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The week in Science
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AI moved from analyzing biology to designing and producing 16 viruses not found in nature. The capability could aid medical research while lowering barriers to dangerous experimentation and increasing pressure for screening and access controls.
The week moved from asking what would happen if a SpaceX rocket hit the Moon to documenting that a Falcon 9 segment struck or was believed to have struck it, followed by lunar images of the aftermath. The impact may aid crater research while exposing gaps in tracking and disposal standards.
A total eclipse appearing in the week’s sky-event coverage became a defined scientific opportunity across Greenland, Iceland, Portugal, and northern Spain. Researchers will use it to study the Sun’s corona and its links to space weather.
Observations identified giant plasma waves along Mars’s outer atmosphere as a mechanism that carries particles into space. The finding could force revisions to models of the planet’s climate history and habitability.
Seafloor evidence from roughly 3.4 million years ago showed that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation stayed strong, and strengthened in some regions, after a major Indian Ocean inflow nearly stopped. The result complicates forecasts of uniform, abrupt weakening while not directly predicting modern behavior.
Day’s Recap