involved in heavy colds. doctors involved in trials for multiple sclerosis saved his landmark development in treatment for the disease. a pledge to improve fast broadband services in rural areas with a £1i00—million investment from the government. it has been a remarkable year in many ways, including in the world of science. rebecca morelle looks back on the year in science — from british astronaut tim peake‘s adventures in space, to a discovery that will transform our understanding of the universe. that's review 2016: the year in science. from the mission of a lifetime, this was the year british astronaut tim peake spent six months in space. to a colossal feat of engineering. in 2016, the world's largest radio telescope was unveiled. we also learned about the secret life of seals

and what they get up to underwater. and saw advances in a controversial new genetic technique. human organs are growing inside these pigs. this was also the year a global climate deal came into force but the election of donald trump placed a question mark over its future. and after decades of searching, scientists have detected gravitational waves. it's been called the discovery of the century, making 2016 a truly momentous year for science. i'm here at thejodrell bank observatory in the north of england. for more than half a century, scientists have been using this vast telescope to gaze up into the heavens, transforming our understanding of the universe. some people have been lucky enough to experience the wonders of space first—hand.

this year it was the turn of british astronaut tim peake. blasting off, the start of a remarkable mission. tim peake was on his way. he was heading for the space station tojoin its international crew for the next six months. the first british astronaut now on board the international space station. in his first live broadcast, he said the experience was out of this world. we always talk about seeing the view of planet earth and how beautiful it is. but, when you look the opposite direction and you see how dark space is, the black is black and you realise how small the earth is in that blackness. his space moves though still needed a bit of work. practise makes perfect.

but, before long, tim got a chance to put on his space suit and head outside, joining nasa astronaut tim kopra, for a spacewalk. tim, it's really cool seeing the unionjack going outside. it's explored all over the world and now it's explored space. thanks, scott. it's great to be wearing it. the task was to carry out essential repairs. at 400 kilometres above the earth, what better place to take a selfie! science was also key for this european space agency mission. tim became a human guinea pig, seeing how the body changes in this weightless environment. he even found time to squeeze in the london marathon, and, of course, perfected his somersault. but, after six months, it was time to say goodbye and head home. undocking confirmed.

strapped into the soyuz capsule, tim and his crew mates began their dissent. awaiting them, a support team circling above the grassy plains of kazakhstan. then, suddenly, above the clouds, the capsule appeared. and, with a firing of its thrusters, it finally touched down. tim was back. weak after six months in space but happy to be home. just truly elated. just the smells of earth. they're so strong. and it's wonderful to be back in the fresh air. really good. hi, guys. since his return, tim's been meeting schoolchildren around the uk. welcome for tim peake. it's been pea ke—mania. he hopes his mission mightjust inspire the next generation to reach for the stars. jodrell bank was built back

in the 19505 and this dish is nearly 80 metres wide. at the time, the biggest ever built. in china, the government is investing heavily in science and they've decided it's time for their own record—breaker, a radio telescope that's half a kilometre across. hidden in the remote mountains of south—west china, a new giant of science. this is the largest radio telescope ever built. earlier this year, as it neared completion, i was given rare access and a chance for a view unlike any other. it's only when you get up close that you really get a sense of this things scale. it's simply colossal. bigger is better when it comes to astronomy. the larger the dish, the more signals can be

collected from space, helping us to see deeper into the universe than ever before. in china, astronomy, we are far behind the world. i think it is time for us to build something in china and used by a lot of chinese users, and also welcome the international users. the telescope works by listening to radio waves emitted from the cosmos. the dish is so big it will reveal the first stars in galaxies and even hunt for signs of extraterrestrial life. building it has taken the chinese just five years. at a cost of $180 million, it is part of the country's unprecedented investment in science, that's on the verge of outstripping even the us. by september, the final pieces were slotted into place. the telescope was switched on. china is now hoping its super—sized

project will transform it into a world science leader. for the medical world it's also been a year of breakthroughs. these miniature brains, called orgnoids. they're grown from a single cell, donated by patients. and they're helping scientists to understand the origins of mental illness. we can actually compare the organoids to the patient and see some of the features of the disorder and try to understand what cause those features. i think it's a really huge step toward some hopefully really amazing breakthroughs in what has been a desert in the field of biomedicine. and in poland, this man was completely paralysed from the chest down. now he is relearning how to use his legs. two years ago he had

a cell transplant to repair his spinal cord. now scientists want to see if these outstanding results can be repeated in others. and in america, the technology called gene editing is pushing the boundaries. here, human stem cells are being injected into a pig embryo. scientists are attempting to grow a human pancreas inside a pig. our hope is that the embryo will develop normally. but the pancreas will be made up almost exclusively out of human cells. so that then that pancreas could be compatible with a patient for transplantation. these peaks are present —— pregnant with the embryos. they won't reach full term that they will be removed after a month and carefully analysed. every

organ we tried to make rugby at kidney, liver or lung, we will look at what is happening in the brain full if we find it is too human like, we won't let those foetuses be born. the hope is this technology could eventually solve organ shortages but it also raises profound, ethical questions. in 2016, we've also been learning about the inhabitants of our oceans. these incredible animals were found in the mariano trench, as scientists explored the deepest place on the planet. and an animal that's a record—brea ker. scientists believe the greenland shark can reach 400 yea rs the greenland shark can reach 400 years old, making it the world's longest living vertebrate. and this year, we learned about the secret

lives of seals. beneath the waves, these animals are a mystery. they spend two thirds of their time in the water. but down here, they have been little studied. we travelled to their home in the north of england, their home in the north of england, the farm islands. it's a grey seal haven. bill ababy seals! the farm islands. it's a grey seal haven. billababy seals! it the farm islands. it's a grey seal haven. bill ababy seals! it was a chance tojoin haven. bill ababy seals! it was a chance to join these animals in the freezing north three. —— c. the animals seemed as interested in us as we work in them. the alan alger it is cold but if you want to study these incredible animals up close, you do have to get into the water. around the coast of the uk, nearly 40% of grey seals live here. there are 5000 here in the farm islands. ben has been guiding with seals for

yea rs. ben has been guiding with seals for years. now he is capturing them on camera. recording behaviour that surprisingly has never been seen before. what we are seeing is a lot of mating behaviour under water, down to depths of nearly eight metres. a lot of balls seal activity where they will wrestle each other, pushing each other and turning each other. by having these competitions underwater, whether that reduces that conflict on the land and they remember that behaviour. we are getting an intriguing glimpse of the hidden world. understanding these animals could be the key to keeping their population thriving. with this beautiful and intricate model we can see our solar system at a glance and explore how the planets move around the sun. there is one that dominates all others, jupiter. it's the

biggest planet in our solar system in this year had a new visitor. beneath its swirling clouds, jupiter isa beneath its swirling clouds, jupiter is a world shrouded in mystery. these images, though spectacular, we re these images, though spectacular, were taken from afar. nasa wanted to see this giant up close. three, two, one. ignition, and lift off. in 2011, the mission blasted off. the spacecraft called juno embarking on an epicjourney. spacecraft called juno embarking on an epic journey. as spacecraft called juno embarking on an epicjourney. as it neared its destination, it faced its biggest challenge, to get into orbit it had to slam on its brakes and survived everything jupiter could throw at it, including its deadly radiation. whenjuno it, including its deadly radiation. when juno goes into it, including its deadly radiation. whenjuno goes into orbit around jupiter, we're going to go through a really nasty, hazardous region, radiation belts that are very close

to the planet. they are nasty and can to the planet. they are nasty and ca n d estroy to the planet. they are nasty and can destroy an attack all the electronics. we have to be careful. scientists faced a tense wait at mission control in california to learn the fate of their billion—dollar spacecraft. then, a signal. applause the mood is pure elation here. after more than a decade of work and a journey through space, juno is the closest we have ever been to jupiter. we compared -- prepared a contingency procedure. guess what? we don't need that anymore. and then came the pictures. for the first time, its south pole was revealed. covered in storms, many even bigger than the earth. in the north, it's blanketed by a thick atmosphere. in

this infrared view, at the top you can see jupiter's northern this infrared view, at the top you can seejupiter‘s northern lights. and the sound was captured as the spacecraft through dash flew through the spectacular space show. the reaction was amazement. look at these images x the measure we are flying over the poll for the first time. it is jaw—dropping. eye—macro we are expecting more images like this over the course of the mission. -- we are expecting. it is nothing like they have ever seen before. but mars was the destination for the european space agency. the mission had two aims. firstly to get the spacecraft into orbit, which went exactly as planned. scientists also wa nted exactly as planned. scientists also wanted to set down a lander on the planet's said this. but the signal

was never sent back to earth. days later, these images revealed the crash site. the spacecraft had failed in the final moments of its descent. this year we have been pushing the boundaries of space exploration. 0ur pushing the boundaries of space exploration. our focus pushing the boundaries of space exploration. 0urfocus has been on oui’ exploration. 0urfocus has been on our own planet. 2016 has been declared the hottest year on record, putting climate change and how to tackle it in the spotlight once again. this year, our planet united, at least for a while. for the world's ger is, a plan to cut greenhouse gases became international law. the groundwork was laid at the climate summit in paris last year. after years of negotiations, and historic global agreement had been reached.

countries must now move away from fossil fuels and instead adopt a green energy approach will do just as the paris deal came into force, donald trump was elected as the us president. he once called climate change a hoax. in 2012, he tweeted it was invented by the chinese to harm us businesses. during his campaign, he said this is what he would do. we are going to cancel the paris climate agreement and stop all payments of the united states textiles to un global warming programmes. island nations affected by rising sea levels pleaded with him to change his mind. president—elect tramp i formally invite you to fiji and promise you the warmest of welcomes. we will show you how we are already having to move entire communities out of

the way the rising seas. with its reliance on fossil fuels like coal, the united states is the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. its participation in the global climate deal was seen as vital. no one knows what trump will do. he has recently appointed a climate sceptic to lead on the environment. some fear the future of the paris deal 110w fear the future of the paris deal now looks uncertain. in 2016, protection for the animals living in the icy wilderness of antarctica was also a focus. in october, a great swathes of its ocean was declared a marine protected area, the largest in the world. it is hoped, even for tiny creatures like quayle, the foundation of the food chain, the future of this unique and fragile environment will be preserved. and

this will be vital for the continent's ‘s charismatic animals. these penguins started nesting here just ten years ago. it is thought they may have moved because of climate change. now scientists have set upa climate change. now scientists have set up a network of cameras to monitor them. it shows how the colony is changing, hour by hour, over the course of a year. at another site, scientists are counting the birds but numbers are down. we are in a colony of penguins. this particular region, this particular species, has seen a decline in the past two decades. there may be a link with competition from fisheries, as in humans obtaining the same food, kreel, as the penguins would normally eat. scientists say only by tracking these birds will we see how they fa re these birds will we see how they fare in this changing world. and

coming soon to antarctica, boaty mcboatface, well, almost. the british public voted for 0t to be its name. the public over ruled them. they dedicated the vessel to sir david attenborough, a more fitting title, they said. the public post—match choice will live on. boaty mcboatface is now the name of the robotic submersible. in the world of tech, there was a battle between man and machine. a champion player of the ancient game of go went up against an artificial intelligence programme developed by google's deep mined. afterfour hours, the cumin resigned. the

computer had one. advances in al hours, the cumin resigned. the computer had one. advances in a! are also enabling developments in d riverless also enabling developments in driverless cars. this vehicle was made by tesla, the company owned by a tech entrepreneurs. only a car thatis a tech entrepreneurs. only a car that is not self driving in the long—term will be like owning a horse. you would use it for sentimental reasons but not for daily use, really. but the burgeoning industry came under the spotlight earlier this year. joshua brown was a huge fan of tesla cars and their autopilot feature. brown was a huge fan of tesla cars and their autopilot featurem ta kes all and their autopilot featurem takes all the stress out of it. his vehicle collided with a lorry and he was killed. it seems his carfailed to recognise the trap crossing in front of it on a florida highway. the vehicle's safety features have been upgraded and elon musk still

maintains they are safer than a car with a human in control. in 2016, it was time to take a last look at this comet, as we said farewell to the european space agency's rosetta mission. it had given us these stunning images, revealing an alien world in incredible detail. two years two yea rs before, two years before, scientists attempted something many thought was impossible. landing a robot on the comet's said this. it was a moment of space history in the making. —— surface. fantastic! the robots stopped working after a few days but it did manage to collect vital data. continuing the mission was the rosetta mothership, which remained

in orbit around the comment. this year its power began to fade and it was time to bring the mission to a close. the spacecraft would go out with a crash landing. the rosetta spacecraft was designed to fly to the comet, around the comet, but not to land on it. there is no doubt that as soon as it touches down, it is going to be destroyed. it gives scientists the chance to squeeze every last drop of science out of this mission. all the way down it will be taking close—up photos and collecting data. we will be listening to the signal from the rosetta. scientists waited for rosetta. scientists waited for rosetta to defend. the signal vanishing forever. and so, this is the end of the rosetta mission. thank you and goodbye. it is like rip rosetta. it is really sad, really, really sad. the legacy lives

on. you just know when you do these things it comes to an end. but, you know, it is the end in a long, long russian. but with more than 100,000 photos and russian. but with more than 100,000 photos a nd cou ntless russian. but with more than 100,000 photos and countless scientific observations, the work for the team is not over. the mission has ca ptu red is not over. the mission has captured the world's imagination and we may well be hearing about its discoveries for the next years to come. for discoveries for the next years to come. foi’ researchers discoveries for the next years to come. for researchers at this observatory and around the world, 2016 is a year that will go down in history. after decades of searching, scientists finally discovered gravitational waves. invisible ripples that pass through our cosmos. it is a breakthrough of simply astronomical proportions. it all started with albert einstein. this is the equation behind his

theory of general relativity, conceived 100 years ago. a pillar of modern science. it told us everything from the motion of the planet to the presence of black holes. but this year, the final piece of einstein's ‘s was found. holes. but this year, the final piece of einstein's 's was found. we have detected gravitational waves. we did it. the idea is, as any object moves through the fabric of the universe, it gives off waves of gravitational energy, much like the ripples that emanate across the surface of the water when you throw a stone into a pond. and the ones we have spotted emanated from this cataclysmic event which took place 1.3 billion light years away. two black holes moving ever closer together. eventually they smashed into one another, merging. the collision generated a surge of gravitational ripples that

eventually reached earth. they were spotted by this vast experiment in america. tunnels carrying laser beams, sensitive enough to pick—up the minute disturbances caused by the minute disturbances caused by the oscillations. these black holes actually spiralled in over a billion yea rs actually spiralled in over a billion years ago. the signal has been travelling to us since then and we turned on our detectives atjust the right time to detect it arriving. turned on our detectives atjust the right time to detect it arrivingm isa right time to detect it arrivingm is a discovery that not only provides another feather in einstein's at. he has been proved right once again. it also howls in the new iraq in science. gravitational waves provide a com pletely gravitational waves provide a completely new way of looking at the universe. the ability to detect them as the dead shall to revolutionise astronomy. until now, even our most advanced telescopes could show us

only a fraction of the cost mars. the rest was dark, unseen. now we can detect gravitational waves, we can detect gravitational waves, we can look deeper into space and further back in time than ever before, perhaps all the way to the big bang. the nba with a brand—new perspective of the universe, one that will usher in new discoveries for decades to come. hello. things are set to turn very lively indeed over the next 24, 36 hours, as you may be aware. we are keeping a very close eye on developments in the atlantic where storm barbra is brewing up. this look of cloud will intensify further. that means a lot of wind and rain was a fairly wild across the highlands of scotland. wintry showers in low levels. a bright and breezy end to the day further south. very light winds overnight. the

respite does not last long. rain arrives across the west of scotland and weston and northern ireland. that is a sign of things to come. barbara arrives on our doorstep through tomorrow morning. a strong winds and heavy rain around that. it will turn wet and windy across the west of scotland. the good gale blowing. a narrowing, intense band of rain will switch its way south eastwards. after a bright start, rain will arrive across the south—east later in the day. behind that it brightens up. that is only half a story. the worst of the winds will arrive later on tomorrow and into the evening, across the far north—west of scotland with 80, possibly 90 mile an hour gusts, particularly across the far north of scotland. some travel disruption and power outages. an amber warning in force from the met office. be prepared for significant destruction. still a good gale

blowing. frequent wintry showers down to low levels. that could cause some problems. further south, relatively benign. a bright and breezy day on christmas eve. more rain in the far north—west by the end of the day as the next system arise. this will follow a similar track. we don't think it'll be quite as intense as barbra but we will keep a close eye on it. there will bea keep a close eye on it. there will be a lot of energy in the system and a bit of warmth for a time that some mild air sweeping across country was at temperatures into the mid—teens on christmas day. very mild. tempered by the strength of the winds. rain arriving on a cold front. a marked drop in temperature which could turn the showers to sleet and snow on christmas day later on across scotland's top for some of us, a white christmas. after that it turns a lot quieter, dry, light winds and some frost and fog. more information can be found on

website. this is bbc news. the headlines at 3pm: the first footage emerges of anis amri, the chief suspect in the attack on a berlin christmas market. a reward of 100,000 euros is offered for information leading to amri's arrest, with a warning he could be armed and dangerous. this is the scene live at german federal police headquarters in berlin, where chancellor angela merkel is due to make a statement. two men are found guilty of manslaughter, after a tipper truck crashed in bath, killing four people including a 4—year—old girl. both men failed in their duty of care to the public. there was no transport manager and they flouted every regulation regarding safety. peter wood signed off vehicles as safe and they were not.