Is Trump Killing the Heralded U.S. Effort to Help the World Battle HIV?
The State Department has transferred only about $640 million of the $4.6 billion PEPFAR budget to the CDC, leaving a roughly $660 million shortfall for the fiscal year. The Trump administration’s shift from USAID to a CDC‑led model and its new memorandum‑of‑understanding (MOU) requirements are stalling funding flows to 55 partner countries. Analysts warn that without the remaining congressional funds, PEPFAR could lose staff, curtail HIV testing, and see treatment outcomes deteriorate by June. The situation reflects a broader politicization of U.S. global‑health aid.
Energy Department Aims to Build Full-Fledged Quantum Computer Within 3 Years
The U.S. Department of Energy announced a goal to deliver a fault‑tolerant quantum computer by 2028, aiming for scientifically useful calculations. The Office of Science, with an $8.4 billion annual budget, will host the quantum user facility at a national laboratory....
World’s Most Dangerous Bird Has Bizarre, Glowing Headgear
Researchers have discovered that the keratinous casques on cassowaries fluoresce under ultraviolet light, revealing distinct patterns for each species. The emitted glow falls within wavelengths that cassowaries can perceive, suggesting a possible visual signaling function. While the exact role remains...
With New Environmental Law, China Expands Its ‘War on Pollution’
China has adopted a sweeping environmental protection law, replacing ten existing statutes and expanding regulation to microplastics, PFAS, and light pollution. The code aims to shift from reactive penalties toward preventive controls, reinforcing the country’s long‑term "war on pollution" and...
As U.S. Blockade Bites, Cuba’s Health Care and Science Suffer
The United States’ de‑facto oil blockade has triggered prolonged electricity blackouts across Cuba, crippling hospitals and forcing the Center of Molecular Immunology (CIM) to suspend eight of its ten active clinical trials. Supply shortages and a collapsed transport network are...
Supporters Push to Revive Moribund Agency Studying Patient Care
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) received $345 million from Congress for FY 2026, yet it has not awarded any new research grants since the fiscal year began in October 2025. Staffing cuts under the Trump administration have gutted the agency’s...
These Birds Suck—Literally
Scientists have documented the first example of suction feeding in birds, showing that malachite sunbirds draw nectar using tongue‑generated suction rather than beak movements. The discovery, published in Current Biology, reveals a V‑shaped trough on the tongue that creates a...
‘Milestone’ Research Method Measures Gene Activity Across Whole Mice
Researchers at the University of Chicago have unveiled a whole‑body spatial transcriptomics method that slices frozen mice and maps gene expression across millions of cells in a single cross‑section. Using a cryomacrotome and 600,000 spatial spots, the technique captured activity...
These Small African Antelopes May Help Mpox Spread
Scientists have detected monkeypox virus (MPXV) in duiker antelopes from both West and Central Africa, suggesting these hunted animals could act as a bridge for zoonotic spillover. The study, based on samples from bushmeat markets and a national park, found...
Two Years After It Emerged, ‘Cow Flu’ Is Still Circulating—And Baffling Scientists
Two years after its first detection in Texas, the H5N1 "cow flu" outbreak in U.S. dairy herds is largely receding, with the last new herd identified in December 2025. However, the virus persists in pockets of California, Idaho and Texas,...
Long-Standing Volcanic Eruption Theory Might Be Backward
A new study of 86,000‑year‑old rocks from Japan’s Aso volcano suggests eruptions may be triggered when gas bubbles dissolve back into magma, not when they burst outward. By analyzing apatite crystals that record volatile content, researchers found evidence that bubbles...
Abnormal Behaviors in Lab Monkeys May Reflect a Lifetime of Stressful Experiences
Abnormal repetitive behaviors (ARBs) such as pacing, rocking, and hair plucking have long plagued primate laboratories, often dismissed as short‑term reactions to a single experiment or temporary social disruption. The recent Biology Letters paper overturns that view by tracing these...
Hot Things Can Freeze Faster than Cool Ones. Now, This Paradox Has Gone Quantum
Physicists have unveiled a unified theoretical framework that explains the Mpemba effect—from hot water freezing faster than cold—to analogous phenomena observed in polymers, magnets, and trapped ions. The model shows that systems driven far from equilibrium can follow shortcut pathways,...
Genes From Giant Viruses Help Polar Algae Survive Frigid Waters and Harsh Sunlight
Researchers have found that giant viruses contribute roughly five percent of the genome in polar algae, the highest proportion recorded for any host. In the unicellular green algae Chlamydomonas, more than 400 virus‑derived regions encode over 25,000 genes, including ice‑binding...
NASA Revives Next-Generation Flagship Earth-Observing Missions
NASA has revived its next‑generation flagship Earth‑observing program, renaming the Atmosphere Observing System to Falcon and the Surface Biology and Geology study to Eagle. The two‑satellite Eagle mission will include a high‑resolution spectrometer costing up to $310 million and a thermal...
Trump’s New Science Panel Is Stuffed with High-Tech Billionaires
President Donald Trump announced a new President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) dominated by high‑tech billionaires and AI specialists, naming 13 members with only one academic scientist. The roster includes Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, Lisa...
NASA Plans to Send a Nuclear-Powered Spacecraft to Mars in 2028
NASA announced plans to launch the Space Reactor‑1 (SR‑1) Freedom, a nuclear‑powered spacecraft, to Mars in December 2028. The 20‑kilowatt fission reactor, originally built for the Lunar Gateway, will generate electricity for propulsion and will carry three small helicopters that will...
Neanderthals Survived on a Knife’s Edge for 350,000 Years
Two new genetic studies reveal that Neanderthals lived in small, isolated bands across Eurasia, with effective breeding populations of only a few thousand individuals. Inbreeding accelerated genetic divergence, especially in eastern fringe groups, while a severe bottleneck during the 75,000‑65,000‑year‑old...
Microscopic Spikes on Snakeskin Block Bacterial Buildup
Researchers examined ball python scales and found dense arrays of 9 µm spikes that dramatically curb bacterial adhesion. In laboratory tests, the spiked skin reduced Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation by 88% and 78% respectively, compared with standard polystyrene....
Hormone Linked to Morning Sickness May Help Reduce Alcohol Intake
Researchers from Denmark and collaborators reported that the hormone GDF15, known for causing nausea in early pregnancy, appears to rise in response to chronic alcohol consumption and may act as a feedback signal limiting intake. Small human studies at Oktoberfest...
Floating Wetlands Boost Water Quality, Slash Greenhouse Emissions
Researchers in Victoria, Australia installed a two‑tennis‑court‑sized floating wetland platform at the Westernport Water treatment lagoon. Over two years the plant‑covered platform lowered nitrogen concentrations by 12% and reduced total greenhouse‑gas emissions by 22%, with methane dropping after just four...
Mitochondria Packaged in Blood Cell Membranes Improve Disease Symptoms in Mice
Researchers have engineered microscopic capsules made from red blood cell membranes that encase single, healthy mitochondria and can be injected into animals. In mouse models of Parkinson‑like disease and Leigh syndrome, the capsules restored neuronal function, improved motor activity, and...
Colliding Currents Can Target the Deep Brain without Surgery
Temporal interference (TI) stimulation uses two high‑frequency electrical currents that intersect to generate a low‑frequency envelope capable of modulating deep‑brain activity without surgery. Early human pilots have reported seizure suppression and better sleep in epilepsy, improved motor learning after stroke,...
Can Potatoes Grow on the Moon?
Researchers at Oregon State University recreated lunar regolith and mixed in 5% vermicompost, enabling potatoes to sprout and produce tubers over a two‑month period. The harvested potatoes showed activation of stress‑related genes and higher copper and zinc levels, yet their...
Earth’s First Major Extinction Was Worse than We Thought
New research published in Geology re‑evaluates the Ediacaran “Kotlin Crisis” extinction, dating it to about 551 million years ago and indicating that roughly 80 % of species were lost. The study, based on exceptionally preserved fossils from Newfoundland’s Inner Meadow site, extends...
Universe’s Brightest Stellar Explosions May Be Powered by Highly Magnetic Neutron Stars
Astronomers have identified a new superluminous supernova, SN 2024afav, whose light curve exhibits a series of periodic, “chirping” brightness bumps. Detailed analysis shows the timing of these bumps fits a model where a highly magnetized neutron star, or magnetar, is surrounded...
A Genetic Trick Helps This All-Female Fish Species Escape Evolutionary Doom
The Amazon molly, an all‑female fish that reproduces via sperm‑triggered parthenogenesis, has persisted for at least 100,000 years—far beyond the 10,000‑year limit predicted by Muller’s ratchet. A new Nature study used long‑read sequencing to compare its genome with those of...
Viagra Compound May Hold Promise for Treating Fatal Genetic Disease
Researchers have identified the erectile‑dysfunction drug sildenafil as a potential therapy for Leigh syndrome, a fatal mitochondrial disorder affecting roughly one in 40,000 births. In cell models, the compound corrected mitochondrial membrane potential and normalized gene expression, while treated mice...
And the Winner of Science’s 2026 ‘Dance Your Ph.D.’ Contest Is …
Sofia Papa, a physics graduate student and professional dancer, captured the top prize in Science’s 2026 Dance Your Ph.D. contest with a choreography that dramatizes the piezoelectric effect and her research on wearable ultrasound transducers. The performance, featuring red and...
Why Do Rodents Gnaw? Because It Feels Good
Researchers have mapped a neural circuit in mice that links the act of gnawing to dopamine‑driven pleasure pathways. By genetically targeting tooth‑sensing neurons, they showed that disabling these cells stops gnawing, causing incisors to overgrow. The work reveals gnawing is...
How Bumble Bees Survive Days Underwater without Drowning
Researchers have shown that hibernating bumble‑bee queens can survive up to eight days underwater without drowning. The bees achieve this by slashing their metabolic rate by more than half and switching partially to anaerobic respiration, as evidenced by a fifteen‑fold...
New HIV Cure Approach Forces Hidden Virus Into Tripping Immune Sensor
Researchers have unveiled a novel HIV‑cure strategy that forces dormant virus particles to reveal themselves to the body’s innate immune system. The method employs a STING‑pathway agonist to coax latent proviruses into producing viral RNA, which then triggers a potent...
GLP-1 Drugs Linked to Lower Addiction Rates in Large Study of Veterans
A large retrospective study of over 600,000 U.S. veterans found that patients prescribed GLP-1 receptor agonists for diabetes were 14% less likely to develop new substance-use disorders compared with those on SGLT-2 inhibitors. The analysis also showed 30% fewer drug-related...