Dataset v2.2 · Public · Three-Source Verified · August 2026

The Zorthex Dataset

71 phenomena across 7 domains · diffusion-lag (L) and attention positioning

Cases

Domains

Three-source

Verification

Aug 2026

Cut-off

Promotions

How to Read This Dataset

Every case has two axes: classification (what happened — permanent) and operational status (what's happening now — updated every 90 days).

Classification — What happened

Did this phenomenon enter the public vocabulary? Based on 12 consecutive months ≥25/100 on Google Trends. Once earned, permanent — like a credit rating at issuance.

STR

STRUCTURAL

12+ consecutive months above threshold. The term entered the public vocabulary. Permanent classification.

OBS

OBSERVATION

Above threshold but fewer than 12 months. The window is open — consolidation not yet confirmed.

S&R

SPIKE & RETREAT

Reached threshold but did not sustain 12 months. Breakout occurred, consolidation did not.

BUB

BUBBLE

Short, sharp spike that collapsed. Never sustained. The term was noise, not signal.

PRE

PRE / NON-STAT

Peak precedes Google Trends data (pre-2004) or confounded by external shock (COVID).

Operational Status — What's happening now

Is the attention alive, fading, or gone? Applied only to STRUCTURAL cases. Updated every 90 days — the current weather, not the climate.

DOM

Dominant

Above threshold for 40+ consecutive months. Permanent vocabulary — will not return below threshold.

ACT

Active

Above threshold right now. Consolidated and alive. The term is current.

REC

Receding

STRUCTURAL but currently below threshold. The term consolidated once — attention is now fading.

CYC

Cyclical

Moves above and below threshold in waves. Tied to market cycles or recurring events.

DEA

Dead

The term has been replaced or abandoned. Classification is permanent; the word is not.

Google Trends — who searches to act. L is computed here. CSV locked.

Wikipedia — who reads to understand. Pageviews via Wikimedia API.

Reddit — how it's discussed. Qualitative proxy (declared).

L (months) — gap between first emergence and sustained public attention.

Example reading: "RWA Tokenization · L=103 · STRUCTURAL · Active · 40/100" → The technology existed for 103 months before the public noticed. It entered the vocabulary (STRUCTURAL). It's still above threshold right now (Active). Current attention: 40/100.
Contrast: "SMR · L=243 · STRUCTURAL · Receding · 23/100" → Same classification, different story. SMR consolidated (12 months above threshold) but attention has now dropped below. The discovery phase happened; the term is fading from active search. Both are STRUCTURAL — one is alive, one is cooling.

A blank value in the Now column is not missing data. It means the term has no measurable consumer search footprint: the phenomenon is institutional or B2B and sits below the resolution of Google Trends. Absence of public attention is itself a measurement.

The dataset has two layers. All 71 phenomena are classified by regime and verified twice against the source data. 27 of them currently carry a measured diffusion lag L; where L is not shown, the column is left empty rather than estimated.

Financial Infrastructure & Regulation · 10 cases

L (area): ~110 mo (n=7) · dominant regime: Policy-Trigger. Both layers of tokenized finance (stablecoins + RWA) now STRUCTURAL · Active. BNPL leads as Dominant (89 months). Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency are Cyclical — market-driven.

Phenomenon	L	Classification	Status	Now	Note
Stablecoins	128	STRUCTURAL	Active	~31	15mo. Infrastructure Paradox: attention↓ adoption↑. ZCR-001
Cryptocurrency	96	STRUCTURAL	Cyclical	20	Below threshold. Follows market cycles. 14 max.
Bitcoin	146	STRUCTURAL	Cyclical	21	Below threshold. Cyclical. Real consolidation Dec 2020.
CBDC	61	STRUCTURAL	Active	39	16mo. Wiki declining from 2023. Dual-velocity.
Open Banking	75	STRUCTURAL	Active	—	B2B. Wiki ↓34% YoY. Dual-velocity transizionale.
Buy Now Pay Later	157	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	70	89 consecutive months — Financial domain record.
RWA Tokenization	103	STRUCTURAL	Active	40	Promoted. 14mo. Market $44.7B. ZCR-003
Tokenized Deposits	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	61	Promoted. 14mo. Within stablecoins cluster.
Basel III	~0	STRUCTURAL	Receding	24	Below threshold. 63 max historical. Mature term in decline.
MiCA	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		23	12 max then retreated.

Security / Tech / Cyber / Quantum · 10 cases

L (area): ~138 mo (n=5) · dominant regime: Policy-Trigger. Cloud Computing Dominant (62mo). Three promotions. PQC and AI Watermarking: Spike & Retreat.

Phenomenon	L	Classification	Status	Now	Note
Cybersecurity	145	STRUCTURAL	Active	73	16mo. Mature.
Zero Day Vulnerability	231	STRUCTURAL	Active	—	30mo confirmed. Technical, near-invisible.
Endpoint Security	144	STRUCTURAL	Active	—	16mo. B2B. Term shifting to XDR.
Post-Quantum Crypto	91	SPIKE & RETREAT		24	Breakout 100 then retreated. ZCR-002
Quantum Computing	—	OBSERVATION		24	11 max — 1 short of threshold.
Cloud Computing	31	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	67	62 consecutive months. Strong.
Edge Computing	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	38	Promoted. 14mo.
Digital Identity	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	35	Promoted. 14mo. B2B.
AI Watermarking	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		—	Spike then retreat.
eIDAS	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	35	Promoted. 16mo. Cluster confirmed.

Energy · 11 cases

L (area): Green Hydrogen 204, SMR 243 · dominant regime: Policy-Trigger / Institutional Mass. Strongest domain structurally: 9/11 STRUCTURAL. SMR added this revision (L=243, STRUCTURAL · Receding). Solar and Heat Pump Dominant.

Phenomenon	L	Classification	Status	Now	Note
Green Hydrogen	204	STRUCTURAL	Active	38	21mo. Dual-velocity.
Nuclear Fusion	—	OBSERVATION		15	11 max. Spike and fade.
Small Modular Reactor	243	STRUCTURAL	Receding	23	12mo exact then retreated. Tightest STRUCTURAL in dataset. ZCR-005
Carbon Capture	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	43	Promoted. 25 consecutive months.
Solar Energy	—	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	52	57mo. 113 max historical.
Wind Energy	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	45	38mo.
Heat Pump	—	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	68	40mo.
Battery Storage	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	37	Promoted. 14mo.
Carbon Tax	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		25	13 max then retreated. Borderline.
EV Charging	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	59	Promoted. 19mo.
Critical Minerals	176	STRUCTURAL	Active	25	Added Aug 2026. t_start Dec 2010 (DOE Critical Materials Strategy). 0/100 for 15 years, then 0 → 100 in 3 months. On the threshold. ZSR-001

Biotech / Medical · 10 cases

L (area): ~140 mo (n=5) · dominant regime: Institutional Mass. mRNA Cancer Vaccines: PRE → 100/100 — only case in dataset to go from pre-structural to peak. Gene Therapy showing second breakout.

Phenomenon	L	Classification	Status	Now	Note
GLP-1	85	STRUCTURAL	Active	61	16mo. Ozempic wave.
CRISPR	99	STRUCTURAL	Active	34	17mo.
Precision Medicine	165	STRUCTURAL	Active	45	15mo. Specialist.
Liquid Biopsy	175	STRUCTURAL	Active	40	14mo. Pure specialist.
Autonomous Vehicle	176	STRUCTURAL	Active	34	14mo.
Explainable AI	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	34	Promoted. 14mo. t_start DARPA 2016.
mRNA Cancer Vaccines	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	100	PRE→100/100. Only PRE→peak case. 14mo.
Gene Therapy	—	PRE		37	Second breakout: peak 100 Jun 2026. 15mo.
Stem Cell	—	PRE		21	Below threshold. Pre-dataset confirmed.
Telemedicine	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	40	Promoted from NON-STAT. 16mo post-COVID.

Policy / Regulatory · 10 cases

Dominant regime: Policy-Trigger. Most Spike & Retreat-heavy domain: 5/10 cases reached threshold but did not consolidate. ESG is Dominant (69mo). Policy-driven attention is fragile without market reinforcement.

Phenomenon	L	Classification	Status	Now	Note
GDPR	—	BUBBLE		22	6 max. Confirmed bubble.
EU AI Act	—	OBSERVATION		—	To re-verify.
AI Red Teaming	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	37	Promoted. 14mo.
AI Incident Reporting	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		15	12 max then retreated.
AI Procurement Policy	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		23	12 max then retreated.
ESG	—	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	57	69mo. Strong.
CISA	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		33	13 max then retreated.
Algorithmic Auditing	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		25	13 max then retreated. 16 yrs, never 12 consecutive.
Responsible AI	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	44	Promoted. 14mo.
Model Cards AI	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		20	12 max then retreated.

Consumer / Social · 10 cases

L (area): ~48 mo (n=5) · dominant regime: Market-Narrative. Four Dominant cases — highest density. Records: Streaming 218mo (dataset record), iPhone 208mo, Digital Nomad L=325 (longest lag). Facebook: Dead.

Phenomenon	L	Classification	Status	Now	Note
iPhone	29	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	60	208mo. 17 years above threshold.
Facebook	59	STRUCTURAL	Dead	5	0mo at end. 115 max. Term replaced by "Meta."
TikTok	31	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	94	78mo. Dominant social platform.
Virtual Reality	71	STRUCTURAL	Active	28	8mo residual. Watch for Receding.
Metaverse	—	BUBBLE		16	9 max. Confirmed bubble.
NFT	—	BUBBLE		5	8 max. Confirmed bubble.
Digital Nomad	325	STRUCTURAL	Active	42	16mo. L=325 longest lag in dataset.
Creator Economy	—	OBSERVATION		32	6 max. Never consolidated.
Streaming	—	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	32	218mo — DATASET RECORD (18 years).
Influencer	—	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	81	45mo.

AI Governance · 10 cases

Dominant regime: Policy-Trigger / Market-Narrative. Web3 Dominant (58mo, corrected from OBSERVATION). Remote Work Active (33mo, promoted from NON-STAT). Largest promotion count in a single domain.

Phenomenon	L	Classification	Status	Now	Note
Generative AI	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	43	Promoted. 14mo.
Deep Learning	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	43	Promoted. 15mo.
AI Governance	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	40	Promoted. 14mo.
ICO Boom	—	BUBBLE		3	Most dead term in dataset.
Memecoin	—	BUBBLE		48	7 max. Bubble with active signal.
Web3	—	STRUCTURAL	Dominant	53	Corrected — was OBS by error. 58mo.
Gig Economy	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	54	11mo at end. Declining — watch.
Subscription Economy	—	SPIKE & RETREAT		29	13 max then retreated.
Super App	185	STRUCTURAL	Active	43	Promoted. 15mo.
Remote Work	—	STRUCTURAL	Active	73	Promoted from NON-STAT. 33mo post-COVID.

Dataset records (August 2026): Longest consecutive run: Streaming (218 months). Longest lag: Digital Nomad (L=325). Longest infrastructure lag: SMR (L=243). Highest active current: mRNA Cancer Vaccines (100/100). Most dead: ICO Boom (current 3). First PRE→peak: mRNA Cancer Vaccines. Tightest STRUCTURAL: SMR (12 months exact, then retreated). Only Dead: Facebook.