Today in Science: Did scientists just find da Vinci's DNA?

The hunt for the famed scientist's genetic material continues ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

January 8, 2026—Chimps can change their minds like us. Plus, a NASA spacewalk is postponed, and scientists may have found traces of Leonardo da Vinci's DNA. Let's get to it. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci, by Lattanzio Querena (1768-1853). DeAgostini/Getty Images Scientists hunting for the DNA of famed Renaissance artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci say they've made a breakthrough and traced male DNA from a chalk drawing attributed to da Vinci. Some experts are skeptical. | 3 min read NASA may bring some of the ISS's crew home earlier than planned after one member experienced a medical issue just hours before two astronauts were due to complete a space walk outside the station. | 2 min read  Researchers found traces of what appears to be plant-derived poison on tiny stone arrowheads from South Africa dating to 60,000 years ago, tens of thousands of years older than previous finds. | 2 min read OpenAI announced that users will soon be able to upload their medical data into its bot ChatGPT for more personal health recommendations. | 2 min read  Jellyfish and anemones sleep just like us. | 2 min read A newly-discovered supermassive black hole sends out a jet so fierce it prevents any stars from forming in the region. | 4 min read More News TOP STORIES Chimps Change Their Minds A hallmark of human cognition is a concept called belief revision—the ability to change our minds based on new evidence. But is it unique to us? Scientists gave chimps a choice between several boxes, some of which had clues that they contained food. When the scientists provided evidence that challenged the initial clues for which boxes contained food, the chimps changed their guesses and picked up a different box.     Why this is interesting: The chimps appeared to weigh several pieces of evidence to make their choices and could tell whether the evidence they were getting was strong or weak. The authors behind the study say this is evidence of chimps' capacity to reflect on their own understanding and make rational choices. Since we share a comparatively recent common ancestor with chimps, this study may give us a glimpse into early human cognition.    What other experts say: While researchers were surprised at the chimps' remarkable capacity to guess where food is, the chimps didn't seem too challenged. "The chimps knocked it out of the park," says Brian Hare, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University. "It's obvious this is so easy for them." —Emma Gometz, newsletter editor

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IMAGE OF THE DAY X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare NASA released a new image that combines observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory of two spiral galaxies on a cosmic collision course. The galaxies IC 2163 (the left-hand galaxy) and NGC 2207 (on the right) are some 120 million light-years from Earth. The larger galaxy, NGC 2207, is slowly stretching and stripping its smaller companion. Together they are joined in a slow, gravitational dance that will, billions of years from now, end in their merger into a single galaxy. In the image, mid-infrared data from JWST shows dust and other cooler matter in white, gray and red, while x-ray data from Chandra shows high-energy areas, including regions of intense star formation, in blue. SCIENTISTS AT WORK Ugo Mellone Conservation biologist Haritakis Papaioannou combines a mountaineer's know-how with a scientific eye to track the slow recovery of Balkan chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra balcanica) populations in western Greece. He estimates that there are around 1,000 of these goat-like animals in the Northern Pindos National Park and nearby mountain ranges. But their future is still threatened. For example, climate change is reducing the availability of water in their alpine habitats. "Working as a conservation biologist is always challenging: when one problem is solved, new threats emerge unexpectedly," Papaioannou says. Nature | 3 min read Content courtesy of Nature Briefing. Scientists have successfully sequenced the genomes of a handful of notable celebrities and historic figures. Most have yielded unremarkable observations—Beethoven or Ozzy Osbourne didn't have a special gene for musical ability, it turns out. According to their website, the goal of the Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project, run out of the famed J. Craig Venter Institute, is to confirm the artist's remains on the grounds of Château d'Amboise, in France, and to "explore his talents and visual acuity through genetic associations." We seem to be deeply attached to the idea that brilliance is inborn. But as Walter Isaacson's biography shows, the genius artist and inventor was likely most influenced by an upbringing infused with freedom, creative independence and exposure to many ideas and occupations. Someone's DNA is only a starting place, and usually an ordinary one. Life is what transforms that raw material into a masterpiece.  I highly recommend Isaacson's book if you haven't already read it. And if you do, let me know what you think: newsletters@sciam.com. See you tomorrow!   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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Space & Physics: The biggest space news we'll be watching for in 2026

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January 8 — Welcome to 2026, everyone! I hope your year-end celebrations were grand. We're back from the holidays this week with a supersized newsletter to make up for time off. Our top stories include a radical new plan for a private space telescope, a potential medical emergency on the International Space Station, and the first known "failed galaxy"—as well as a few articles from late last year that you might've missed. Enjoy! Thoughts? Questions? Let me know via e-mail (lbillings@sciam.com), Twitter or Bluesky. —Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Physical Sciences

Top Stories

The First-Ever Private Space Telescope Could Launch before Decade's End Bigger than Hubble and launching as soon as 2029, the Lazuli Space Observatory would be the first-ever full-scale private space telescope Nadia Drake

NASA Mulls Ending Space Station Crew-11 Mission Early after Astronaut Suffers Medical Issue NASA may bring some of the ISS's crew home earlier than planned after one member experienced a medical issue just hours before two astronauts were due to complete a space walk outside the station on Wednesday Meghan Bartels

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Starless 'Failed Galaxy' Is First of Its Kind Ever Seen Scientists have found the best evidence yet for long-predicted "failed galaxies" Jenna Ahart

Here's What to Get Excited about in Space in 2026 From crewed lunar voyages to flight tests of fully reusable rockets and launches of new orbital telescopes studying the outer limits of the cosmos, 2026 should be a banner year for space science and exploration Lee Billings

If SpaceX Goes Public in 2026, What Does That Mean for Space Exploration? SpaceX is mulling an IPO in 2026. Here's how that could affect its work with NASA and the push to put humans on Mars Ramin Skibba

Behold the 10 Most Stunning Space Images of 2025 From an interstellar comet to breathtaking auroras and from brand-new rockets to iconic space telescopes, here are some of our favorite images from the cosmos in 2025 Meghan Bartels

Satellites Used to Have Months to Avoid Collisions—Now They Have Days In the era of mega constellations, spacecraft typically have less than a week to avoid crashes Jeremy Hsu

NASA's New Chief Just Put a Fresh Twist on the Texas Space Shuttle Saga NASA's new boss Jared Isaacman hinted that he could break with Texas lawmakers' push to move iconic space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Houston Claire Cameron

Weird, Wobbling Black Hole Jets Can Shape Entire Galaxies A wobbling jet from a giant, voracious black hole is suppressing star formation in a distant galaxy—and astronomers have never seen anything quite like it before Jacek Krywko

Russia Quietly Changed Its Space Station Plans. Here's What That Means The proposed Russian Orbital Station will stick to a familiar path instead of an ambitious polar orbit Ilya Ferapontov

New Views of Solar System Moons Complicate Ocean Worlds Theory Oceans hiding within the crusts of distant moons are tantalizing targets for scientists looking for life beyond Earth Meghan Bartels

Astronomers May Have Unlocked the Reason for Betelgeuse's Bizarre Dimming Researchers found evidence that a companion star may be influencing Betelgeuse, explaining why the latter star's brightness changes over time Claire Cameron

The Pleiades Star Cluster Has a Secret Stellar Family Scattered across the Milky Way The "Seven Sisters" of the Pleiades are part of a much larger complex that can help reveal our galaxy's deep history Phil Plait

What's the Most Distant Galaxy? And Why Does It Matter? Record-breaking objects can tell us about the most powerful events in the cosmos—sometimes Phil Plait

If I Stop the World, Will I Melt with You? Depending on how you look at it, this catchphrase from a 1980s pop song is decently accurate: you can actually melt the planet if you stop its turning Phil Plait

What We're Reading

NASA's Largest Library Is Closing Amid Staff and Lab Cuts | New York Times Some quantum computers might need more power than supercomputers | New Scientist NASA's science budget won't be a train wreck after all | Ars Technica

From the Archive

The Strange Saga of the Great Texas Space Shuttle Heist Texas lawmakers want to move the Smithsonian's retired space shuttle to Houston. It's "a vanity project that is apt to destroy a near-priceless American treasure," one historian says Dan Vergano

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