There’s a good chance that 2014 will be remembered as one of the most significant years in human history. We have made tremendous strides in our journey to understand the universe, heal diseases, learn about the dawn of time and even harness our waste and make it a source of energy!

This list doesn’t encompass nearly a 10th of the incredible strides we took towards the future, but I feel these are some of the most exciting things to happen in 2014.

1 We may have found a vaccine for Ebola



Following the West-African outbreak of Ebola earlier this year, a lot of efforts were put into finding a vaccine for Ebola. The outbreak began at the end of 2013 in Guinea had claimed the lives of 6,700 people throughout Western Africa. In October, a viable vaccine was developed and went into the human trial phase to determine its efficacy and safety in humans.

3. The largest animal to ever walk the Earth was discovered



This massive dinosaur earned the name “Dreadnoughtus schrani” (‘Dreadnoughtus’ means “fears nothing”) and the name is quite apt. This titan was 26m (85tf) long and weighed 65 tons (130,800 lb) – that’s as much as 12 African Elephants!

5. We can communicate with dolphins



The director of the Wild Dolphin Project, Denise Herzing, has worked on a device that will be able to translate the English language into dolphin sounds for the last 28 years. In 2014, she finally got to test the device and heard dolphins talk about seaweed. The device is still rudimentary, but Herzing is working on improving its dictionary so that we’ll be able to understand our oceanic friends.