Science story AI
Scientists Mutated Nearly Every DNA Letter in a Virus—and AI Missed Many Effects
Biology · Preprint. A 44,000-variant map of bacteriophage ΦX174 exposes mutation effects that leading biological AI models still struggle to predict.
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Latest science stories
Browse SciQuest reporting and explainers in reverse chronological order, with the newest evidence-led stories first.
Science story AI
AI Emotional Support Is Linked to Distress in Young People
A cross-sectional study links emotional-support use of generative AI with youth psychological distress, but it cannot establish cause and effect.
Science story Astronomy
Mars Is 200–400°C Hotter Beneath Its Southern Highlands
Sixteen years of spacecraft tracking indicate a much warmer, softer mantle beneath southern Mars, though the temperatures are model-based.
Science story Anthropology
Monkey Feet Complicate a Key Assumption About Human Evolution
Wild sooty mangabeys flex their midfeet by as much as 46 degrees, showing why fossil foot shape alone cannot settle ancient climbing ability.
Science story Biology
Why Snake Embryos Coil Right-Handed Inside Their Eggs
More than 800 embryo images reveal a shared right-handed spiral, with unequal growth around a gut tether offering a mechanical explanation.
Science story Biology
Tasmanian Tiger Skull Reveals a Fast-Snapping Hunter
A broad skull comparison suggests the extinct thylacine used fast snapping bites on smaller prey—not wolf-like attacks on sheep.
Science story News
Magnetic “Brakes” Push Reentry Plasma Away From Spacecraft
A laboratory magnetic field pushed a simulated spacecraft’s glowing reentry shock layer about 16% farther from the model.
Science story Biology
Tuberculosis May Evolve Drug Resistance While Drying in Air
Drying damages tuberculosis DNA and activates repair pathways that may help some rifampin-resistant strains survive transmission.
Science story Biology
Self-Blinking Probes Image DNA Near Double-Helix Resolution
New fluorescent probes image chromatin at 20 nanometres in living cells and localize dyes to about 3 nanometres in preserved cells.