Tech & Science · 2008
Connecting the World, Mapping the Cosmos
Despite a global financial crisis, 2008 proved to be a watershed year for innovation, mobile computing, and space exploration. From the birth of Android and Chrome to probing Martian ice and firing up the Large Hadron Collider, technology redefined human possibility.
- January 15, 2008 | Hardware
Apple MacBook Air
Steve Jobs stunned audiences by pulling the impossibly thin aluminum laptop out of a standard manila envelope.
- May 25, 2008 | Space Exploration
NASA Phoenix Mars Lander
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft touched down near Mars' polar ice cap, directly confirming the presence of water ice on the Red Planet.
- July 10, 2008 | Mobile Software
Apple App Store
Apple launched its digital application marketplace, sparking a global mobile app economy overnight.
- September 2, 2008 | Web Browser
Google Chrome Release
Google introduced its speed-focused, open-source web browser, rapidly reshaping how humanity navigated the internet.
- September 10, 2008 | Physics
Large Hadron Collider First Beam
Scientists at CERN successfully circulated the first particle beams through the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator.
- September 23, 2008 | Mobile OS
HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1)
The first commercially available smartphone running the open-source Android operating system officially hit the market.
- September 28, 2008 | Aerospace
SpaceX Falcon 1 Flight 4
SpaceX successfully launched Falcon 1 into orbit, becoming the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach Earth's orbit.
- October 31, 2008 | Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin Whitepaper
The pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published the seminal paper outlining a decentralized digital currency protocol.
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