Week in Science: What's the biggest galaxy in the universe?

Deep surveys of the sky have turned up galaxies vastly larger than our own.                    

View in web browser

June 5—This week in science, powerful new weight-loss drugs come with their own health risks. Plus, mathematicians devise guardrails for using AI in their discipline, and archeologists discover the oldest cave art in the U.K. in Wales. All that and more below. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor How are you liking this newsletter? Email newsletters@sciam.com anytime.

Top Stories

What’s the biggest galaxy in the universe? Deep surveys of the sky have turned up galaxies vastly larger than our own. Are there even bigger ones yet to be seen? Phil Plait

New powerful GLP-1 drugs drop a lot of weight fast. How does that affect health? New-generation GLP-1 drugs, such as retatrutide, are achieving higher rates of weight loss. How much weight is too much and too fast to lose? Bethany Brookshire

Brought to you by Scientific American Join the SciAm Summer Reading Challenge! Fill your SciAm Summer Reading bingo card by exploring everything from eco-horrors to STEMinist romances to movie adaptations. After completing a square on the bingo card, tag us on social media or email contests@sciam.com for a chance to win one of 40 prize packages. Learn more.

Mathematicians sign declaration to rein in AI use A group of researchers have proposed rules to prevent artificial intelligence from overpowering humans in math Leila Sloman

Microsoft’s new quantum computer chip has a fundamental problem Microsoft’s announcement of a new quantum computing breakthrough with its Majorana 2 chip continues a trend of bold claims followed by scant evidence Joseph Howlett

Support science journalism you can trust with a subscription to Scientific American: Get 90 days of digital access for just $1!

For 100 years, scientists thought these red markings were natural—now researchers say they’re ancient human art A new analysis of red lines inside a cave in Wales suggests they were made deliberately by ancient humans some 17,000 years ago Adam Kovac

NASA’s Hubble captures gorgeous new photo of a spiral galaxy as it wanders through the Virgo Cluster Messier 88 is an active galaxy with a central supermassive black hole that is gobbling up gas and dust Adam Kovac

New protein-folding AI predicts the structures of 1 billion proteins The new open-source atlas, generated by an AI tool called ESMFold2, vastly increases the known protein universe Ewen Callaway, Miryam Naddaf, Nature magazine

China launches rival rocket to SpaceX Falcon 9 for the first time China apparently didn’t issue any airspace or maritime notices ahead of the maiden launch of this rocket on Monday Claire Cameron

How Gödel numbers let you do math with math itself By encoding mathematical statements into numbers, mathematician Kurt Gödel used ordinary arithmetic to check whether a statement can be proved Manon Bischoff

Trump administration takes aim at crucial ocean monitoring network The Ocean Observatories Initiative has been collecting data on physical, chemical, geological and biological conditions in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the past decade Adam Kovac

Top U.S. science funder slows research grants to universities It's not clear why the National Science Foundation may be limiting funding to certain U.S. universities Dan Garisto, Nature magazine

A new Ebola outbreak has killed hundreds—and the U.S. response is alarming experts A deadly Ebola outbreak is spreading fast—and U.S. cuts to foreign aid are making it worse Rachel Feltman, Tanya Lewis, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

Subscribe to this and all of our newsletters here. Scientific American One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10004 Support our mission, subscribe to Scientific American here Unsubscribe  |  Preferences Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us

Are memories transferable — or edible?

Season 5 preview of ‘The Joy of Why’; The dirt that refused to die; Space-Time entanglement and "magic" gravity; New episode of The Quanta Podcast

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser QUALIA | ALL TOPICS   Are Memories Transferable — or Edible? By CLAIRE L. EVANS In the 1960s, worm-training experiments and their strange implications captivated the nation. Our columnist follows the neuroscientists who have attempted to recapture the magic. Read the article THE JOY OF WHY   Season Five Preview of ‘The Joy of Why’ STEVEN STROGATZ and JANNA LEVIN The podcast is returning with 12 all-new episodes that will explore the biggest questions in basic science and mathematics. Read the article ORIGINS OF LIFE   The Dirt That Refused To Die By SIDDHANT PUSDEKAR Lifelike biochemistry continued to unfold in sterilized soil for six years, pointing to a metabolic theory for how biology began. Read the article QUANTUM GRAVITY   Entanglement Builds Space-Time. Now “Magic” Gives It Gravity. By CHARLIE WOOD In holographic theories, physicists may have traced the pliability of space-time to its quantum roots: a measure of quantumness known as “magic.” Read the article THE QUANTA PODCAST   What Actually Causes Lightning? Podcast hosted by HANNAH WATERS with CHARLIE WOOD Chains of high-energy electron avalanches may very likely be what makes clouds glow, flicker, and flash with gamma rays. But are they the elusive cause of lightning? Listen (Apple) | Listen (Spotify) Read the article Follow Quanta Unsubscribe | About Quanta | My Bookmarks Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2025 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010