Scientists Race to Preserve the World’s Disappearing Microbiomes: Scientists Mathilde Poyet and Mathieu Groussin created the Global Microbiome Conservancy to collect and preserve live bacteria from human microbiomes worldwide, especially from communities long excluded from research. Most microbiome studies have focused on wealthy Western populations, leaving vast microbial diversity unexplored. Their expeditions to places such as Paraguay, Tanzania, Nepal, and Borneo aim to understand how diet, antibiotics, urbanization, sanitation, and lifestyle reshape gut ecosystems. Early findings suggest industrialization can reduce microbial diversity, increase gene swapping, and alter links between bacteria and health. But the work also challenges simplistic ideas of “healthy” microbiomes, showing that microbial communities are deeply context-dependent. The conservancy’s larger goal is to build a global record before key microbial ecosystems vanish. (New York Times)

Ice Giants May Not Be Very Icy After All: Uranus and Neptune have long been labeled “ice giants,” but planetary scientists increasingly suspect the term may be misleading. Voyager 2 provided the only close-up data, and newer models suggest the planets may contain far less water ice than once assumed. Some researchers propose interiors dominated by molten rock, with hydrogen and helium dissolved into high-pressure magma oceans. Others argue for methane-rich interiors, carbon monoxide-heavy compositions, or stratified layers with more rock than ice. The uncertainty matters because Uranus and Neptune preserve clues about the early Solar System and resemble common exoplanets called sub-Neptunes. Scientists say only a dedicated orbiter and probe mission can settle the question. Until then, even their names remain up for debate.

Oldest Known Crinoid Soft Tissue Found in 450-Million-Year-Old Fossil: University of Oklahoma researchers report exceptionally preserved soft tissue in Dendrocrinus simcoensis, a 450-million-year-old crinoid from the earliest coral reefs. Crinoids, or sea lilies, are echinoderms related to starfish and sea urchins, but their delicate tissues almost never fossilize. This specimen preserves tube feet, the tiny feeding structures used to capture food particles, making it only the second known example of crinoid soft-tissue preservation and the oldest yet identified. The find helps scientists reconstruct how ancient crinoids fed and interacted with Ordovician reef ecosystems. It also shows that even heavily studied fossil groups can still reveal rare biological details when preservation conditions are unusually favorable. (University of Oklahoma)

Cambrian Fossil Illuminates Origins of Spiders and Scorpions: A new Nature study uses X-ray microtomography to reconstruct the three-dimensional anatomy of Urokodia aequalis, a 518-million-year-old euarthropod from China’s Chengjiang biota. The fossil preserves key details of the head and trunk that clarify how early arthropod appendages evolved into the chelicerae of modern spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Researchers describe pincer-like “short great appendages” behind the eyes, bridging older Cambrian limb forms and true chelicerae. The trunk limbs also support ideas about how book gills originated in the chelicerate lineage. The specimen is small, but its anatomy places it near the base of the chelicerate evolutionary tree, filling a major gap in arthropod origins. (Nature)

Did Dinosaurs Help Early Flowering Plants Spread Fruit Seeds?: A Science study covered by Smithsonian Magazine suggests some early flowering plants may have evolved fleshy fruits earlier than previously known, possibly relying on dinosaurs to eat and disperse their seeds. Fossils from New Mexico’s “Dori’s tuff,” a volcanic ash-preserved Late Cretaceous deposit dated to about 74.6 million years ago, reveal blueberry-sized fruits in an ancient tropical forest. That pushes evidence for relatively large fleshy fruits back by roughly 10 million years. The finding strengthens the idea that plant evolution was shaped not only by insects and climate, but also by large vertebrate herbivores moving through Cretaceous forests. It also adds texture to the ecological world dinosaurs inhabited just before the end-Cretaceous extinction. (Smithsonian Magazine)

New Argentine Fossil Extends a Southern-Hemisphere Marine Reptile: A current Palaeontologia Electronica paper reports the first Argentine record of Tuarangisaurus keyesi, an elasmosaurid plesiosaur previously known from New Zealand. The fossil comes from the Maastrichtian Lefipán Formation in Chubut, Patagonia, and includes an unusually well-preserved skull, neck elements, limb bones, ribs, and gastroliths. Its anatomy supports referral to Tuarangisaurus and helps clarify the distribution of Weddellonectia, a southern high-latitude plesiosaur group. The preserved hyoid apparatus also supports a ram-feeding interpretation, suggesting the animal may have captured prey by rapid forward movement rather than suction or biting alone. The discovery links Patagonia and New Zealand across Late Cretaceous marine ecosystems and adds one of Argentina’s best-preserved elasmosaurid specimens. (Palaeo Electronica)

Polish Jurassic Sponge Reefs Reveal Rich Decapod Life: A current Palaeontologia Electronica study describes a diverse assemblage of Kimmeridgian decapod crustaceans from sponge-dominated reef deposits at Lisowice in southern Poland. The authors report 14 species in nine genera, including members of Anomura and Brachyura, from early Kimmeridgian macrobenthic communities. The site now stands out as the most species-rich early Kimmeridgian decapod locality known from a sponge reef paleoenvironment. Four taxa are reported from Poland for the first time, while eight have expanded stratigraphic ranges. The study highlights how Late Jurassic reef systems could drive crustacean diversification by creating complex seafloor habitats. It also shows that sponge biostromes and bioherms were not ecological backwaters, but active centers of invertebrate evolution. (Palaeo Electronica)

Fossils Suggest Warming Oceans Make Marine Animals Shrink: A new paleontological analysis reported by Phys.org finds that climate warming has repeatedly been associated with shrinking body size in marine animals. Researchers analyzed nearly 9,000 size changes across fossil, historical, and modern records spanning more than 450 million years. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that current ocean warming is likely to produce similar reductions in body size across marine organisms. Smaller bodies can reflect metabolic stress, oxygen limitations, ecological turnover, or shifts in food webs. The fossil record matters here because it offers long-term evidence beyond short modern monitoring windows. The takeaway is sobering: size decline may be one of the most consistent biological signals of warming seas. (Phys.org)

Asian Mammals Rebounded With Size Before Specialized Teeth: A new eLife study covered by Phys.org examines fossil teeth from early mammals in China to understand how Asian ecosystems recovered after the asteroid-driven end-Cretaceous extinction 66 million years ago. The researchers analyzed 48 specimens from the Nanxiong, Qianshan, and Chijiang basins and found evidence that mammals first increased in body size before developing more specialized tooth shapes linked to dietary diversification. That sequence suggests “brawn before bite”: mammals may have expanded ecologically by getting larger before evolving more refined feeding strategies. The work is important because Asia remains underrepresented in studies of post-extinction mammal recovery, despite its major role in later mammalian evolution. The fossils help fill a geographic gap in the global recovery story. (Phys.org)

Plant Genomes Preserve 300 Million Years of Viral Fossils: INRAE reports that plant DNA contains a vast archive of ancient viral infections, offering a molecular fossil record stretching back hundreds of millions of years. In a study published in PLOS Pathogens, researchers examined genomes from 93 representative land plant species and identified more than 47,000 endogenous viral elements, fragments of viral DNA inherited across generations. The analysis uncovered 35 previously undescribed Caulimoviridae taxonomic clusters and suggests some viral lineages co-evolved with vascular plants over deep time. These embedded sequences also record host switches, lineage extinctions, and possible links to major Earth-history disruptions, including the late Permian and late Cretaceous crises. The study turns plant genomes into archives of ancient virus evolution. (INRAE)

New Zealand Mollusk Fossils May Help Predict Extinction Risk: A recent article from The Conversation, syndicated by Scoop, argues that New Zealand’s unusually strong marine mollusk fossil record can help scientists predict extinction risk before species disappear. The core idea is “extinction debt”: environmental damage may already commit species to future extinction even if they remain alive today. Fossils can reveal which traits made past marine invertebrates vulnerable, including limited geographic range, body size, and seafloor habitat. New Zealand is especially useful because its marine fauna is highly endemic and isolated, making long-term patterns easier to track. By comparing past losses with modern species traits, researchers hope to identify living mollusks most at risk and act before declines become irreversible. (Scoop)

A Tiny Orbital Lab Targets Aging-Linked Proteins: WIRED reports that British space startup Frontier Space has launched a grapefruit-sized autonomous laboratory into orbit to study disease-linked proteins under microgravity conditions. The device, built into a 10-centimeter pod from Tumbleweed, contains chemicals, sensors, and control systems designed to run self-contained experiments for several months. Researchers hope the weak-gravity environment will reduce convection and sedimentation, allowing measurements that are difficult or impossible on Earth. The initial focus is on disordered proteins associated with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and some cancers, with data intended to support future AI models of protein behavior. While not paleontology, it is a notable science-and-technology story because it combines orbital automation, biomedical research, and commercial space infrastructure. (WIRED)