Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 3h

Grape plant bacteria might help mitigate smoke taint in wine by breaking down chemicals that evoke an ashy taste.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/bacteria-douse-wildfire-wine-aftertaste

A grapevine bacteria may help douse wildfire-tainted wine's ashy aftertaste

Grape plant bacteria might help mitigate smoke taint in wine by breaking down chemicals that evoke an ashy taste.

www.sciencenews.org

6

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 17h

The Nobel Prizes award some of the world's best science. But they miss some, too.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nobel-prize-discoveries-not-all-science

Nobel Prizes honor great discoveries — but leave much of science unseen

The Nobel Prize might be the most famous science prize but it celebrates just a narrow slice of science and very few scientists.

www.sciencenews.org

4 8

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 19h

One of Jane Goodall’s legacies lies in a set of chimp skeletons.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/jane-goodall-death-chimpanzee-skeletons

What Jane Goodall taught me about bones, loss and not wasting anything

A personal reflection recalls Jane Goodall’s quiet pragmatism, her deep bond with Gombe’s chimps and the scientific legacy of her skeletal collection.

www.sciencenews.org

2 4

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 1d

Ozone rises to dangerous levels as car exhaust interacts with heat-stressed trees.
https://www.snexplores.org/article/heat-waves-trees-worsen-air-pollution?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=bluesky&utm_campaign=snesnsocial

During heat waves, trees spew chemicals that worsen air pollution

New data point to how heat waves and other climate change will make it harder to curb ozone and other types of toxic air pollution — even outside of cities.

www.snexplores.org

1 3

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 1d

Regulatory T cells are important for keeping the immune system from attacking the body. Shimon Sakaguchi, Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell are sharing the 2025 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their work on T cells.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/immune-cells-medicine-nobel-prize-t-reg

Finding immune cells that stop a body from attacking itself wins medicine Nobel

Shimon Sakaguchi discovered T-reg immune cells. Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell identified the cells’ role in autoimmune disease.

www.sciencenews.org

4 6

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 4d

These 12,000-year-old camel carvings aren’t just art — they’re climate clues. Ancient rock engravings reveal Saudi Arabia’s desert once lush past.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-rock-art-arabian-desert-wet

12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past

Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.

www.sciencenews.org

2 5

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 5d

Mitochondria can travel from cancer cells to connective tissue cells called fibroblasts. These traveling mitochondria can convert the fibroblasts into tumor supporting accomplices.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cancer-mitochondria-nanotubes-reprogram

Cancer uses mitochondria to reprogram neighboring cells

Cancer cells transfer mitochondria through nanotubes to healthy neighboring cells, turning them into tumor-supporting accomplices, a new study shows.

www.sciencenews.org

5 5

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 6d

Swamp will-o’-the-wisps are believed to be the burning of seeping methane gas. But what ignites that gas has been shrouded in mystery.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/spark-will-o-the-wisps

Here’s what might spark ghostly will-o’-the-wisps

Chemists have discovered tiny zaps of electricity moving between “swamp-gas” bubbles. Could they ignite methane gas to glow as dancing blue flames?

www.sciencenews.org

2 4

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 6d

This massive rock engraving of a herd of camels was made in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert roughly 12,000 years ago.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-rock-art-arabian-desert-wet

12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past

Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.

www.sciencenews.org

2 6

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 6d

Ancient rock art in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert may have marked territory or nearby water, a new study suggests.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-rock-art-arabian-desert-wet

12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past

Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.

www.sciencenews.org

4

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 6d

Ancient rock art in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert may have marked territory or nearby water, a new study suggests.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-rock-art-arabian-desert-wet

12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past

Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.

www.sciencenews.org

2

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 6d

A mixture of these AI-generated bacteriophages stopped virus-resistant E. coli strains from growing, suggesting that the technique could help scientists design therapies capable of taking on tough-to-treat microbial infections.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-genome-bacteria-phage

AI generated its first working genome: a tiny bacteria killer

Bacteriophages designed with AI kill E. coli faster than a well-studied strain, but the tech needs regulation before moving beyond lab dishes.

www.sciencenews.org

1 3

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 7d

Creating human eggs from adult cells just got one step closer to reality.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/human-egg-cells-from-skin-cells

Scientists made human egg cells from skin cells

More work needs to be done to create viable human embryos, but the method might someday be used in IVF to help infertile people and male couples.

www.sciencenews.org

1 1 7

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 7d

Mitochondria from cancer cells can infiltrate healthy cells, giving them “a hyper boost,” that encourages cancer growth.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cancer-mitochondria-nanotubes-reprogram

Cancer uses mitochondria to reprogram neighboring cells

Cancer cells transfer mitochondria through nanotubes to healthy neighboring cells, turning them into tumor-supporting accomplices, a new study shows.

www.sciencenews.org

3 8

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 7d

Economic stress, job uncertainty and increased reliance on digital tools may be partially to blame for a rise in cognitive disability among young adults in the United States.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/young-adults-cognitive-memory-focus

More young U.S. adults report trouble with memory and focus

From 2013 to 2023, the prevalence of self-reported difficulties with memory, concentration and decision-making nearly doubled among young adults.

www.sciencenews.org

1 4

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 7d

A new AI tool could link people experiencing harmful side effects of unregulated products to public health workers who can provide help.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ai-health-side-effects-social-media

An AI tool scans social media posts to identify harmful side effects from cannabis use

A new AI tool discovers harmful side effects of cannabis products from Reddit posts. Public health workers could use this info to help keep people safe.

www.sciencenews.org

3

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 7d

The nurseries are charted within about 4,000 light-years from the sun in all directions.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/map-stellar-nurseries-gaia-telescope

See a 3-D map of stellar nurseries based on data from the Gaia telescope

The map, spanning 4,000 light-years from the sun in all directions, combines a chart of space dust with the effects of a rare type of young, hot star.

www.sciencenews.org

3

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 7d

Such technology may one day treat infertility for women who no longer have eggs — and same-sex male couples may also be able to use the technique “to have, potentially, a child that’s genetically related to both partners."

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/human-egg-cells-from-skin-cells

Scientists made human egg cells from skin cells

More work needs to be done to create viable human embryos, but the method might someday be used in IVF to help infertile people and male couples.

www.sciencenews.org

3

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 7d

Camel engravings reveal an early human presence in a once-verdant Nefud landscape.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/ancient-rock-art-arabian-desert-wet

12,000-year-old rock art hints at the Arabian Desert’s lush past

Newly found engravings of animals on rock outcrops in Saudi Arabia’s Nefud desert show nomads lived there thousands of years ago.

www.sciencenews.org

1 2

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 8d

The cross between a blue and a green jay is a harbinger of environmental change.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/grue-jay-rare-bird-environment-change

The rare 'grue jay' may be a harbinger of environmental change

Despite millions of years of evolutionary separation and a geographical divide, a blue jay and green jay mated in Texas. This bird is the result.

www.sciencenews.org

1 3

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 8d

Heat treatment completely neutralized the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus while leaving some viral genomic material intact. Those remnants didn’t make mice sick when they repeatedly drank the milk.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pasteurization-milk-no-h5n1-bird-flu

Pasteurization destroys H5N1 bird flu in milk

Tests show pasteurized dairy with H5N1 remnants did not cause illness in mice, supporting safety of milk during outbreaks.

www.sciencenews.org

2 6

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 8d

A gene therapy, delivered to the brain, delayed symptom progression for at least three years.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/huntingtons-slowed-with-gene-therapy

Huntington's progression slowed by experimental gene therapy

An experimental gene therapy slowed Huntington’s by up to 75 percent in a small clinical trial. While not a cure, it may give patients longer lives.

www.sciencenews.org

3 11

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 8d

What do punk rocker Johnny Rotten and a possible Precambrian critter have in common?
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/earths-earliest-animals-punk-rock-vibe

What may be one of Earth’s earliest animals has a punk rock vibe

Squiggly markings like a punk rock hairdo led researchers to identify the remains as spongelike animals that may have lived around 560 million years ago.

www.sciencenews.org

2 5

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 8d

“We live inside this sea of turbulent gas,” says astrophysicist Lewis McCallum of RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/map-stellar-nurseries-gaia-telescope

See a 3-D map of stellar nurseries based on data from the Gaia telescope

The map, spanning 4,000 light-years from the sun in all directions, combines a chart of space dust with the effects of a rare type of young, hot star.

www.sciencenews.org

2 9

Science News @sciencenews.bsky.social · 8d

For years, scientists have known that tumors can steal mitochondria from surrounding cells. But new work suggests that cancer cells can also do mitochondria donations.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cancer-mitochondria-nanotubes-reprogram

Cancer uses mitochondria to reprogram neighboring cells

Cancer cells transfer mitochondria through nanotubes to healthy neighboring cells, turning them into tumor-supporting accomplices, a new study shows.

www.sciencenews.org

2 6