1987 in science

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The year 1987 in science and technology involved many significant events, some listed below.

Astronomy[edit]

February 23 – Supernova 1987a is observed, the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604.
Asteroid 7816 Hanoi is discovered by Masahiro Koishikawa.
10500 Nishi-koen is discovered.^[1]

Biochemistry[edit]

December – Yoshizumi Ishino discovers the DNA sequence of CRISPR.^[2]^[3]
Piotr Chomczynski and Nicoletta Sacchi publish their acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction protocol.^[4]^[5]

Computing[edit]

Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language via the comp.sources.misc newsgroup.
HyperCard is released by Apple Inc., an early example of hypermedia which inspires the World Wide Web.
Thomas Knoll and John Knoll develop the first version of Photoshop.

Genetics[edit]

November 6 – Florida rapist Tommy Lee Andrews is the first person to be convicted as a result of DNA fingerprinting.^[6]

History of science[edit]

Robert V. Bruce publishes The Launching of Modern American Science, 1846–1876.

Mathematics[edit]

Gödel's ontological proof of the existence of God is published posthumously.^[7]
The Abelian sandpile model, the first discovered example of a dynamical system displaying self-organized criticality, is published by Per Bak, Chao Tang and Kurt Wiesenfeld.^[8]

Medicine[edit]

March 20 – The United States Food and Drug Administration for the first time approves an antiretroviral drug for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, zidovudine, also known as AZT (azidothymidine) or Retrovir.^[9]
May – The name chronic fatigue syndrome first appears in the medical literature.^[10]
May 11 – The first heart-lung transplant takes place.
August 31 – The FDA for the first time approves a statin, lovastatin.^[11]^[12]
September 5 - The first successful surgical separation of craniopagus twins is done by Dr. Ben Carson.
December 29 – Prozac makes its debut in the U.S.

Paleoanthropology[edit]

January 1 – The 'Mitochondrial Eve' hypothesis is proposed.^[13]

Paleontology[edit]

First fossils of Argentinosaurus found.

Physics[edit]

March 18 – Woodstock of physics, the marathon session of the American Physical Society's meeting featuring 51 presentations concerning the science of high-temperature superconductors.
Harry J. Lipkin names the pentaquark.^[14]

Technology[edit]

December 1 – Channel Tunnel digging commences.
Tinker Hatfield designs the Nike Air Max.
Maglite introduces the 2AAA Mini Maglite flashlight, targeted for medical and industrial applications.

Zoology[edit]

June 17 – The last known purebred dusky seaside sparrow, "Orange Band", dies in Florida.^[15]
Varroa destructor, an invasive parasite of honeybees, is found in the United States.

Awards[edit]

Nobel Prizes
- Physics – J. Georg Bednorz, Karl Alexander Müller
- Chemistry – Donald J. Cram, Jean-Marie Lehn, Charles J. Pedersen
- Medicine – Susumu Tonegawa
Turing Award – John Cocke
Wollaston Medal for Geology – Claude Jean Allègre

Births[edit]

June 10 – James Maynard, English mathematician^[16]

Deaths[edit]

March 19 – Louis de Broglie (b. 1892), French physicist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics (1929).
March 26 – Gwyn Macfarlane (b. 1907), British hematologist.
October 2 – Peter Medawar (b. 1915), British immunologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1960).
October 13 – Walter Houser Brattain (b. 1902), American physicist.
October 20 – Andrey Kolmogorov (b. 1903), Russian mathematician.
December 2 – Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich (b. 1914), Belarusian astrophysicist.
December 7 – Helen Porter (b. 1899), English plant physiologist.

References[edit]

^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (10 June 2012). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 740. ISBN 978-3-642-29718-2.
^ Ishino, Y.; Shinagawa, H.; Makino, K.; Amemura, M.; Nakata, A. (1987). "Nucleotide sequence of the iap gene, responsible for alkaline phosphatase isozyme conversion in Escherichia coli, and identification of the gene product". Journal of Bacteriology. 169 (12): 5429–33. doi:10.1128/jb.169.12.5429-5433.1987. PMC 213968. PMID 3316184.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ "CRISPR Natural History in Bacteria". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
^ Chomczynski, P.; Sacchi, N. (1987). "Single-step method of RNA isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction". Analytical Biochemistry. 162 (1): 156–159. doi:10.1016/0003-2697(87)90021-2. PMID 2440339.
^ Chomczynski, P.; Sacchi, N. (2006). "Single-step method of RNA isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction: Twenty-something years on". Nature Protocols. 1 (2): 581–585. doi:10.1038/nprot.2006.83. PMID 17406285. S2CID 28653075.
^ "Gene Technology". Txtwriter.com. 1987-11-06. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-04-03.
^ Gödel, Kurt (1995). "Ontological Proof". Collected Works: Unpublished Essays & Lectures. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. pp. 388, 403–404. ISBN 0-19-514722-7.
^ Bak, P.; Tang, C.; Wiesenfeld, K. (1987). "Self-organized criticality: an explanation of 1/ƒ noise". Physical Review Letters. 59 (4): 381–4. Bibcode:1987PhRvL..59..381B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.381. PMID 10035754. S2CID 7674321.
^ Cimons, Marlene (21 March 1987). "U.S. Approves Sale of AZT to AIDS Patients". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
^ Buchwald, Dedra; Sullivan, John L.; Komaroff, Anthony L. (May 1987). "Frequency of 'Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection' in a General Medical Practice". Journal of the American Medical Association. 257 (17): 2303–7. doi:10.1001/jama.257.17.2303. PMID 3033338. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
^ FDA Orange Book Detail for application N019643 showing approval for 20 mg tablets on August 31, 1987, and 40 mg tablets on December 14, 1988
^ Endo, Akira (October 2004). "The origin of the statins". Atherosclerosis Supplements. 5 (3): 125–30. doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosissup.2004.08.033. ISSN 1567-5688. PMID 15531285.
^ Cann, Rebecca L.; Stoneking, Mark; Wilson, Allan C. (1 January 1987). "Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution". Nature. 325 (6099): 31–36. Bibcode:1987Natur.325...31C. doi:10.1038/325031a0. PMID 3025745. S2CID 4285418.
^ Lipkin, H. J. (1987). "New possibilities for exotic hadrons — anticharmed strange baryons". Physics Letters B. 195 (3): 484–488. Bibcode:1987PhLB..195..484L. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(87)90055-4.
^ Newsweek 9 June 2008 p. 45.
^ Klarreich, Erica (2022-07-05). "A Solver of the Hardest Easy Problems About Prime Numbers: On his way to winning a Fields Medal". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2022-07-05.

[1] Schmadel, Lutz D. (10 June 2012). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 740. ISBN 978-3-642-29718-2.

[2] Ishino, Y.; Shinagawa, H.; Makino, K.; Amemura, M.; Nakata, A. (1987). "Nucleotide sequence of the iap gene, responsible for alkaline phosphatase isozyme conversion in Escherichia coli, and identification of the gene product". Journal of Bacteriology. 169 (12): 5429–33. doi:10.1128/jb.169.12.5429-5433.1987. PMC 213968. PMID 3316184.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] "CRISPR Natural History in Bacteria". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2019-04-01.

[4] Chomczynski, P.; Sacchi, N. (1987). "Single-step method of RNA isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction". Analytical Biochemistry. 162 (1): 156–159. doi:10.1016/0003-2697(87)90021-2. PMID 2440339.

[5] Chomczynski, P.; Sacchi, N. (2006). "Single-step method of RNA isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction: Twenty-something years on". Nature Protocols. 1 (2): 581–585. doi:10.1038/nprot.2006.83. PMID 17406285. S2CID 28653075.

[6] "Gene Technology". Txtwriter.com. 1987-11-06. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-04-03.

[7] Gödel, Kurt (1995). "Ontological Proof". Collected Works: Unpublished Essays & Lectures. Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. pp. 388, 403–404. ISBN 0-19-514722-7.

[8] Bak, P.; Tang, C.; Wiesenfeld, K. (1987). "Self-organized criticality: an explanation of 1/ƒ noise". Physical Review Letters. 59 (4): 381–4. Bibcode:1987PhRvL..59..381B. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.59.381. PMID 10035754. S2CID 7674321.

[9] Cimons, Marlene (21 March 1987). "U.S. Approves Sale of AZT to AIDS Patients". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.

[10] Buchwald, Dedra; Sullivan, John L.; Komaroff, Anthony L. (May 1987). "Frequency of 'Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection' in a General Medical Practice". Journal of the American Medical Association. 257 (17): 2303–7. doi:10.1001/jama.257.17.2303. PMID 3033338. Retrieved 2011-07-29.

[11] FDA Orange Book Detail for application N019643 showing approval for 20 mg tablets on August 31, 1987, and 40 mg tablets on December 14, 1988

[12] Endo, Akira (October 2004). "The origin of the statins". Atherosclerosis Supplements. 5 (3): 125–30. doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosissup.2004.08.033. ISSN 1567-5688. PMID 15531285.

[13] Cann, Rebecca L.; Stoneking, Mark; Wilson, Allan C. (1 January 1987). "Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution". Nature. 325 (6099): 31–36. Bibcode:1987Natur.325...31C. doi:10.1038/325031a0. PMID 3025745. S2CID 4285418.

[14] Lipkin, H. J. (1987). "New possibilities for exotic hadrons — anticharmed strange baryons". Physics Letters B. 195 (3): 484–488. Bibcode:1987PhLB..195..484L. doi:10.1016/0370-2693(87)90055-4.

[15] Newsweek 9 June 2008 p. 45.

[16] Klarreich, Erica (2022-07-05). "A Solver of the Hardest Easy Problems About Prime Numbers: On his way to winning a Fields Medal". Quanta Magazine. Retrieved 2022-07-05.

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