Events
January
- 1 January – Detailed telemetry data from the Parker Solar Probe is received, following its passage through the Sun's corona. [1]
- 2 January
- The biggest dinosaur fossil trackway ever found in the UK is reported at a quarry in Oxfordshire, consisting of 200 huge footprints made during the mid-Jurassic. [2]
- Bioengineers at Rice University report having developed a novel "construction kit" for building custom sense-and-respond circuits in human cells. [3] [4]
- 3 January – Researchers report discovering a new class of anti-malaria antibodies. [5] [6]
- 8 January – Scientists publish a comprehensive map of protein locations within human cells, offering potential new insights into how cells respond to infections and other changing circumstances. [7]
- 9 January – The El Capitan supercomputer is officially dedicated at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, United States. [8]
- 10 January
- The European Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that 2024 was the world's hottest year on record, and the first calendar year to pass the symbolic threshold of 1.5°C of global warming. [9]
- The first fully 3D printed microscope is revealed by the University of Strathclyde, made in just a few hours and for a fraction of the cost of traditional devices. [10]
- 13 January – Researchers discover what could be the world's oldest three-dimensional map in a cave in the Paris Basin of France, dating back 13,000 years. [11]
- 15 January
- The European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft ends its operation after 11 years of mapping the Milky Way galaxy, during which time it made three trillion observations of two billion stars. [12]
- Colossal Biosciences and the University of Melbourne create the world's first artificial womb in marsupials as part of their project toward thylacine de-extinction. [13]
- 16 January
- Microsoft researchers publish details of MatterGen, a generative AI tool for materials design. [14]
- The first two-dimensional (2D) mechanically interlocked material is demonstrated by Northwestern University, consisting of 100 trillion bonds per square centimetre, which its creators describe as having exceptional flexibility and strength. [15] Adding just 2.5% of the new material to Ultem boosted the latter's tensile modulus by 45%. [16]
- The air monitoring station at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii reports that CO2 jumped by 3.58 parts per million (ppm) in 2024, exceeding the previous record of 3.36 ppm set in 2023. The global atmospheric concentration of CO2 is now at 427 ppm, more than 50% higher than the pre-industrial level. [17] [18]
- 21 January
- Coral bleaching on the southern Great Barrier Reef in early 2024 is reported to have struck 80% of colonies, with some coral genera, such as Acropora , experiencing a 95% mortality rate. [19]
- More than a third (34%) of the Arctic-boreal zone is now reported to be a source of carbon emissions, rather than a carbon sink, a figure that rises to 40% when including emissions from fires. [20]
- The exoplanet WASP-127b is discovered to have wind speeds of up to 33,000 km/h, the fastest jetstream of its kind ever measured. [21]
- 22 January – The second Trump administration imposes an immediate freeze on scientific grants, communications, hiring, and meetings at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – by far the biggest supporter of biomedical research worldwide – impacting $47.4 billion worth of activities. [22]
- 23 January
- Machine learning and 3D printing are used at the University of Toronto to design nano-architected materials exhibiting the strength of carbon steel but the lightness of Styrofoam. [23]
- A study of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) finds that the condition may reduce life expectancy by 4.5 to 9 years for men, and 6.5 to 11 years for women. [24]
- 24 January – A study by the University of Birmingham finds that electric vehicles now have an average lifespan of 18.4 years, outlasting the average diesel vehicle at 16.8 years and almost matching the average petrol vehicle at 18.7 years. [25] [26]
- 29 January – The European Space Agency (ESA) announces that it has begun monitoring the asteroid 2024 YR4, which at the time had a 1 in 77 (1.3%) chance of impacting Earth on 22 December 2032. [27]
February
- 3 February – Researchers in Berkeley and Cambridge attach copper nanoflower catalysts on perovskite-based artificial leaves for solar-driven hydrocarbon synthesis. Devices can produce ethane and ethylene at high rates by coupling CO2 reduction with glycerol oxidation into value-added chemicals. [28] [29]
- 7 February – Researchers develop an AI chip, smaller than a grain of salt, that mounts on the tip of an optical fibre and uses a "diffractive neural network" to decode images at light speed with very low energy. This breakthrough promises advances in efficient medical imaging and quantum communication technologies. [30] [31]
- 10 February
- The microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-262L is confirmed to be associated with the highest-velocity exoplanet system detected to date, moving at 541 km/s (1.2 million mph), which is close to the escape velocity for the Milky Way galaxy. [32] [33]
- Following an increase in the impact probability of 2024 YR4 – from 1.3% to 2.1% – the European Space Agency announces that it will use the advanced capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope to observe the asteroid, in order to better determine its size and trajectory. [34]
- 12 February
- The WEST tokamak in France is reported to have maintained plasma for 1,337 seconds, a new world record duration for nuclear fusion and 25% longer than a similar effort by China the previous month. [35] [36]
- A new blood test able to detect early-stage pancreatic cancer with 85% accuracy is developed by Oregon Health & Science University. [37]
- 13 February – Scientists at the University of Cambridge report the creation of a solar-powered reactor that pulls carbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it into sustainable fuel. [38]
- 15 February – A new record-low global sea ice extent is reported, dipping below the previous lowest that occurred in early 2023. [39]
- 18 February
- The impact probability of 2024 YR4 is raised by NASA, from 2.1% to 2.6% [40] and then 3.1% in the same day. [41]
- The first 3D mapping of an exoplanet atmosphere is achieved by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. WASP-121b (also known as Tylos) is found to have powerful winds carrying elements like iron and titanium, creating intricate weather patterns across its atmosphere. [42]
- 19 February – Microsoft unveils Majorana 1, a quantum chip powered by its new topological core architecture that it hopes will enable quantum computers capable of solving meaningful industrial-scale problems. Microsoft claims that the Majorana 1 represents progress in its long-running project to create a quantum computer based on topological qubits. [43] [44]
- 24 February – NASA formally announces that asteroid 2024 YR4 now poses "no significant threat" to Earth in 2032 and beyond, as the chances of an impact drops to 1-in-59,000 (0.0017%). This means a planetary defense mission to intercept and deflect the object in 2028 during a close flyby of Earth will not be necessary. [45]
- 27 February
- 28 February – An electronic device called "e-Taste", developed by Ohio State University, is shown to replicate the perception of taste, which could enhance virtual reality experiences. [49] [50]
March
- 2 March – Firefly Aerospace successfully lands the Blue Ghost Mission 1 on the Moon as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, delivering payloads to Mare Crisium with instruments to study lunar regoliths and the interactions between solar wind and Earth's magnetic field. [51]
- 4 March – De-extinction company Colossal Biosciences announces the creation of a "woolly mouse" with eight modified genes, expressing mammoth-like traits relevant to cold adaptation and providing a platform for validation of genome engineering targets. [52] [53]
- 5 March – Italian researchers report turning light into a supersolid for the first time. [54] [55]
- 6 March – A study in Science finds that butterfly populations in the U.S. declined by 22% between 2000 and 2020, with 13 times as many species decreasing as increasing, raising concerns about future biodiversity loss. [56] [57]
- 10 March – A study in the journal PNAS finds that microplastic pollution reduces photosynthesis in plants and algae by up to 12%, leading to estimated annual food losses of 110–361 million tonnes of crops and up to 24 million tonnes of seafood. Without action to reduce plastic waste, this could lead to another 400 million people at risk of starvation within two decades. [58] [59]
- 11 March
- The discovery of 128 new moons of Saturn is reported, by astronomers using the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope, bringing the gas giant's total number of confirmed satellites to 274. [60] [61]
- Three new rocky exoplanets, all smaller than Earth in size, are detected around Barnard's Star, the closest solitary star to our own Sun at just 5.96 light-years away. Barnard b, a candidate world that observations had hinted at previously, is also confirmed, bringing the total number of known planets around the star to four. [62] [63]
- 13 March – The first image of two PINK1 proteins attached to the membrane of a mitochondrion is obtained, via cryo-electron microscopy, a potential breakthrough in developing treatments for Parkinson's disease. [64] [65]
- 20 March – Oxygen is discovered in JADES-GS-z14-0, the furthest confirmed galaxy, located 13.4 billion light-years from Earth. [66]
- 26 March
- Aurorae are photographed on Neptune for the first time, seen by combining visible light images from the Hubble Space Telescope with near-infrared images from the James Webb Space Telescope, although the planet was known to have aurorae since it was visited by Voyager 2. [67]
- A study in The Lancet finds that cuts to foreign aid proposed by major donor countries, such as the US and UK, could undo decades of progress made to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat, with potentially 10.8m additional new infections by 2030. [68] [69]
- 28 March – Research published by two high-schoolers proves that upstream contamination is possible even without the Marangoni effect. [70]
- 31 March – GPT-4.5 is reported to have passed the Turing Test. [71]
April
- 1 April – Fram2 launches aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, becoming the first crewed spaceflight to enter a polar retrograde orbit, [72] i.e., to fly over Earth's poles. [73]
- 2 April – The world's smallest pacemaker – able to fit inside the tip of a syringe and be non-invasively injected into the body – is demonstrated by scientists at Northwestern University. The device, measuring just 3.5 millimeters in length, is designed for temporary use and can be made to biodegrade within a set number of days, depending on a patient's needs. [74]
- 7 April – Colossal Biosciences announces Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, genetically modified grey wolves which reproduced characteristics of extinct dire wolves. [75]
- 8 April – Maxwell Labs, in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico, announces a laser-based photonic cooling system for computer chips, aiming to reduce data centre cooling energy use by up to 40% while improving processor performance. [76] [77]
- 14 April – The Minor Planet Center (MPC) announces the discovery of 2023 KQ14, a trans-Neptunian object and the fourth known sednoid. [78]
- 16 April
- 17 April – The atmosphere of K2-18b, a candidate water world located 124 light-years away, is found to contain large quantities of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide – two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life. This discovery, while requiring further proof, is described as "the strongest evidence to date for a biological activity beyond the Solar System". [81] [82]
- 18 April – Scientists at UC Berkeley use lasers to stimulate human retinas to see an extremely saturated blue-green imaginary color dubbed "olo". [83] [84]
- 20 April – NASA's Lucy spacecraft returns images of the main belt asteroid Donaldjohanson, revealing it to be a contact binary and larger than originally estimated. [85]
- 22 April – Astronomers at MIT report the discovery of BD+05 4868Ab, a small rocky exoplanet located 142 light-years from Earth, which is rapidly disintegrating due to extreme heat from its nearby host star. The planet, orbiting every 30.5 hours, exhibits a comet-like tail of vaporised minerals extending up to 9 million kilometres. It is estimated to be losing mass equivalent to Mount Everest each orbit and may completely evaporate within 1–2 million years. [86]
- 27 April – Astronomers report the discovery of the Eos cloud, a vast molecular hydrogen cloud located about 300 light-years from Earth, revealed through far-ultraviolet emission techniques. Expected to evaporate within 6 million years, Eos is among the largest and closest molecular clouds ever found. [87]
- 30 April
- Engineers at ITER complete the construction of the world's largest and most powerful pulsed superconducting electromagnet system, marking a major milestone on the path to sustained nuclear fusion. The Central Solenoid and surrounding magnets will confine plasma at 150 million °C, enabling ITER to produce 500 megawatts of fusion power from just 50 megawatts of input. [88]
- The Minor Planet Center announces two additional moons of Jupiter, bringing the planet's total moon count to 97. [89]
May
- 8 May
- The ALICE experiment at CERN detects the conversion of lead into gold. [90]
- A study by Uppsala University in Sweden finds that lack of sleep can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Researchers found that just three nights of restricted sleep – around four hours a night – triggered changes in the blood linked to a higher risk of heart disease. [91]
- 9 May – Kosmos 482 , an attempted Soviet Venus probe which failed to escape low Earth orbit, crashes back to Earth after more than 53 years. [92]
- 13 May – Genes linked to obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are discovered for the first time. A study involving more than 2 million people identifies 250 genes linked to the condition. [93]
- 16 May – MoM-z14, discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope, is confirmed as the most distant galaxy ever detected, with a redshift of 14.44 placing its formation within 280 million years of the Big Bang. [94]
- 20 May
- The 150th anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention, which established the BIPM, one of the first international organizations, is celebrated. [95]
- Google DeepMind announces Veo 3, a new state-of-the-art video generation model. [96] The company also boosts the performance of Gemini 2.5 Pro, its flagship AI model. [97]
- MIT releases a detailed report on the energy footprint of generative AI. Some models are shown to require the equivalent of running a microwave oven for an hour to produce five seconds of video. [98] [99]
- 21 May
- The world's first gonorrhoea vaccine is launched by NHS England, with an efficacy of 30–40%. [100]
- A major clinical trial, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , reveals that vitamin D supplements can reduce biological aging, preserving telomeres and potentially adding three years to lifespan. [101]
- The discovery of 2017 OF201, a new dwarf planet candidate in the outer Solar System, is reported. [102] [103]
- 22 May
- A review by Murdoch University in Australia finds that agricultural soils now hold around 23 times more microplastics than the oceans. [104]
- Infrared contact lenses allowing people to see in the dark, even with their eyes closed, are created by a team in China. [105] [106]
- 27 May – Engineers at MIT develop a new fuel cell based on a reaction between sodium metal and air, with potentially three times as much energy per pound as the current best lithium-ion batteries used in EVs. [107]
- 28 May
- The Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return and comet exploration mission is successfully launched by the China National Space Administration aboard a Long March 3B rocket. The mission will explore the co-orbital near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa and the main-belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS. [108]
- In tests on mice, a combination of Rapamycin and Trametinib is found to extend lifespan by around 30% and works better than either of the drugs alone. [109] [110]
- 29 May – The first delivery of mRNA into white blood cells hiding HIV is demonstrated, using specially formulated nanoparticles known as LNP X. The mRNA instructs the cells to reveal the hidden virus. [111]
June
- 11 June – The first ever view of the Sun's south pole is revealed by the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter. [112]
- 17 June – Scientists in China demonstrate a parallel optical computing chip capable of 100 simultaneous wavelength-based operations, using a soliton microcomb and Mach–Zehnder interferometer mesh, marking a major step toward scalable, light-based AI hardware. [113] [114]
- 22 June – The Royal Observatory Greenwich celebrates its 350th anniversary. [115]
- 23 June – The Vera C. Rubin Observatory releases images from its first light, which includes the Virgo Cluster, the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae, and the discovery of roughly 2,000 asteroids. [116] [117]
- 25 June – A previously unknown organelle, described as a hemifusome, is found to exist within human cells. [118]
July
- 1 July
- MethaneSAT is reported to have run out of power, making it "likely not recoverable", following a loss of contact the previous month. [119] [120]
- The third ever confirmed interstellar object to pass into our Solar System, 3I/ATLAS, is discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). [121]
- 3 July – A study in Frontiers in Plant Science finds that climate change could disrupt the habitat overlap between wild vanilla species and their pollinators by 2050, threatening the survival of both. This mismatch may endanger global vanilla supply and limit the genetic diversity needed for future crop resilience. [122]
- 6 July – The Eclipsing Binary Patrol project, collaborating with TESS, confirms the detection of 10,001 eclipsing binary star systems, including almost 8,000 previously unknown ones. [123]
- 8 July
- De-extinction company Colossal Biosciences announces a plan to resurrect the moa, a giant flightless bird that once stood up to 3.6 metres (12 ft) in height. [124] [125]
- A study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air finds that China's carbon emissions declined in the 12 months up to May 2025, even as demand for new power generation grew rapidly, marking a potential milestone in addressing climate change. [126]
- 13 July – The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration announces the detection of the most massive black hole merger ever observed via gravitational waves, producing a final object of more than 225 solar masses. Professor Mark Hannam of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration says this discovery challenges existing models of black hole formation. [127]
- 14 July – Astronomers publish details of 2023 KQ14, informally nicknamed Ammonite, a sednoid announced in April 2025. [128] [129]
- 17 July – OpenAI announces ChatGPT Agent, "a toolbox of agentic skills to complete tasks for you using its own computer". [130]
- 18 July – The British Antarctic Survey reports the extraction of 1.5 million-year-old ice cores from depths of 2,800 metres in East Antarctica. The samples, containing bubbles of trapped CO2, could significantly improve the understanding of Earth's climate history by nearly doubling the current ice core record of 800,000 years. [131] [132]
- 21 July – Astronomers report a possible but unconfirmed direct detection of a companion star orbiting Betelgeuse with the Gemini Observatory. [133]
- 22 July – A new bioplastic, LAHB, is shown to biodegrade under deep-sea conditions, losing over 80% of its mass after 13 months at a depth of 855 m, while conventional polylactide-based plastic (PLA) remains intact. [134]
- 24 July – Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark and Scripps Research develop an AI platform that designs custom protein minibinders in weeks, enabling T cells to selectively target and destroy cancer cells in lab experiments. [135]
- 25 July – A new study models the potential consequences of asteroid 2024 YR4 striking the Moon in 2032, finding that such an impact – if it occurs – would be the largest in 5,000 years, ejecting debris that could threaten satellites and produce a visible meteor shower on Earth. [136]
- 30 July – Chinese researchers report the first wafer-scale fabrication of two-dimensional indium selenide (InSe) semiconductors. These ultra-high-performance transistors demonstrate the potential to surpass silicon, offering a pathway toward faster, smaller, and more efficient electronics. [137]
- 31 July
- The CONUS+ experiment detects antineutrinos from a commercial nuclear reactor in Switzerland, using a detector with a mass of just 3 kg, orders of magnitude less massive than standard neutrino detectors. This confirms coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) at full coherence and low energies, as first theorised in 1974. [138] [139]
- Astronomers report that free-floating planets, similar in mass to Jupiter, may form their own miniature planetary systems. Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope revealed dusty disks and silicate grains around six such objects, suggesting early signs of rocky planet formation even in the absence of a host star. [140]
August
- 7 August
- 8 August – Researchers at the University of Adelaide report a way of using sunlight to dissolve PFAS, causing the so-called "forever chemicals" to break down into a range of harmless substances including fluoride. [145]
- 12 August – A study finds that rising sea levels could threaten the iconic moai statues of Easter Island by the year 2080. [146]
- 14 August – A new allotrope of carbon known as cyclo[48]carbon, consisting of 48 carbon atoms in an alternating single/triple bond pattern, is demonstrated by Oxford University's Department of Chemistry. [147]
- 19 August – The discovery of S/2025 U 1, a new moon of Uranus measuring just six miles (10 kilometres) in diameter, is reported by astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope. [148]
- 20 August – A new type of supernova, Ien, is reported by observing SN2021yfj. [149]
