Smithsonian Magazine

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2025, From Medical Breakthroughs to an Interstellar Visitor

All year long, these moments captivated the public, demonstrated dangerous trends, and pushed research and innovation forward

Interstellar visitor visible in California just this once

The NASA-funded ATLAS survey telescope in Chile found the comet on July 1. The comet was not visible as it raced behind the sun, getting as close as 130 million miles, for about a month before reappearing in December. After it passes Earth on Friday, the comet is expected to journey back out of the solar system.

Novel Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe instrument delivers first-light data

Southwest Research Institute's novel Compact Dual Ion Composition Experiment (CoDICE) instrument aboard NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) spacecraft has successfully collected first-light data.