Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. Astronomers spot a planetary ‘suicide’

World seen plunging into its star for the first time

 11 APR 2025  BY JENNA AHART 

2. Surprising discovery in world’s most studied plant can make seeds bigger

An overlooked “gate” governs nutrient transport to seeds and might one day boost harvests

 11 APR 2025  BY ERIK STOKSTAD 

3. Germany to create ‘super–high-tech ministry’ for research, technology, and aerospace

New governing coalition also plans to woo scientists from abroad and make it easier for universities to collaborate with the military on defense research

 11 APR 2025  BY GRETCHEN VOGEL 

4. Four decades ago, this insect built its protective shell from human garbage

Study suggests microplastics have been affecting freshwater animal communities for decades

 11 APR 2025  BY GENNARO TOMMA 

5. Longest human transplant of pig kidney fails

In latest xenotransplant test, Towana Looney’s body rejects gene-edited organ after more than 4 months

 11 APR 2025  BY JON COHEN 

6. The neutrino remains too light to be weighed—and that’s oddly exciting

A new directly determined limit on the neutrino’s mass arrives as those from cosmology become murkier

 10 APR 2025  BY ADRIAN CHO 

7．Early experiences shape the brain’s ‘communication superhighways’ to affect cognition

Massive study links a child’s social environment to white matter structure

 7 APR 2025  BY RODRIGO PÉREZ ORTEGA 

8. These two biologists found purpose—and love—trying to save Nigeria's bats

Benneth Obitte and Iroro Tanshi’s efforts have documented a major hot spot of African bat diversity

 10 APR 2025  BY ORJI SUNDAY 

9. CDC firings gut research on traumatic brain injuries

Last week’s mass layoffs removed small team studying concussions

 10 APR 2025  BY MEREDITH WADMAN 

10. Did cult sacrifices in ancient Egypt give rise to the cat?

“Murder pathway” may have tamed wildcats over several generations

 10 APR 2025  BY DAVID GRIMM 

11. Mediterranean hunter-gatherers voyaged across the open sea 8500 years ago

New discoveries on Malta show people settled remote islands before the rise of farming

 9 APR 2025  BY LIZZIE WADE 

12. India is a global warming ‘hole,’ and scientists aren’t sure why

Despite its extreme heat waves, the country’s decadeslong warming trend amounts to half the global average

 8 APR 2025  BY VAISHNAVI CHANDRASHEKHAR 

13. How do mpox outbreaks start? Dead baby monkey provides important clue

“Landmark” study fingers fire-footed rope squirrel as a reservoir of fatal disease

 8 APR 2025  BY KAI KUPFERSCHMIDT