Weekly Headlines (excerpts)

1. Costly Mars Sample Return is squeezing smaller NASA missions
By Paul Voosen | Thu, 14 Sep 2023

2. U.S. cancels or curtails half of its Antarctic research projects
By Jeffrey Mervis | Thu, 14 Sep 2023

3. The origins of the obesity epidemic may be further back than we thought
By Molly Rains | Wed, 13 Sep 2023

4. Prehistoric artists carved incredibly lifelike animal tracks
By Phie Jacobs | Wed, 13 Sep 2023

5. Panel calls for giant boost to space station research
By Michael Greshko | Tue, 12 Sep 2023

6. Iran’s researchers increasingly isolated as government prepares to wall off internet
By Richard Stone | Mon, 11 Sep 2023

7. Red fire ants, a dreaded pest, have invaded Europe
By Erik Stokstad | Mon, 11 Sep 2023

8. U.K.’s ‘high-risk, high-reward’ research agency starts to take shape
By Cathleen O’Grady | Sun, 10 Sep 2023

 9. Global polio eradication effort struggles with the end game

By Jon Cohen | Mon, 18 Sep 2023

10. U.S. regains the lead in friendly x-ray laser ‘arms race’
By Adrian Cho | Mon, 18 Sep 2023

11. How to make fresh tomatoes less squishable
By Erik Stokstad | Mon, 18 Sep 2023

12. Peak solar activity is arriving sooner than expected, reaching levels not seen in 20 years
By Zack Savitsky | Fri, 15 Sep 2023

13. NIH sticks to new requirement that foreign partners share lab notebooks
By Jocelyn Kaiser | Fri, 15 Sep 2023

14. ‘Inverse vaccine’ could help tame autoimmune diseases
By Mitch Leslie | Fri, 15 Sep 2023

15. Ig Nobel Prizes honor zombie spiders, rock-licking scientists, and a clever commode
By Phie Jacobs | Thu, 14 Sep 2023

16．What turns an ant into a soldier or a forager? It may be all in their heads
By Claudia López Lloreda | Fri, 15 Sep 2023