This year’s most shared science content wasn’t just about breakthroughs – it was about how we experience them. From artificial colors beyond human vision to music composed from the cells of the dead, here are some of the most talked-about science videos of 2025.
Seeing the Unseen: The “Olo” Color
One of the year’s viral sensations involved scientists creating an entirely new color, dubbed “olo.” By precisely stimulating the “green” cone cells in participants’ retinas with lasers, they induced a teal-like hue that exists outside the normal visible spectrum. This experiment demonstrates just how limited our everyday perception is and raises questions about what other unseen realities might exist.
Greenland’s Deep Freeze: Climate History in Ice Cores
Chief multimedia editor Jeffery DelViscio took viewers into the field, showcasing an underground lab in Greenland. Researchers drill into ancient ice layers, extracting climate records spanning thousands of years. This is where the story of Earth’s past is literally frozen in time, providing invaluable data for understanding today’s climate crisis.
Laughing to Learn: The Ig Nobel Prizes
Science isn’t always serious. This year marked a collaboration with science communicator Tom Lum, who covered the Ig Nobel Prizes – an annual parody of the Nobel Awards. These prizes celebrate discoveries that are both humorous and thought-provoking, proving that science can be entertaining while still expanding our understanding.
The Nobel Breakthroughs: MOFs and Beyond
Senior multimedia editor Kelso Harper broke down this year’s actual Nobel Prizes in science. A standout was the award in Chemistry, recognizing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These materials have huge potential in energy storage, environmental science, and materials engineering. This discovery could reshape how we approach sustainability.
New Blood: The Expanding Human Taxonomy
Science continues to surprise. The discovery of a new blood type pushed the known total to 48, highlighting how much we still don’t know about our own biology. This finding emphasizes the complexity of human genetics and the need for continued research in medical science.
Music from Beyond: Brain Cells Compose
Associate editor Allison Parshall explored the eerie story of a deceased composer whose brain cells, grown from his blood, continue to create music. This experiment raises ethical questions about consciousness, memory, and what it means for life to end.
The Quest for Perfection: The Ideal Egg
The quest for the perfect egg—whether in terms of shell strength, yolk color, or protein content—continues to fascinate scientists and consumers alike. This seemingly simple pursuit reveals the deep complexities of biological optimization.
These TikToks demonstrate that science isn’t just about data and research; it’s about how discoveries change the way we see the world, whether through new sensations, hidden histories, or even the echoes of life after death.
