Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. Fossilized fish trails reveal earliest steps out of water

Possible lungfish tracks could push back animal migration onto land by 10 million years

15 Aug 2025  By Taylor Mitchell Brown 

2. Don’t blame the algorithm: Polarization may be inherent in social media

In simulations, AI-generated users of stripped-down social media without content algorithms still split into polarized echo chambers

15 Aug 2025  By Hannah Richter 

3. Hot springs’ hardy microbes offer new source of antibiotics

The mysterious branch of life of known as archaea harbor unique bacteria-fighting compounds

14 Aug 2025  By Robert F. Service 

4. Thousands of climbing catfish filmed scaling waterfalls

New footage provides rare insight into the daring migration of an enigmatic fish

14 Aug 2025  By Mark DeGraff 

5. Researchers make ‘quantum cat’ video out of individual atoms

Demo showcases new AI-powered tool of potential use in quantum computers

14 Aug 2025  By Nazeefa Ahmed 

6. The U.S. wants to phase out animal research. Are the alternatives ready?

Drug and chemical safety can be assessed with AI and organ chips, but some scientists say it’s too soon to forgo animal methods entirely

14 Aug 2025  By Sara Reardon 

7. Corrected study rekindles debate over Microsoft’s quantum computing research

Dispute over elusive Majorana particles claimed in Science highlights controversial approach to robust quantum chips

14 Aug 2025  By Adam Mann 

8. By sucking up DNA, clot-producing platelets could help diagnose cancer

The cells could be a new source of tumor DNA for liquid biopsies

14 Aug 2025  By Mitch Leslie 

9. Museum artifacts rewrite the timeline of gold refining

One technique was practiced significantly earlier than some researchers believe

14 Aug 2025  By Katherine Kornei 

10. Brain device that reads inner thoughts aloud inspires strategies to protect mental privacy

Researchers isolated signals from a brain implant so people with movement disorders could voice thoughts without trying to speak

14 Aug 2025  By Annika Inampudi 

11. A single lock of hair could rewrite what we know about Inca record-keeping

Evidence from a 500-year-old khipu suggests commoners helped craft the Inca’s intricate knotted records

13 Aug 2025  By Humberto Basilio 

12. New twist on PET scans unlocks hidden signals for diagnosing disease

Overlooked emissions from exotic positronium atoms could improve medical scanners

13 Aug 2025  By Zack Savitsky 

13. Fossil teeth reveal a previously unknown human ancestor from eastern Africa

Scientists say the teeth belonged to a type of Australopithecus, a relative of Lucy’s species, that coexisted with our genus, Homo

13 Aug 2025  By Bridget Alex 

14. Featherweight flyers could ‘levitate’ above Earth indefinitely

Making use of an obscure physics effect to fly, devices could probe the upper atmosphere and explore Mars

13 Aug 2025  By Annika Inampudi 

15. ‘Sex reversal’ is surprisingly common in birds, new study suggests

Survey of five Australian avians finds numerous discordant individuals, including a genetically male bird that had laid an egg

12 Aug 2025  By Phie Jacobs 

16. ‘Superefficient’ weaver ants show remarkable strength in numbers

Unlike people, these nest-building insects pull harder in teams

Got a tip for Science’s news department?

12 Aug 2025  By Erik Stokstad 

17. New method reveals perhaps the most massive black hole yet spotted

Big brute 5 billion light-years from Earth is 36 billion times as massive as the Sun

11 Aug 2025  By Daniel Clery