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News from Science

@NewsfromScience

The latest stories in science, brought to you by the @ScienceMagazine news team.

 Washington, D.C.
science.org/news
Joined October 2008
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Nine patients have developed tumors after receiving gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, seven more than previously disclosed, the company Novartis has confirmed. Learn more: scim.ag/48JiNIB
Nine tumors after gene therapy for neuromuscular disease Seven newly disclosed cancers in patients receiving Novartis’s Zolgensma add to safety concerns about virus that delivered gene

ALT Nine tumors after gene therapy for neuromuscular disease Seven newly disclosed cancers in patients receiving Novartis’s Zolgensma add to safety concerns about virus that delivered gene

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As concerns mount that artificial intelligence could make creating dangerous pathogens even easier, U.S. government–funded scientists who make and manipulate DNA sequences will face tougher regulations. scim.ag/4sQcEDP
To deter bioterrorism, U.S. imposes new rules on ordering synthetic DNA

To deter bioterrorism, U.S. imposes new rules on ordering synthetic DNA

New policy draws tempered praise from biosecurity experts

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Several scientific societies and two researchers are suing the U.S. National Science Foundation to stop it from further dismantling its social science funding. scim.ag/4BT03DN
Researchers sue to block NSF from demolishing social science directorate

Researchers sue to block NSF from demolishing social science directorate

Without intervention, NSF could fully close the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate in a month

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A story that stinks: Gray whales, previously on the path to recovery, are now declining in record numbers as warming waters threaten their feeding grounds in the Arctic. Learn more: scim.ag/4kIcFaN
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For clinical trials of tests and treatments, accuracy can be a matter of life or death; these studies directly inform medical practice, after all. A new tool may help make sure the studies are sound: #AI. In a test of whether 15 LLMs could identify methodological errors deliberately inserted into clinical research papers, one spotted nearly all the planted errors, and even the worst LLM performer found about half. Human reviewers found only one-quarter. Learn more: scim.ag/4BQVmdF
AI beats scientists at finding errors in clinical research papers New findings demonstrate AI’s aptitude for identifying technical flaws in studies where medical decisions are on the line

ALT AI beats scientists at finding errors in clinical research papers New findings demonstrate AI’s aptitude for identifying technical flaws in studies where medical decisions are on the line

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A new study describes a social breakdown among Asian elephants as food has become less plentiful. Learn more: scim.ag/3UNodyU
As food becomes scarce, Asian elephant friendships fall apart

ALT As food becomes scarce, Asian elephant friendships fall apart

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An unpopular hypothesis linking Alzheimer’s disease to the loss of crucial neurons has made a comeback. Learn more: scim.ag/3WDDLWI
Long-overlooked Alzheimer’s hypothesis makes a comeback Decades after it fell out of fashion, researchers return to an idea linking the disease to the loss of crucial neurons

ALT Long-overlooked Alzheimer’s hypothesis makes a comeback Decades after it fell out of fashion, researchers return to an idea linking the disease to the loss of crucial neurons

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One by one, artificial intelligence is felling some of the biggest trees in the mathematical forest. OpenAI’s latest release included a refutation of a decades-old conjecture in computer science—as well as a proof that one of physics’ most successful theories is on firm mathematical footing. Learn more: scim.ag/4zH8z7s
AI rivals tackle one of physics’ deepest mathematical challenges OpenAI and an Anthropic-associated research team have made progress on the Yang-Mills existence problem

ALT AI rivals tackle one of physics’ deepest mathematical challenges OpenAI and an Anthropic-associated research team have made progress on the Yang-Mills existence problem

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The Oriente region of eastern Ecuador hosts some of the densest, most biodiverse rainforest on Earth, one-third of it protected. But when many of the Oriente’s residents look out their windows, they see not nature, but columns of fire: gas flares from oil extraction sites, some just a 5-minute walk away. In 2020, nine girls from Orellana and Sucumbíos, two provinces in the Oriente, began to suspect the flares were harming their families’ health. Six of the girls had at least one immediate family member who was battling or had died of cancer. That year, the girls—some not even 10 years old—sued the Ecuadorian government, and won. In July 2021, the court of Sucumbíos ordered flaring in the Ecuadorian Amazon to cease by 2030. But an unusual new study suggests it continues, unabated. Learn more: scim.ag/4ezpNLz
Satellites and boots on the ground uncover rampant gas flaring in Ecuador’s Amazon Researchers find dozens of new sites violating a landmark Ecuadorian ruling that ordered the flares’ shutdown by 2030

ALT Satellites and boots on the ground uncover rampant gas flaring in Ecuador’s Amazon Researchers find dozens of new sites violating a landmark Ecuadorian ruling that ordered the flares’ shutdown by 2030

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Psychiatrist Daniel Amen, who runs a chain of mental health care clinics, could soon join the board that advises the National Institute of Mental Health. scim.ag/4zJvaAs
Celebrity psychiatrist who performs brain scans tapped for NIH’s mental health council

Celebrity psychiatrist who performs brain scans tapped for NIH’s mental health council

Daniel Amen’s pending appointment reflects growing influence of Make America Healthy Again movement on federally funded psychiatric research

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Forests across North America have seen a drop in the number of songbirds heralding the arrival of spring. To figure out why, biologists scour forests to capture birds and tag them with leg bands. By going back to look for the tagged birds a year later, they can get a picture of how many survive from one year to the next. But the fieldwork takes untold hours, and capturing and banding can stress the birds. A new paper lays out a quicker, gentler approach. It uses sound recorders and #AI to identify individual birds based on their song alone and track them over time. Learn more: scim.ag/4zE48ui
AI can track a single bird over time—based solely on its song Approach could provide scientists with a quicker, gentler way to gauge the health of bird populations

ALT AI can track a single bird over time—based solely on its song Approach could provide scientists with a quicker, gentler way to gauge the health of bird populations

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Researchers have, for the first time, inserted receptors into the human brain that allow them to manipulate neuron activity with a drug. The groundbreaking gene therapy was designed to help three people with drug-resistant epilepsy by dampening activity in the seizure-generating zones of their hippocampus. The therapy did not produce major side effects, and appeared to reduce the incidence of seizures, the team conducting the clinical trial reported. Learn more: scim.ag/3Wypb2F
Novel gene therapy lets drug dampen brain cell activity, reducing seizures In first clinical result using “chemogenetic” strategy, a team in China treated three patients to control epilepsy

ALT Novel gene therapy lets drug dampen brain cell activity, reducing seizures In first clinical result using “chemogenetic” strategy, a team in China treated three patients to control epilepsy

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Californians appear to have said yes to a plan authorizing up to $8.4 billion in state bonds to fund immunology and immunotherapy research. But critics argue the proposal will end up funneling billions in taxpayer money to a single research institution—one founded by the same billionaire who funded the campaign to get Proposition 38 on the ballot. scim.ag/4eV78dg
Californians poised to approve controversial $8.4 billion initiative to fund immunology research

Californians poised to approve controversial $8.4 billion initiative to fund immunology research

Critics say ballot measure’s narrow language will funnel taxpayer money to a single, billionaire-backed nonprofit

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In January 2027, microbiologist Jasmine Clark—who will be the first Black woman with a science Ph.D. to serve in Congress—hopes to gain a seat on the House science committee that Representative Zoe Lofgren is all but certain to chair after winning her 17th term. Fresh from their victories, Lofgren and Clark spoke this week to @ScienceInsider about their agendas. ⬇️ scim.ag/4k6lZFi
A congressional veteran and a rookie lay out a possible science agenda for Democrats

A congressional veteran and a rookie lay out a possible science agenda for Democrats

Representative Zoe Lofgren prepares to lead the House science committee that microbiologist Jasmine Clark hopes to serve on

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Scientists have long known that noise from human activities—from the roar of jet engines to the whir of ship propellers—can harm animals, stunting their growth and even scrambling their eggs. But it’s been unclear just how pervasive the problem is. A massive analysis reveals the impacts are far more widespread than even researchers thought. Data from 177 species that live on land and in the water reveal the vast majority are impacted by sound in some way, fundamentally altering their biology and behaviors, and causing many to die early. Learn more: scim.ag/4A8miUG
Noise pollution is causing potentially massive problems for wildlife across the globe Largest analysis to date of the impact of humanmade sounds finds harm across a variety of ecosystems

ALT Noise pollution is causing potentially massive problems for wildlife across the globe Largest analysis to date of the impact of humanmade sounds finds harm across a variety of ecosystems

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Several efforts aim to make the torrent of #AI testing results easier to understand and use. scim.ag/485yaLn
Can researchers bring order to the confusing world of AI ‘benchmarks’?

Can researchers bring order to the confusing world of AI ‘benchmarks’?

Several efforts aim to make torrent of AI testing results easier to understand and use

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In January 2027, Democrats will gain control of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. @ScienceInsider takes a look at what many researchers want from the 120th Congress at a time when it has many other issues to tackle, Trump still wields the veto pen, and federal judges could have the final say: scim.ag/4jb8G5m
Researchers have a wish list. Can the new Congress deliver? Despite a healthy majority, Democrats face limits on what they can achieve

ALT Researchers have a wish list. Can the new Congress deliver? Despite a healthy majority, Democrats face limits on what they can achieve

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Dinosaurs vanished about 66 million years ago, yet they still turn up on our clothes, our bedsheets, and even our dinner plates. But not all dinosaurs are equally famous. We all know Tyrannosaurus rex, but what about other smaller predators, or some of the larger herbivores that lived alongside the most famous dinosaur? A new study tries to answer that with numbers. By tracking people’s online footprints, researchers studying what’s known as conservation culturomics can find out what people care about in nature. Now, an international team has applied these methods to long-dead dinosaurs. Learn more: scim.ag/4kaRBts
What makes a dinosaur famous? Jurassic Park, mostly New study quantifies the “blockbuster effect”—and argues it could help today’s threatened species

ALT What makes a dinosaur famous? Jurassic Park, mostly New study quantifies the “blockbuster effect”—and argues it could help today’s threatened species

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Exclusive: Over the past 4 years, Pathogen Hunters has published dozens of eye-catching studies for which it claims to have collected more than 60,000 samples in 38 countries, including war-torn nations such as Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan. It has sampled wastewater from 11 countries to look for SARS-CoV-2; tested discarded condoms from brothels and public restrooms for the mpox virus; and found a tapeworm that sickens humans in feces from wild bears. Critics question how the group could have collected so many samples in such a short period, and they have found anomalies in the genomic data of at least five papers. Learn more: scim.ag/3WnoBF3
The ‘Pathogen Hunters’ track microbes around the world. But are their data real? Critics question baffling genetic data from prolific infectious diseases group

ALT The ‘Pathogen Hunters’ track microbes around the world. But are their data real? Critics question baffling genetic data from prolific infectious diseases group

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Your favorite chatbot may one day run not on silicon microchips, but on real human neurons. Both systems use electricity to compute, transforming inputs into outputs, but neurons—for reasons that are not fully understood—are orders of magnitude more efficient than semiconductor chips. They also require orders of magnitude less energy—not to mention fewer rare earth minerals, no vulnerable supply chains, and negligible water for cooling. Those advantages have some scientists thinking the data center of the future might sit in a lab dish, leveraging the natural computing abilities of organoids—miniature models of the brain grown from stem cells—or other brain cell configurations. Learn more: scim.ag/4kGQSjJ
Neurons in a dish are the newest computing machines Brain organoids offer highly efficient processing—if researchers can learn how to harness their power

ALT Neurons in a dish are the newest computing machines Brain organoids offer highly efficient processing—if researchers can learn how to harness their power

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