Weekly Headlines (Excerpts)

1. Antiviral drug abandoned by pharma shows promise against dengue

A daily pill can prevent the crippling disease, but its maker won’t bring it to market

 28 NOV 2025  BY GRETCHEN VOGEL 

2. Artificial ‘nose’ tells people when certain smells are present

Technology that uses a less known sensory system to substitute for olfaction could one day help anosmic people detect some odors

 26 NOV 2025  BY CATHERINE OFFORD 

3. ‘Superarm’ helps male octopuses deliver sperm to females

Specialized appendage responds to female sex hormones, allowing males to find sex organs in the dark

 26 NOV 2025  BY ERIK STOKSTAD 

4. A puzzling, 3.4-million-year-old fossil foot belonged to a contemporary of the famed Lucy

Identity of the toe bones and other fossils could shake up the human family tree

 26 NOV 2025  BY ANN GIBBONS 

5. Love practically makes these birds go blind

Unusually obstructive plumage compromises the vision of two types of pheasants—a first in birds

 25 NOV 2025  BY SOUMYA SAGAR 

6. Vampire bats may have contracted H5N1 bird flu in Peru, raising worries about further spread

Bats could form a bridge between marine and terrestrial mammals, scientists say

 25 NOV 2025  BY MARTIN ENSERINK 

7. Popular obesity drug fails in hotly anticipated Alzheimer’s trials

The studies may still hold clues to the powers and limits of GLP-1 drugs

 24 NOV 2025  BY JENNIE ERIN SMITH 

8. New vapor tool fights mosquitoes by slowly releasing insecticide in homes. Will it catch on?

World Health Organization supports “spatial repellents” to prevent malaria, but it’s unclear who will pay for them

 24 NOV 2025  BY KAI KUPFERSCHMIDT