The opening decade of the millennium was one of epochal scientific advancement. here are 10 stories from the frontiers of science that defined the years and moulded the future.

Warming warning
Conclusive proof of humans making planet hotter, adverse impact of warming on plant and animal species.
The hot topic of the decade was global warming. After years of debate, scientists in 2001 arrived at a consensus that most of the observed increase in global temperature was because of human activity, not natural causes. New data and computer modelling helped confirm human role in greenhouse gas emissions, but just how vulnerable the planet was to warming remained an open question. Two years later, climate researchers cited a century of temperature measurements to give indisputable proof that the planet was becoming hotter and that it was being affected by the change. Alarming reports surfaced about glacial melting, droughts, reduced crop productivity, and altered plant and animal behaviour. This was followed by more evidence in 2005 of human activities being responsible for global warming. A year later, concern about the effects of warming deepened when satellite data analysis showed that the velocities of large ice streams in southern Greenland had doubled in five years — something till then thought impossible. Another satellite data analysis showed greater-than-average melting in the West Antarctic ice sheet. The studies revealed that the world’s two great ice sheets were losing water to the oceans at an accelerating pace. From here, it was over to policy makers. But after the atmospherics of the Copenhagen talks, it seems they are fighting shy of turning the heat down.