It was the year we learned of a spectacular smash-up in space, and scientists working on the world's biggest physics experiment delighted at
collisions of an entirely different sort.
There were shockwaves, too, in Copenhagen, as the summit failed to reach a consensus on tackling climate change, instead merely noting a deal struck
by major powers including the US and China.
The BBC's science reporter Paul Rincon looks back at the twists and turns of a year in science and the environment.