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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Paleontology
A new species of ‘penis worm’ was discovered in the Grand Canyon
A trove of fossils, including a penis worm with a spiked, invertible throat, suggests this spot may have been a cradle of Cambrian evolution.
- Health & Medicine
A molecule produced by gut microbes may help spur heart disease
A leftover from microbes’ meals is linked to early heart disease in people. In mice, it contributed to plaque buildup in the arteries.
- Health & Medicine
AI is designing proteins that could help treat cancer
A team used generative AI to enhance T cells’ ability to fight melanoma. The immunotherapy approach needs more testing before use in cancer patients.
- Climate
What to know about the extreme U.S. flooding — and ways to stay safe
An oceanographer explains how climate change, warming oceans and a souped-up atmosphere are creating conditions for deadly floods.
- Tech
A new ‘eye’ may radically change how robots see
The system contains a sensor, chip and tiny AI model inspired by biological eyes and brains and uses a tenth of the energy of a camera-based system.
- Physics
No player can return this killer shot. Physics explains how it works
Squash’s killer “nick shot” has a formula. It’s all about height and timing, a new study shows.
- Physics
How to get the biggest splash at the pool using science
Move over belly flops and cannonballs. Manu jumps, pioneered by New Zealand’s Māori and Pasifika communities, reign supreme.
- Neuroscience
‘Silent’ cells play a surprising role in how brains work
New studies show that astrocytes, long thought to be support cells in the brain, are crucial intermediaries for relaying messages to neurons.
- Psychology
Chess players rely on familiar moves even when the game changes
In chess as in life, people use memory as a shortcut for decision-making. That strategy can backfire when the present doesn’t resemblance the past.
- Tech
A hopping robot shows off its squirrel-like skills
Salto the jumping robot can take a flying leap and land on a narrow pipe — just like a squirrel soaring from branch to branch.
- Animals
How a mushroom coral goes for a walk without legs
Time-lapse video shows how a mushroom coral polyp pulses and inflates, flinging its soft body into micro-hops to slowly move itself to a new location.
- Physics
A cosmic neutrino of unknown origins smashes energy records
A deep-sea detector glimpsed a particle with 220 million billion electron volts of energy — around 20 times as energetic as any neutrino seen before.
