Happy New Year
Yes, there are exciting things that will happen
Below is my essay that ran in the Jan 1 ScienceAdviser newsletter that goes out every weekday thanks to the talents of Christie Wilcox and the whole team. If you aren’t signed up, you’re missing out! Sign up here.
Also, I’m out with an editorial in Science today along with my partners Valda Vinson, Executive Editor, and Lauren Kmec, Deputy Executive Editor, on changes we have made to bolster research and data integrity.
No question 2025 will give us challenge and surprise. My goal is to very judiciously and carefully make sure that I am focused on the most important things - shepherding the scientific and journalistic processes to generate robust information without outside interference, and sharing that information with the scientific community. Working with the team at the Science family of journals to do that is a privilege, and we so appreciate your support and readership. My New Year letter is below.
As the calendar turns to 2025, there is a lot of trepidation in the air—and some excitement. That excitement is what I want to focus on today. The fears people have are understandable, but they are also extremely uncertain. So, until there is something concrete to worry about, it’s better to think about the great things we can count on. And those things are—well, pretty much what they have always been.
Discovery. Just go through the Breakthrough of the Year issue and look at what was accomplished last year by science. In 2025, such discovery will only accelerate. Large Language Models (LLMs) and other forms of artificial intelligence will continue to dazzle us (while also showing us their limitations). The GLP-1 drugs will continue show positive effects in new diseases. The JWST will send back more compelling data on the universe. Quantum computing will keep getting more accurate. And, most importantly, brilliant, observant people will notice phenomena when they least expect it—and those observations will change how we think about science.
Drama. Scientists around the world will continue to be gloriously human. They will argue passionately over findings and interpretation. They will celebrate their new achievements. They will get excited about new results, and then get more realistic as more people comment on and test what they have observed. This messy human saga will lead to greater understanding and discovery.
Learning. Science education has all kinds of challenges. But it’s still the case that large numbers of young people all over the world are opening textbooks, listening to teachers, and working through problems. Those minds are becoming the scientists of the future. Walking into a classroom filled with excited students is still the best and most inspirational act a scientist can carry out.
Problems. Despite all the breakthroughs, there are still important problems to solve. We are still a long way from having a reliable intervention that slows or reverses neurodegeneration. Whether geoengineering is a feasible or sensible way to mitigate climate change remains unknown. Fusion is still not practical. Samples being returned from space need to be analyzed. And although billions are being spent on it, actually using artificial intelligence to find new drugs is still mostly in its infancy.
Process. I’m probably not completely objective, but I’m most excited about watching the scientific process continue to be the best way to create a body of knowledge that is both robust and able to evolve in the presence of new data. Careful observations, meticulously documented and subjected to scholarly scrutiny, are still the foundation. Once those observations are published, honestly subjecting them to replication in other labs and further commentary will either make them stronger or set the stage for corrections—or new science. Either way, it’s a route to more knowledge.
At Science, we stand ready to report on the people and discoveries, and to document the research journey. Let’s keep calm and carry on doing what we know how to do best.
Happy New Year,
H. Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science