October 24, 2026
Boletín 19–24 oct 2026 · Science
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This week's stories
A new livestock virus kills a person in Europe
The first known human infection with the rare Shamonda virus was reported, and Science described it as the first human death linked to the recently discovered livestock virus in Europe. Nature laid out what is known so far.
Heat, emissions and melting glaciers
Europe's summer heat wave killed more than 50,000 people in urban areas. Global emissions are slowing, but the world is heading towards 2 °C of warming, and the UN says 1.5 °C will be exceeded while offering a “now what?” answer. Nearly 20% of Switzerland’s glacier ice has vanished in five years, and human actions amplified by droughts are driving carbon emissions in the Amazon.
The face of the Denisovans
Fossils and ancient proteins from Xujiayao in China are revealing what the mysterious Denisovans looked like. Nature described the tell-tale features of a Denisovan.
A single antimatter particle in a cage
Physicists trapped a single antimatter particle, the electron's antimatter equivalent, in a cage. Researchers say it opens the door to “revolutionary” physics.
Sleep, the body clock and the brain
Body-clock disruptions contribute to one in four cases of depression, a large study suggests. Sleep declines in rural communities after electricity arrives, and a separate finding restored two hours of sleep in Alzheimer's without clearing brain plaques. In the US, the government is putting $41 million into clinical trials to ward off Alzheimer's as a blood test looms.
Medicine: a cancer vaccine and in-body gene editing
Moderna's mRNA vaccine almost halves the risk of skin cancer returning. Prime editing altered DNA directly in the human body for the first time, and a PTSD treatment reached a 68% remission rate in a clinical trial.
AI and mathematics
AI proved the quasi-Riemann hypothesis, and Quanta asked what happens now. Fields medallist Terence Tao called for a “Maths 2.0” world to help mathematics survive AI.
Space: Artemis landers, Swift ends, Phobos mission
NASA detailed how Artemis III will test future Moon lander operations as partners accelerate lander development for 2028 missions. The Swift mission ended, leaving a scientific bonanza, Japan launched a mission to bring home a piece of the Martian moon Phobos and Perseverance broke the all-time off-world driving record.
Who funds and steers science
Tech billionaires are disrupting biomedical science, and Nature asked how the new wave of philanthropists can have the greatest impact. In the US, Kennedy is set to pick a MAHA-aligned researcher to head the mental health institute, overruling the NIH director, while Science profiled the former FBI agent behind NIH's targeting of Chinese scientists. China picked its first researchers for 15-year mega grants.
Quantum milestones
Quantum error correction went well beyond breakeven. Scientists reached the ultimate quantum limit on a surface, and a tiny defect in a crystal revealed a quantum surprise.
Rewriting the mass extinctions
A vast new fossil record challenges the story of Earth's “big five” mass extinctions. Separately, the first dinosaurs that only ate fruit munched like parrots.
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