Watching the news can feel overwhelming, almost like the world is on the brink of collapse. Thankfully, science is bringing us the positive updates we’ve all been waiting for.
In 2025, researchers have dedicated themselves to safeguarding us from existential threats, enhancing both human and environmental health, and revealing the mysteries of our universe.
Here are our top feel-good science stories for 2025.
1. ‘City Killer’ Asteroid Likely Won’t Strike Earth
In February, concerns arose when the likelihood of asteroid 2024 YR4 colliding with Earth in 2032 escalated from 1.2% to 3.1%, labeling it one of the most hazardous asteroids tracked.
This asteroid, estimated at around 60 meters (197 feet) in diameter, could have unleashed energy exceeding 500 times that of the Hiroshima bomb, putting a major city at risk.
Fortunately, NASA has reassured us that the threat has diminished significantly and now states there is no significant threat from this asteroid, although it estimates a 3.8% chance of it hitting the moon.
Astronomers tracked asteroid 2024 YR4 using multiple observatories, including the James Webb Space Telescope. – Credit: Getty
2. Vitamin Supplements May Help Slow Aging
A large-scale clinical trial led by researchers at US General Brigham Massa has discovered that vitamin D supplements can help maintain telomere length (protective caps on chromosomes that shorten with age).
The double-blind study involving over 1,000 participants found that vitamin D could potentially delay aging by nearly three years compared to a placebo group.
3. The World’s Largest Camera Takes Its First Photo
The newly launched Vera C. Rubin Observatory has captured its first snapshot of the universe. Each image is so vast that it would take 400 ultra-high-definition TVs to view it in its entirety.
The observatory will collect an immense amount of data every night for the next decade, aiding scientists in exploring cosmic mysteries such as the expansion of the universe and dark matter.
Vera Rubin captured these two spiral galaxies in stunning detail, part of a broader cosmic image. – Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA
4. “Forever Chemicals” May Not Be So Permanent
Recent research has uncovered a method to effectively destroy PFAS (polyperfluoroalkyl substances), harmful chemicals linked to various cancers that infiltrate our homes through packaging and nonstick cookware.
The new technique utilizes phosphates to break the resilient carbon-fluorine bonds that make PFAS so persistent in the environment and detrimental to health.
5. Renewable Energy Surpasses Coal for the First Time
In the first half of 2025, global wind and solar energy production exceeded that of coal, marking a pivotal advancement towards sustainable energy. This achievement is mainly due to significant renewable energy projects in China and India, alongside a temporary downturn in coal usage.
Global renewable electricity is projected to double by 2030. – Credit: Getty
A new meme phenomenon is taking classrooms by storm, with students across the UK excitedly calling out “six-seven” during lessons.
While some educators choose to overlook this trend, others are finding ways to cope. Here, five teachers share their experiences and strategies.
“I thought I had said something inappropriate.”
In September, I was discussing exam preparations with a group of Year 11 students. At one point, I mentioned something like, “…if you’re studying up to 6th or 7th grade…” and was caught off guard when the entire class erupted in laughter.
Initially, I wondered if I had unintentionally said something offensive or if my accent sounded odd. While I felt a bit frustrated, I was genuinely curious, recognizing that their laughter wasn’t meant to be unkind. So, I asked them to clarify. Unfortunately, their explanations left me puzzled and I still couldn’t grasp what was funny.
Adding to the humor was a weighing gesture one of the students made while I spoke, which I later learned often accompanies “6-7,” as if to illustrate my thought process.
To address this, I now try to mention it frequently; nothing deflates a trend quicker than adults trying to participate. James, secondary school teacher, North London
“If you feed it, it turns into chaos.”
Understanding this helps avoid mistakes like mentioning, “In 1933, there were 6 or 7 million unemployed people in Germany.” When faced with unavoidable numbers, having clear behavioral policies can help; they can be enforced just like any other disruption, but I’ve rarely had to do that. Policies matter, but when students believe in the school’s objectives, they are less likely to be sidetracked by online trends (at least during class).
With “6-7,” I avoided wasting lesson time, only occasionally raising my eyebrows and responding with, “Yes, that’s a number. Well done.” If you feed it, it will turn into chaos. I manage it just as I would with any other disruption.
Remember the 9+10=21 phase? There’s no doubt another trend will follow this. Kids will always have their fads. When I was younger, we had our own trends too (though admittedly outside class).
Children will always be unpredictable, and it’s up to us adults to guide them back on track. Random numbers should highlight conditions for engagement, not be an extensive list of rules. Connor, 39, London general history teacher
“They want to belong.”
Kids use this chant as a way to bond in the playground. When one person initiates it, others respond to signal belonging to that group. It resembles a call-and-response dynamic, like a soccer cheer, forming an unspoken language among them. I don’t believe it carries any deeper meaning—they just know they’re supposed to say it. Whatever the latest trend, they want to be part of it.
However, this is not permitted in my classroom. Loud outbursts serve as red flags. Math classes can be particularly challenging. My fifth graders (ages 9-10) tend to be more compliant with rules, which I recognize can differ in secondary school. [school] That may pose another challenge.
After 15 years in teaching, I notice these fads typically last 3-4 weeks. This one will fade soon; they shift trends frequently, especially when younger siblings start using it, then it loses its appeal. Jane, early 50s, primary school teacher, North West England
“We simply have to share a laugh.”
My first encounter with this trend was back in August while teaching English at a foreign language institution. I noticed mainly boys were initiating it among students aged 12 to 18. At the time, I had no clue what it was, but now at 24, I recognize it as a meme akin to those I observed during my own school years.
Trends are ever-evolving. “Skibidi toilet” was a viral meme during my training, but it didn’t dominate my class environment in the same way “six-seven” does. Unlike “six-seven,” “Skibidi toilet” never appeared on the blackboard, rendering it obscure for students.
I typically ignore it or join in the laughter if I inadvertently say it, empathizing with them and recognizing it as just part of contemporary culture. They yearn for a sense of community and shared experience. Harriet, 24, English teacher at a foreign language school, South of England
“Shouting playfully means I hardly hear it anymore.”
After 30 years in teaching, I have witnessed countless trends, yet this one stands out.
When I first came across this phrase after summer holidays, I exclaimed, “What a perfect example for a reading report! Well done!” Coupled with my playful yelling at students (often with hand signals), I find I seldom hear it anymore.
Students often react with wide-eyed amusement. You can see it on their faces—they’re thinking, “Oh, come on.” Seeing a teacher akin to their grandfather saying it heightens the awkwardness. Paul, 54, secondary school teacher, Cheshire
“Emerging from a global slang repertoire.”Mr. Miss.
Transforming mindless phrases into memes isn’t a new concept. Terms like ‘sigma’, ‘skibidi’, and ‘kook’ represent a growing global lexicon. What’s striking about “6-7” is its extensive reach and universal recognition, particularly in English-speaking cultures. I may come off as a ‘teacher’ for saying this, but in my time, schools had localized slang.
Kids are often consuming the same content on social media, easily sharing it and leading to rapid trends. Today’s youth are much more interconnected to global trends and pop culture thanks to the rise of short-form video content, allowing them to quickly absorb vast amounts of information. Combine this with America’s prominent cultural exports, and you get a worldwide phenomenon like “6-7.” George, 26, apprentice history teacher, London
Bottlenose dolphins have an open mouth and a facial expression that resembles a smile.
Zoomarin, Italy
Dolphins seem to make open-mouthed expressions most often when being watched by playmates, suggesting that such expressions may be similar to human smiles.
Although we often recognize these as smiles, there is little research into dolphin facial communication.
Want to know more? Elisabetta Palagi Researchers from the University of Pisa in Italy analyzed the behavior of 22 captive bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). It takes place in two wildlife parks: Zoomarine Rome in Italy and Planete Sauvage in Port-Saint-Père, France.
Over 80 hours of footage, the team observed a total of 1,288 open-mouthed facial expressions during social play sessions. More than 90 percent of these events occurred during play between dolphins, and the rest occurred during dolphin-human interactions.
Animals were more likely to adopt an open-mouthed expression when their face was within the playmate’s field of view, 89% of the time it was displayed in this situation. When their playmate saw the smile, they smiled back 33% of the time.
“One might argue that dolphins imitate other people’s open-mouthed facial expressions purely by chance, as they are often engaged in the same activity or situation,” Paragi says. “But this does not explain why recipients are 13 times more likely to imitate another dolphin’s open-mouthed expression within one second when they actually see the original expression.”
Other animals, such as monkeys, wolves, and meerkats, may relax and open their mouths to make a “playful face,” but whether this is driven by emotion or a way to communicate intent remains unclear. There is a discussion.
“Is the dolphin’s open-mouthed expression conveying an emotional mood, or is it simply used to tell others, ‘Don’t be scared, we’re just playing!’, or both?” It’s not easy to determine whether that’s the case,” Palagi said. .
She says the study can’t say conclusively whether it’s comparable to a human smile. “We do not claim that a single study will reveal the communication strategies of dolphins during play. However, we would like to open up new areas of research that also take into account visual elements.”
Luciana Moller Researchers from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, say that dolphin open-mouth behavior occurs in a variety of situations, including aggressive, sexual, and social interactions. This means that it can’t necessarily be interpreted as a smile, as this is a very versatile signal.
She notes that making sounds could have been a factor in the dolphins opening their mouths, but the study did not examine acoustic recordings.
Another drawback is that they studied small groups of dolphins in captivity, so their behavior may not reflect their behavior in the wild.
“Free-living dolphins have much more space to interact and chase each other while playing, and are often found in waters with poor visibility,” Moller says. . “Visual signals may to be as effective as acoustic signals in these situations.”
A humanoid robot can predict one second in advance whether someone will smile and match the smile on its own face. The creators hope this technology will make interactions with robots more realistic.
Artificial intelligence is now able to imitate human language to an impressive degree, but interacting with physical robots often falls into the “uncanny valley.” One reason for this is that robots cannot reproduce the complex nonverbal cues and mannerisms that are essential to communication.
now, Hod Lipson Researchers at Columbia University in New York have developed a robot called Emo that uses AI models and high-resolution cameras to predict and attempt to reproduce people's facial expressions. It predicts whether someone will smile about 0.9 seconds in advance and smiles accordingly. “I'm a jaded roboticist, but when I see this robot, I smile back,” Lipson says.
Emo consists of a face with a camera in its eyeball and a flexible plastic skin with 23 individual motors attached by magnets. This robot uses her two neural networks. One looks at people's faces and predicts their expressions, and her other one figures out how to create expressions on her own face.
The first network was trained on YouTube videos of people making faces, while the second network was trained by watching the robot itself make faces on a live camera feed. “You learn what your face looks like when you pull all your muscles,” Lipson says. “It's like being in front of a mirror. Even if you close your eyes and smile, you know what your face looks like.”
Lipson and his team hope Emo's technology will improve human-robot interaction, but first they need to expand the range of expressions robots can perform. Lipson also wants to train his children to express themselves in response to what people say, rather than simply imitating others.
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