Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. This tiny, newborn caterpillar buzzes to defend its territory

The 2-millimeter-long bug is among the smallest animals ever observed performing territorial displays

 4 APR 2025  BY GENNARO TOMMA 

2. Is Indonesia’s planned rice megaproject doomed to fail?

Poor soils and dry climate could undermine effort to expand rice growing by 1 million hectares, experts warn

 4 APR 2025  BY DYNA ROCHMYANINGSIH 

3.  50-year-old bioweapons treaty is dangerously flawed, researchers say

Without enforcement mechanisms, the Biological Weapons Convention risks leaving the world “completely unprepared”

4 APR 2025  BY RICHARD STONE 

4. Immune cells have unexpected role in fighting pain

Inflammation-suppressing regulatory T cells reduce pain in female mice by targeting nerve cells

3 APR 2025   BY MITCH LESLIE 

5. Geoengineering could fight climate change—if scientists can get the public on their side

Researchers’ failures to communicate are jeopardizing even basic tests, but new projects may point the way forward

3 APR 2025  BY REBEKAH WHITE 

6. ‘Uniquely human’ language capacity found in bonobos

In a first, researchers have seen a nonhuman animal combine different calls to make new meanings

3 APR 2025  BY CATHLEEN O’GRADY 

7.  Unusual dinosaur tracks in Scotland reveal an ancient watering hole

The impressions, once considered fish burrows, were found along a shoreline with a notable role in Scottish history

2 APR 2025  BY JACK TAMISIEA 

8. Skeletons from ‘green Sahara’ offer genetic peek at a lost human population

Ancient DNA sheds light on a fleeting, lush interlude of North African prehistory

 2 APR 2025  BY ANDREW CURRY 

9. Stellarators, once fusion’s dark horse, hit their stride

Multiple companies aim to generate power by corraling plasma with twisted magnets

 1 APR 2025  BY DANIEL CLERY 

10. The AI revolution comes to protein sequencing

New systems can identify unknown proteins in samples from diseased tissue, the environment, and archaeological sites

 31 MAR 2025  BY ROBERT F. SERVICE 

11. Molecular ‘staples’ resolve puzzle of how collagen stays together

Research reveals how the key structural protein, inherently unstable at body temperature, forms resilient twists

 31 MAR 2025  BY RACHEL BERKOWITZ