The followingscientific events occurred, or were scheduled to occur in2025. TheUnited Nations declared 2025 the International year ofquantum science andtechnology.

• 1 January – Detailedtelemetry data from theParker Solar Probe is received, following its passage through theSun's corona.^[1]
• 2 January
  • The biggestdinosaurfossil 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 atRice 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 ofprotein locations withinhuman cells, offering potential new insights into how cells respond to infections and other changing circumstances.^[7]
  • A study published inNature demonstrates the theoretical existence of paraparticles, a proposed class of quantumquasiparticles with exchange statistics beyondfermions andbosons, emerging in certain quantum spin models.^[8][9]
• 9 January – TheEl Capitansupercomputer is officially dedicated at theLawrence Livermore National Laboratory inLivermore, California, United States.^[10]
• 10 January
  • The EuropeanCopernicus Climate Change Service reports that2024 was the world's hottest year on record, and the first calendar year to pass the symbolic threshold of1.5°C ofglobal warming.^[11]
  • The first fully3D printedmicroscope is revealed by theUniversity of Strathclyde, made in just a few hours and for a fraction of the cost of traditional devices.^[12]
• 13 January – Researchers discover what could be the world's oldest three-dimensional map in a cave in theParis Basin ofFrance, dating back 13,000 years.^[13]
• 15 January – TheEuropean Space Agency'sGaia spacecraft ends its operation after 11 years of mapping theMilky Way galaxy, during which time it made three trillion observations of two billionstars.^[14]
• 16 January
  • Microsoft researchers publish details of MatterGen, agenerative AI tool for materials design.^[15]
  • 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.^[16] Adding just 2.5% of the new material toUltem boosted the latter'stensile modulus by 45%.^[17]
  • The air monitoring station atMauna 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 globalatmospheric concentration of CO₂ is now at 427 ppm, more than 50% higher than thepre-industrial level.^[18][19]

• 21 January
  • Coral bleaching on the southernGreat Barrier Reef in early 2024 is reported to have struck 80% of colonies, with some coral genera, such asAcropora, experiencing a 95% mortality rate.^[20]
  • More than a third (34%) of the Arctic-boreal zone is now reported to be a source of carbon emissions, rather than acarbon sink, a figure that rises to 40% when including emissions from fires.^[21]
  • The exoplanetWASP-127b is discovered to have wind speeds of up to 33,000 km/h, the fastestjetstream of its kind ever measured.^[22]
• 22 January – Thesecond Trump administration imposes an immediate freeze on scientific grants, communications, hiring, and meetings at theNational Institutes of Health (NIH) – by far the biggest supporter ofbiomedical research worldwide – impacting $47.4 billion worth of activities.^[23]
• 23 January
  • Machine learning and 3D printing are used at theUniversity of Toronto to design nano-architected materials exhibiting the strength ofcarbon steel but the lightness ofStyrofoam.^[24]
  • A study of adults withattention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) finds that the condition may reducelife expectancy by 4.5 to 9 years for men, and 6.5 to 11 years for women.^[25]
• 24 January – A study by theUniversity of Birmingham finds thatelectric vehicles now have an average lifespan of 18.4 years, outlasting the averagediesel vehicle at 16.8 years and almost matching the averagepetrol vehicle at 18.7 years.^[26][27]
• 29 January – TheEuropean Space Agency (ESA) announces that it has begun monitoring the asteroid2024 YR₄, which at the time had a 1 in 77 (1.3%) chance of impacting Earth on 22 December 2032.^[28]

• 3 February – Researchers inBerkeley andCambridge attachcopper nanoflower catalysts onperovskite-basedartificial leaves for solar-drivenhydrocarbon synthesis. Devices can produceethane andethylene at high rates by couplingCO₂ reduction withglycerol oxidation into value-added chemicals.^[29][30]
• 7 February – Researchers develop aneural network 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 efficientmedical imaging andquantum communication technologies.^[31][32]
• 10 February
  • The microlensing eventMOA-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 theescape velocity for the Milky Way galaxy.^[33][34]
  • Following an increase in the impact probability of2024 YR₄ – from 1.3% to 2.1% – the European Space Agency announces that it will use the advanced capabilities of theJames Webb Space Telescope to observe the asteroid, in order to better determine its size and trajectory.^[35]
• 12 February
  • TheWESTtokamak in France is reported to have maintained plasma for 1,337 seconds, a new world record duration fornuclear fusion and 25% longer than a similar effort by China the previous month.^[36][37]
  • A new blood test able to detect early-stagepancreatic cancer with 85% accuracy is developed byOregon Health & Science University.^[38]
• 13 February – Scientists at theUniversity of Cambridge report the creation of a solar-powered reactor that pullscarbon dioxide directly from the air and converts it intosustainable fuel.^[39]
• 15 February – A new record-low globalsea ice extent is reported, dipping below the previous lowest that occurred in early 2023.^[40]
• 18 February
  • The impact probability of2024 YR₄ is raised by NASA, from 2.1% to 2.6%^[41] and then 3.1% in the same day.^[42]
  • The first 3D mapping of anexoplanet atmosphere is achieved by the European Southern Observatory'sVery 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.^[43]
• 19 February –Microsoft unveilsMajorana 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 ontopological qubits.^[44][45]
• 24 February
  • NASA formally announces that asteroid2024 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 aplanetary defense mission to intercept and deflect the object in 2028 during aclose flyby of Earth will not be necessary.^[46]
  • Researchers modelneuronal activity using stochastic random walks and shows that these dynamics can be mapped to aSchrödinger-like equation, suggesting that individualneurons may exhibit quantum-like behavior.^[47][48]
• 27 February
  • OpenAI announces a research preview ofGPT-4.5.^[49]
  • Researchers atAWS andCaltech develop the Ocelot chip, using "cat qubits" to reducequantum computing errors by up to 90%, making error correction more efficient and scalable.^[50][51]
• 28 February – An electronic device called "e-Taste", developed byOhio State University, is shown to replicate the perception oftaste, which could enhancevirtual reality experiences.^[52][53]

• 2 March –Firefly Aerospace successfully lands theBlue Ghost Mission 1 on the Moon as part of NASA'sCommercial Lunar Payload Services program, delivering payloads toMare Crisium with instruments to study lunar regoliths and the interactions between solar wind and Earth's magnetic field.^[54]
• 4 March –De-extinction companyColossal Biosciences announces the creation of a "woolly mouse" with eight modified genes, expressingmammoth-like traits relevant to cold adaptation and providing a platform for validation of genome engineering targets.^[55][56]
• 5 March – Italian researchers report turninglight into asupersolid for the first time.^[57][58]
• 6 March – A study inScience finds thatbutterfly 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.^[59][60]
• 10 March – A study in the journalPNAS finds thatmicroplastic pollution reducesphotosynthesis 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.^[61][62]
• 11 March
  • The discovery of 128 newmoons of Saturn is reported, by astronomers using theCanada–France–Hawaii Telescope, bringing the gas giant's total number of confirmed satellites to 274.^[63][64]
  • Three new rockyexoplanets, all smaller than Earth in size, are detected aroundBarnard'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.^[65][66]
• 13 March – The first image of twoPINK1 proteins attached to the membrane of amitochondrion is obtained, viacryo-electron microscopy, a potential breakthrough in developing treatments forParkinson's disease.^[67][68]
• 20 March –Oxygen is discovered inJADES-GS-z14-0, the furthest confirmed galaxy, located 13.4 billion light-years from Earth.^[69]
• 26 March
  • Aurorae are photographed onNeptune for the first time, seen by combiningvisible light images from theHubble Space Telescope withnear-infrared images from theJames Webb Space Telescope, although the planet was known to have aurorae since it was visited byVoyager 2.^[70]
  • A study inThe 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 endHIV/AIDS as a public health threat, with potentially 10.8m additional new infections by 2030.^[71][72]

• 28 March – Research published by two high-schoolers proves thatupstream contamination is possible even without theMarangoni effect.^[73]
• 31 March –GPT-4.5 is reported to have passed theTuring Test.^[74]

• 1 April –Fram2 launches aboard aSpaceXFalcon 9 rocket, becoming the firstcrewed spaceflight to enter apolarretrograde orbit,^[75] i.e., to fly over Earth's poles.^[76]
• 2 April – The world's smallestpacemaker – able to fit inside the tip of a syringe and be non-invasively injected into the body – is demonstrated by scientists atNorthwestern University. The device, measuring just 3.5 millimeters in length, is designed for temporary use and can be made tobiodegrade within a set number of days, depending on a patient's needs.^[77]
• 7 April –Colossal Biosciences announcesRomulus, Remus, and Khaleesi,genetically modifiedgrey wolves which reproduced characteristics of extinctdire wolves.^[78]
• 8 April – Maxwell Labs, in collaboration withSandia National Laboratories and theUniversity 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.^[79][80]
• 14 April – TheMinor Planet Center (MPC) announces the discovery of2023 KQ₁₄, atrans-Neptunian object and the fourth knownsednoid.^[81]
• 16 April
  • Scientists report a new method of generating electricity from falling rainwater using plug flow in vertical tubes, converting over 10% of the water's energy into electricity and producing enough power to light 12 LEDs.^[82]
  • OpenAI announces the launch of two new AI models,o3 ando4-mini.^[83]

• 17 April – The atmosphere ofK2-18b, a candidatewater world located 124 light-years away, is found to contain large quantities ofdimethyl sulfide anddimethyl 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 abiological activity beyond the Solar System".^[84][85]
• 18 April – Scientists at UC Berkeley use lasers to stimulate human retinas to see an extremelysaturated blue-greenimaginary color dubbed "olo".^[86][87]
• 20 April – NASA'sLucy spacecraft returns images of themain belt asteroidDonaldjohanson, revealing it to be acontact binary and larger than originally estimated.^[88]
• 22 April – Astronomers at MIT report the discovery ofBD+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 acomet-like tail of vaporised minerals extending up to 9 million kilometres. It is estimated to be losing mass equivalent toMount Everest each orbit and may completely evaporate within 1–2 million years.^[89]
• 27 April – Astronomers report the discovery of theEos cloud, a vastmolecular 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.^[90]
• 30 April
  • Engineers atITER complete the construction of the world's largest and most powerful pulsed superconducting electromagnet system, marking a major milestone on the path to sustainednuclear 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.^[91]
  • TheMinor Planet Center announces two additional moons ofJupiter, bringing the planet'stotal moon count to 97.^[92]

• 4 May – The first successful humanbladder transplant is performed atRonald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.^[93]
• 5 May – Physicists at MIT capture the first images of individualatoms interacting freely in space, showing behaviors previously only predicted.^[94][95]
• 8 May
  • TheALICE experiment atCERN detects the conversion oflead intogold.^[96]
  • A study byUppsala University in Sweden finds thatlack 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.^[97]
• 9 May –Kosmos 482, an attempted SovietVenusprobe which failed toescapelow Earth orbit, crashes back to Earth after more than 53 years.^[98]
• 13 May – Genes linked toobsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are discovered for the first time. A study involving more than 2 million people identifies 250 genes linked to the condition.^[99]
• 16 May –MoM-z14, discovered using theJames Webb Space Telescope, is confirmed as themost distant galaxy ever detected, with a redshift of 14.44 placing its formation within 280 million years of theBig Bang.^[100]
• 20 May
  • The 150th anniversary of the signing of theMetre Convention, which established theBIPM, one of the firstinternational organizations, is celebrated.^[101]
  • Google DeepMind announcesVeo 3, a new state-of-the-art video generation model.^[102]
  • MIT releases a detailed report on the energy footprint ofgenerative AI. Some models are shown to require the equivalent of running amicrowave oven for an hour to produce five seconds of video.^[103][104]
• 21 May
  • The world's firstgonorrhoea vaccine is launched by NHS England, with an efficacy of 30–40%.^[105]
  • A major clinical trial, published inThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, reveals thatvitamin D supplements can reduce biological aging, preservingtelomeres and potentially adding three years to lifespan.^[106]
  • The discovery of2017 OF₂₀₁, a new dwarf planet candidate in the outer Solar System, is reported.^[107][108]
• 22 May
  • A review byMurdoch University in Australia finds that agricultural soils now hold around 23 times moremicroplastics than the oceans.^[109]
  • Infraredcontact lenses allowing people to see in the dark, even with their eyes closed, are created by a team in China.^[110][111]
• 27 May – Engineers atMIT 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 bestlithium-ion batteries used in EVs.^[112]
• 28 May
  • TheTianwen-2 asteroidsample return andcomet exploration mission is successfully launched by theChina National Space Administration aboard aLong March 3Brocket. The mission will explore theco-orbitalnear-Earth asteroid469219 Kamoʻoalewa and themain-belt comet311P/PANSTARRS.^[113]
  • In tests on mice, a combination ofRapamycin andTrametinib is found to extend lifespan by around 30% and works better than either of the drugs alone.^[114][115]
• 29 May – The first delivery ofmRNA intowhite blood cells hidingHIV is demonstrated, using specially formulated nanoparticles known as LNP X. The mRNA instructs the cells to reveal the hidden virus.^[116]

• 11 June – The first ever view of theSun's south pole is revealed by theEuropean Space Agency'sSolar Orbiter.^[117]
• 17 June – Scientists in China demonstrate a paralleloptical 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.^[118][119]
• 22 June – TheRoyal Observatory Greenwich celebrates its 350th anniversary.^[120]
• 23 June – TheVera C. Rubin Observatory releases images from itsfirst light, which includes theVirgo Cluster, theTrifid andLagoon nebulae, and the discovery of roughly 2,000asteroids.^[121][122]
• 25 June – A previously unknownorganelle, described as ahemifusome, is found to exist within human cells.^[123]

• 1 July
  • MethaneSAT is reported to have run out of power, making it "likely not recoverable", following a loss of contact the previous month.^[124]
  • The third ever confirmedinterstellar object to pass into our Solar System,3I/ATLAS, is discovered by theAsteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).^[125]
• 2 July –GRB 250702B, the longestgamma-ray burst observed to date, is detected by NASA'sFermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and shown to have lasted for nearly an entire day.^[126]
• 3 July – A study inFrontiers in Plant Science finds that climate change could disrupt the habitat overlap between wildvanilla 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.^[127]
• 6 July – The Eclipsing Binary Patrol project, collaborating withTESS, confirms the detection of 10,001eclipsing binary star systems, including almost 8,000 previously unknown ones.^[128]
• 8 July – A study by theCentre for Research on Energy and Clean Air finds thatChina'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 addressingclimate change.^[129]
• 13 July – TheLIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration announces the detection of the most massiveblack hole merger ever observed viagravitational 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 ofblack hole formation.^[130]
• 14 July
  • Astronomers publish details of2023 KQ₁₄, informally nicknamed Ammonite, asednoid announced in April 2025.^[131]
  • Researchers perform the first experimental demonstration of logical-levelmagic state distillation on a neutral-atom quantum computer, demonstrating a critical step toward universal, fault-tolerantquantum computation by producing high-fidelity magic states entirely within error-correctedlogical qubits.^[132][133]
• 17 July –OpenAI announcesChatGPT Agent.^[134]
• 18 July – TheBritish Antarctic Survey reports the extraction of 1.5 million-year-oldice cores from depths of 2,800 metres inEast Antarctica. The samples, containing bubbles of trappedCO₂, could significantly improve the understanding of Earth's climate history by nearly doubling the current ice core record of 800,000 years.^[135][136]
• 21 July – Astronomers report a possible but unconfirmed direct detection of acompanion star orbitingBetelgeuse with theGemini Observatory.^[137]
• 22 July
  • A newbioplastic, 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 conventionalpolylactide-based plastic (PLA) remains intact.^[138]
  • Physicists at MIT perform an idealised atomic-scaledouble-slit experiment with single ultracold atoms and photons, showing light’s coherence depends only on which-way information, confirmingNiels Bohr’scomplementarity principle and refutingAlbert Einstein’s idea of simultaneous wave–particle observation.^[139][140]
• 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.^[141]
• 25 July – A new study models the potential consequences of asteroid2024 YR₄ striking theMoon 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.^[142]
• 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.^[143]
• 31 July
  • TheCONUS+ experiment detectsantineutrinos from a commercialnuclear reactor in Switzerland, using a detector with a mass of just 3 kg, orders of magnitude less massive than standardneutrino detectors. This confirmscoherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) at full coherence and low energies, as first theorised in 1974.^[144][145]
  • Astronomers report thatfree-floating planets, similar in mass toJupiter, may form their own miniature planetary systems. Observations with theJames 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.^[146]

• 7 August
  • OpenAI releasesGPT-5, a new version ofChatGPT.^[147][148]
  • NASA reports the strongest evidence to date of the hypotheticalAlpha Centauri Ab, agas giant orbitingAlpha Centauri A.^[149][150]
• 8 August – Researchers at the University of Adelaide report a way of using sunlight to dissolvePFAS, causing the so-called "forever chemicals" to break down into a range of harmless substances including fluoride.^[151]
• 12 August – A study finds thatrising sea levels could threaten the iconicmoai statues ofEaster Island by the year 2080.^[152]
• 14 August – A newallotrope of carbon known as cyclo[48]carbon, consisting of 48carbon atoms in an alternating single/triple bond pattern, is demonstrated by Oxford University's Department of Chemistry.^[153]
• 15 August
  • The primary radar for theNISAR satellite is deployed, becoming the largest antenna reflector ever deployed for a NASA mission, with a diameter of 12 metres (39 feet). It will image Earth's surface down to a resolution of 10 metres (30 feet).^[154]
  • Researchers reportWeaver ants display remarkable teamwork, increasing individual effort as group size grows—unlike human teams. They build complex leaf nests using a "force ratchet" system, where some ants pull while others anchor, boosting efficiency. This coordinated labor offers insights for robotics, suggesting that mimicking ant strategies could enhance multi-agent cooperation and improve autonomous systems. Their behavior challenges long-held assumptions about group dynamics and productivity.^[155]
• 17 August – Engineers at Columbia University create CAPPSID: tumour-homingSalmonella smuggle an oncolytic virus into cancers, evading antibodies and releasing it inside tumour cells. A built-in safety switch – viral maturation requiring a bacterial protease – limits spread to tumours.^[156]
• 19 August
  • The discovery ofS/2025 U 1, a newmoon of Uranus measuring just six miles (10 kilometres) in diameter, is reported by astronomers using theJames Webb Space Telescope.^[157]
  • Scientists atMichigan State University discover thatmicrobes begin shaping thebrain before ababy is born. These microbes affect cells in a part of the brain that controlsstress and how we act with other people.^[158]
• 20 August – A newtype of supernova, Ien, is reported by observingSN2021yfj.^[159]
• 25 August
  • Researchers at theSouth Australian Health and Medical Research Institute developnanoparticles that both detect and shrink arterial plaque, offering a new theranostic approach to treating heart disease.^[160]
  • Jakob Steininger and Sergey Yurkevich of Vienna describe a convex polyhedron withoutRupert's property, which they call a 'noperthedron'.^[161]
• 29 August – Recent research suggests that thecommon cold may reduceCOVID-19 risk and severity by activating airway defense proteins. Children, who develop colds more often, show stronger protective responses than adults.^[162]
• 30 August – Researchers identify "cathartocytosis," a rapid "vomiting" purge that injured cells use to jettison machinery and revert to stem-like states, accelerating repair. The messy external waste may drive inflammation, foster cancer risk, and serve as a detectable biomarker, suggesting therapeutic targets to encourage healing while limiting malignant progression.^[163]

• 2 September
  • NASA scientist Nicholas Heinz finds an unusual basalt rock inSedona, Arizona, resembling Martian samples, possibly hinting at ancient volcanic origins.^[164]
  • Scientists atTulane University report thatCuban brown anoles inNew Orleans exhibit extreme lead tolerance, hinting at oxygen-carrying adaptations and new research frontiers.^[165]
• 3 September
  • TheKorea Institute of Machinery & Materials unveils a hydrogen-poweredplasma torch that can break down mixed plastic waste in under 0.01 seconds, converting it into high-purity chemical feedstocks such asethylene andbenzene, while minimisingcarbon emissions.^[166][167]
  • A study led by theInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, published inNature, finds that safe and practical undergroundcarbon storage could reduceglobal warming by only 0.7 °C, nearly ten times less than previous estimates. The research establishes a prudent global storage limit of about 1,460 gigatonnes of CO₂, highlighting the resource's scarcity and the need for careful management.^[168][169]
• 5 September
  • Chemists at theUniversity of Copenhagen make a new material called BAETA from old plastic bottles. It can catchCO₂ from theair. Making BAETA does not need muchenergy and can be done in big amounts. This helps the planet and can also help companies make money.^[170]
  • University of Leicester have identified that around 150 million years ago, two youngpterosaurs, dubbed Lucky and Lucky II, were fatally caught in fierce tropical storms. Their fractured wings and exceptional preservation in Germany's Solnhofenlimestones highlight how such storms buried delicate juveniles quickly, while larger adults decayed over time, leaving fewer fossil traces and distorting the fossil record.^[171]
• 6 September – Scientists from theMedical Research Council (MRC) state thatvisceral fat accelerates heart aging by hardening tissue.Hip andthigh fat may protect women's hearts, offering contrasting effects.^[172]
• 7 September
  • Paleontologists atFreie Universität Berlin discoverSauropoda teeth and find clues about their diets and migration. Scratches reveal seasonal movement and diverse plant consumption.Climate influenced their eating habits, and rough, sandy plants inTanzania caused more tooth damage. These findings shed light on dinosaur lifestyles and ancient environments.^[173]
  • Researchers ofCharles Darwin University report thatAI is changing laws and rules very fast, and this can hurt human dignity. They state today's rules are too weak to protect people's privacy, freedom, and fairness. The "black box problem" means people can't understand or question AI decisions that may hurt them.^[174]
  • Cambridge scientists find that weak parts of Earth's plates helped hot rock from Iceland spread across the North Atlantic, causing volcanoes long ago. These old cracks still affect earthquakes and may help in the discovery of geothermal energy.^[175]
  • Scientists from theSmithsonian Tropical Research Institute report that the seasonal winds which normally bring nutrient-rich waters to Panama's coast have stalled, likely as a result of climate change, with negative impacts on marine life.^[176]
• 8 September
  • Experts atLeipzig University identify a receptor, GPR133, which helpsbones stay strong. Stimulating this receptor with a new compound called AP503 boosted bone strength in mice, even reversing osteoporosis-like conditions.^[177]
  • Researchers atUC Berkeley map the brain circuits that control growth hormone release during sleep, uncovering a feedback system where sleep fuels hormone release, and the hormone regulates wakefulness. This discovery may explain links between poor sleep, obesity, diabetes, and cognitive decline, while opening new paths for treating sleep and metabolic disorders.^[178]
• 9 September
  • University of Florida researchers develop a chip that replaces electricity with light for key AI tasks. Using microscopic lenses etched onto silicon, it performs laser-powered computations with drastically lower energy and near-perfect accuracy.^[179]
  • An international team of 42 scientists publishes a critical assessment inFrontiers in Science, finding five prominent geoengineering proposals – such as pumping seawater onto Arctic ice, deploying reflective glass beads, building underwater curtains, injecting aerosols, and fertilizing oceans – to be technologically unfeasible, unscalable, and environmentally harmful, and cautioning that they distract from vital emission-reduction efforts.^[180][181]
• 10 September – NASA announces the discovery ofvivianite andgreigite on Mars.^[182]
• 17 September – NASA announces the 6,000th confirmedexoplanet.^[183][184]
• 24 September
  • A breakthrough in treatingHuntington's disease is reported by UK doctors, with a newgene therapy able to slow its progression by 75 percent.^[185][186]
  • NASA'sIMAP probe is launched towardLagrange point 1 to collectinterstellar dust and investigatespace weather.^[187]
• 29 September – A study by thePotsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany finds that Earth has now exceeded a critical threshold forocean acidification, marking the seventh of nine "planetary boundaries" to be breached.^[188][189]

• 1 October – Scientists report the detection of organic molecules onEnceladus, based on plume samples taken by theCosmic Dust Analyzer on theCassini spacecraft.^[190]
• 3 October – Scientists at the University of British Columbia and Avivo Biomedical perform the first human test of an enzyme treatment that converts a donor kidney to a universalblood type, marking a major step toward universally compatible organ transplants.^[191][192]
• 6 October –Mary E. Brunkow,Fred Ramsdell andShimon Sakaguchi share theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerningperipheral immune tolerance"^[193]
• 7 October –John Clarke,John M. Martinis, andMichel Devoret win theNobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.”^[194]
• 8 October –Omar M. Yaghi,Richard Robson, andSusumu Kitagawa win theNobel Prize in Chemistry "for the development ofmetal–organic frameworks."^[195]
• 10 October – A theoretical study published inScience Advances derives generalized thermodynamic laws for correlated quantum systems, showing that atomic-scale thermal machines can convert quantum correlations into usable work, enabling efficiencies beyond the classicalCarnot limit.^[196][197]
• 11 October – Researchers at theFlorey Institute report thatCOVID-19 infection can altersperm, leading to increased anxiety and behavioural changes in the offspring of mice. While further research is needed to determine whether similar effects occur in humans, the findings suggest the pandemic may have lasting biological impacts on future generations.^[198]
• 12 October – At a planetary science meeting in Helsinki, scientists from theAustrian Academy of Sciences report that the nearest technological civilisation in theMilky Way could be about 33,000light-years away. Their modelling suggests that such civilisations would need to last for at least 280,000 years to coincide in time with humanity.^[199]
• 20 October
  • Scientists report the detection ofcarbonaceous chondrites on thefar side of the Moon, based on samples returned byChang'e 6.^[200]
  • Japanese scientists report a successful trial ofenteral ventilation usingperfluorodecalin on 27 healthy male volunteers.^[201]
• 27 October – Astronomers claim to have discoveredpopulation III stars for the first time, using theJames Webb Space Telescope.^[202]
• 29 October – Dozens of newmarine species are reported to have been discovered in theSouthern Ocean, including the carnivorous "death ball" spongeChondrocladia sp. nov.^[203]

• 3 November –Hektoria Glacier in Antarctica is reported to have undergone the fastest retreat of any glacier in modern history, with nearly 50% disintegrating in just two months.^{[204][205][206]}
• 10 November – In aPhase 1, first-in-human trial, aCRISPR gene therapy targetingANGPTL3 is found to be safe and able to reduceLDL cholesterol by nearly 50%, whiletriglycerides are reduced by 55%.^[207][208]
• 13 November – TheESCAPADE mission is launched byNASA, usingBlue Origin's partially reusableNew Glenn rocket. Two spacecraft, known asBlue andGold, are scheduled to arrive atMars in 2026.^[209]
• 14 November – Researchers atChristianaCare's Gene Editing Institute report that disabling the NRF2 gene withCRISPR can reversechemotherapy resistance inlung cancer, restoring drug sensitivity and slowing tumour growth. This method shows consistent benefits across cell studies and animal models, suggesting wider potential for treating other NRF2-driven resistant tumours.^[210][211]
• 18 November
  • Google releasesGemini 3.^[212][213]
  • Scientists at Japan'sRIKEN institute report the firstMilky Way simulation to model more than 100 billion individual stars, using a deep-learning surrogate model alongside large-scale tests on theFugaku supercomputer. Their AI-accelerated approach runs over 100 times faster than previous methods and enables detailed modelling ofgalactic evolution, with potential applications to other multi-scale systems such as climate and weather.^[214]
  • Scientists atCERN'sALPHA experiment report an eightfold increase in the rate of production ofantimatter, achieved by using laser-cooled beryllium ions to sympathetically cool positrons to −266 °C. This technique allows over 15,000antihydrogen atoms to be created in under seven hours.^[215]
• 27 November –Tryptophan, anamino acid used in the biosynthesis ofproteins, is confirmed to exist on the asteroidBennu, following analysis of samples from NASA'sOSIRIS-REx mission.^[216]

• 2 December – The first complete synthesis of verticillin A is reported by chemists at MIT. The fungal compound, discovered more than 50 years ago, has long been viewed as a promising anticancer agent – particularly for treating aggressive brain tumours.^[217][218]
• 4 December – A newmicroscopy technique known as virus-view dual confocal and AFM (ViViD-AFM), which combines atomic force microscopy with fluorescence microscopy, is demonstrated atETH Zurich. This reveals a never-before-seen, high-resolution view ofinfluenza's invasion of human cells.^[219]
• 15 December
  • Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan create the world's smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots, measuring just 200 x 300 x 50 micrometres.^[220]
  • An international team led byETH Zurich reports the first global timeline forglacier disappearance, introducing the concept of "Peak Glacier Extinction" and projecting that, under current warming trends, theAlps could lose nearly all but a few dozen glaciers by 2100, with annual global glacier losses peaking mid-century.^[221]
  • Researchers at theJapan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology report that a gut bacterium isolated from amphibians and reptiles can completely eliminate colorectal tumours in mice after a single intravenous dose. The bacterium,Ewingella americana, selectively accumulates in tumour tissue, combining direct cancer cell killing with immune activation and outperforming standardchemotherapy andimmunotherapy in preclinical tests.^[222]
• 16 December – Scientists using NASA'sJames Webb Space Telescope report the discovery of an exoplanet with an atmospheric composition unlike any previously observed. The Jupiter-mass object, PSR J2322-2650b, orbits apulsar every 7.8 hours, is gravitationally distorted into alemon-like shape, and shows a helium- and molecular-carbon-dominated atmosphere that appears to rule out all known planet formation mechanisms.^[223]
• 17 December – A new study suggests that AI systems may have acarbon footprint equivalent to that ofNew York City in 2025, while their water footprint could be in the range of the global annual consumption of bottled water.^[224][225]
• 18 December
  • A newall-optical chip known as LightGen and featuring two million photonic "neurons" is presented by Chinese researchers in the journalScience. Its computing speed and energy efficiency are reportedly two orders of magnitude greater than conventional electronic chips.^[226][227]
  • Construction begins on the southern part ofCherenkov Telescope Array Observatory at theEuropean Southern Observatory Paranal site inChile. It is designed be the world's largest and most powerfulgamma-ray observatory.^[228]
• 31 December – UK companySpace Forge reports a milestone in space-based manufacturing, after successfully demonstrating a 1,000 °C furnace aboard an orbital micro-factory. The system is designed to produce semiconductor materials inmicrogravity, which the company claims could be up to 4,000 times purer than those manufactured on Earth.^[229][230]

• TheVera C. Rubin Observatory was expected to begin science operations in late 2025.^[231][232]
• Science-relatedbudgets
  • US: Various details about planned science-related spending for 2025 have been described with some information on the planned research subjects or areas.^[233][234]

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