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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Artificial Intelligence
Have we entered a new age of AI-enabled scientific discovery?
Some say we’ve entered a new age of AI-enabled scientific discovery. But human insight and creativity still can’t be automated.
- Anthropology
This hand stencil in Indonesia is now the oldest known rock art
The work suggests early Homo sapiens developed enduring artistic practices as they moved through the islands of Southeast Asia.
- Tech
This detached hand robot has a thing for skittering on its fingertips
The robot can bend, grasp and carry in ways humans can’t, which could help it navigate spaces too confined for human arms.
- Animals
This tool-using cow defies expectations for bovine braininess
Veronika the cow uses a brush as a tool to scratch herself, revealing rare problem-solving skills and expanding what we know of tool use in animals.
- Animals
Among chimpanzees, thrill-seeking peaks in toddlerhood
In humans, teens do the most dangerous things. In chimpanzees, that honor goes to toddlers. The difference may lie in caregiver supervision.
- Animals
In a first, orcas and dolphins seen possibly hunting together
New footage shows orcas and dolphins coordinating hunts, hinting at interspecies teamwork to track and catch salmon off British Columbia.
- Paleontology
These fossil finds shed new light on the past in 2025
The year's top paleontological wonders ranged from a 540-million-year-old penis worm to a decades-old rodent impression.
- Space
These space stories made us look up in 2025
Space is always inspiring and 2025 was no exception, with finding Betelgeuse’s buddy, debuting a prolific survey telescope and more.
- Life
Watch a cancer cell evade capture
By moving around, some cancer cells force attacking immune cells to just nibble at the edges rather than engulf them completely.
- Microbes
This giant microbe organizes its DNA in a surprising way
3-D microscopy shows that the giant bacterium Thiovulum imperiosus squeezes its DNA into peripheral pouches, not a central mass like typical bacteria.
- Artificial Intelligence
Chatbots may make learning feel easy — but it’s superficial
People who use search engines develop deeper knowledge and are more invested in what they learn than those relying on AI chatbots, a study reports.
- Animals
This fly’s flesh-eating maggot is making a comeback. Here’s what to know
After a decades-long hiatus, new world screwworm populations have surged in Central America and Mexico — and are inching northward.
