14 science and tech breakthroughs we’re thankful for this year

2016 has been a rough year, but it's not all doom and gloom

By Sarah Fecht

Posted on Nov 23, 2016 5:14 PM EST

Solar Impulse
Solar Impulse II flies over the Golden Gate Bridge Solar Impulse | Revillard | Rezo.ch

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Panda
SpaceX sticks the landing
Playstation VR
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Visualization of binary stars generating gravitational waves R. Hurt – Caltech/JPL
2015
IMLYGIC
planet edge of solar system
A smartphone with WhatsApp encryption on a table.
Ross Sea
A vaccine for dengue
Proxima b, one of 5,000 confirmed exoplanets.
Ozone Hole
Tasmanian devil mother and joeys
When a Tasmanian devil is ready to give birth, she sticks her rear in the air and “the joeys dribble in the mucus” down into her pouch, says Devil Ark general manager Tim Faulkner. The four joeys that reach her teats first will spend several months developing in her pouch before emerging to ride on her back. Australian Reptile Park/Devil Ark