Top science news headlines for the week 23

Monday, Jun 01
Archaeology
649

Thirty years at El Mirón cave uncover 40,000 years of Iberian prehistory

Astronomy
1360

A giant star may have destroyed itself in one of the universe's rarest explosions

Nanomaterials
122

Nanoengineered materials can store and release hydrogen at room temperature

Earth Sciences
138

Trees and greenery can cool perceived heat in cities by as much as 18°C—but only if they're the right type

Analytical Chemistry
24

Low-cost method uncovers conical intersections that steer light-driven molecular reactions

Astronomy
22

Hubble captures M88 on journey to center of Virgo cluster

Environment
59

Why dirty farm plastic matters: Cleaner mulch film could cut landfill waste and fossil fuel use

Tuesday, Jun 02
Bio & Medicine
560

Biohybrid microrobots repair spinal cord by combining stem cells with magnetoelectric nanoparticles

Optics & Photonics
3546

Cutting a photon in two creates an infinite swarm of particles

Mathematics
343

Mathematicians say 'don't believe hype' on AI capabilities

Mathematics
74

How a Richard Feynman formula could explain your dining habits in a new city

Earth Sciences
316

Plate tectonics shaped the Cradle of Civilization by merging two ancient rivers, study suggests

Archaeology
42

Britain's oldest cave art may have been rediscovered in Bacon Hole cave

Plants & Animals
41

Bird masturbation appears natural across 120 species, challenging long-held veterinary advice

Wednesday, Jun 03
Plants & Animals
486

How honeybees really crown their queens

Space Exploration
68

Solar sails edge closer to reality, but interstellar travel is another story

Evolution
2529

World's largest scorpion revealed by 415-million-year-old fossils

Quantum Physics
53

'Don't scare the cat!' Engineers find smarter way to measure quantum systems

Social Sciences
7

Abortion restrictions associated with lower female medical school applicant numbers

Biotechnology
11

Food industries embrace AI sensors to improve efficiencies

Astrobiology
44

How Jupiter may have redirected life's ingredients toward Earth 4.5 billion years ago

Thursday, Jun 04
Plants & Animals
199

Bumble bees show spontaneous problem-solving, challenging big-brain assumptions

Bio & Medicine
10

Detection at the nanoscale: A phosphate-detecting electrochemical sensor

Astrobiology
36

Atmosphere survival model refines search for habitable planets

General Physics
62

Measuring gravitational waves in a humming universe with a coordinate-free approach

Earth Sciences
30

Wildfires reverse decade of ozone cleanup in the United States, study reveals

Plants & Animals
29

Why jellyfish can't rise to the surface

Optics & Photonics
84

Photoexcitation flips 2D moiré devices from metals to insulators in ultrafast test

Friday, Jun 05
Plants & Animals
683

'The Heaven Sword' crowned as East Asia's tallest tree after a nearly decade-long search

Social Sciences
565

Remote work is taking its toll on the mental health of American workers, researchers find

Plants & Animals
792

Deep-sea supergiant isopods last years without food by using a two-part survival system

Plants & Animals
43

Why do rival plants coexist? The secret is in the soil beneath the oaks

Political science
12

From exporting spyware to surveilling activists—how democracies became the new digital authoritarians

Environment
63

Billions face growing water risk as sediment fills reservoirs faster than expected worldwide

Astrobiology
60

Could it be aliens? From Cheyava Falls on Mars to exoplanet K2‑18b—here's what scientists really think

Saturday, Jun 06
Plants & Animals
427

Medieval pandemic left a hidden legacy in Europe's oldest trees

Social Sciences
29

Q&A: Why are white-Black marriage rates so low?

Other
42

Saturday Citations: Greenland sharks; quantum weirdness; people are mostly pretty chill

Quantum Physics
187

Predictive surrogates could cut quantum computing measurement overhead by more than 99.97%

Earth Sciences
63

Volcanic eruptions linked to rising famine risk across China's history

Earth Sciences
791

Mount Etna eruptions reveal carbon dioxide and water can trigger separate explosive paths

Bio & Medicine
130

Hair-size microrobots combine three cancer-fighting functions in preclinical animal tests

Sunday, Jun 07
Archaeology
108

Wonderwerk Cave bones reveal possible fire use by human ancestors 1.79 million years ago

Earth Sciences
1263

Atlantic 'cold blob' caused by weakening ocean current system that's likely nearing a tipping point, reanalysis finds

General Physics
101

Quantum circuits help AI overcome memory limitations with minimal new parameters

Space Exploration
35

Lunar orbiter concept could reveal five key elements across moon in two years

Earth Sciences
29

Machine learning uncovers 1,750 quakes tracing 250-kilometer edge of Alaska microplate

Evolution
74

Epigenetic changes can be inherited without changing DNA in animals

Molecular & Computational biology
97

First nonrepeating biological clock discovered in C. elegans guides growth