7 stunning discoveries from 2025 you should know

The article highlights seven significant scientific discoveries from 2025 that have advanced human understanding across various fields. One major finding challenges the popular hypothesis that our reality could be a computer simulation. Physicists and mathematicians demonstrated that simulating even small quantum systems would require computational resources exceeding the entire universe, making a “Matrix-style” simulation physically impossible under known laws. This result places fundamental natural limits on the feasibility of simulating reality, impacting physics, computer science, and philosophy. Another breakthrough comes from a US-China collaboration that developed a highly efficient, single-step chemical recycling process converting common polyolefin plastics directly into liquid fuel with up to 95% efficiency. This method operates under mild conditions, avoiding the energy-intensive, multi-stage processes typical of traditional recycling, and offers a promising solution to plastic waste and energy challenges. Additionally, archaeologists in Poland discovered two massive 5,500-year-old tombs within megalithic “Polish pyramids” built by the Funnelbeaker culture,