The Frontier Index: an evidence-scored index of the latest scientific breakthroughs

Abstract

The Frontier Index is a continuously updated, evidence-scored index of the latest scientific discoveries and breakthroughs in science and technology. Each entry carries a transparent Frontier Score from 0 to 100, composed of three pillars (evidence, impact, and novelty), computed from up to 13 independent public data sources, with every figure traceable to its primary record. This deposition is an open, machine-readable snapshot (210 scored breakthroughs across nine research fields, methodology version 1.3.0, snapshot 2026-10-07) of the index maintained at frontierresearch.co. Files: frontier-index.csv and frontier-index.json (one row per breakthrough, with rank, Frontier Score and its three pillars, tier, confidence, field, authors, institutions, DOI, source URL, and a canonical link to the full scored entry), plus a README.md data card. Scores are recomputed through the same methodology the site renders, so a value in the file is the value on the page. The compiled selection and its scores are released under CC BY 4.0; underlying source data keeps its own open licenses. Method: frontierresearch.co/methodology. Sources: frontierresearch.co/sources. The live, always-current data is available as a public JSON API at frontierresearch.co/api/frontier. Also live: a read-only MCP server for AI assistants at https://frontierresearch.co/api/mcp (Official MCP Registry: co.frontierresearch/frontier) and RSS feeds with every entry as a full post (frontierresearch.co/feed.xml, and one per field).