Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. Mysterious pre-Islamic script from Oman finally deciphered

Cracking the main subtype of the Dhofari script could reveal “an entirely new page of the history of Arabia”

2. China tops the world in artificial intelligence publications, database analysis reveals

The country also leads in patent filings and the number of AI researchers

3. Effort to revive New Zealand’s extinct moa stirs controversy

Suggestions that nation’s Indigenous Māori wholeheartedly back project draws criticism

4. Astronomers race to study interstellar interloper

Phalanx of instruments scrutinize 3I/ATLAS for clues about planet formation elsewhere in the galaxy

5. U.S. abandons hunt for signal of cosmic inflation

Now-canceled CMB-S4 project would have searched the afterglow of the Big Bang for signs of cosmic exponential growth spurt

6. Genetic testing of critically ill adults can yield surprises—and reveal disparities in treatment of Black patients

Adults in the ICU often don’t know about the genetic diagnoses related to their symptoms, DNA sequencing study shows

7. How hydrogen-leaking ‘fairy circles’ might form

Understanding the origins of mysterious seeps could help prospectors extract natural hydrogen fuel

8. AI challenge to find lost Amazonian civilizations draws critics

Scientists, ethicists, and officials worry the OpenAI-sponsored contest sidesteps archaeological norms