Nine scientific breakthroughs I’d like to see in 2026 – from earworms to procrastination | Emma Beddington

P.People who welcome the new year with hope, ambitious plans, and an optimized gut microbiome may be obnoxious right now, but we all know they’re in the minority. Most of us entered 2026 catastrophically exhausted and gray-faced, juggling a deep reliance on Lemsip with a larger overdraft and a sense of deepening global geopolitical foreboding. There is, however, one thing that fills me with optimism, today and always: science. I don’t understand it, but I’m glad it’s available and makes things better.

I was jolted out of my end-of-year apathy thanks to The Atlantic’s list of 55 facts that will blow our minds in 2025. Did you know, for example, that scientists at UC Berkeley created a new color? (It’s called “olo” and it’s a little teal.) Or that doctors treated a baby with a rare genetic disorder with personalized gene editing? There were other wonders in the Smithsonian’s list of fascinating scientific discoveries from last year: ichthyosaurs, extinct marine reptiles, had “stealth fins,” snails can regrow their eyes in a month, and “flamingos form tornado-like vortices when searching for prey,” which is pure poetry (it looks pretty cool too, I saw one on do on YouTube). Continuing on the animal theme, entomologists have discovered a “bone-picker” caterpillar that hides in the body parts of its prey (I’m sure it’s adorable when you get to know it). 2025 was also the year science played oyster mushrooms on the keyboard (sort of), astronomers discovered more than 100 moons in our solar system, and medical researchers created replicas of the uterine lining and made astonishing progress toward lab-grown teeth.

The science is impressive; it’s the only thing that really makes me look forward to 2026. I know that great minds are already working tirelessly on the problems we desperately want them to solve: climate collapse, plastic waste and ecosystem failure; cures for dementia, cancer and chronic illnesses, such as long Covid, which are ruining the lives of many of my loved ones and yours. But the little things are nice too. Far be it from me to try to direct the course of human research, but I do have some suggestions for projects that would sit well on a list of “mind-blowing discoveries” this time next year. I can’t handle 55, but here are nine.

Are we really sure that sitting is bad for us? It would be great if someone intelligent would take another look.

It was cool when you guys discovered a giant stick insect last year, and I loved all the new insects in general – four new wasps! Wow! This is just a suggestion, but I think world morale would be greatly improved by the discovery of a cute, fluffy new mammal. Maybe stay on the lookout while you hunt for wasps?

Live translation software has become incredible: I recently heard about a journalist who was traveling around Japan and using it with astonishing success. This year, he will have to take on the real challenge: pets. Do you want to know if your cat loves you? I hope you are ready for the truth.

Earworm elimination. I can’t stand another year of my husband humming the Muppets theme song.

I have two alternative renewable energy sources that I suggest looking into: Scrolling – we all do it, couldn’t we be connected to something to generate power with our fingers? Also: the rage of middle-aged women. Show me an unemptied trash can and I could easily power the National Grid for 10 minutes.

I’m a big believer in research that suggests how short bursts of exercise can improve your health – the finding announced last week that 10 minutes of exercise could help protect against the progression of bowel cancer was excellent. Perhaps this year, slouching in front of the refrigerator could have unexpected health benefits.

Speaking of exercise, I know time is relative, but physics needs to explore what happens when you run on a treadmill. Civilizations rise and fall, geological eras pass, and the digital display shows four more minutes. Make sense of this.

Wearable technology has made great strides (unlike me on a treadmill), but it needs to tackle one of humanity’s biggest problems: bedtime procrastination. I want a cell phone that, at 10 p.m., strips me naked, brushes my teeth, then airlifts me to bed in the efficient but undignified way they housed that rhino last March. Failing that, I’d settle for a device that delivers an electric shock of increasing intensity every five minutes when I lie down on the couch after bed.

Geese: We urgently need to determine what their angry deal is. Forget orcs; It’s the geese we need to worry about.