Science Magazine✓

Freshwater species face widespread human pressures, but where those pressures affect biodiversity has remained poorly understood. New Science research maps 45 threats across more than 21,000 freshwater species, revealing hotspots of impact and helping guide conservation and management efforts where they are most urgently needed. Learn more in this week’s issue:

Researchers have developed an AI-based approach to help physicians with real-life clinical workups, starting with the patient’s chief complaint, systematically asking questions and deciding what laboratory and imaging tests to order, and then continuing the evaluation on the basis of the answers received. Learn more this week in Science:

A new study in @SciImmunology demonstrates how mechanical sensing in gut macrophages can lead to colitis-associated visceral pain in mice.

A newly resurfaced photo taken by Rosalind Franklin—photo 49—shows she was aware of the helical structure of DNA and explains why her published image—photo 51—does not have indications of her understanding of its shape. Learn more in the latest episode of the #SciencePodcast🎙️:

The NOSTER & Science Magazine Microbiome Prize rewards innovative research by early-career investigators on the functional roles of the microbiota in human or veterinary health and disease. Apply by 14 February 2027:

RT @PatentScholar: New article in @ScienceMagazine, with Janet Freilich, Kasper Dinkla & Ingmar Meijer, quantifying the gap between claims & disclosure in drug patents & suggesting broad claims are used as strategic "moats"

🎉 Congratulations to Gioele La Manno, winner of the 2026 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology for his innovative experiments that have uncovered intricate layers of organization in the brain’s lipids—and have deciphered how these fatty molecules shape the diversity of brain cells. Learn more:

Bird songs share surprising similarities with human music and speech, according to a large-scale study comparing vocalizations across hundreds of bird species and dozens of human languages. The findings in Science suggest that these similarities may arise partly from shared biological mechanisms, rather than vocal learning ability alone. Learn more:

Two proteins that permeabilize mitochondria promote cell death through distinct mechanisms. Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective:

In a unique human challenge study, researchers interrogate how preexisting immunity and antibodies against the four serotypes of #dengue influence viremia, T cell responses, and immune activation in a safe and controlled setting. @ScienceTM

Although cancer is a common cause of death in domestic cats, little is known about the range of cancer genes in cat tumors, and how this range might compare with the oncogenome in people. Researchers in Science have sequenced cancer genes in 493 samples from 13 different types of feline cancer and matched healthy control tissue, gaining a clearer picture of the cat oncogenome and comparing the genes to known cancer-causing mutations in humans. Learn more on #NationalCatDay:

Japan’s MMX mission aims to retrieve samples from Mars’s mysterious moon. They could reveal how it formed—and hold pieces of Mars itself. Learn more: @NewsfromScience

A @ScienceTM analysis of trial data from stem cell transplant recipients shows how immune suppression with either cyclophosphamide or tacrolimus shapes T cell reconstitution—and has opposing effects on the risk of graft-versus-host disease or infection post-transplant.

New in @SciRobotics: The Ultra Mobility Vehicle bicycle robot leverages its own inertia and momentum to perform jumps, track stands, wheelies and other athletic moves.

Poetry and other art forms can play a vital role in conservation by giving emotional and cultural meaning to scientific evidence, argue Phillip Levin and David Hassler in a new #ScienceBooks essay. Learn more:

How should an underwater exoskeleton be designed to help divers move more efficiently, and are there lessons we can apply from exoskeleton-assisted walking and running? Learn more in this @SciRobotics Focus article:

Using genome editing to trace cell lineages, researchers have captured the early history of the mouse embryo in unprecedented detail. Learn more: @NewsfromScience

"AI safety needs to be addressed at the level of the human–AI system, not the AI model alone," writes Pietro Michelucci in a new #ScienceEditorial.

Home decorating isn’t unique to Homo sapiens. More than 40,000 years ago, bands of Neanderthals turned a spacious rock shelter in the mountains of Spain into a cozy home, fashioning wood into tools and windbreaks and burning it for heat and light. That picture comes from a first-of-its-kind trove of Neanderthal wooden artifacts from a domestic space, found at a cliffside site called Abric Romaní, 50 kilometers west of Barcelona. Learn more: @NewsfromScience

Researchers in Science have developed an AI-based approach to help physicians with real-life clinical workups. The system shows promise in supplementing a physician’s workflow. Learn more:

RT @ScienceTM: A unique human challenge study illuminates how dengue immunity shapes the nature of repeated infections, researchers identify a targetable molecular driver of skin inflammation in psoriasis, and more this week in #ScienceTranslationalMedicine.

By applying a unique polyene scaffold, researchers engineer a next-generation, broad-spectrum antifungal that selectively targets ergosterol without binding to cholesterol, avoiding severe toxicity linked to drugs like amphotericin B. Find out more in @ScienceTM:

A new slate of #optogenetic tools enables scientists to finely control G protein signaling in excitable cells—providing a flexible method that might also be used therapeutically for disorders that disrupt the excitability of cells. @SciSignal

RT @ScienceAdvances: New research reveals how structural remodeling can alter the spatio-temporal organization of neurotransmission. Learn more in this week’s issue of Science Advances:

Animals and plants use conceptually similar immune systems to detect microbes and activate defenses. In both lineages, pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) perceive pathogen- or microbe-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs or MAMPs) and host-derived damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Whereas animals rely on specialized immune cells, plants harness individual cells expressing diverse PRRs. In the apoplast, which lies outside the plasma membrane and includes the cell wall, PRRs detect immunogenic fragments released from microbial proteins by plant hydrolytic enzymes. Conversely, pathogen-secreted enzymes can degrade constituents of the apoplast, generating DAMPs that activate immunity. In three new Science papers, researchers report expansions of this surveillance, revealing receptor architectures and mechanisms that enable plants to discriminate immunogenic carbohydrates. The findings illustrate how ligand specificity and receptor assembly confine immune activation to the context of microbial challenge. Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective:

"For years, I worked hard to hide my history of homelessness. Now, I am more neutral—it was a challenging and sometimes unpleasant chapter, like puberty, or, more recently, learning Bayesian statistics. I am committed to not letting my history define me. But I also don’t want my colleagues to assume no scientist could have a past like mine." #ScienceWorkingLife

Last chance: Apply for the BioInnovation Institute & #ScienceTranslationalMedicine Prize for Innovations in Women’s Health This prize recognizes researchers who have developed innovative advances with translational potential to impact women’s health globally. The Grand Prize winner will be awarded a cash prize of USD 25,000 and have their winning essay published online in Science Translational Medicine. Apply by 1 November 2026:

A new @ScienceAdvances study proposes the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine as a preventative measure against dementia. The vaccine reduces Alzheimer’s-associated phospho-tau proteins, reprograms myeloid immune cells and limits neuroinflammation.

Last call: Apply for the BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation This prize recognizes bold researchers who are asking fundamental questions at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship. The Grand Prize winner will receive a cash prize of USD 25,000 and have their winning essay published in Science, in print and online. Apply by 1 November 2026:

A new study in @SciImmunology demonstrates how mechanical sensing in gut macrophages can lead to colitis-associated visceral pain in mice.

New in @SciRobotics: The Ultra Mobility Vehicle bicycle robot leverages its own inertia and momentum to perform jumps, track stands, wheelies and other athletic moves.

Carrion crows make decisions faster than monkeys and humans. Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective:

In a new #SciencePolicyArticle, researchers look at Jamaica’s experience with 2025’s Hurricane Melissa as a case study that reveals how extreme weather and disaster spending can trap climate-vulnerable countries in a cycle of recovery borrowing and underinvestment in future climate resilience. Learn more:

Researchers in @ScienceAdvances have developed a multiplexed and implantable fiber sensor that monitors the bloodstream for real-time levels of sodium and potassium, two electrolytes that regulate important bodily functions like heart rhythm and fluid balance.

A newly resurfaced photo taken by Rosalind Franklin—photo 49—shows she was aware of the helical structure of DNA and explains why her published image—photo 51—does not have indications of her understanding of its shape. Learn more in the latest episode of the #SciencePodcast🎙️:

Science is publishing an Erratum to replace the July 2026 Editorial Expression of Concern for the February 2026 Research Article “Hafnium oxide interface stabilization for efficient, photothermally stable perovskite solar cells.”

By studying sea slugs in the lab, researchers have determined how structural changes in molecules called transfer RNAs accompany behavioral habituation, an elemental form of learning. @SciSignal

RT @scisignal: The new issue of #ScienceSignaling has arrived! The humble sea slug reveals how transfer RNAs become modified during behavioral habituation and learning, new work shows how a mutant form of STAT3 causes a genetically dominant immunodeficiency, and more.

Japan’s MMX mission aims to retrieve samples from Mars’s mysterious moon. They could reveal how it formed—and hold pieces of Mars itself. Learn more: @NewsfromScience

The NOSTER & Science Magazine Microbiome Prize rewards innovative research by early-career investigators on the functional roles of the microbiota in human or veterinary health and disease. Apply by 14 February 2027:

How does the #glycome of gamma-delta T cells affect their activation toward an autoimmune state? Learn more in Science #Immunology about these important sugar molecules and their impact on inflammatory disease.

"What mattered, I realized, was not to be some imaginary perfect mentor with all the answers, but to get to know my mentee ... and offer whatever guidance and support I could based on my own experiences." #NationalMentoringDay

A @ScienceTM analysis of trial data from stem cell transplant recipients shows how immune suppression with either cyclophosphamide or tacrolimus shapes T cell reconstitution—and has opposing effects on the risk of graft-versus-host disease or infection post-transplant.

Wolves have made a spectacular comeback in Europe. But attacks on livestock and humans have caused a heated debate about the limits of coexistence. Learn more:

An implantable, wirelessly powered electronic device could offer a drug-free approach to managing the intertwined metabolic disorders of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The device uses electrocatalysis to remove excess glucose from the bloodstream on demand. Learn more in Science:

Does generative AI dilute markets for human-created work? In a new #SciencePolicyForum, researchers discuss how market dilution theory, which could affect AI use in science, requires conceptual clarity and empirical evidence: