PPeople who welcome the new year with hope, ambition and an optimized gut microbiome may be frustratingly obvious at the moment, but we all know they're in the minority. Most of us entered 2026 catastrophically exhausted and grey-faced, combining deep dependence on Lemsip with deeper overdrafts and a sense of ever-deepening global geopolitical foreboding. However, there is one thing that now and always fills me with buoyant optimism: science. I don't understand it, but I'm glad it exists and makes things better.
I was kicked out of the leaden apathy of the end of the year List of 55 facts that amazed us in 2025 according to The Atlantic. Did you know, for example, that Scientists from the University of California at Berkeley have created a new color? (It's called “olo” and it's kind of turquoise.) Or that doctors cured a child with a rare genetic disease using customized gene editing? There were more miracles A list of amazing Smithsonian scientific discoveries from the past year: Ichthyosaurs, extinct marine reptiles, had “stealth fins“, snails can grow eyes for a month, and “flamingos form tornado-like swirls while searching for prey” which is pure poetry (that looks pretty cool too, I I saw someone do it on YouTube). Continuing the theme of animals, entomologists discovered bone collector caterpillar which hides in the body parts of its prey (I'm sure it's beautiful once you get to know it). 2025 was also the year of scientific achievements oyster mushrooms play the keyboard (sort of) astronomers have discovered more than 100 moons in our solar system and medical researchers have created copy of the uterine lining and made amazing progress in lab grown teeth.
The science is impressive; that's the only thing that makes me look forward to 2026. I know that big brains are already working tirelessly on what we desperately need: climate collapse, plastic waste and ecosystem destruction; cures for dementia and cancer, as well as chronic diseases such as long Covid, which blight the lives of so many of my loved ones and yours. But small things are cool too. I'm far from trying to direct the course of human research, but I have a few project proposals that would fit well on the list of “mind-blowing discoveries” this time next year. I can't handle 55, but here's nine.
We're really confident sitting is bad for us? It would be great if someone smart would take a second look at this.
It was cool when you discovered Huge stick insect last year guys and I really enjoyed it all new insects in general – four new wasps! Wow! This is just a suggestion, but I think morale around the world will greatly improve with the discovery of a new cute furry mammal. Maybe be on the lookout while you're hunting wasps?
Live translation software has become incredible: I recently read about journalist traveling around Japan using it with overwhelming success. This year he has a real problem to solve: pets. Do you want to know if your cat loves you? I hope you're ready to find out the truth.
Removing earworms. I can't handle another year of my husband humming the Muppets theme.
I have two alternative renewable energy sources that I suggest looking into: Scrolling – We all do it, couldn't we hook up to something to generate power with our fingers? And also: the rage of a middle-aged woman. Show me an empty basket and I can easily power the national grid for 10 minutes.
I passionately follow research that shows how short bursts of exercise can improve your health. Last week it was announced that 10 minutes of exercise may help protect against bowel cancer progression it was excellent. This year, it may turn out that hanging out in front of the refrigerator has some unexpected health benefits.
Speaking of exercise, I know time is relativebut physics needs to study what happens when you run on a treadmill. Civilizations rise and fall, geological ages pass, but the digital display still reads four minutes. Give it meaning.
Wearable technology has made great strides (unlike me on the treadmill), but it needs to solve one of humanity's biggest problems: bedtime procrastination. I want a wearable device that will come at 10pm, undress me, brush my teeth, and then get me to bed in an efficient, albeit undignified, manner. bring back this rhino last March. Otherwise, I'd settle for one that delivers electric shocks of increasing intensity every five minutes while I'm lounging on the couch after sleep.
Geese: we urgently need to figure out what their angry deal is. Forget killer whales; we need to worry about the geese.
