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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
An at-home cervical cancer screening device was OK‘d by the FDA
The Teal Wand, an at-home HPV testing device that could replace a Pap smear, could broaden access to cervical cancer screening.
- Science & Society
$1.8 billion in NIH grant cuts hit minority health research the hardest
News of NIH funding cuts have trickled out in recent months. A new study tallies what’s been terminated.
- Health & Medicine
Clinical trials face uncertain futures amid Trump cuts
The Trump administration has reportedly disrupted over 100 clinical trials. Science News spoke to researchers about the impacts on four of them.
- Paleontology
Could Spinosaurus swim? The fierce dinosaur ignites debate
Researchers are still divided about whether Spinosaurus was a swimmer or a wader. What’s clear is that confirming the first swimming dinosaur would be a game-changer.
- Health & Medicine
A shadowy market for weight-loss drugs has emerged online
People are buying semaglutide and tirzepatide, the key ingredients in Ozempic and Zepbound, from unconventional sources. Doctors have safety concerns.
- Health & Medicine
6 things to know about antidepressants
An abundance of data show that SSRIs, a class of drugs commonly used as antidepressants, are effective, though, like any drug, they have risks.
- Health & Medicine
What experts say about childhood vaccines amid the Texas measles outbreak
As the Texas measles outbreak grows and HHS head RFK Jr. puts vaccines under new scrutiny, two experts answer questions about the public health tool.
- Artificial Intelligence
Are AI chatbot ‘personalities’ in the eye of the beholder?
Defining AI chatbot personality could be based on how a bot “feels” about itself or on how a person feels about the bot they’re interacting with.
- Health & Medicine
Better male birth control is on the horizon
Men have two birth control options: condoms and vasectomies. Why has it taken so long to develop more contraceptives?
- Science & Society
Trump orders sow chaos in global public health
A recent flurry of executive orders and surprise actions by the Trump administration have roiled WHO, the CDC and the international public health community.
- Science & Society
What nuclear weapons experts will watch for under Trump
As Trump takes office, issues of arms control, the U.S. arsenal and weapons testing will be on the radar for many nuclear weapons researchers.
- Cosmology
How we might finally find black holes from the cosmic dawn
After decades of study, scientists sound genuinely optimistic about the possibility of detecting primordial black holes, which might explain dark matter.
