Great Dying mystery solved: metabolism determined survival in Earth's worst mass extinction

Metabolism determined survival in Earth's greatest mass extinction Stanford researchers combined data from both extinct and surviving groups to show that species unable to cope with warmer, oxygen-poor water died off, explaining why mollusks dominated after the Permian-Triassic extinction 252 million years ago. 1

Jumping gene directly observed moving between species Max Planck Institute scientists caught a self-splicing intron from a predatory bacterium inserting itself into a methane-producing archaeon via circular RNA, a new route for horizontal gene transfer. 2

Brain rewires itself to truly multitask with practice Georgetown University researchers found that extensive training shifts learned tasks from the prefrontal cortex to specialized circuits, enabling genuine simultaneous performance rather than rapid switching. 1

Rare meteorite reveals chemical fingerprint of lost Moon-sized planet Mineral pressure data from the angrite NWA 12774 suggest a parent body the size of a planetary embryo, a chip of a world destroyed in the early solar system's violent assembly. 3

Einstein's relativity rules chemical bonds in heavy elements Advanced computational models in Science show that relativistic effects fundamentally alter electron sharing in gold, platinum, and transactinide elements, challenging traditional chemistry models. 4

Hubble traces Crab Nebula expansion 972 years after supernova Comparing new Hubble images to those from 1999–2000, the Johns Hopkins team measured visible outward motion of the remnant's filaments, linking a 1054 CE Chinese record to modern astrophysics. 5

New sednoid 'Ammonite' casts doubt on Planet Nine The fourth known sednoid, discovered by Subaru and CFHT, has an orbit consistent with a different clustering mechanism, weakening the case for a giant unseen planet in the outer solar system. 6

JWST finds five galaxies merging 800 million years after Big Bang The system, nicknamed JWST's Quintet, shows rapid star formation and heavy element ejection far earlier than models predict, revealing a chaotic early universe. 7

COVID-19 linked to injury of dopamine neurons in the brain A study in eBioMedicine from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health provides the strongest evidence yet that SARS-CoV-2 damages dopamine-releasing neurons, potentially explaining long COVID fatigue and brain fog. 8

Mini-universe experiment suggests time arises from entropy University of Birmingham physicists used 24,000 ultracold atoms to create a system where time flows only when particles move, supporting the idea that time is an emergent property of entropy. 9

CMOS quantum chip shuttles electrons over kilometers without loss EeroQ's Wonder Lake chip, published in Physical Review Applied, uses 130-nm CMOS to transport single electrons on superfluid helium across tens of kilometers with perfect fidelity, enabling scalable quantum computing. 10

JWST probes atmosphere of giant exoplanet orbiting a white dwarf The first detailed atmospheric study of a planet that survived its star's death reveals unexpected high temperature and close orbit, challenging models of planetary system evolution. 11