As 2025 ends, the Standard Model still hasn't cracked

"Part of the motivation for conducting science is hope: the hope that what you're doing, research-wise, could end up revolutionizing how we conceptualize reality. Although we've come so far in understanding this Universe - including what its laws and constituents are at a fundamental level, and how those fundamental components assemble to create the varied and complex reality we inhabit today - we're certain that there's still more to learn, as many paradoxes about and several important puzzles remain unsolved."

"All too often, however, for better or for worse, what initially seemed like: a mismatch between theory and observation, a low-significance hint that, if confirmed, would contradict our consensus picture, or a set of observations that supported a non-standard framework for the Universe, appears to crumble or disappear as new, superior, and more comprehensive data was collected. Although there are always a series of sensationalistic science headlines that come out in any given year,"

Scientists pursue knowledge and revolutionary insights motivated by hope that research could transform how reality is conceptualized. Progress has revealed fundamental laws and constituents and how they assemble to form complex phenomena. Many paradoxes and unresolved puzzles persist, motivating ongoing experiments and observations. Apparent mismatches, low-significance hints, or results favoring non-standard frameworks often vanish as superior, more comprehensive data emerges. Sensational headlines frequently accompany transient anomalies, but robust conclusions endure when the full body of evidence overwhelmingly supports them. The Standard Model of particle physics and cosmology remains the prevailing, data-backed framework for current scientific work.

Read at Big Think