Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. Bird flu antibodies found in cow in the Netherlands, a first outside of U.S.

Dead cat led to discovery, but officials stress no further spread of H5N1 has been detected

 23 JAN 2026 BY JON COHEN 

2. ArXiv preprint server clamps down on AI slop

First-time posters to venerable platform now need an endorsement from an established author

 23 JAN 2026 BY NICOLA JONES 

3. Mysterious difference between Hawaiian volcanoes may reflect divide deep within Earth

Hot mantle plume could be split in two, might eventually produce separate island chains

 23 JAN 2026 BY JAMES DINNEEN 

4. Watch this smiling robot walk on water

Inflatable structures inspired by human bone help the contraption grow, shrink, and float

 23 JAN 2026 BY PHIE JACOBS 

5. Bee-hunting beetles are the first animals known to fake the smell of flowers

Study of parasitic blister beetles reveals a new form of chemical deception

 23 JAN 2026 BY ERIK STOKSTAD 

6. Falling space junk can be tracked from its sonic booms

Seismic stations can accurately map re-entering debris with high accuracy

 22 JAN 2026 BY PERRI THALER 

7. Hulking kangaroo ancestors could hop just like their nimble descendants

Fossils reveal these ancient footbones were robust enough to withstand the impacts of leaping locomotion

 22 JAN 2026 BY CLAUDIA STEINER 

8. Ice age Europeans imported tools from distant lands, perhaps as souvenirs

Mementos may have reinforced vast social networks during turbulent times

 21 JAN 2026 BY ANDREW CURRY 

9. Bizarre 400-million-year-old fossil was an unknown life form

Enigmatic organism known as Prototaxites cannot be fungus, new analysis finds

 21 JAN 2026 BY ERIK STOKSTAD 

10. Magnetically sensitive proteins could lead to new imaging tools and remote-controlled drugs

New study shows how engineered proteins can be tracked with an MRI-like approach

 21 JAN 2026 BY ROBERT F. SERVICE 

11. These ancient handprints may represent some of the world’s first rock art

Hand stencils from a Southeast Asian cave predate Neanderthal cave art from Europe

 21 JAN 2026 BY MICHAEL PRICE 

12. Spacecraft captures a solar flare as it builds into an explosive outburst

Europe’s Solar Orbiter is helping researchers understand what causes the Sun to blast out radiation and particles

 21 JAN 2026 BY DANIEL CLERY 

13. NASA is making last-ditch attempt to contact tumbling Mars orbiter

After 12 years studying the Red Planet’s atmosphere, MAVEN has gone perilously quiet

 20 JAN 2026 BY HANNAH RICHTER 

14. As Greenland loses ice, global sea levels will rise—and its own will fall

The island is rebounding from ice melt so fast that scientists are rethinking how Earth’s interior works

 20 JAN 2026 BY EVAN HOWELL 

15. No bull: This Austrian cow has learned to use tools

First evidence for tool use in cattle includes a skill previously seen only in humans and chimpanzees

 19 JAN 2026 BY DAVID GRIMM