Year in Review
Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology 2025
2025’s most surprising breakthroughs in biology included a finding that a father’s environmental exposures can impact the development of their offspring, research confirming that intelligence evolved independently in birds and mammals, and a new mathematical model reveals that evolution happens in explosive bursts.
Read related article
Select Playlist
Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology 2025
2025’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Computer Science
The Biggest Breakthroughs in Mathematics: 2025
The Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics: 2025
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Computer Science
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Math
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Computer Science
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology and Neuroscience
2022’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math
2021’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math and Computer Science
2021’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
2021’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology
2020’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology
2020’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math and Computer Science
2020’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
Explore All Videos
Gabriela González: Searching the Sky for the Wobbles of Gravity
Gabriela González explains how to measure black-hole collisions using gravitational waves.
What Is a Species?
David Kaplan explains why a simple definition of “species” is hard to come by.
Nima Arkani-Hamed’s Visions of Future Physics
Nima Arkani-Hamed makes his “big-picture” case for building a 100-TeV particle collider.
Nancy Moran: An Explorer of Life’s Deepest Partnerships
Nancy Moran explains how colony collapse disorder led her to study the bacteria that live in the guts of bees.
James Bullock: The Case for Complex Dark Matter
James Bullock explains why dark matter might be more complicated than astronomers have assumed.
How Does Symmetry Shape Nature’s Laws?
David Kaplan explains how the search for hidden symmetries leads to discoveries like the Higgs boson.
How Did Life Begin on Earth?
David Kaplan explores the leading theories for the origin of life on our planet.
Where Did the Universe Come From?
David Kaplan explores the leading cosmological explanation for the origin of the universe.
What Happens if You Fall Into a Black Hole?
David Kaplan explores one of the biggest mysteries in physics: the apparent contradiction between general relativity and quantum mechanics.