Top science news headlines for the week 06

Monday, Feb 02
Astronomy
341

Infrared running of gravity offers a field-theoretic route to dark matter phenomena

Environment
532

Some bottled water is worse than tap for microplastics, study shows

Biotechnology
387

Lab-grown algae remove microplastics from water

Environment
394

Climate enters the overshoot era—science and policy need to react

Archaeology
186

Ancient Alaskan site may help explain how the first people arrived in North America

Cell & Microbiology
114

Cells adapt to aging by actively remodeling endoplasmic reticulum, study reveals

Earth Sciences
1860

Geologists may have solved mystery of Green River's 'uphill' route

Tuesday, Feb 03
Astronomy
4681

Did we just see a black hole explode? Physicists think so—and it could explain (almost) everything

Social Sciences
238

Political division in the US surged from 2008 onward, study suggests

Earth Sciences
1653

Global warming is speeding breakdown of major greenhouse gas, research shows

Biochemistry
2085

Weight-loss drugs are creating an environmental disaster—a new water-based method aims to change that

Molecular & Computational biology
135

Are cats 'vegan' meat eaters? Why isotopic signatures of feline fur could trick us into thinking that way

General Physics
190

A new class of strange one-dimensional particles

Optics & Photonics
209

Ultra-thin metasurface can generate and direct quantum entanglement

Wednesday, Feb 04
Evolution
1885

Exposure to burn injuries played key role in shaping human evolution, study suggests

Plants & Animals
187

Gray wolf crosses into Nevada after breaking from California pack

Plants & Animals
500

Why snakes can go months between meals: A genetic explanation

General Physics
273

Glimpsing the quantum vacuum: Particle spin correlations offer insight into how visible matter emerges from 'nothing'

Astronomy
134

Astronomers trace a runaway star to a former companion's supernova

Archaeology
134

Olives have been essential to life in Italy for at least 6,000 years—far longer than we thought

Environment
93

Study ties particle pollution from wildfire smoke to 24,100 US deaths per year

Thursday, Feb 05
Astronomy
386

Dark matter, not a black hole, could power Milky Way's heart

Bio & Medicine
229

Peppermint oil plasma coating could cut catheter infections without releasing drugs

Archaeology
218

Petra aqueduct survey uncovers rare 116-meter lead conduit beside terracotta pipe

Planetary Sciences
178

When Earth's magnetic field took its time flipping

Mathematics
3406

A 'crazy' dice proof leads to a new understanding of a fundamental law of physics

General Physics
140

VIP-2 experiment narrows the search for exotic physics beyond the Pauli exclusion principle

Archaeology
329

Hannibal's famous war elephants: Single bone in Spain offers first direct evidence

Friday, Feb 06
Molecular & Computational biology
362

New CRISPR tool spreads through bacteria to disable antibiotic resistance genes

Evolution
825

A dinosaur with spikes exhibiting unprecedented properties discovered in China

Archaeology
909

New study uses Neanderthals to demonstrate gap between generative AI and scholarly knowledge

General Physics
1524

Scientists discover 'levitating' time crystals that you can hold in your hand

Quantum Physics
135

Measuring time at the quantum level depends on material symmetry

Earth Sciences
327

Compound in 500-million-year-old fossils sheds new light on Earth's carbon cycle

Evolution
117

Aerobic respiration began hundreds of millions of years earlier than previously thought, study suggests

Saturday, Feb 07
Optics & Photonics
440

Light-based Ising computer runs at room temperature and stays stable for hours

Astronomy
134

Webb unveils nature of distant ultraviolet-luminous galaxy CEERS2-588

Evolution
846

What to watch as fungal infections rise: Species that can quickly 'translate' fat-use proteins

Other
168

Saturday Citations: Imaginative bonobos; cannabis brain benefits; sneaky beetles

Nanophysics
284

New type of magnetism discovered in 2D materials

Astronomy
97

Pulsar timing hints at a nearby dark matter 'sub-halo'

Education
609

School breaks make up more than an hour of the day. Should they be considered part of learning?

Sunday, Feb 08
Astronomy
924

The 'Little red dots' observed by Webb were direct-collapse black holes

Optics & Photonics
379

Topological antenna could pave the way for 6G networks

Earth Sciences
216

2023–2024 El Niño triggered record-breaking sea level spike along African coastlines, study finds

Earth Sciences
76

Ancient Yangtze floods linked to Shijiahe decline, new 1,000-year rainfall record shows

Social Sciences
256

Study of 400 children in five societies finds culture shapes how kids cooperate

Economics & Business
143

Why supermarkets may sell more by putting fresh meals in front

Biochemistry
99

Water molecules actively reshape chiral catalyst structure, research shows