alt Hacker NewsScience magazine used to run a genuinely thought-provoking “Breakthrough of the Year.” Lately, it feels like it has narrowed to AI+AI+agents, and more AI.
I’m looking for an outlet that consistently highlights truly unexpected, high-impact scientific breakthroughs across fields.
Ask HN: Is there anything like that out there?
Replies
yurimo • yesterday at 12:47 PM
Quanta? They do recaps by field every year. Have been a big fan for a while.
prolyxis • yesterday at 3:05 PM
Arb Research and Renaissance Philanthropy made an excellent list this year! https://frontier.renaissancephilanthropy.org/
squidbeak • yesterday at 1:31 PM
Have you considered that breakthroughs in AI research now might be more consequential than their equivalents in other fields - simply for bringing us nearer the point where AI accelerates all research?
➕ show 1 reply
Maybe Science magazine https://www.science.org/content/article/breakthrough-2025 ?
>The seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy is Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year