Asteroid fragments upend theory of how life on Earth bloomed

Fragments collected from the asteroid Bennu contain the building blocks for life — all five nucleobases that form DNA and RNA and 14 of the 20 amino acids needed to make known proteins. But there’s a twist: on Earth, amino acids in living organisms tend to have a ‘left-handed’ structure. Those on Bennu, however, contain nearly equal amounts of these structures and their ‘right-handed’, mirror-image forms. This calls into question a hypothesis favoured by many scientists that asteroids similar to this one might have seeded life on Earth.

Strange flashes from ancient galaxy deepen mystery of fast radio bursts

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) — mysterious, millisecond-long flashes of energy — might be even weirder than we thought. Most FRBs are thought to come from magnetars, dead stars that usually form in young galaxies and host powerful magnetic fields. Now, astronomers have traced the origin of an FRB to the edge of an ancient galaxy in which stellar activity has slowed, which provides evidence that at least some FRBs must come from another source.

Where dinosaurs come from

Dinosaurs might have first evolved near the equator in Gondwana — a portion of the supercontinent Pangaea that today exists as northern South America and northern Africa. Researchers used computer modelling to analyze three proposed evolutionary trees, based on characteristics such as the ability to generate their own body heat. “These specialised traits didn't appear overnight,” says palæontologist Joel Heath, who co-authored the research. “However, we haven't yet found the transitional fossils that show how these changes happened.” The model accounts for gaps in the fossil record by factoring in the likelihood that plenty of fossils have yet to be discovered — especially in difficult-to-explore places.

China’s cheap, open AI model DeepSeek thrills scientists

A Chinese-built large language model called DeepSeek-R1 is stepping up as an affordable rival to ‘reasoning’ models such as OpenAI’s o1. R1 matched o1’s performance on certain tasks in chemistry, mathematics and coding, and has been released as ‘open-weight’, which means that researchers can study and build on the algorithm. “The openness of DeepSeek is quite remarkable,” says AI researcher Mario Krenn, since OpenAI’s models are “essentially black boxes”.

Paralysed man flies virtual drone using brain implant

Researchers have developed a device that let a 69-year-old man with paralysis fly a virtual drone using only his thoughts. The brain–computer interface (BCI) decoded the man’s brain activity as he imagined moving three groups of digits in real time. By associating neural signals with the movements of multiple fingers, the work builds on previous BCI research, most of which has focused on moving a single computer cursor or whole virtual hand.

Celtic communities in Britain were ‘matriolocal’

Celtic communities in Britain were ‘matriolocal’ — women stayed with their families and their husbands came to them — according to genetic analysis. Investigations of 55 individuals found in an Iron Age burial site in the south of England associated with the Durotriges tribe showed that two-thirds of them shared mitochondrial DNA. This form of DNA is passed only through mothers — a sign that they all descended from the same female ancestor. Matriolocality doesn’t necessarily equate to women’s empowerment, but the findings could explain why archaeologists often find Celtic women buried with goods such as jewellery and combs, while men weren’t afforded the same luxuries for the afterlife.

Meta AI creates speech-to-speech translator that works in dozens of languages

The tech giant Meta, which runs Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, has unveiled a machine-learning system that can translate speech in 101 languages into words spoken by a voice synthesiser in any of 36 target languages. Trained on around half-a-million hours of audio matched with the corresponding text, the system translates speech to speech in only a few seconds without the need to translate it into text first. Meta researchers say they fine-tuned the system to limit the occurrence of gender bias and ‘added toxicity’, cases where a translation includes offensive terms that don’t reflect the original language.

How Pluto captured its largest moon: a new theory

Pluto might have hogged much of the spotlight historically, but the dwarf planet is actually part of a double act, alongside its biggest satellite, Charon. A new analysis suggests that Pluto used its gravity to entice Charon into this pas de deux, hugging the smaller body close before the two split into a whirling pair — a mechanism dubbed ‘kiss-and-capture’. Previously, scientists thought that the binary system formed as the result of a collision between two proto-bodies, with much of proto-Charon’s material sloshing over to proto-Pluto. The new idea suggests that Charon kept much of its core and mantle.

Physicists describe exotic ‘paraparticles’ that defy categorisation

Theoretical physicists have proposed a new type of particle. This ‘paraparticle’ doesn’t fit into the conventional classification system that labels all subatomic particles either fermions or bosons. The study comes after another group recently provided the first experimental demonstration of an ‘anyon’, another kind of particle that doesn’t fit the fermion or boson mould, in a one-dimensional virtual universe. The unusual behaviour of paraparticles and anyons could one day play a part making quantum computers less error-prone.

Who built Europe’s first cities?

Around 6,000 years ago, a group known as the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture built giant settlements of thousands of homes in what is now Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. These cities were notably egalitarian — all the houses were the same size, furnished similarly with beautifully crafted pottery, with no palaces, no grand temples and no signs of centralized administration. Then, after two millennia, the Cucuteni–Trypillia vanished. Scientists are starting to piece together the complex reasons why, from a cooling and drying climate to the rise of nomadic lifestyles brought by peoples from the eastern steppes — and perhaps a breakdown of the social equality that had served Cucuteni–Trypillia people for centuries.

Do insects have feelings?

The roll-call of creatures recognised by law as sentient — capable of feelings such as joy and fear — has expanded beyond the easily anthropomorphisable to animals such as octopuses and lobsters. So why not insects? Scientists have started to explore whether insects go beyond simple ‘reflex machines’ with experiments that aim to reveal something about their inner lives.

How AI is unlocking ancient texts — and could rewrite history

From deciphering burnt Roman scrolls to reading crumbling cuneiform tablets, neural networks could give researchers more data than they’ve had in centuries.