The biggest science breakthroughs of 2025

From Science Magazine. The Science staff named the rise of renewable energy as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year, but there were many other research advances that caught our attention last year. Here are nine other impactful achievements you might have missed last year. 0:00 2025 Breakthrough of the Year 0:36 Neurons supercharge cancer cells…

Surprise: Egg-laying amphibian provides nutrient-rich “milk” to its young

From Science Magazine. A 2024 Science study revealed that an egg-laying species of worm-like amphibian nourishes its young with a lipid-rich, milk-like substance. The findings reported previously unobserved behavior and offer new insight into the species’ parental care and communication. Read more: https://scim.ag/4jSIAmA FOOTAGE CREDIT: MAILHO-FONTANA ET AL./SCIENCE #Amphibians #Science #ScienceShorts

3D tumor maps give researchers an unprecedented look at cancer growth

From Science Magazine. Every tumor contains multitudes: A variety of cancerous and noncancerous cells—including immune cells and supportive stromal cells— contribute to the structural complexity of tumors, and therefore to variation in how different tumors respond to therapies. In a suite of 12 Nature Portfolio papers, researchers with the Human Tumor Atlas Network presented in…

Watch tiny plankton ‘surf’ ocean currents

From Science Magazine. Tiny aquatic organisms like plankton are considered passive drifters, moving at the mercy of ocean currents. But reporting in the Journal of Experimental Biology, scientists show some of these microorganisms don’t just drift—they surf. The researchers chose a zooplankton—the larvae of the common slipper shell snail. They placed 2000 of the larvae…

Watch these raindrops turn into rolling ‘sandballs’

From Science Magazine. When a raindrop hits the ground, it explodes like a tiny bomb, carving out a tiny crater that sends soil and sand grains flying. Now, scientists report a previously unknown—and even more erosive—behavior. Under certain conditions, raindrops can bounce and then roll down a slope, picking up sand as they go. The…

Mouse with a mammoth’s pelt makes superfuzzy debut

From Science Magazine. Before you ask, no, it doesn’t have little tusks. But like the woolly mammoth that inspired it, a genetically engineered mouse from Colossal Biosciences—a biotech company striving to bring extinct species like the mammoth, dodo, and Tasmanian tiger back from the dead—does have thick, wavy hair with a coarse texture. To create…

China’s clean energy infrastructure

From Science Magazine. In 2025, renewables helped bring the growth of greenhouse emissions to a virtual standstill in China and put a global carbon peak within reach. Tim Appenzeller, Science’s News Editor, and Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, explain. #ScienceTok #STEMTok Read more: https://scim.ag/4aCV0fJ CREDITS: (FOOTAGE)…

Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished

From Science Magazine. Archaeologists find evidence that a wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture. Read more: https://scim.ag/4p6y1NC CREDITS: (IMAGES) ANDREW CURRY; VRÁBLE EXCAVATION TEAM; GDKE RHINELAND-PALATINATE/FABIAN HAACK; UWE ANSPACH/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES; (GRAPHICS) V. PENNEY/SCIENCE; PATRICK J. LYNCH; (FOOTAGE) ANDREW CURRY; VRÁBLE EXCAVATION TEAM; (VIDEO PRODUCTION) K. MCLEAN/SCIENCE…

Why the growth of renewables have become unstoppable

From Science Magazine. For decades, rising carbon emissions have accelerated climate change, but this year marked a critical turning point that could finally reverse that trend. Renewable energy has now graduated beyond the need for subsidies and incentives, emerging as a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels in many countries. News Editor Tim Appenzeller and policy…

Complete map of fruit fly brain circuitry unveiled

From Science Magazine. How do electrical impulses traveling among a tangle of neurons drive complex behaviors? Researchers seeking the answer have reconstructed the complete wiring diagram, or connectome, of the fruit fly’s adult brain—a feat akin to mapping all the buildings, avenues, and streets in a complex city. ⁠ ⁠ The comprehensive map will advance…

This drone has legs: Watch a flying robot perch on branches, catch a tennis ball in midair

From Science Magazine. In 2021, researchers analyzed the anatomy and behavior of a tiny American parrot called a parrotlet and peregrine falcons, two species known for their expert footwork. They then designed SNAG (the Stereotyped Nature-Inspired Aerial Grasper)—a pair of jointed legs attached to feet with jointed talons that automatically close around any object they…

Can tropical forests keep up as the planet warms?

From Science Magazine. Tropical forests already cover some of the hottest parts of our planet, and these areas are only expected to get warmer. We know from temperate forests that heat can damage critical processes of individual trees and threaten landscape-scale survival, but how do plants already adapted to high temperatures respond? Staff writer Erik…