Scientist

Stand Up for Science founder says proposal to control how grants are spent would ‘dismantle US science ecosystem’While waiting to board her flight home at Ronald Reagan Washington national airport recently, Colette Delawalla was reviewing a list of possible impacts from a proposed Trump administration rule on controlling federal money, including grants for research.Delawalla, the founder of the group Stand Up for Science, had just completed a three-day visit to Capitol Hill, where she met one by one with more than 30 members of Congress, part of a full-court press the organization has launched in recent weeks, sounding the alarm on the office of management and budget (OMB) proposal. Continue reading...

• U.S. scientists are increasingly leaving the United States for opportunities abroad, signaling a potential "brain drain" that could impact scientific progress for a generation. • The trend is driven by a desire for better research environments and professional growth, as illustrated by researchers like Long, who sought to move beyond small institutions like Tennessee Tech University. • This migration matters because the loss of top-tier talent may diminish the U.S.'s competitive edge in global physics and other critical scientific fields.

• Scientists are launching clinical trials for several drugs that showed promise in preliminary studies to combat a widening Ebola outbreak. • The trials are focusing on treatments for the virus currently affecting regions such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, including the town of Mongbwalu. • This effort is critical as health workers struggle to contain the spread of the virus and manage patients suspected of having the Bundibugyo strain.

Geochronologists say Antrim coastline’s basalt columns developed over 5.5m years – 8m less than thoughtFor centuries, the tale has been passed from generation to generation: how the Irish giant Finn McCool built the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland to fight Benandonner, his Scottish rival, by hurling chunks of the Antrim coastline into the sea.Now, scientists have revealed it was intense volcanic activity during a “major globally impacting volcanic event” – and not a legendary battle between two destructive giants – that led to the formation of the coastline’s 40,000 distinctive interlocking basalt columns about 60m years ago. Continue reading...

• Japanese scientists successfully deployed SORA-Q, an autonomous rolling rover, to explore a portion of the moon in 2024. • The robot features a unique "Transformer-like" design, allowing it to shift from a spherical shape into a robot with extending wheels, a flip-up camera, and a transforming tail. • This mission demonstrates advanced lunar mobility and the ability to adapt a vehicle's physical form to navigate challenging extraterrestrial terrain.

• A collection of 25 remarkable scientific breakthroughs from 2024, 2025, and early 2026 has been highlighted, spanning cosmic mysteries, biology, and medicine. • These discoveries focus on findings that challenge existing assumptions, solve long-standing puzzles, and open new frontiers for exploration. • The compilation matters as it showcases how recent research is forcing a rethink of the world and humanity's place within it.

Technique that examines fragments of foetal DNA in mother’s bloodstream could limit need for invasive screening, according to researchersA new maternal blood test that can detect thousands of serious genetic conditions in the developing foetus could limit the need for invasive screening during pregnancy, according to scientists.The test, to be described at the European Society for Human Genetics conference in Gothenburg on Saturday, relies on detecting tiny fragments of a foetus’s DNA that circulate in the mother’s bloodstream during pregnancy. Using advanced sequencing techniques, scientists were able to identify a very high proportion of genetic conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, that are currently only reliably diagnosed using amniocentesis or other invasive tests. Continue reading...

• Scientists have updated the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) protocols to establish new rules for verifying and sharing evidence of alien intelligence. • The updated guidelines address the modern information age, accounting for the globalization of the search and the use of projects like Breakthrough Listen. • These protocols are critical because current efforts now monitor the entire electromagnetic spectrum rather than just specific stars, increasing the likelihood of detecting signals.

• NPR highlighted five winning images from the "Scientists at Work" photo contest, showcasing the visual beauty of scientific research and discovery. • One featured image captures vector biologist Lee Haines from the University of Notre Dame using a microscope to examine a mosquito. • The contest aims to bridge the gap between complex research and the public by illustrating the "everyday mysteries" scientists investigate.

From Spain to Japan, experiments have repeatedly shown a left-turn bias, but exact mechanic ‘is still an open question’“I’m not an ambi-turner,” laments Derek Zoolander in the eponymous noughties satire about the world’s hottest male model and his rare catwalk hangup. “It’s a problem I’ve had since I was a baby … I can’t turn left.”Now, research suggests that the fashionista’s career-threatening quirk was even more unusual than previously thought. Tests reveal that when people are ambling about, they have a natural tendency to turn to the left and walk in an anticlockwise direction. Continue reading...

• The White House has introduced a new proposal that could allow the government to deny research funding to scientists based on their political opinions. • Critics argue the guidance replaces objective expertise with political appointees, potentially gutting the U.S. scientific ecosystem and decoupling the nation from global research collaborations. • This shift is viewed as a dangerous precedent that mirrors authoritarian tactics by prioritizing political loyalty over scientific merit.

• UK-based venture capital firm Creator Fund has closed its first European fund, securing $56 million (£42 million) in capital. • The fund specifically targets pre-seed scientific founders across Europe, providing backing even before entrepreneurs have developed a formal pitch deck. • This initiative is significant as it bridges the gap between academic scientific research and commercial viability for early-stage deep tech startups.

• ScienceAlert explored the gap between sensational headlines and the actual consensus among scientists regarding the discovery of alien life. • The discussion was prompted by NASA Administrator Sean Duffy's claim that a sample from the "Cheyava Falls" rock on Mars is the closest evidence of life found to date. • The article highlights a systemic issue where media coverage often relies on a few vocal experts rather than surveying the broader scientific community.

• Scientists have released a formal "first-contact blueprint" to establish a standardized protocol for humanity's response upon receiving a message from an intelligent alien civilization. • The plan mandates that any discovery be shared with the United Nations and a global network of astronomy, space exploration, and communications organizations. • To ensure transparency and accuracy, the framework requires the public release of all underlying evidence so the global scientific community can independently verify the data.

• Astronomers have discovered powerful winds emanating from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole located at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. • The discovery concludes a 50-year search by scientists attempting to find direct evidence of these galactic outflows. • This finding is significant because it provides critical insight into how black holes influence their surrounding environments and regulate galaxy evolution.

• UK scientists from the University of Oxford and biotechnology firm Basecamp Research have launched human trials for the world's first AI-designed vaccine. • The vaccine targets Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a potentially fatal viral disease primarily transmitted to humans via tick bites. • This milestone represents a significant shift in medical research, demonstrating how artificial intelligence can accelerate the design and development of complex drugs.

• A rapidly widening epidemic of the Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola, is currently spreading across Africa. • A World Health Organization (W.H.O.) expert panel has recommended two monoclonal antibodies, maftimivab (by Regeneron) and MBP-134 (by Mapp Bio), for urgent clinical trials. • These treatments are significant because they utilize antibodies from survivors that can bind to glycoproteins across multiple strains, including Bundibugyo and Sudan viruses.

• The Union of Concerned Scientists is sounding the alarm over a proposed rule by the Trump administration aimed at exerting greater control over the federal scientific enterprise. • The organization argues that the move is a political attempt to redirect research toward a specific agenda, threatening the independence and integrity of federal science. • This shift is viewed as a risk to public health and safety, as federal funding through agencies like the NIH has historically led to critical breakthroughs in cancer treatment and pesticide reduction.

Team now plans to see if they can use yeast strains harvested from Ötzi the Iceman to brew beer tooScientists have baked a sourdough loaf of bread using yeast strains harvested from a 5,000-year-old mummy and now plan to see if they can use them to brew beer too.The yeast came from Ötzi the Iceman, a famous corpse remarkably preserved by being frozen in Alpine ice near the Italy-Austria border until he was discovered in 1991. Ötzi has been the subject of intense study since he was found and has shed much light on pre-historic European people and their way of life. Continue reading...

Experts say dismantling the ocean observation system will ‘severely degrade’ the accuracy of weather predictionsThe Trump administration’s plan to dismantle an ocean observation system vital to understanding the climate crisis and marine ecosystems would “severely degrade” the accuracy of weather predictions and El Niño forecasts, with economic consequences for the US, European and American scientists have warned.Decommissioning the US system, which plays a major part in a global ocean observation network, would lead to a massive increase in error in the annual estimates of ocean heating rates, according to research published last month. Continue reading...

• Researchers at the University of Toronto have demonstrated that artificial intelligence can be used to "supercharge" computer worms, allowing them to automatically identify and exploit vulnerabilities. • The AI-driven programs can target any known flaw in global computer systems, significantly increasing the speed and efficiency of cyberattacks. • This development is critical because it lowers the barrier for hackers to create sophisticated, self-propagating malware that can spread rapidly across networks.

Late physicist turned issue of when to stop searching for a better place to eat into mathematical problemWhen it comes to exploring a new city, it can be tricky to know when to stop searching for a different restaurant to try every night, or to visit the first place you love on repeat.Now researchers have found that the late physicist and Nobel laureate Richard Feynman devised a mathematical equation that can tackle the conundrum – at least when the range of options is known – and they believe the approach is similar to tactics people use intuitively. Continue reading...

• The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered an ancient black hole that appears to have formed before its host galaxy, challenging existing astronomical models. • These findings stem from observations of "Little Red Dot" galaxies, which are extremely distant and ancient objects in the early universe. • The discovery represents a "paradigm shift" for scientists, as it forces a total revisiting of classical scenarios regarding how black holes and galaxies co-evolve.

• Climate researchers have abandoned RCP8.5, a high-emissions "worst-case" scenario that has been prominently cited in thousands of scientific studies over the last decade. • The decision follows growing criticism that the scenario's projections were overly dire and unlikely to occur based on current global trends. • This shift raises critical questions about whether certain climate risks have been overstated, though scientists maintain that global warming remains a significant threat.

• Artificial intelligence is accelerating scientific research by integrating machine learning into drug discovery, climate modeling, and scientific automation. • Key breakthroughs include the use of AI to accurately map protein structure and function, which has significantly advanced structural biology and medical research. • AI is enhancing environmental science by processing massive datasets to refine the accuracy of weather predictions and climate simulations.

• Scientists have discovered buckminsterfullerenes, or "buckyballs," in a mysterious nebula, shocking the scientific community with their presence in space. • These carbon molecules are shaped like a soccer ball and are made up of precisely 60 atoms, forming when certain stars die. • The existence of buckyballs in space was once a bold prediction, and their discovery provides new insights into the formation of carbon-based spheres.

Exclusive: Science agency is planning to sack a third of the team working on the national climate model, sources sayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJob cuts at the national science agency mean Australia will no longer be able to submit climate projections to form part of global reports and will have significantly reduced ability to forecast future damage to the country, leading researchers have warned.Multiple sources told Guardian Australia that CSIRO planned to sack a third of the team working on the national climate model that provides projections relied on by governments, councils, industry and farmers as they plan for the future. Continue reading...

Biologists had guessed coyote paddled a shorter distance to former prison in the San Francisco Bay earlier this yearA lone coyote stunned biologists and others when earlier this year it paddled its way to the remote Alcatraz Island, a former federal prison in the San Francisco Bay surrounded by swift, choppy waters notorious for thwarting prisoners’ escapes.At the time, biologists guessed the coyote swam from San Francisco, which is a little over 1 mile (1.6km) from the fortress. But it turns out the male coyote actually made an even longer swim from nearby Angel Island, 2 miles (3.2km) away. Continue reading...