Vanishing Insects, Rusty Rivers & NASA’s Next Moonshot – Science News Roundup (Sept 22

Key Facts

Climate & Environment: A new study finds flying insect populations have plummeted by over 70% even in remote mountain areas, linked to rising temperatures ^[1]. In the Arctic, thawing permafrost and freeze-thaw cycles are turning rivers rusty orange as ice triggers chemical reactions that release iron into waterways ^[2].
Space Exploration: NASA introduced its 2025 astronaut class and previewed the Artemis II crewed Moon mission slated for 2026 – a 10-day flight around the Moon, the first crewed Artemis mission ^[3]. On September 23, NASA prepared to launch the IMAP probe to map the Sun’s heliosphere boundary, aiming to better understand the “bubble” that shields our solar system ^[4].
Astronomy & Physics: Astronomers observed an extremely “stripped” supernova (SN 2021yfj) revealing the star’s inner silicon layer – likely due to a companion star peeling off its outer layers – confirming theories about element formation in stellar deaths ^[5] ^[6]. Meanwhile, first-ever simulations showed neutrino “flavor” shapeshifting during neutron star mergers, profoundly altering the elements produced; accounting for neutrino mixing could boost heavy element (e.g. gold) creation by up to 10-fold ^[7] ^[8]. And in the hunt for dark matter, physicists proposed a surprising candidate: superheavy, electrically charged gravitinos. New research suggests giant underground detectors (like China’s JUNO neutrino observatory) might detect these rare particles via the unique glow they’d induce ^[9] ^[10].
Health & Medicine: A biomarker protein linked to brain inflammation, TSPO, was found to rise years before Alzheimer’s symptoms, especially in microglia near plaques, opening the door to earlier detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease ^[11]. Cancer researchers discovered that when tumor cells are physically “squeezed” by surrounding tissue, they switch into a more invasive, drug-resistant state; a protein called HMGB2 triggers this dangerous transformation ^[12]. A large microbiome study revealed common medications – not just antibiotics but also antidepressants, heartburn drugs, etc. – leave lasting “fingerprints” on gut bacteria years after use ^[13], suggesting past drug history can reshape one’s microbiome long-term. And a review of meditation apps found they can reduce stress, anxiety and even lower inflammation-related gene activity, though a staggering 95% of users abandon the apps within a month, posing a challenge for sustained mental health benefits ^[14] ^[15].
Technology & Innovation: Engineers unveiled tiny multi-layer metalenses – thinner than a human hair – that can focus multiple wavelengths of light. This breakthrough in meta-optics could revolutionize smartphone, drone, and satellite cameras by enabling ultra-compact lenses with improved clarity across colors ^[16].
Biology & Ecology: Biologists announced several new species. A dazzling pink-and-yellow moth, now named Carcina ingridmariae, was recognized as a new species after over a century masquerading as a common European moth, thanks to DNA barcoding ^[17]. In Australia, scientists identified a “ghost” marsupial species related to kangaroos (a new type of bettong) from fossils – unfortunately the species likely went extinct before modern discovery ^[18]. And plant geneticists discovered “hidden” stem cell regulators in crops: by mapping stem cell genes in maize and Arabidopsis, they uncovered factors controlling plant growth and yield, a breakthrough that could lead to bigger, more resilient crops to “feed the future” ^[19].

Climate & Environment

Insects Vanishing Even in Pristine Habitats

Mounting evidence indicates the insect biodiversity crisis has reached even untouched ecosystems. A long-term study in the Colorado Rockies found flying insect abundance has collapsed by ~72% over 20 years in a subalpine meadow with minimal human impact ^[20]. Higher summer temperatures were tightly correlated with the decline, implicating climate change rather than local land use. “Insects have a unique…vulnerability to environmental change,” warns biologist Keith Sockman, who led the study ^[21]. He notes that mountain ecosystems host many endemic species which “may be in jeopardy if the declines shown here reflect trends broadly” ^[22]. The findings underscore that even the last wild refuges are not immune to global warming’s effects on biodiversity. Scientists are calling for expanded monitoring of insects in diverse landscapes and urgent climate action, as the loss of pollinators and other insects could reverberate through food webs and ecosystem services ^[23] ^[24].

Arctic Rivers Turning “Rusty” as Permafrost Thaws

Communities in the far north have been startled by an unusual sight: formerly clear Arctic rivers running rusty orange. New research from Umeå University uncovers the cause – a surprising bit of ice chemistry ^[25]. When soil and sediment freeze, it doesn’t halt chemistry; instead, ice can drive reactions more vigorously than liquid water ^[26]. As Professor Jean-François Boily explains, freezing water forms micro-pockets of super-concentrated, acidic solution that can dissolve iron from minerals even at –30 °C ^[27]. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles, increasingly common as climate change destabilizes permafrost, then flush that iron into rivers ^[28] ^[29]. The result: orange-stained water and soils, essentially “rusting” the landscape as iron oxidizes. Researchers showed that at –10 °C, ice released more iron from common minerals than water did at +4 °C ^[30], overturning assumptions that cold inhibits geochemistry. This phenomenon, now documented in Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic park, could worsen with warming, potentially impacting water quality and aquatic life across vast northern regions ^[31]. As one scientist put it, ice is “not a passive frozen block” but an active chemical reactor – and the Arctic’s accelerating freeze-thaw cycles mean we may see more “rusty” rivers ahead ^[32] ^[33].

Health & Medicine

Biomarker Signals Alzheimer’s Years Before Symptoms

A breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research may enable doctors to detect the disease far earlier than ever. Scientists at Florida International University found that levels of TSPO – a protein linked to brain inflammation – surge long before memory loss or other Alzheimer’s symptoms appear ^[34]. In mice genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s, TSPO was elevated in the brain’s memory center by young adulthood (equivalent to an 18–20 year-old human). The team then examined brain tissue from people carrying an early-onset Alzheimer’s mutation in Colombia, and saw the same pattern: microglia (brain immune cells) near amyloid plaques were packed with TSPO, even in pre-symptomatic stages ^[35] ^[36]. Notably, female mice showed higher TSPO, mirroring the greater Alzheimer’s incidence in women ^[37]. “This is the first study to really examine how early this biomarker increases and where it begins rising in the brain,” says neuroscientist Dr. Tomás Guilarte ^[38]. He notes that if we can intervene even “five years” earlier in the disease process, it could drastically improve patient outcomes ^[39]. The finding not only deepens understanding of Alzheimer’s inflammation, but also sparks hope for new diagnostic scans or drugs targeting TSPO to spot and slow Alzheimer’s years before dementia sets in ^[40] ^[41].

Tumor Pressure Makes Cancer Cells More Invasive

Cancer biologists have uncovered a dangerous shape-shift in cancer cells: when confined in tight spaces, tumor cells turn into more aggressive, treatment-resistant versions of themselves ^[42]. In a study reported in Nature, researchers mimicked the physical squeeze that growing tumors exert on cells. They found that melanoma cells under compression stop proliferating and instead activate a “neuronal-like” invasion program, allowing them to crawl away and seed new tumors ^[43] ^[44]. This switch is driven by an epigenetic mechanism – changes in gene expression without DNA mutation. A DNA-bending protein called HMGB2 was identified as the master switch: under mechanical stress, HMGB2 reprograms how DNA is packed, exposing genes linked to cell migration and drug resistance ^[45] ^[46]. Compressed cancer cells even restructured their internal skeleton, forming a protective cage around their nucleus to withstand the strain ^[47]. “Cancer cells can rapidly switch between different states, depending on cues in their environment,” explains Dr. Richard White ^[48]. His team’s discovery shows that physical forces in the tumor microenvironment can trigger an “escape mode” that most therapies – which target fast-dividing cells – might miss ^[49] ^[50]. By pinpointing HMGB2 and related factors, scientists hope to develop treatments to prevent or reverse this pressure-induced, invasive state ^[51], potentially halting metastasis at its source.

Past Medications Leave “Fingerprints” on Your Gut Microbiome

It turns out your gut bacteria have a long memory. A large-scale study of the human microbiome in Estonia revealed that common medications can alter gut microbial populations for years – even long after you stop taking the drug ^[52]. Researchers analyzed stool samples and prescription records from over 2,500 people and found that most drug classes tested (antibiotics, antidepressants, heartburn drugs, anti-anxiety meds, etc.) were each associated with distinct shifts in gut microbes ^[53]. In fact, many of these drug-induced microbial changes persisted years after discontinuation ^[54]. For example, surprisingly, benzodiazepine tranquilizers affected the microbiome as strongly as broad-spectrum antibiotics ^[55] – suggesting psychoactive drugs may have unseen physiological side effects via gut flora. Lead author Dr. Oliver Aasmets noted that most microbiome studies only consider medications a patient is currently taking, but “our results show that past drug use can be just as important,” because it leaves a lasting imprint on one’s microbial ecosystem ^[56]. Follow-up sampling confirmed that starting or stopping certain drugs causes predictable microbial changes over time ^[57]. These findings, published in mSystems, urge scientists and clinicians to factor in a person’s medication history as a key variable in microbiome and disease research ^[58] ^[59]. In the future, knowing a patient’s “pharmaco-microbial” history might improve personalized medicine – for instance, informing probiotic or dietary interventions to restore healthy gut balance after certain drug treatments.

Meditation Apps: Boon for Mental Health, But Users Don’t Stick Around

Meditation and mindfulness apps have exploded in popularity – and a new review finds they can indeed deliver mental health benefits, if people keep using them. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University report that app-guided meditation has measurable effects: studies show even short sessions via smartphone can reduce blood pressure and stress, ease anxiety and insomnia, and even dial down genes linked to inflammation ^[60]. These apps (e.g. Calm, Headspace) have collectively been downloaded over 300 million times ^[61] and are enabling new kinds of mind-body research at scale. “They’re creating new scientific opportunities,” says psychologist Dr. J. David Creswell, noting that wearable sensors and apps let researchers study tens of thousands of users remotely ^[62] ^[63]. For users, a big advantage is accessibility – “a farmer in rural Nebraska” now has 24/7 meditation guidance in his pocket, Creswell notes ^[64]. Early trials show as little as 10 minutes, 3 times a week of app meditation can yield benefits ^[65]. The problem? Engagement. According to Creswell, “the numbers are really sobering” – 95% of people who download a meditation app stop using it within one month ^[66]. This huge dropout rate undermines long-term benefits and is a known hurdle in the wellness app industry ^[67]. The review, published in American Psychologist, challenges developers to find creative ways to keep users motivated (through personalized coaching, AI chatbots, habit-forming techniques, etc.) ^[68] ^[69]. Overall, the experts conclude that meditation apps are powerful new tools for stress reduction and self-care ^[70] – but realizing their full potential will require solving the engagement puzzle so that users stick with their digital mindfulness practice.

Space & Astronomy

Star’s Exposed Core Confirms Supernova Theory

Astronomers witnessed an unprecedented stellar spectacle that is helping demystify how heavy elements are forged. An international team observed Supernova 2021yfj, an extremely rare “ultra-stripped” supernova where the star’s outer layers were almost entirely peeled away before it exploded ^[71]. Typically, a supernova lights up gases from a star’s outer hydrogen or helium layers. But in this case, scientists were astonished to find the glowing debris was enriched with silicon and sulfur – material from the star’s deep interior layers just above the iron core ^[72]. This means that somehow, the star lost its hydrogen, helium, and even carbon/oxygen layers shortly before the blast. The most likely culprit is a binary companion star: researchers suspect a neighboring star’s gravity siphoned off the dying star’s envelope, stripping it down to the silicon layer ^[73]. “Astronomers don’t understand how a stellar wind could be powerful enough to do this,” one report noted, so a second star is the plausible explanation ^[74]. The supernova’s discovery, reported in Nature on Aug 20, 2025, gave scientists an unprecedented window into a star’s core at the moment of collapse, and the data matched long-held theories of nuclear fusion stacking onion-like layers in massive stars ^[75] ^[76]. By confirming that core-collapse supernovae can sometimes shed down to their innermost layers, the finding bolsters our understanding of how elements like silicon, sulfur, and iron – the building blocks of planets and life – get dispersed into the universe ^[77] ^[78]. It’s a striking reminder that even in death, stars can still surprise us and illuminate cosmic origins.

“Ghost Particle” Shapeshifting in Neutron Star Collisions

When two neutron stars crash together, the cosmic fireworks produce gravitational waves, heavy elements like gold, and flashes of high-energy light. Now, new simulations show there’s another crucial phenomenon in these collisions: neutrinos changing identities mid-flight. Neutrinos are nearly massless “ghost particles” that stream out of neutron star mergers in huge numbers. Physicists at Penn State and UT Knoxville developed the first models that include neutrino flavor transformations during these mergers ^[79]. In these extreme conditions, neutrinos of one type (electron, muon, or tau flavor) can oscillate into another flavor, altering how they interact with matter. The team’s 3D supercomputer simulations (published in Physical Review Letters) found that this flavor-mixing significantly impacts the merger’s outcome: it changes the composition of the neutron-star debris, the structure of the remnant object, and the signals emitted like light and gravitational waves ^[80] ^[81]. Co-author Dr. David Radice explained that, for example, converting electron-neutrinos to muon-neutrinos reduces the number of free neutrons available to form new elements ^[82]. Consequently, regions with more flavor-changing produced substantially higher quantities of heavy elements (gold, platinum, rare earths). “We found that accounting for neutrino mixing could increase element production by as much as a factor of 10,” Radice said ^[83]. In other words, the unseen dance of neutrinos might turbocharge the creation of precious metals in neutron star collisions. The flavor flips also affect the merger’s observable signals – potentially leaving imprints in the gravitational waveforms or the gamma-ray bursts that astronomers detect on Earth ^[84]. As next-generation observatories like the proposed Cosmic Explorer aim to capture more neutron-star smashups, incorporating neutrino physics will be key to interpreting these cosmic crashes and understanding how the universe’s heaviest elements come to be ^[85].

New Dark Matter Candidate: Superheavy “Gravitino” Particles

Despite decades of searches, the nature of dark matter – the invisible mass holding galaxies together – remains one of physics’ biggest enigmas. This week, theorists put forward a bold new candidate: ultra-massive, electrically charged gravitinos. Gravitinos emerge from theories that extend supersymmetry into gravity; essentially, they’re hypothetical partner particles of the graviton (the quantum of gravity). Scientists from the University of Warsaw and Max Planck Institute have shown that in a modified supergravity model, a few gravitinos could have colossal masses near the Planck scale (billions of billions of times heavier than a proton) yet be stable and abundant enough to explain dark matter ^[86] ^[87]. Uniquely, these gravitinos carry electric charge (unlike traditional dark matter candidates which were neutral) ^[88]. How could charged particles be “dark”? The researchers argue that because each particle would be so unimaginably massive, they’d be exceedingly rare – perhaps only one per 10,000 cubic kilometers in our solar system ^[89] – so they wouldn’t clump into stars or emit detectable light ^[90]. The exciting part is that if such gravitinos exist, we might actually spot them: they would leave a unique track in certain particle detectors. The new paper in Physical Review Research shows that large underground neutrino detectors – in particular the upcoming JUNO detector in China – are well-suited to catching the faint “glow” of a passing charged gravitino ^[91]. When one of these particles flies through JUNO’s liquid scintillator, it should produce a characteristic cascade of photons along its path ^[92] ^[93]. This signature would be unambiguous, the authors say, distinguishing it from any known particle. JUNO (and similar giant detectors in the works) could thus double as dark matter observatories, hunting for these one-in-a-quintillion exotic particles. It’s a long shot – dark matter gravitinos would be so sparse that detection is far from guaranteed with current technology ^[94]. But the approach offers a novel strategy in the cosmic dark matter quest. After the failure of more conventional dark matter searches (WIMPs, axions, etc.), this theory opens “a completely different way” to think about what dark matter could be and how to find it ^[95] ^[96].

Space Exploration & Technology

Artemis II: NASA’s Next Giant Leap Around the Moon

NASA is gearing up for its most ambitious crewed spaceflight in over 50 years: the Artemis II mission, which will fly astronauts around the Moon and back. During Sept 22–23, 2025, the agency held briefings at Johnson Space Center to preview this historic mission and introduce the public to the crew and hardware. Artemis II, slated for launch by April 2026, will send four astronauts (three Americans and one Canadian) on a 10-day journey looping around the Moon ^[97]. It marks the first time humans will travel beyond low-Earth orbit since Apollo, and is the crucial next step toward NASA’s goal of returning to the Moon’s surface and eventually reaching Mars ^[98]. At the events, NASA showcased the massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft that will carry the crew. Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman (NASA) will be joined by Pilot Victor Glover (NASA), Mission Specialist Christina Koch (NASA), and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen (CSA) on this flight ^[99] ^[100]. The mission will test Orion’s life support systems and practice operating in lunar distance, paving the way for Artemis III’s planned Moon landing. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said Artemis II “will help confirm the systems and hardware needed for human deep space exploration” and represents a major milestone in establishing a long-term presence at the Moon ^[101]. In addition to Artemis, NASA used the week’s events to unveil its 2025 class of astronaut candidates – the next generation of explorers who could walk on the Moon or Mars in the future ^[102] ^[103]. The excitement around Artemis II is palpable: it signals that the era of human deep-space exploration is dawning once again.

Mapping the Sun’s “Bubble”: IMAP Mission Ready for Launch

Not all space missions involve astronauts – some seek to answer fundamental questions about our cosmic environment. On Sept 23, NASA prepared to launch the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), a robotic spacecraft designed to probe the very edges of our solar system. IMAP’s task is to chart the boundary of the heliosphere – the vast “bubble” of solar wind that surrounds and protects our solar system from interstellar radiation ^[104]. This boundary region, where the solar wind meets the interstellar medium, holds clues to how cosmic rays enter our neighborhood and how the Sun interacts with the galaxy. Scheduled to lift off (no earlier than Sept 23, 2025) on a Falcon 9 rocket, IMAP will travel to a point about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. From there, it will scan the sky in energetic neutral atoms and other particles to create a global map of the heliosphere’s structure and detect incoming cosmic particles. According to NASA, IMAP will help researchers better understand the heliosphere’s boundary and how it filters galactic radiation ^[105]. Joining IMAP for the ride are several secondary payloads, including NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiter and NOAA’s space weather monitors, making this launch a rich multi-mission endeavor ^[106]. IMAP comes on the heels of earlier probes like Voyager 1/2 (which reached interstellar space) and IBEX (which first imaged the heliospheric boundary), but brings far more advanced detectors. Scientists anticipate that IMAP’s 3D particle maps will reveal how the heliosphere fluctuates with the solar cycle and perhaps solve the puzzle of the mysterious “ribbon” of energetic particles IBEX saw wrapping the heliosphere. By illuminating our Sun’s invisible cosmic “halo” ^[107] ^[108], IMAP will deepen our understanding of space weather and the protective cocoon that makes life on Earth possible. In short, as humanity pushes outward (with Artemis to the Moon and beyond), missions like IMAP ensure we also diligently study and understand the cosmic seas we are voyaging through.

Physics & Chemistry

Water’s Weird “Premelting” Phase Discovered

Water is ubiquitous and well-studied, yet scientists just found that it hides a surprising state of matter under the right conditions. Researchers in Japan have identified a new phase of water – dubbed the “premelting” phase – where water is both solid and liquid at the same time in certain ways ^[109]. This isn’t science fiction: when water is confined in nanometer-sized pores or films, it can exhibit properties of a solid (molecules locked in place) and a liquid (molecules freely rotating) simultaneously ^[110] ^[111]. The team from Tokyo University of Science used advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques to observe water trapped in tiny channels inside a crystal. At cold temperatures, they saw that the water didn’t transition directly from solid ice to liquid. Instead, it formed a strange intermediate state: layers of water molecules remained arranged in a crystal lattice (solid-like position), while within those layers other molecules were spinning and swapping like a liquid ^[112] ^[113]. In this premelting phase, essentially “frozen” and “fluid” molecular layers coexist ^[114] ^[115]. “It essentially constitutes a novel phase of water in which frozen H₂O layers and slowly moving H₂O coexist,” explained Prof. Makoto Tadokoro, senior author on the study ^[116]. The existence of this phase had been theorized but never directly observed until now. By gradually warming the nano-confined ice, the researchers saw clear NMR signatures of the premelting transition ^[117]. This discovery, reported in Journal of the American Chemical Society, is more than a curiosity – it could have practical implications. Understanding water’s behavior in tight spaces is crucial for fields from cell biology (water in tiny pores of proteins) to materials science. The team noted that manipulating water’s freezing properties could even help in storing gases like hydrogen or developing novel water-based materials (e.g. new kinds of gas hydrates) ^[118]. At the very least, this study reminds us that even the most common substance on Earth – water – can still surprise scientists with uncharted phases, blurring the line between solid and liquid in the molecular realm.

Technology & Engineering

Tiny Multicolor Lenses Poised to Revolutionize Cameras

Imagine a camera lens thinner than a human hair, yet powerful enough to capture crisp images in full color. That’s the promise of a new multi-layer metalens design unveiled by an international team of engineers. Traditional glass lenses are bulky because they rely on curvature and thickness to bend different wavelengths of light to a focus. Metalenses, by contrast, use nanostructures on a flat surface to focus light. Until now, most metalenses could only focus a single color efficiently. The breakthrough achieved here is a method to stack multiple metasurface layers, each patterned with billions of nanoscopic features, to focus red, green, and blue light together — essentially creating a flat “zoom” lens that works across a broad spectrum ^[119]. According to the research (published in Optics Express), the team’s algorithm designed layers studded with tiny shapes (resembling clovers, propellers, etc.) that collectively overcome the usual chromatic distortions ^[120] ^[121]. “Our design has a lot of nice features that make it applicable to practical devices,” said first-author Joshua Jordaan of Australian National University ^[122]. “It’s easy to manufacture…polarization insensitive, and potentially scalable through mature nanofabrication platforms,” he noted, highlighting that each layer can be made with standard semiconductor processes and then sandwiched together ^[123]. The result is a lens system only a few microns thick that can replace multiple lens elements in a smartphone or drone camera. These ultra-thin lenses achieved a record combination of large diameter, high numerical aperture, and broad bandwidth focusing – capabilities that previously required multiple bulk lenses ^[124] ^[125]. In practical terms, future phones and miniaturized cameras could be lighter, cheaper, and free of the lens bump, yet with improved imaging (especially for wide-angle or multispectral applications). The design can even be tuned to focus different wavelengths to different positions, enabling novel functions like on-chip spectral scanners or compact VR displays ^[126]. While the current prototype works for up to 5 distinct wavelengths due to some physical limits ^[127], the approach is a significant leap in optical engineering. Tech experts say multi-layer metalenses could herald a new generation of flat optics, transforming everything from smartphone cameras to medical endoscopes and satellite imaging systems.

Biology & Ecology

New Moth Hides in Plain Sight for a Century

For over 100 years, entomologists in Europe had assumed that a pretty pink-and-yellow moth flitting about was just a variant of a known species. They were wrong. DNA tests revealed it’s actually an entirely new species – now named Carcina ingridmariae – that had been masquerading under our noses ^[128]. Dr. Peter Huemer of Tyrolean State Museum in Austria made the discovery after modern “DNA barcoding” showed that what was thought to be the oak carcina moth (Carcina quercana) was genetically distinct by over 6% – a huge gap indicating a different species ^[129]. He confirmed the find by examining the moths’ morphology (subtle differences in genital structures clinched it ^[130]). The new C. ingridmariae looks very similar to its cousin – sporting vivid canary-yellow and pink patches on its roughly 2 cm wings – which explains why it fooled scientists for generations ^[131] ^[132]. Its range spans the eastern Mediterranean (from Croatia and Greece to Cyprus and Turkey) and likely its caterpillars feed on oaks like the other Carcina species ^[133]. In a heartwarming twist, Dr. Huemer named the moth after his wife, Ingrid Maria, in honor of their 42nd wedding anniversary ^[134] ^[135]. “It is without doubt the prettiest species I have encountered in my long scientific career,” Huemer said, noting it felt only natural to name such a beautiful discovery after his spouse ^[136]. The finding, published in Alpine Entomology, highlights how even well-trodden regions like Europe can still yield hidden biodiversity if scientists look closely (or use new tools). It’s also a testament to the power of DNA analysis in modern taxonomy: even a familiar moth can turn out to be a cryptic new species, reminding us that our catalogs of life are far from complete.

“Ghost” Marsupial Discovered – After It’s Gone

Australian researchers have identified a new species of marsupial – one closely related to kangaroos – but there’s a catch: it appears to have gone extinct before we ever knew it. The animal, described by scientists from Curtin University and others, was a type of small bushland wallaby called a bettong (or “woylie”) that lived in southwestern Australia. Dubbed a “ghost” species, it was discovered via fossils and subfossils (bones preserved in caves and sediments) rather than as a living creature ^[137]. Analysis of skulls and skeletal bits from multiple cave sites revealed consistent differences from any known species, confirming a previously unknown bettong species that the team has formally named Bettongia haoucharae ^[138] ^[139]. Unfortunately, all signs indicate this bettong likely died out in the recent past, probably in the last few centuries, due to habitat changes and invasive predators that have plagued Australia’s small marsupials. The study, published in Zootaxa, also identified two new subspecies of the modern woylie (brush-tailed bettong) among the remains ^[140]. This has immediate conservation importance: woylies are critically endangered, and knowing there are distinct subspecies could guide breeding programs to preserve genetic diversity ^[141] ^[142]. “In this new research, we’ve named a completely new species based on fossil material, and two new subspecies… Sadly, many of them have become extinct before we’ve even been aware of them,” said lead author Jake Newman-Martin ^[143]. The discovery underscores how much Australia’s biodiversity – past and present – is still being uncovered. It’s sobering that a unique mammal could vanish from its ecosystem without scientists (or the Indigenous people who likely knew it) having a chance to record it alive. By studying museum collections and cave deposits, the researchers pieced together this creature’s identity just in time to inform current conservation. The team is working with Indigenous groups to give the new species an appropriate name from local language, since “woylie” itself comes from the Noongar word for these bettongs ^[144]. This ghost marsupial’s tale is a poignant mix of discovery and loss – highlighting the urgency to protect the fragile survivors of Australia’s once-rich small mammal fauna.

Hidden Plant Stem Cells Hold Keys to Bigger Crops

Amid growing concerns about global food security, plant biologists have made a significant discovery: previously unknown genetic regulators in plant stem cells that control growth and crop yield ^[145]. Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory mapped the activity of key stem cell genes in thousands of individual plant cells – focusing on maize (corn) and the model plant Arabidopsis – and uncovered new genes that govern stem cell function and ultimately influence how large plants and their fruits can grow ^[146] ^[147]. Plant stem cells, located in growing tips, are like the “architects” of a plant, continually dividing to produce all other tissues (leaves, roots, seeds, etc.). Despite their importance, many genes driving plant stem cell behavior remained elusive. In this study, scientists isolated rare stem cells from corn seedlings and performed single-cell RNA sequencing to see which genes were on or off in each cell ^[148] ^[149]. They charted the expression of two known stem cell regulators (called WUSCHEL and CLAVATA3) and in doing so discovered a suite of new genes that were active in stem cells but not in other cells ^[150] ^[151]. Intriguingly, some of these genes correlated with differences in ear size among corn varieties ^[152] ^[153] – suggesting they directly affect yield. “Ideally, we would like to know how to make a stem cell,” said Professor David Jackson, the study’s senior author ^[154]. “One thing people are very excited about is breeding new crops that are more resilient or more productive. We don’t yet have a full list of regulators [to do that],” he explained ^[155]. This work is a leap toward that list. By providing a gene atlas of plant stem cells, it offers breeders and bioengineers concrete targets to tweak. For example, turning the dials on certain stem cell genes could lead to corn plants with more kernels or fruits that grow larger ^[156]. It’s “foundational knowledge that could guide research for the next decade” in plant science, Jackson noted ^[157]. Beyond crops, the techniques developed – like the microfluidic single-cell analysis – can be applied to other plant species to unlock their growth secrets ^[158] ^[159]. As the world faces the challenge of feeding a growing population under climate stress, advances in understanding plant stem cells may pave the way for the next generation of high-yield, climate-resilient crops ^[160] ^[161].

Sources: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ^[162] ^[163]; Umeå University ^[164] ^[165]; NASA ^[166] ^[167]; Macquarie Univ./Nature ^[168] ^[169]; Penn State/Phys. Rev. Lett. ^[170] ^[171]; Univ. of Warsaw/Phys. Rev. Research ^[172] ^[173]; Florida Intl. Univ./Acta Neuropath. ^[174] ^[175]; Ludwig Cancer Res./Nature ^[176] ^[177]; Univ. of Tartu/mSystems ^[178] ^[179]; Carnegie Mellon Univ./Amer. Psychologist ^[180] ^[181]; ARC TMOS/Optics Express ^[182]; Pensoft Publishers ^[183]; Curtin Univ./Zootaxa ^[184] ^[185]; Cold Spring Harbor Lab/Dev. Cell ^[186] ^[187].

Insects are not scary ☠️

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References

Vanishing Insects, Rusty Rivers & NASA’s Next Moonshot – Science News Roundup (Sept 22–23, 2025)