Weekly Headlines (excerpts)

1. All dog noses—whether a pug’s or a bloodhound’s—are created equal 

The Periodic Table of Food aims to detail molecular contents of food crops and animals

BY RICHARD SCHIFFMAN 26 APR 2024 

2. Injectable antibody drug protects children from malaria in Mali trial

One dose prevented infection and disease for 6 months—but hurdles to introduction remain

BY CATHERINE OFFORD 26 APR 2024 

3. What is a presumed sign of life doing on a dead comet?

Touted as a “biosignature” on an alien planet, dimethyl sulfide also seems to arise in banal ways

BY ELISE CUTTS 26 APR 2024 

4. AI transcription tools ‘hallucinate,’ too

Study finds surprisingly harmful fabrications in OpenAI’s speech-to-text algorithm

BY ANANYA 26 APR 2024 

5. Where do elbows and knees come from? Biologists track them back to our boneless, sharklike ancestors

Joints in jaws and limbs, once thought to have evolved for life on land, turn out to date back much earlier, to sharks and their relatives

BY ELIZABETH PENNISI 25 APR 2024 

6. Traffic noise causes lifelong harm to baby birds

Finches exposed to the sound of cars grew slower and had fewer offspring

BY ERIK STOKSTAD 25 APR 2024 

7. A gene mutation turned these fish into intrepid explorers

That behavioral change could explain the remarkable diversity of cichlid fish in Africa’s Lake Tanganyika

BY ELIZABETH PENNISI 25 APR 2024 

8. Can science find ways to ease loneliness?

The health risks of social isolation and loneliness are inspiring government action and a hunt for effective interventions

BY KELLY SERVICK 25 APR 2024 

9. Diamonds grown without extreme pressures

Tiny crystals grown within molten metals at atmospheric pressure

BY ROBERT F. SERVICE 24 APR 2024 

10. Scientists repot flowering plants’ tree of life—and find it has tangled roots

The most comprehensive look at genetic differences among flowering plants suggests ancient interbreeding confounded relationships between dogwoods and blueberries, among others

BY ELIZABETH PENNISI 24 APR 2024 

11. China set to fetch first rocks from mysterious far side of the Moon

Chang’e-6 to target the largest and oldest lunar impact crater

BY DENNIS NORMILE 24 APR 2024 

12. Massive DNA study reveals mating customs of mysterious medieval horse riders

Analysis of hundreds of burials in Hungary traces longest known family tree—and absent daughters

BY ANDREW CURRY 24 APR 2024

13. Sea creatures began to glow half a billion years ago

Bioluminescence, which has evolved many times across the tree of life, is more ancient than previously thought

BY PHIE JACOBS 23 APR 2024 

14. NIH boosts pay for postdocs and graduate students

The increases are welcome news, but fall short of an advisory group’s recommendation

BY KATIE LANGIN 23 APR 2024 

15. U.K. visa changes imperil recruitment of scientific talent, policy experts warn

Skyrocketing visa costs and new restrictions make it harder to attract talent and students, threatening universities’ bottom lines

BY CATHLEEN O’GRADY 23 APR 2024 

16. Oldest ever ice offers glimpse of Earth before the ice ages

Climate snapshots suggest carbon dioxide levels were surprisingly modest during ancient warm period

BY ELISE CUTTS 22 APR 2024 

17. U.S. government in hot seat for response to growing cow flu outbreak

Veterinarians and researchers on the front lines say it has taken too long to share data on viral changes, spread, and milk safety

BY JON COHEN 22 APR 2024 

18. Forced to eat bat feces, chimps could spread deadly viruses to humans

Tobacco farming is driving apes to seek unusual food source, brimming with pathogens

BY ANN GIBBONS 22 APR 2024