The 10 biggest science stories of 2023 – chosen by scientists

From insight into our human ancestry and breakthroughs on the moon to a flourishing of AI and terrifying new developments in the climate, it was a year of scientific drama

While western billionaires were busy sending rockets to space only for them to crash and burn, scientists in India were quietly doing something no one had accomplished before. Their Chandrayaan-3 moon lander was the first mission to reach the lunar south pole - an unexplored region where reservoirs of frozen water are believed to exist. I remember my heart soaring when images of the control room in India spread around social media, showing senior female scientists celebrating their incredible achievement.