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Your opinion matters! We need your help selecting Science Club's Most Groundbreaking story of 2017. We're looking for the story that most significantly paves the way for new connections, new research, new dialogues and new knowledge.

Explore the options below and then cast your vote by tappingclicking on what you think is the Most Groundbreaking story and cast your vote with the green button that appears!
Newly Discovered 'Super-Earth' May Be Best Candidate for Finding Life Outside Our Solar System
Option 1
Newly Discovered "Super-Earth" May Be Best Candidate for Finding Life Outside Our Solar System

Scientists have discovered a new “super-Earth” orbiting in the habitable zone of a small star just 40 light-years away (that’s roughly 235 trillion miles, so don’t pack your bags quite yet!) This “super-Earth,” named LHS 1140b, receives half as much sunlight from its star as we do, is 40 percent larger than Earth and has 6.6 times the mass, which means it likely has a rocky composition. “This is the most exciting exoplanet I’ve seen in the past decade,” said Jason Dittmann of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and co-author of a paper describing the planet that appeared the journal Nature.
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A Breakthrough in Microwaving Sperm May Hold the Key to Saving Endangered Species – And Human Lives
Option 2
A Breakthrough in Microwaving Sperm May Hold the Key to Saving Endangered Species – And Human Lives

Today’s laboratories rely on ultra-cold refrigeration to keep delicate cells like sperm viable for use in the future. But a new technique using microwaves might make it possible to store sensitive biological materials at room temperature. From safely transporting lifesaving vaccines to remote areas to creating new ways to save endangered species, eliminating refrigeration will change how and where cells can be harvested, stored and studied. A paper detailing the study was co-authored by two scientists from UNC Charlotte and Pierre Comizzoli from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.
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