Oh Petra. I have missed you like a drunk misses a drink (and I can speak with a certain authority on that similarity :) ).

My list might be slightly different than yours, though not substantively. The Neutrino projects have fascinated me for years, and I'd put that right near the top.

We are opening the window of our past. Ever so slightly and ever so slowly we are stacking findings one on top of the other to start to provide a future knowing of where we (humans) came from and where we have been, when.

Two that don't much interest me are climate change and genetic editing.

If you are too stupid to realize that change is happening AND is increasing more than any background change would occur in nature then I just have no time for you.

Likewise, if you think that you can keep the genetic editing genie in the bottle you are ignorant of reality. My only reservations can only be answered with time. Is this net good or are there unintended consequences? Taking volunteers from HIV positive people is genius. Who wouldn't want your children immunized?

Which reminds me of a significant tabulation from 2018. The showing of the rise of HIV resistant North Europeans and tying that resistance to Plague resistance from the 14th century. That number is increasing at the statistical rate that it should and could be incredibly significant going forward.

Thank you, my friend. I hope your holidays were filled with hope and that it will continue throughout the year.