Weekly Headlines (excerpts)

 1. Bill targeting Chinese biotechs worries U.S. researchers

Biosecure Act could hinder science collaborations, limit sequencer purchases

BY ROBERT F. SERVICE 13 SEP 2024 

2. Live from the ‘Iggies’: Eight things you didn’t know about science’s wackiest night

At the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, tradition and humor take center stage

BY HANNAH RICHTER 13 SEP 2024 

3. Final U.S. misconduct rule drops controversial changes

Biomedical oversight agency replaces proposal to publicize institutional findings with smaller steps toward greater transparency

BY JEFFREY MERVIS 13 SEP 2024 

4. New Puerto Rico center allows scientists to access sensitive government data

Island is first U.S. territory to host portal to trove of federal statistics

BY MYRIAM VIDAL VALERO 13 SEP 2024 

5. International postdocs in the U.S. are short-changed—in more ways than one

Postdocs who hold temporary visas are paid less and receive less career development and guidance than U.S. citizens, new study finds

BY KATIE LANGIN 12 SEP 2024 

6. AI chatbot shows promise in talking people out of conspiracy theories

The imperturbable bot succeeds where humans usually fail, experiment finds

BY PHIE JACOBS 12 SEP 2024 

7. Arctic ecosystems get long-term look with drifting research station

Riding on top of sea ice, domed vessel will carry crews on 2-year-long polar voyages

BY SEAN CUMMINGS 12 SEP 2024 

8. U.S. state composting laws are mostly trash—except for one, study finds

First analysis of laws on composting food finds that tough regulations, like those in Massachusetts, work

BY ERIK STOKSTAD 12 SEP 2024 

9. Strong El Niños primed Earth for mass extinction

Extreme weather sparked by ocean shifts set stage for Great Dying 250 million years ago

BY PAUL VOOSEN 12 SEP 2024 

10. A tsunami in a remote fjord rang Earth like a bell for 9 days

Scientists trace strange seismic signal to landslide that triggered sloshing, 200-meter-tall waves in Greenland

BY MAYA WEI-HAAS 12 SEP 2024 

11. Honesty researcher’s lawsuit against data sleuths dismissed

Judge rules that bloggers sued by Francesca Gino are protected by the First Amendment, but allows some claims against Harvard to proceed

BY CATHLEEN O’GRADY 12 SEP 2024 

12. Insights into notorious ‘Alzheimer’s gene’ fuel hope for staving off dementia

The gene variant APOE4 is finally giving up some of its secrets, spurring new strategies to stop the dreaded neurodegenerative disease

BY JOCELYN KAISER 12 SEP 2024 

13. Parasitologists up in arms as NIH ends funding for key database

Trove of data-mining resources on malaria and other killers set to go dark this weekend

BY MEREDITH WADMAN 11 SEP 2024 

14. Watch this parasitic wasp pick on a fly its own size

The first wasp known to lay its eggs in adult fruit flies could shed light on parasite behavior

BY CHRISTIE WILCOX 11 SEP 2024 

15. Suspicious phrases in peer reviews point to referees gaming the system

Hundreds of scientific papers bear signs of reviewers using templates to quickly churn out reports for personal gain

BY JEFFREY BRAINARD 11 SEP 2024 

16. Famed Polynesian island did not succumb to ‘ecological suicide,’ new evidence reveals

Genomic, archaeological data show population on Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, never “collapsed” as some had argued

BY RODRIGO PÉREZ ORTEGA 11 SEP 2024 

17. Viagra and other unlikely candidates lead hunt for new longevity drugs

A mouse study running for decades has found promising compounds for extending life—and ruled out many others

BY MITCH LESLIE 11 SEP 2024 

18. Watch a ghostly creature carry seaweed upside down on the bottom of the Atlantic

Deep-sea submersible captures habits and anatomy of strange isopods for first time

BY HANNAH RICHTER 10 SEP 2024 

19. After cosmic dark ages, what burned away ubiquitous clouds of gas? NASA telescope finds surprises

JWST reveals a surfeit of ultraviolet light from the first stars and giant black holes—clues to the universe’s reionization

BY DANIEL CLERY 10 SEP 2024 

20. Children show up in droves for Gaza’s ‘dangerous and difficult’ polio campaign

Pauses in fighting have held, but success of the vaccination drive is still uncertain

BY LESLIE ROBERTS 10 SEP 2024 

21. Cattle may pose little threat to iconic wildlife in Kenya park

Study’s results may have implications for conservation policy in the Maasai Mara National Reserve

BY GEOFFREY KAMADI 10 SEP 2024