45^2

Here we are on the first Friday of 2025.  Tragically, a lot has already happened.  But with so much runway ahead of us, there is much more to unfold.  Of course, it will not all be a bed of roses, but we have plenty to look forward to.  Before looking ahead, let’s look back.  One would need to have been alive in 1936 the last time a square number was at the top of the calendar (44 x 44 = 1936).  Now 89 years later we have 45 x 45 = 2025.

A few days ago in Manhattan, the ball that has been used for New Year’s Eve since 2009 dropped for its last time.  A new one will fall at the end of this year.  Before its debut, another sphere will make headlines: the Moon.  This year, astronauts are due to visit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.  Yes, it was initially slated for the end of 2024, but some issues with heat shields and life support systems delayed the launch.  This may be the most exciting countdown of the year, and the photos are sure to be more magical than a midnight kiss in Manhattan with hundreds of thousands of strangers.

The next square year won’t happen until 2116, 91 years from now.  Although science is progressing faster than ever, your writer hopes to have somebody else penning the next note commemorating the start of a square year.  In the meantime, we all have so much to look forward to, and Atlas is happy to offer you one perspective of the coming year, one indicator at time.