Brain implants, agentic AI and answers on dark matter: what to expect from science in 2025 – podcast

In a special episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast to start 2025, we’ve brought together three science editors from The Conversation’s editions around the world to discuss what to look out for in the world of science and technology in the coming year.

Host Gemma Ware is joined by Paul Rincon from The Conversation in the UK, Elsa Couderc from The Conversation in France and Signe Dean from The Conversation in Australia.

AI

As the rapid commercialisation of AI tools continues, one big growth area in the coming year is likely to be what’s known as agentic AI, where the AI begins to act independently across your devices. While these tools will be useful for computer-based tasks, more developments are also likely in robots that incorporate elements of AI to do practical tasks too, such as Tesla’s Optimus robot. Although, it seems we’re still a long way off having these in our homes.

Two scientists from Google Deepmind won the 2024 Nobel prize in chemistry for their development of AlphaFold2, an AI program which can accurately predict the shape of proteins. In 2025, expect more advances in the use of AI across all areas of science, from discovering drugs that could tackle antibiotic resistance, to designing new materials, and even helping to create early-warning systems for tsunamis and earthquakes.

Space missions

A couple of space launches planned for 2025 have been delayed, including Nasa’s Artemis II mission to put astronauts back orbiting the Moon and India’s Gaganyaan mission to put the first Indian crewed mission into space. But China’s Tianwen-2 asteroid sample return mission is still expected to launch in May 2025.

Meanwhile, the first tranche of data from the European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope should be published in March, and will hopefully begin to answer some big questions about the origins and whereabouts of dark energy and dark matter. On Mars, the Perseverance Rover will begin a long journey up the sides of the crater where it landed in 2021 to a new area on the Martian surface called Witch Hazel Hill, where scientists hope there may be rocks showing signs of life.

Brain-machine interfaces

In 2023, since a brain implant allowed a paralysed man to walk at a research institute in Switzerland, a flurry of research is continuing in this field. Elon Musk’s Neuralink recently got approval for a clinical trial in Canada to test a brain implant that could allow paralysed people to control devices with their thoughts.

And watch out for more discussion on what these developments mean for neurorights and mental privacy. Unesco should adopt a recommendation on neurorights in November 2025, including the right to mental privacy and the ethics of neurotechnologies. With some experts warning about the way companies could monitor the brain waves of their employees through headsets, this could become a big topic of debate.

Quantum computing

In late 2024, Google announced it had come out with a new quantum computing processor called Willow, reducing the rate of errors that quantum computers are prone to. While practical quantum computers are still some way a way, a lot money is being poured into quantum computing and 2025 has been designated the UN’s international year of quantum science and technology, so watch this space for more developments.

Nuclear fusion

Another area attracting huge amounts of funding is nuclear fusion, with the goal to get to a working nuclear fusion reactor within the next ten years. One milestone for late 2025 could be the completion of the Sparc reactor being built by the company Commonwealth Fusion in Massachusetts, with the goal being to make more energy than it takes to power the reaction itself.

Listen to the The Conversation Weekly podcast to hear the full conversation.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was produced by Gemma Ware and Katie Flood. Sound design was by Michelle Macklem, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl.

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