2013: People of the year

30 December 2013

News image — … British physicist Peter Higgs. The pair won for research on the Higgs Boson particle, discovered in 2012 during experiments on the Cern particle accelerator. (AFP/Getty Images)

… British physicist Peter Higgs. The pair won for research on the Higgs Boson particle, discovered in 2012 during experiments on the Cern particle accelerator. (AFP/Getty Images)

Astronauts, pioneers, whistleblowers and, oh yes, some person called Higgs, we salute those who were on everyone's lips in 2013.

More amazing image galleries of the year:

The year in transport

The year in space

The year in design and architecture

The year in wildlife

The year in weather

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Large Hadron Collider

International Space Station

Astronaut

Digital

3D printing

Watch: Russian cosmonaut captures stunning aurora from space

Cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov captured the lights over Earth during one of the largest solar storms in more than 20 years.

3 days ago

16 Jan 2026

International Space Station (ISS) in orbit (Credit: Nasa)

The life-or-death plan to evacuate a space station

Astronauts orbiting the Earth are drilled to deal with the worst possible scenarios. That includes having to leave a doomed space station – quickly.

16 Jan 2026

15 Jan 2026

BBC journalist split screen with two astronauts.

What happens in space during a medical emergency?

BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains what happens if an astronaut gets ill in space.

15 Jan 2026

An astronaut in white space suit steps out of spacecraft surrounded by people to help them

Astronauts splash down to Earth after medical evacuation from space station

The four members of Crew-11 beamed as they stepped out of their spacecraft after a safe landing.

15 Jan 2026

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman being helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft . She is smiling at the camera

Watch: Astronauts return to Earth after medical evacuation

Four astronauts who left the International Space Station (ISS) a month early due to one of the crew members falling ill have returned to Earth on Thursday.

15 Jan 2026

2013: People of the year

Sports betting is now everywhere. Is that dangerous?

Wall Street muted at the end of tumultuous week

Es Devlin's powerful art invites a closer look at strangers

The gadgets set to change your daily health and wellness

Inside the search for South America's most cryptic bird

US futures slide as tariff fears trigger sell‑off

Morocco fossil finds re-write the origins of our species

Arnold Schwarzenegger goes big on Christmas

Lina Ghotmeh on crafting the future from the past

Karl Ove Knausgård: The writer who broke the rules

The lab recreating melting glaciers to forecast sea levels

Goldman Sachs' and Morgan Stanley's results beat expectation

Why Atlanta's culinary scene is getting food lovers excited

Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi speaks to the BBC

The undersea mountains where sharks rule

Expert says probe into Fed chair is 'political theatre'

What's it like to meet your own avatar?

A simple stargazing ritual to reset stress

Trump expects huge investment in Venezuela

How Tom Hiddleston's dad became his biggest cheerleader

Watch: Russian cosmonaut captures stunning aurora from space

The life-or-death plan to evacuate a space station

What happens in space during a medical emergency?

Astronauts splash down to Earth after medical evacuation from space station

Watch: Astronauts return to Earth after medical evacuation