cell Metab.)
  Columbia University researchers publish a survey, began in 2003, revealing that same-sex marriage improves the health of gay men overall. The study recorded a reduction in depression, blood-pressure issues, and stress-related disorders. The reaction of lesbians was not studied. (BBC) (Am. J. Public Health)
  16 December
  Chinese engineers demonstrate a chemical coating, based on titanium dioxide, which allows cotton clothes to clean themselves of stains when exposed to sunlight. (ACS Appl. Mater
caption: 1 December 2011: Oxford University scientists successfully induce quantum entanglement in two diamonds, the first time entanglement has been achieved in objects visible to the naked eye.
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