Scientists have found that bacteria can create DNA in a completely new way, compiled the largest 3D map of the Universe, and also stated that artificial intelligence will soon destroy the humanities professions. About these and other science news – in the NM weekly review.
A new way to create DNA has been found
School biology textbooks say that DNA is copied strictly according to certain rules. However, recently biologists discovered in bacteria a completely incredible, previously unknown mechanism for creating this important molecule. This discovery literally stunned the scientific community and forced it to reconsider decades-old dogmas.
Scientists came to this amazing result by studying the bacterial defense system against phages (viruses that attack exclusively bacteria). In careful laboratory experiments, researchers observed how microorganisms try to escape infection. It turned out that bacteria use unique enzymes for emergency DNA assembly for self-defense.
It turns out that one of these enzymes uses an RNA molecule as a template for building nucleotides (the basic building blocks of DNA). Even more surprisingly, another enzyme helps synthesize DNA based on its own amino acid sequence. This discovery not only expands our understanding of the evolution of life, but in the future may provide medicine with completely new tools for genetic engineering.
Astronomers have created the largest 3D map of the Universe
An international team of astronomers has completed work on creating the most detailed and large-scale three-dimensional space maps over the entire history of observations. This project, covering millions of galaxies, can revolutionize our understanding of how the universe works and according to what laws it develops.
To achieve this result, the scientists used the DESI (Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument) on the Kitt Peak Observatory. For several years, astronomers have been scanning the night sky, collecting and analyzing light from distant galaxies. By measuring how this light is stretched by the expansion of the Universe, the researchers were able to very accurately determine the distance to objects and create a three-dimensional map of them.
The main conclusion that the researchers came to when analyzing the data obtained casts doubt on the standard cosmological model. They found that the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe, which is usually attributed to dark energy (the mysterious force that causes objects to repel each other), begins to weaken over time. This means that our physical laws may be incomplete and need serious correction.
Artificial intelligence threatens humanities
The development of neural networks scares not only science fiction writers, but also representatives of many modern professions. The CEO and co-founder of the large analytical company Palantir Technologies, Alex Karp, made a loud statement: he is confident that artificial intelligence will completely “destroy” the humanities in the foreseeable future. In his opinion, skills related exclusively to texts and their analysis will soon cease to be the prerogative of humans.
Karp and other experts came to this conclusion by observing the rapid progress in the field of large language models. Analyzing the speed with which modern neural networks learn to write articles, translate complex texts and even conduct philosophical conversations, experts realized that machines are already able to perform this routine work faster and cheaper than people.
Experts warn that humanities professionals will have to seriously rethink their role in the labor market. If previously it was believed that robots would only replace hard physical labor in factories, now the professions of journalists, translators, copywriters and basic analysts are under attack. However, this also means that people will simply have to develop new skills to manage these smart algorithms and guide their work in the right direction.
Comet 3I/ATLAS changes its composition on the fly
Astronomers were surprised to find that as it approached our Sun, the chemical composition of comet 3I/ATLAS, discovered in 2025, began to change in a completely unexpected way, throwing off old layers of matter.
Scientists were able to solve this mystery thanks to long observations in real time using the Japanese Subaru telescope. The researchers carefully analyzed the spectrum of radiation emanating from the comet’s coma (a cloud of dust and gas surrounding the icy core). They noticed that under the influence of solar heat, the color and structure of chemical emissions began to change dramatically, which allowed astronomers to virtually “peel back layers” from a space object at a great distance.
It turned out that the comet is losing tons of water vapor every second, and as its upper layers rapidly evaporate, more “fresh” material hidden deep inside is exposed. This unprecedented observation gave astronomers a unique opportunity to study the internal structure of an interstellar body without the need to send expensive space probes to it. Thanks to such data, we will be able to better understand what “building blocks” other star systems are made of.
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