These scientific discoveries brought us joy in 2025

Amidst a tough year for science, glimmers of joy burst through in revelations from the silly to the sublime.

Jan 3, 2026 - 00:00

These scientific discoveries brought us joy in 2025

Hope for axolotls, make-you-giggle stories about butts and more

A cute pink frilly-headed axolotl salamander looks like it's smiling.

The fate of wild axolotls got a splash of hope this year.

Paul Starosta/Stone/Getty Images Plus

At its heart, science is about the joy of discovery — extending the boundaries of what we know and learning more about the world and our place in it. Research over the last year was no exception, delighting us with the silly to the profound. So take a minute to savor 2025’s smattering of scientific treats. After all, research shows that cultivating small moments of joy is quite good for you.

Tiny elephant nestles in human cells

A toy elephant looks like it's walking across a pink background in this image shot from overhead. — In a big (and small) feat, scientists 3-D printed a tiny elephant inside living human cells.DBenitostock/Getty Images

Measuring just 10 micrometers from trunk to tail, a tiny elephant was 3-D printed inside living cells. The minuscule feat could lead to new ways to control cells, researchers say. More delightful still is the playful absurdism of a very, very tiny behemoth.

Gender gap shrinks for cooking and cleaning

A man vacuums while a woman sits on a couch reading with two children. — Married U.S. women still spend more time on housework than married men. But the gender gap in time spent on traditionally feminine chores, such as cleaning and laundry, is shrinking.Maskot/Getty Images Plus

Men are spending more time on jobs that traditionally fall to women. Over the last two decades, the gap between women’s and men’s efforts shrank for tasks such as cooking and cleaning. The score isn’t even yet — women are still putting in 2.5 hours for every man’s one hour. But still, as one sociologist puts it, “there is a hopeful story here.” Here’s hoping the gap shrinks even more in 2026.

Vaccines could be delivered with floss

Purple-gloved hands hold a small white mouse while a second set of blue-gloved hands gently run dental floss through the rodent's teeth. — A pair of researchers gently floss a mouse’s bottom incisors, delivering a vaccine that could help protect the animal against influenza.Paul Stonum

This past year found some researchers gently flossing mice. It sounds funny, but the murine dental care was in service of a worthy goal — the possibility of vaccinations with dental floss. Mice were vaccinated against the flu with nothing more than a gentle flossing with specialized floss. This ingenuity may lead to convenient and less painful ways to build up immunity.

Good news amid bad news for axolotls

An overhead shots shows two axolotls in blue-green looking water. — Captive-bred axolotls (two shown) were released into two habitats to test their survival and preferred environmental conditions. Reintroduction could help scientists save the amphibian from extinction.Horacio Mena

Wild axolotls are facing extinction. That’s the bad news. But take heart: Cutie-pie axolotls bred in captivity may be able to replenish their wild brethren’s population, a conservation study suggests. These adored aquatic salamanders may just have a shot at survival.

Posterior disguises help blowflies blend in

What looks like a little bright-eyed face with antennas is in fact the butt end of a blowfly larva. — This blowfly larva breathes through holes that closely resemble termite eyes, helping the impostor blend in inside a termite nest.Vlad Dinca

A study of blowflies gives new meaning to the term “butthead.” Larval blowflies squatting in a termite nest in Morocco surprised scientists with their rear-end mimicry. These larvae had false termite faces on their rears, including antennae, eyes and other small bits, all of which fooled the termites into accepting the interlopers.

More butt news, this time for people

A man sits on the edge of a hospital bed with a row of partially clad manequins lying in a row behind him with their buttocks visible. — Physician Takanori Takebe has shown it’s possible for mammals to get oxygen through their anuses. But whether it’s possible and practical for human patients who have trouble breathing is an open question.Courtesy of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

Humans breathe air in through the nose and mouth, but there is another, less enticing, entrance. In a heroic act of volunteerism, 27 men gamely accepted an oxygen-rich liquid up the anus and held it in for an hour. Most of these intrepid volunteers tolerated the liquid. Future tests will reveal whether these intestinal deliveries can raise oxygen levels in the bloodstream.

The sound of two hands clapping, explained

When a person claps, an air pocket is formed within the palms. A jet of air streams out of a gap left between the thumb and forefinger, kicking off vibrations in the surrounding air. Researchers saw a similar effect using cup-shaped silicone models designed to mimic palms slapping together.

YICONG FU, CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Clapping is one way we express joy. Now we know the physics that lets us make this happy noise. When two enthusiastic hands meet for a clap, the resulting sound can be explained by a phenomenon known as the Helmholtz resonance. This concept describes the sound made when a person blows across the top of a glass soda bottle. A Helmholtz resonator is at work as sound waves burst forth from clapping hands, scientists report.

OK 2025, you’ve taken your bow. We welcome 2026 to the stage, with its scientific joys just waiting to be discovered.