2026 in science

The following scientific events occurred, or are scheduled to occur in 2026.

Events

January

• 1 January
  • Researchers operating China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) report the first experimental verification of a theorised density-free plasma operating regime, achieving stable electron densities approximately 1.3–1.65 times the Greenwald limit.
  • Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology report a photo-Hall (Hall effect)–based method for detecting semiconductor electronic trap states with approximately 1,000-fold greater sensitivity than existing techniques.
• 2 January – Researchers at the Vienna University of Technology and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology demonstrate self-sustained superradiant microwave emission, produced by interacting spins in diamond, offering potential applications in quantum communication and sensing.
• 4–8 January – 247th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society
• 5 January – NASA announces that it has awarded contracts to seven companies to study technologies for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a next-generation telescope that could launch in the 2040s.
• 7 January – Astronomers using data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory report that 2025 MN₄₅ has the fastest spin of any known asteroid larger than 0.5 km (0.31 mi) in diameter, completing one rotation every 1.88 minutes.
• 13 January – The European Copernicus Climate Change Service reports that 2025 was the world's third hottest year on record (2024 was the hottest and 2023 the second hottest). In Antarctica, the average annual temperature was the warmest since measurements began and in the Arctic, it was the second highest.
• 14 January
  • Researchers report the discovery of a new quantum state, bridging the gap between quantum criticality and quantum topology via semimetal CeRu₄Sn₆.
  • Researchers led by the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences report the first direct experimental observation of the Migdal effect, a quantum process in which a recoiling atomic nucleus ejects an electron, confirming a prediction made in 1939 and enabling new approaches to searches for light dark matter.
  • Researchers from the University of Copenhagen publish a Nature paper explaining little red dots as young and relatively small supermassive black holes enshrouded in a dense cocoon of ionized gas.
  • The Ice Memory Foundation opens its ice core archive at Concordia Station in Antarctica, storing the first samples from glaciers on Grand Combin, Switzerland and Mont Blanc, France. The samples travelled from Trieste for more than 50 days aboard the Italian icebreaker Laura Bassi.
• 19 January
  • The first known example of multi-purpose tool use by a cow is reported, with a Brown Swiss named Veronika using both ends of a stick to scratch her own back.
  • Researchers at the University of California, Davis, develop an AI-driven spectrometer-on-a-chip capable of real-time hyperspectral sensing across the visible and near-infrared range, enabling compact alternatives to conventional laboratory spectrometers.

Scheduled events

• NASA's first crewed lunar‑orbit mission in decades is slated for early 2026.

See also

• 2026 in spaceflight
• 2026 in Antarctica
• 2026 in climate change

External links

• Media related to 2026 in science at Wikimedia Commons