Tech & dev

● Aliven.✎ 3

Antimatter Road Trip

The first transport of antimatter by road, in March 2026, when an estimated 100 to 1,000 antiprotons were carried in a Penning trap to see whether they would survive the journey. The smallest cargo ever to be described as a road trip. The record keeps the range.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 4

Artemis II

NASA's crewed flight launched on 1 April 2026, the first beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. On 6 April the crew set a record for the furthest humans from Earth, 252,756 miles, around the far side of the Moon, and splashed down in the Pacific near San Diego on 10 April. The record's entry for ten days in which the internet looked up.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Bennett–Brassard Turing Award

The award of the 2025 Turing Award to Charles H. Bennett and Gilles Brassard, announced on 18 March 2026, for their work in quantum information science. The pair are best known for the quantum key distribution protocol that carries their initials. The record files the date and the citation's field.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 2

Comcast Split

Comcast's announcement in June 2026 of a plan to divide itself into two companies, keeping cable and technology in one and spinning NBCUniversal out as a separate entity. The record files the corporate restructuring and its reception online, which was mostly a question of which side got which channels.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 2

Fox Buys Roku

Fox's announcement in June 2026 that it planned to acquire Roku, the streaming device and content provider, for 22 billion US dollars. A broadcaster buying the box under the television. The record files the announced deal and the online discussion of what it would mean for the devices already in living rooms.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Indian Fast Breeder

India's 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, which attained first criticality on 6 April 2026. A reactor designed to breed more fissile material than it consumes, brought to its first sustained chain reaction after a long construction. The record files the date and the rated output.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Interstellar Sugar

The detection of erythrulose molecules near the centre of the Milky Way, announced on 13 July 2026 and described as the first evidence of sugar in interstellar space. A four-carbon sugar found a long way from any kitchen. The record keeps the molecule's name.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Lab-Grown Oesophagus

The first lab-grown oesophagus, reported on 20 March 2026 by scientists from Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London. The record files the date and the two institutions named in the source, and does not describe the method because its source does not.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

Musk Trillionaire

The day Elon Musk became the first US dollar trillionaire, 12 June 2026, on the back of the SpaceX initial public offering, and the internet's response to a number it had no everyday word for. Every calculator post, every 'you could buy X' thread, every joke about a thirteenth digit. The record's entry for a new order of magnitude.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Roman Space Telescope

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launched by NASA on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy on 30 August 2026, built to study dark energy, dark matter and exoplanets. The internet's newest space telescope and, for a few days, its newest reason to post about the size of the universe. The record's entry for the launch and the wallpaper that will follow.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 4

Ross 318 b

A candidate temperate super-Earth reported in a preprint on 11 May 2026, orbiting in the habitable zone of the nearby red dwarf Ross 318. Candidate, temperate and habitable zone are three separate hedges, and the record keeps all of them.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 4

Rubin's 11,000 Asteroids

The announcement in April 2026 that preliminary data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory had turned up more than 11,000 new asteroids, including hundreds of trans-Neptunian objects. In January the same telescope had shown 2025 MN45 to have the fastest spin of any known asteroid larger than half a kilometre. The record keeps the count.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 2

SpaceX IPO

The initial public offering of SpaceX on 12 June 2026, the listing that made Elon Musk the first US dollar trillionaire. The record files it as a financial event that produced a vocabulary event; the discussion online was as much about the new word as about the shares.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

SpudCells

A type of artificial cell publicly announced in July 2026 under the name SpudCells. The record's source gives the name, the month and the category, and nothing about how they are made or what they are for. The record is thin here and says so.

▸ 2026peak 2026still up

● Aliveinterj.✎ 3

Certainly!

The chatbot's favourite first word — 'Certainly! Here is…' — as the tell that a text was generated, alongside 'delve', 'tapestry' and a fondness for the em dash. The record's entry for the enthusiasm that gave the machine away, and for the humans who have started saying it.

▸ 2023peak 2024still up

☠ Deadn.✎ 2

Bernie Mittens

A senator in a parka and hand-knitted mittens, sitting alone at an inauguration, photoshopped into every scene in history for one week in January 2021. The record's entry for the mittens, the week, and the $1.8 million the senator raised for charity from the image, which is the record's favourite meme outcome.

▸ 2021peak 2021†2021

● Alivephr.✎ 3

Source: Trust Me Bro

The citation for anything unsourced — 'source: trust me bro' — as the 2020 reply to 'source?' and the honest label for most information on the internet. The record's entry for the footnote that admits it is not one, and for the fact that it is, in some cases, the best source available.

▸ 2020peak 2021still up

● Alivephr.✎ 3

They Don't Know

A wojak standing alone at a party, thinking 'they don't know I…' — that I have a Reddit account, that I am the record — as the 2020 format for a secret nobody would care about. The record's entry for the corner, and for the thought, which everyone has had.

▸ 2020peak 2021still up

● Alivephr.✎ 3

Ight Imma Head Out

SpongeBob rising from a chair, captioned 'ight imma head out', as the 2019 image for leaving any situation that has become too much. The record's entry for the exit as a caption, and for the phrase, which is now said aloud, with the chair, by everyone leaving a party.

▸ 2019peak 2019still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

Unsettled Tom

Tom the cat, lying down with an expression of deep unease, as the 2019 caption for hearing something you wish you had not. The record's entry for the cat's face, which has been the record's own at every family dinner since, and for the format's dark captions, which the record will not repeat.

▸ 2019peak 2019still up

● Alivephr.✎ 3

Floor Here Is Made of Floor

A man inspecting the ground, captioned with a tautology — 'hmm yes, the floor here is made of floor' — as the caption for any statement that says nothing: a company update, a match report, a politician. The record's entry for the format, which is also a criticism of most of the internet.

▸ 2018peak 2020still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 3

Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions

Dave Chappelle's line from 2004, as the 2018–19 caption for any absurd fix: a phone taped to a wall, a car held together with a belt. The record's entry for the phrase, and for the solutions, which were never modern and always worked.

▸ 2018peak 2019still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 3

Perfectly Balanced

'Perfectly balanced, as all things should be' — Thanos's justification for halving the universe, adopted for any unfair trade that is, technically, even. The record's entry for the villain's line as a caption, and for the Thanos snap, which the internet performed on subreddits and, briefly, on Google.

▸ 2018peak 2019still up

● Alivephr.✎ 3

Say Sike Right Now

'Say sike right now' — the demand that a statement be retracted immediately, as if the speaker could take it back by saying the 1990s word for 'just kidding'. The record's entry for the plea, and for 'sike', which was 'psych' and is, since the meme, spelled this way.

▸ 2018peak 2020still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Thanks, I Hate It

'Thanks, I hate it' — the reply to an image that has been shown to you and cannot be unseen, from a subreddit into the general reaction to any unwanted knowledge. The record's entry for the gratitude that is also a complaint, which is the internet's most-used tone.

▸ 2018peak 2020still up

● Alivephr.✎ 3

Wait, That's Illegal

'Wait, that's illegal' — a line from Halo 2 spoken when the player does something the game did not intend, as the caption for any clever cheat, exploit or life hack that feels wrong. The record's entry for the marine who noticed, and for the rule that was not, in fact, a rule.

▸ 2018peak 2019still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Gru's Plan

Four panels of a villain presenting a plan, in which the third step reveals a flaw and the fourth shows him noticing it — Gru's plan — as the format for every scheme that goes wrong at step three. The record's entry for the flipchart of doom.

▸ 2017peak 2018still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Task Failed Successfully

A genuine Windows error message that said the task had failed successfully, screenshotted in 2017 and adopted as the caption for any outcome that is both. The record's entry for the contradiction as a category, and for the dialogue box, which was real and is the record's favourite.

▸ 2017peak 2019still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 3

Understandable, Have a Nice Day

The polite exit from a conversation that has gone nowhere — 'understandable, have a nice day' — from a 2017 parody of a game company's customer service into the reply to any refusal. The record's entry for the courtesy that is also a shrug.

▸ 2017peak 2018still up

● Alivephr.✎ 3

Visible Confusion

'[Visible confusion]' — a subtitle from a game cutscene, adopted as the caption for any face that does not understand, and the record's entry for the stage direction as a reaction. It has been placed under politicians, cats and the record's own face at a tax form.

▸ 2017peak 2019still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

Arthur Fist

A cartoon aardvark's clenched fist, from a 1999 episode, as the summer-2016 image for suppressed rage — 'when someone says the thing you were about to say'. The record's entry for the fist, and for the broadcaster's request that people stop using it for rude captions, which they did not.

▸ 2016peak 2016still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Big If True

'Big if true' — the reply to a claim that would matter if it were real, from political Twitter into the caption for any rumour: 'huge if true'. The record's entry for the conditional as a verdict, and for the fact that most things that were big if true were not.

▸ 2016peak 2018still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 2

Evil Kermit

Kermit talking to his hooded double, captioned 'me: / inner me:' — the good impulse and the bad one — as the late-2016 format for every temptation. The record's entry for the frog's dark side, and for the format that made 'inner me' a phrase.

▸ 2016peak 2016still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 3

Congratulations, You Played Yourself

DJ Khaled's verdict on anyone whose scheme has backfired, from his 2015 Snapchat into the internet's caption for self-inflicted defeat. The record's entry for the phrase, and for the man, whose keys to success were, for one year, everyone's.

▸ 2015peak 2016still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Delete This

'Delete this' — the reply to a post that is too embarrassing, too bad or too funny to remain — and 'delete your account', its 2016 escalation, said by one presidential candidate to another. The record's entry for the request that has never been honoured, and for the post that is, in every case, still up.

▸ 2015peak 2018still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

Nephew

'Nephew' — the address for a younger, sillier person, said with an uncle's exasperation, from Black Twitter in 2015 alongside 'Uncle Denzel', the photo of a tired Denzel Washington that was everyone's uncle. The record's entry for the family role that became a reply.

▸ 2015peak 2017still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Who Hurt You

'Who hurt you?' — the reply to a take so bitter it must have a backstory, as the internet's mock-therapy and the record's entry for the question that is not a question. It has been asked of every post about relationships since 2015.

▸ 2015peak 2018still up

◐ Dyingn.✎ 3

Side-Eye Chloe

A two-year-old's unimpressed glance at her sister's joy, as the 2013–14 reaction image for scepticism, and the record's entry for Chloe, who sold the image as an NFT in 2021 for £50,000 and is, by now, at university. The side-eye has been paid.

▸ 2013peak 2014still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Unicorn (Startup)

A private company valued at a billion dollars, named for its rarity in 2013, when there were 39, and used since about a thousand of them, which is not what unicorns are. The record's entry for the animal that was chosen because it was rare and became common, which is the story of the word.

▸ 2013peak 2021still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 2

Instructions Unclear

'Instructions unclear, got my hand stuck in the toaster' — the comment under any tutorial, claiming a disaster that could not have followed the instructions. The record's entry for the format, which was funny for three years and is still posted under recipes.

▸ 2012peak 2015still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Press X to Doubt

The interrogation prompt from a 2011 game, as the caption for any claim you do not believe — a screenshot of a detective's face and the word 'doubt'. The record's entry for the button that was pressed by the whole internet, and for the detective, whose face was captured from a real actor and is very tired.

▸ 2011peak 2018still up

◐ Dyingphr.✎ 2

Sir, You've Been in a Coma

'Sir, you've been in a coma for twenty years' — the reply to a post that is badly out of date, imagined as a nurse gently breaking the news. The record's entry for the joke about a late arrival, which has been made about everyone who mentions a 2009 meme sincerely.

▸ 2011peak 2014still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

10x Engineer

A programmer ten times as productive as an ordinary one, as an industry myth and, after a 2019 thread listing their habits ('dark backgrounds, hates meetings'), a joke. The record's entry for the unicorn of engineering, and for the thread, which was sincere and ratioed.

▸ 2010peak 2019still up

● Aliven.✎ 3

Stack Overflow Copy-Paste

Programming by copying the top answer — the Stack Overflow copy-paste — as the industry's open secret and the record's entry for the method that built the internet, until 2023, when the answers started coming from a chatbot that had read Stack Overflow. The circle is complete.

▸ 2010peak 2018still up

● Alivev.✎ 3

Pivot (Startup)

Changing a company's entire purpose while claiming continuity — the pivot — from a 2009 startup methodology into the word for any reversal: 'pivot to video', 'pivot to AI'. The record's entry for the turn as a strategy, and for the companies that pivoted until they faced the wall.

▸ 2009peak 2015still up

● Aliven.✎ 2

Disaster Girl

A small girl smiling at the camera as a house burns behind her, as the image for anyone quietly responsible for chaos. The record's entry for Zoë Roth, who was four, sold the NFT in 2021 for about $500,000, and paid off her student loans, which the record considers justice.

▸ 2008peak 2010still up

● Aliven.✎ 4

iPhone (2007)

The first iPhone, announced in January 2007 and sold from 29 June, which put a real web browser and a touchscreen in a pocket and made the mobile internet a place people actually went. The record's entry for the day the web stopped being something you sat down for.

▸ 2007peak 2012still up

● Alivephr.✎ 2

Have You Tried Turning It Off and On Again

The IT department's only question, from a 2006 sitcom into the universal first step, and the record's entry for the advice that is mocked and always works. It has fixed routers, phones, relationships and, once, a car.

▸ 2006peak 2010still up