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From the “first light” of the world’s largest sky survey to the first turning point in renewable energy production, 2025 is likely to be remembered as a year of many firsts in the world of science.
As the year draws to a close, we take a look at some of the biggest science stories of the year and why they matter.
universe in high definition
After more than a decade of anticipation, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory opened its shutters this year and received its first light from Chile.
Named after the American astronomer who led work on galaxy rotation rates, the observatory, which features a 3,200-megapixel camera – the largest ever built – promises to see more of the universe than ever before.
Unlike telescopes that focus on one target of observation at a time, the newly opened observatory will photograph the entire visible southern sky every few nights, creating a 10-year time-lapse motion picture of the universe, allowing mankind to watch the universe breathe in real time.
Over its lifetime, the observatory is expected to catalog approximately 20 billion galaxies and 17 billion stars, in addition to capturing millions of supernovae, asteroids and small Solar System bodies.
With full survey work beginning in early 2026, data from the observatory are expected to finally reveal the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the coming years.
Renewable energy overtakes coal
Arguments that renewable energy is too expensive or unreliable were put to rest in 2025 as clean energy overtook coal in power generation for the first time.
Driven by falling hardware costs and huge increases in solar power capacity across Europe and China, renewables have passed a tipping point, pushing coal into second place and marking a psychological and economic milestone for the much-needed transition to green energy.
After passing the tipping point, the focus with respect to renewable energy is expected to shift to storage and grid modernization for the remainder of the decade.
A barrier to Huntington’s disease
Huntington’s disease was, until this year, considered a death sentence, with patients usually receiving only palliative care as the genetic disorder destroyed their brains.
Not anymore. Clinical trials led by neuroscientist Sara Tabrizi successfully demonstrated that disease progression can be slowed by 75%, providing hope for patients.
Demonstrating the first “disease-modifying” breakthrough and “gene silencing” approach for Huntington’s, Tabrizi’s work paves the way for patients to receive real treatment rather than end-of-life care.
It also proves that neurodegenerative diseases previously considered incurable can be tackled through drug-based treatments, and the success has already sparked parallel trials for other diseases affecting the brain, from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s.
interstellar visitor
Science lovers and beyond, in 2025 the entire world was mesmerized by a rare visit by an interstellar object named 3i/ATLAS.
The third interstellar visitor to be documented in our corner of the galaxy, the distinctive nature of 3I/ATLAS has given rise to wild conspiracy theories of it being an alien spacecraft.
Given the publicity, space agencies around the world rallied to track 3I/ATLAS as the comet passed through the Solar System, giving scientists a “free sample” of objects from alien star systems that revealed a chemical fingerprint unlike anything found in our own solar backyard.
3I/ATLAS’s detailed tracking also paved the way for future “interceptor” missions, with space agencies planning spacecraft that would sit in orbit to physically follow and sample the next visitor.
personalized genetic editing
This year scientists also introduced a personalized solution to rare genetic disorders, a first in the history of genetic editing.
The breakthrough came from efforts to treat KJ, a child born with a unique mutation that no medicine could cure.
Using CRISPR technology to program a custom editor for KJ, scientists created the cure and administered it in record time, correcting the error in the baby’s liver cells.
This breakthrough, which served as proof of the “N=1 medicine” idea (medicine for one person), now raises questions about the entire model of the pharmaceutical industry, proving that specific codes can be written to save even one life.
Is AI going green?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a topic of discussion since OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT went mainstream a few years ago, but recent conversations about AI have centered around its excessive energy demands.
However, in 2025, the release of China’s DeepSeek open-source model proved that top-tier AI logic does not need to go hand in hand with massive energy consumption.
As American tech giants raced to build large, power-hungry data centers, a team led by Liang Wenfeng in China demonstrated that AI could also be efficient: DeepSeek matched the performance of GPT-5, using only a fraction of the computing power and energy used by the latter.
DeepSeq not only shattered the perception that AI was likely to cause environmental disaster, but it effectively democratized AI access, allowing universities and small labs to run ‘super-intelligence’ class AI models on local hardware.
realized quantum advantage
In another breakthrough from China, researchers took a step toward realizing quantum advantage after a new superconducting quantum chip, Xuchongzi 3.0, solved a complex sampling problem up to 1 quadrillion times faster than the world’s fastest classical supercomputer, Frontier.
Despite the abstract nature of the calculations, the stability of the system proved that quantum hardware was growing faster than predicted.
negative side? Well, Internet security, in its current state, is headed toward obsolescence, leaving governments scrambling to update encryption standards. A machine capable of breaking all known online security is no longer a sci-fi possibility: It’s an engineering roadmap.
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