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If nothing else, 2008 will go down as the year that geeks truly went mainstream. Our president-elect revealed his passion for "Star Trek," while Batman starred in the second highest-grossing film of all time. Whether it was politics (the election offered more twists and turns than an entire season of "Battlestar Galactica"), music ("Chinese Democracy"came out before China became an actual democracy) or movies ("Iron Man" provides the U.S. military with weapons ideas), the past year offered something for everyone to obsess over and nerd out about.

In the gallery below, you'll find superheroes, robots (both real and fictional), geek girl crushes and even a giant particle accelerator that may eventually destroy Earth. These are the news stories that struck us as particularly geeky; the movies, TV shows, Web series and video games that got our "Spidey senses" tingling.

So, as proud geeks ourselves, Asylum presents the 50 most wonderfully geeky moments of 2008 ...


50 Wonderfully Geeky Moments of 2008

    50. Megan Fox wears a "Star Wars" shirt In case Megan Fox didn't already have enough fanboys drooling over her, photos of the "Transformers" star wearing a vintage "Star Wars" tee circulated on geek blogs. And to top off her nerd fantasy cred, a recent fan-created poster depicting Fox as Wonder Woman tricked a few media outlets into thinking the actress had actually been cast in the role.

    thebizzare.com

    49. "World of Warcraft" used to smoke out terrorists U.S. intelligence recently began sussing out real-life terrorists amongst the orcs and paladins in "WoW," looking for "suspicious behavior and actions" that could lead to trouble in the non-virtual world. While your kingdom's treasures are probably safe, bear in mind that the CIA could be watching your every hack and slash.

    AP

    48. Social Networking Geeks Get Publicists To Promote their Ranking Everyone knows social networking sites aren't really about connecting with friends-they're about showing the world just how popular you are. Matt Bacak, the self-dubbed "Powerful Promoter," has made himself a top presence on Twitter and Facebook (he's one of those people with over 5,000 "friends"), and now wants to spread his knowledge to the lowly Scrabulous-playing masses. His first tip? Get off Friendster.

    AP

    47. "Wall-E" Only the geniuses at Pixar could take on consumerism and environmental ruin and still deliver a mainstream, kid-friendly adventure with neat-looking robots. Easily one of the year's best films, it's also one of the best sci-fi flicks in recent memory. Though when your competition is "Babylon A.D," the only way to go is up.

    Disney / Dreamworks

    46. Vampire Weekend makes Ivy League preppies slightly less insufferable On paper, indie darlings Vampire Weekend and their "Paul Simon's 'Graceland' meets early Talking Heads" sound seems strictly for the Pitchfork Media crowd. But the Columbia University-bred band's sharp lyrics and catchy melodies propelled them into cult status, and gave Ivy League preppies hipster cred for a couple of months or so.

    AP

    45. Hayden Panettierre is uncomfortable at Comic-Con Photos of Hayden vigorously dousing her hands with sanitizer while greeting "Heroes" fans circulated the Net after the starlet's appearance at Comic-Con '08. No matter how far we geeks come, the cold hard fact that cheerleaders wouldn't touch us with a ten-foot lightsaber remains.

    AP

    44. Geeks unite in "Heroes" hate After a patchy season season, "Heroes" devolved into pure camp in season three, stranding its characters in laughable sub-plots (Sylar's a hero! Now he's a villain! Parkman's spirit animal is a turtle!) and giving us yet another "dark future" storyline that was flatter than Milo Ventimiglia's acting. Fans united in their collective hatred for creator Tim Kring, who responded by calling them all "saps."

    NBC

    43. Video games might cure disease We know video games can cure boredom and hangovers, but they may soon save lives. The new interactive game Foldit allows doctors to study protein strand variations to determine the causes behind Alzheimer's and other illnesses. The game is available for download at http://fold.it, and is more addictive than FreeCell.

    sciencedaily.com

    42. New Zealand man creates personal jet pack This past July, an inventor in New Zealand showed off a jet pack that can fly 30 miles per/half hour at altitudes of up to 1,500 feet. Though the pack's mechanics run more like a car engine than an airplane, it still allowed the inventor's teenage son to hover three feet above the ground for 45 seconds. Technology is finally catching up to "The Rocketeer."

    AP

    41. "Grand Theft Auto IV" breaks sales records The fourth installment in the "Grand Theft Auto" series debuted to huge sales, breaking previous records set by "Halo 3" and entering the Guinness World Records for highest grossing single-day video game sales. Critics dubbed "GTA IV" the best game in years, while pundits blamed it for everything from diminishing interest in "Iron Man" to bringing about the downfall of society. Not bad for a franchise that started out as a vicarious way to run down pedestrians and slap hookers.

    AP