2016 is a year of ups and downs, that's for sure. But in the scientific world, it's a year of spectacular breakthroughs and discoveries.

NASA confirmed that the Earth has a second moon, the 2016 HO3. It is considerably smaller than the Moon, so we can't actually see it with our naked eye. It orbits the Earth, just like our Moon, along its orbital path of the Sun, and although its orbit is fairly stable, it is predicted to depart in a few centuries.

Einstein's Unproven Theory About A Gravitational Wave Was Confirmed

For the first time, American physicists were able to detect gravitational waves in space, which opens a new way to study gravitational properties of massive bodies in space. According to CTV News, scientists from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) said that this verifies Albert Einstein's unproven theory about the universe that a gravitational wave bends reality so slightly as to be nearly imperceptible.

A massive breakthrough resulted from a trial where researchers were able to successfully use stem cells to help chronic stroke patients see significant improvements. Patients who suffered stroke and who had lost some kind of motor skills permanently were seen showing substantial improvements, like being able to walk again.

Breakthroughs in Medicine And Climate Control

Then, there's magic mushroom. The Guardian reported that a handful of small studies found that psilocybin, or the ingredient that made for happy hippies in the 70s, could fight severe depression. More work is needed to validate this, just like the trial for male contraceptives.

With developments in climate control, researchers discovered a way to possibly lock away carbon dioxide beneath the earth. The idea is to capture CO2 directly from power plants and storing it beneath the earth by injecting it right into a volcanic rock. This would result to a reaction that turns CO2 into new carbonate materials, a process that has been sped to less than two years.