Scientific American Science Quickly Year in Review 2025: Policy Chaos, Health Backsliding, Climate Setbacks, and Space Disruption

In this Science Quickly year-in-review, Scientific American editors examine how 2025 reshaped science policy, public health, climate, and space. The year featured leadership upheavals in federal science agencies, intense funding debates in Washington, and growing public distrust in health guidance, alongside notable advances in gene therapy and space exploration. The discussion also outlines what to watch for in 2026 as Congress grappled with budget cuts and agency reorganizations while researchers pursued resilient paths forward.

Readers will gain a concise snapshot of policy chaos, health backsliding, climate setbacks, and disruptive space programs, plus a sense of the big questions guiding science this coming year.

Washington Policy in 2025: Chaos and Budget Battles

The Science Quickly roundtable opens with Dan Vergano discussing how RFK Jr and a reshaped HHS disrupted the typical science-funding relationship, altering how Washington interacts with research from the NIH to NASA. He notes a social compact frayed by political leadership, with scientists facing a tougher funding climate and a more uncertain career path. "chaos" - Dan Vergano

Looking ahead to 2026, Vergano anticipates congressional resistance to large funding cuts and a renewed test of contracts and funding mechanisms in a bid to recalibrate science policy amid partisan tensions.

Public Health in Flux: Backsliding and Vulnerable Gains

Tanya Lewis provides a stark assessment of public health under the new HHS leadership, describing a rollback of long-standing vaccine guidance and other public health measures. She highlights falling vaccination rates, resurgent measles, and outbreaks of preventable diseases as symptoms of a broader distrust in experts. "backsliding" - Tanya Lewis

Her 2026 watchlist includes potential changes to routine childhood vaccines and the risk that measles could lose its elimination status if outbreaks persist, as well as ongoing concerns about bird flu and food-safety surveillance amid funding pressures.

Climate Setbacks and Energy Politics

Andrea Thompson argues that climate action suffered a notable setback in 2025, with hostility to science and reduced funding for climate research, alongside political moves to expand fossil fuels and revive coal. She notes China’s rapid renewable energy growth in contrast to U.S. retreat, and she underscores the importance of energy economics in shaping the transition. "setback" - Andrea Thompson

In 2026, Thompson will monitor climate-disaster patterns, offshore wind permits, and legal challenges to energy policies, plus the unexpected push for nuclear energy to meet data-center demands.

Disruption in Space Exploration

Lee Billings frames 2025 as a year of disruption for space science, where budgetary uncertainty and organizational strain threatened momentum on missions and projects like Artemis and future space telescopes. He anticipates continued disruption in 2026, with SpaceX Starship testing, Artemis II, and new measurements to constrain dark energy through space observatories. "disruption" - Lee Billings

Billings also points to the broader landscape of space science, where geopolitical and budget pressures could delay ambitious programs even as new instruments promise fresh insights into the cosmos.

Notable Breakthroughs and a Look Ahead

In a closing segment, Kendra Pierre-Louis highlights a breakthrough in sickle cell disease treatment using Lefgenia gene therapy, underscoring the growing hope that such therapies could transform inherited diseases. She teases ongoing coverage and notes a linked October 2024 feature for deeper context. "one of my favorite scientific breakthroughs of 2025" - Kendra Pierre-Louis

Looking ahead, the episode invites listeners to stay engaged with Scientific American for updates on how policy, health, climate, and space unfold in 2026, including a focus on the science behind these shifts and the human impact across communities.