Below you'll find the top 50 science trends for 2026, spotted by Rising Trends's trend radar algorithm.
These topics were detected from online sources including TikTok, X (Twitter), Instagram, Reddit, news outlets, and Google Search data. Each trend has at least 1,000+ monthly searches and over 20% year-over-year growth.
All science trends with over 20% year-over-year growth, ranked by search volume.
| # | Topic | 5Y Trend | Search Vol. | Growth 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weather | 151,000,000 | +22% | |
| 2 | 3d Printed | 1,000,000 | +122% | |
| 3 | Lone Star Tick | 823,000 | +399% | |
| 4 | Astaxanthin | 201,000 | +172% | |
| 5 | Copper | 135,000 | +23% | |
| 6 | Max Velocity | 135,000 | +233% | |
| 7 | Quantum Computing | 135,000 | +23% | |
| 8 | Quantum Processors | 135,000 | +23% | |
| 9 | Apolipoprotein B | 110,000 | +122% | |
| 10 | Flora | 110,000 | +22% | |
| 11 | Daraxonrasib | 110,000 | 85X | |
| 12 | Vaccines | 90,500 | +22% | |
| 13 | Prion Disease | 90,500 | +50% | |
| 14 | Uap | 74,000 | +83% | |
| 15 | Mots C | 74,000 | +400% | |
| 16 | Artemis 3 | 74,000 | 31X | |
| 17 | Proof | 74,000 | +22% | |
| 18 | Neuroplasticity | 74,000 | +49% | |
| 19 | Artemis Ii | 60,500 | 21X | |
| 20 | Semiconductor | 49,500 | +22% | |
| 21 | Duck Weed | 49,500 | +22% | |
| 22 | Humanoid Robot | 49,500 | +22% | |
| 23 | Space Stocks | 40,500 | 17X | |
| 24 | Artemis 2 | 40,500 | +514% | |
| 25 | Dipg | 40,500 | +49% | |
| 26 | Dyson Spheres | 40,500 | +49% | |
| 27 | Olmo | 33,100 | +22% | |
| 28 | Artemis Iii | 33,100 | 25X | |
| 29 | Sickle Cell Disease Cure | 27,100 | +402% | |
| 30 | Particle Accelerator | 27,100 | +50% | |
| 31 | Space Race | 27,100 | +22% | |
| 32 | Pfas Meaning | 27,100 | +22% | |
| 33 | X59 | 27,100 | +402% | |
| 34 | Sargassum Seaweed | 27,100 | +235% | |
| 35 | Launch Services | 22,200 | +236% | |
| 36 | Solid State Battery | 22,200 | +23% | |
| 37 | Chitin | 22,200 | +23% | |
| 38 | Certified Peptides | 18,100 | 14X | |
| 39 | Sodium Batteries | 18,100 | +50% | |
| 40 | Spacex Redmond | 18,100 | +50% | |
| 41 | Surgery Robots | 18,100 | +22% | |
| 42 | Peptide Reconstitution Calculator | 18,100 | +123% | |
| 43 | Ct Radar | 18,100 | +22% | |
| 44 | Surgical Robotics | 18,100 | +22% | |
| 45 | Biotech Peptides | 18,100 | +174% | |
| 46 | World Quantum Day | 14,800 | +99X | |
| 47 | Space Etfs | 14,800 | 17X | |
| 48 | Plasmoids | 14,800 | +83% | |
| 49 | Space Ipos | 14,800 | 38X | |
| 50 | Peptides Research | 14,800 | +49% |
Showing top 10 of 50 science trends
| Theme | Market Size | Growth | Leaders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Space Exploration | ~$630B | ~9.0% CAGR | NASA, SpaceX |
| Biotech & Longevity | ~$1.5T | ~11% CAGR | Illumina, Moderna |
| Quantum & Materials | ~$65B | ~22% CAGR | IBM, Nvidia |
| AI in Science | ~$60B | ~30% CAGR | Google DeepMind, Meta AI |
| Robotics & Autonomy | ~$70B | ~15% CAGR | Boston Dynamics, Anduril |
CAGR = compound annual growth rate
We built this list on July 13, 2026 from our live trend database, the same feed that powers the table above. The headline: science interest in 2026 is being pulled toward the frontier. A new Moon race around NASA's Artemis program is the single biggest driver, longevity biology and research peptides are going mainstream, quantum chips and cheap grid batteries are moving from labs to markets, AI is reshaping how research itself gets done, and autonomous robots are heading underwater, into the sky, and onto factory floors. Every search-volume and growth figure below is pulled from that live data.
If you want to explore more trends like this across categories, sign up for Rising Trends and unlock the full experience.
Space is the loudest story in science right now, and it is centered on the Moon. "Artemis ii", the first crewed flight of NASA's Artemis program, has broken out to 165,000 monthly searches, with follow-on missions climbing fast: "artemis 3" is up +652% at 33,100 searches, "artemis iii" is up +517% at 14,800 searches, and "artemis 4" is up +817% at 6,600 searches. Interest is spilling into hardware and money, with "starship v3" breaking out at 27,100 searches, "moon rover" up +174% at 22,200 searches, and "space stocks" up +853% at 18,100 searches.
The pattern is a full-blown lunar economy taking shape: crewed missions, surface vehicles, heavy-lift rockets, and a wave of investor interest all rising together.
The new Moon race is booming because:
Artemis II (165,000 searches, breakout) – NASA's first crewed Artemis flight around the Moon driving huge demand.
Space Stocks (18,100 searches, +853% YoY) – Investor interest in the commercial space economy climbing fast.
Artemis 3 (33,100 searches, +652% YoY) – The planned crewed lunar landing mission gaining steam.
Moon Rover (22,200 searches, +174% YoY) – New lunar surface vehicles from NASA and its partners.
Starship V3 (27,100 searches, breakout) – SpaceX's next-generation heavy-lift rocket generating a search surge.
Biology searches in 2026 are dominated by longevity and peptides. "Astaxanthin", a marine antioxidant tied to skin and aging, is up +122% at 201,000 monthly searches, matched by "prion disease", also up +122% at 201,000 searches. The peptide wave is unmistakable: "mots c", a mitochondrial peptide, is up +512% at 74,000 searches, "research peptides" is up +124% at 27,100 searches, and "oral peptides" is up +238% at 5,400 searches. Lab-grown food is rising too, with "cell cultured meat" up +823% at 3,600 searches and "colloidal gold", used in diagnostics, up +241% at 9,900 searches.
The through-line is do-it-yourself longevity biology: antioxidants, peptides, and cellular-health science moving out of the lab and into everyday health searches.
Frontier biology is growing because:
Astaxanthin (201,000 searches, +122% YoY) – A marine antioxidant surging in longevity and skin-health interest.
Prion Disease (201,000 searches, +122% YoY) – Rising attention on misfolded-protein neurological disease.
MOTS-c (74,000 searches, +512% YoY) – A mitochondrial peptide studied for metabolism and aging.
Cell Cultured Meat (3,600 searches, +823% YoY) – Lab-grown protein moving from research toward the plate.
Colloidal Gold (9,900 searches, +241% YoY) – Nanoparticle gold used in diagnostics and lab research.
Hardware science is heating up across quantum, chips, and energy storage. "Quantum stocks" are up +232% at 110,000 monthly searches as public markets bet on the field, while measurement tools like the "quantum magnetometer" are up +519% at 1,300 searches. Batteries built from cheap, abundant materials are climbing fast: "iron battery" is up +238% at 5,400 searches and "sand battery" is up +260% at 3,600 searches. Advanced chips and displays round it out, with "nvidia h200" up +175% at 9,900 searches and "tandem oled" up +340% at 4,400 searches.
The pattern is materials-driven progress: quantum devices, low-cost grid storage, and next-generation chips all advancing on the strength of new physics and materials.
Hardware science is growing because:
Quantum Stocks (110,000 searches, +232% YoY) – Public-market interest in quantum computing companies climbing.
Iron Battery (5,400 searches, +238% YoY) – Low-cost iron-based storage aimed at the electric grid.
Sand Battery (3,600 searches, +260% YoY) – Thermal sand storage emerging as a simple heat battery.
Tandem OLED (4,400 searches, +340% YoY) – Dual-stack displays extending brightness and lifespan.
NVIDIA H200 (9,900 searches, +175% YoY) – The GPU powering much of today's scientific compute.
AI is changing how science itself gets done. "World models", AI systems that simulate physical environments, are up +406% at 8,100 monthly searches, while "automated research" has broken out to 9,900 searches as agents take on literature review and experiments. Research methods are trending too: "collider bias", a statistics pitfall, is up +646% at 4,400 searches, and "regulatory genome", AI decoding gene control, is up +260% at 3,600 searches. New models and capture tools are climbing as well, with "gemini 3.0" breaking out at 14,800 searches and "lightfield" up +511% at 4,400 searches.
The pattern is a compute-first science: models that simulate the world, agents that run experiments, and AI tools that read biology and physics faster than any lab team.
Computational research is growing because:
World Models (8,100 searches, +406% YoY) – AI systems that simulate physical environments for research.
Collider Bias (4,400 searches, +646% YoY) – A statistical pitfall gaining attention in research methods.
Lightfield (4,400 searches, +511% YoY) – Light-field capture feeding 3D reconstruction and vision AI.
Regulatory Genome (3,600 searches, +260% YoY) – AI models decoding gene-regulation sequences.
Automated Research (9,900 searches, breakout) – AI agents running literature review and experiments.
Robots and heavy instruments are having a moment. "3d printed" anything now pulls 1.5 million monthly searches, up +173%, as additive manufacturing goes fully mainstream, and "particle accelerator" is up +173% at 74,000 searches on renewed big-physics interest. Autonomous machines are moving underwater and overhead: "autonomous submarines" are up +174% at 18,100 searches, "unmanned underwater vehicle" has broken out to 27,100 searches, and surveillance drones like the "mq-4c triton" are up +537% at 12,100 searches.
The pattern is autonomy and scale: printers and robots on the factory floor, uncrewed vehicles exploring the ocean and sky, and giant instruments that keep fundamental physics in the spotlight.
Autonomous science is growing because:
3D Printed (1,500,000 searches, +173% YoY) – Additive manufacturing going mainstream across labs and makers.
Particle Accelerator (74,000 searches, +173% YoY) – Renewed interest in big-science physics instruments.
Autonomous Submarines (18,100 searches, +174% YoY) – Uncrewed underwater vehicles for research and defense.
MQ-4C Triton (12,100 searches, +537% YoY) – A high-altitude autonomous surveillance drone.
Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (27,100 searches, breakout) – Robotic ocean explorers seeing a search surge.
The science landscape of 2026 is defined by the frontier. Whether the search is for artemis ii (165K searches, breakout), astaxanthin (201K searches, +122%), quantum stocks (110K searches, +232%), world models (8.1K searches, +406%), or a particle accelerator (74K searches, +173%), the common thread is a public leaning into ambitious, hardware-and-data-driven discovery.
The fastest-moving areas in science share these characteristics:
For researchers, investors, and brands, the data points to several high-growth opportunities: the lunar economy, longevity biotech, quantum and materials hardware, AI research tooling, and autonomous robotics. See how Rising Trends helps you track science market shifts as discovery accelerates.
Thousands of Emerging Trends
Thousands of Breakout Apps
Mega Trends
Trend Analysis Tool