Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. Sleep apnea pill shows striking success in large clinical trial

Drug combination targeting lax airways is nearing an FDA submission

 22 MAY 2025  BY MEREDITH WADMAN 

2. ‘A publicity problem’: New group pushes for microbes to be conserved like other endangered species

Science speaks with conservation scientist Kent Redford about why microbes need protection from extinction—and how to achieve it

 22 MAY 2025  BY JON COHEN 

3. Social media consensus paper causes social media uproar

Preprint reporting common ground among researchers on smartphones and teen mental health is premature and flawed, critics say

 22 MAY 2025  BY CATHLEEN O’GRADY 

4. ‘Strange metals’ point to a whole new way to understand electricity

Exotic materials with bizarre electron behavior could pave the road to revolutionary technologies

 22 MAY 2025  BY ZACK SAVITSKY 

5. Clothing—not agriculture—helped spread a tick disease 5000 years ago

New study of a pathogen’s Bronze Age spread challenges longstanding links between disease and early agriculture

 22 MAY 2025  BY ANDREW CURRY 

6. Researchers question reliability of Abbott’s rapid malaria tests

Reports of false negatives spur World Health Organization to issue internal memo, but the company denies problems

 22 MAY 2025  BY CATHERINE OFFORD 

7. Lotions and perfume can weaken a ‘human oxidation field’ made by your skin

Personal care products may chemically alter the air around us. Whether that’s good or bad remains unclear

 21 MAY 2025  BY JENNA AHART 

8. New sonar tool is a ‘game changer’ for mapping the sea floor

Devices that mimic giant acoustic cameras can spy animal burrows, explosive mines, and metallic deposits

 21 MAY 2025  BY RACHEL BERKOWITZ 

9. Bird feeders have caused a dramatic evolution of California hummingbirds

Beaks have grown longer and larger, and ranges have expanded to follow the feeders

 21 MAY 2025  BY RACHEL NUWER 

10. Research may be increasingly incremental—but studies making lasting paradigm shifts are on the rise

New metric identifying “persistently disruptive” papers offers a “bright spot” amid signs of declining innovation

 20 MAY 2025  BY JEFFREY BRAINARD 

11. 30-day forecast? Weather prediction might be able to look beyond 2 weeks

AI models suggest the true limits of the "butterfly effect" remain unknown

 19 MAY 2025  BY PAUL VOOSEN 

12. What does the new FDA framework mean for the future of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S.?

Under proposed policy, updated shots would be limited to at-risk populations

 23 MAY 2025  BY GRETCHEN VOGEL 

13. Thin plastic films could help refine oil cheaply—and with less pollution

Filters like those used in desalination plants hold promise of separating gasoline components from crude oil

 23 MAY 2025  BY ROBERT F. SERVICE 

14. These crabs cast bright beams of light with their heads

Crustaceans may use unique reflectors to signal mates or scare off predators

 23 MAY 2025  BY ERIK STOKSTAD 

15. China sets out to sample an unusual near-Earth asteroid

The target, flying in a rare quasi-satellite orbit, could be a piece of the Moon

 23 MAY 2025  BY DENNIS NORMILE