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This week, a new study has found that bull sharks in Fiji have best friends and sharks that they actively avoid, Earth’s first-ever major extinction event might have been ever more disastrous than first thought, two strangely flattened skulls discovered in China are raising questions about their age and ancestry, and there could be as many as 150,000 missing deaths from the early COVID death data in the USA. Fluvial features on Mars go much deeper than previously thought, pushing back possible habitability by millions of years, and finally, as we gear up for the new blockbuster movie, we asked Project Hail Mary author Andy Weir just how you create an entirely new form of alien creature.
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Even 3-Meter-Long Bull Sharks Can Have Best Mates – "The Sharks Are Actively Choosing Who They Associate With"
The concept of friends in the animal world is one that’s been studied fairly frequently. We’ve learned that jaguars have best friends, and even female sperm whales can have a BFF. Now, a surprise new species is joining the social circle, as once-deemed solitary bull sharks are teaming up with their best mates and even forming social connections with a wider group. Read the full story here
The Forgotten Apocalypse: Scientists Think Earth's First Mass Extinction Has Been Hidden In Plain Sight
Waves of extinction have ripped through life on Earth over and over again during its long history. The non-avian dinosaurs were the last to feel the burn, 66 million years ago, but there have been several other surges of species loss before that. Now, a new study suggests scientists may have overlooked Earth’s first-ever major extinction event, an apocalyptic loss of life that was far more disastrous than previously thought. Read the full story here
"It's A Difficult Question": Why Researchers Are Divided Over The Age And Ancestry Of These Ancient Chinese Skulls
Human evolution is a fiddly business, and few fossils encapsulate that more than two skulls unearthed in Hubei Province, China, in 1989 and 1990. Both are relatively intact, but their long burial at the mouth of the Quyuan River has left them somewhat flattened, making it difficult to tell which of our ancient relatives they might have belonged to. Some argue Home erectus, while others argue for Denisovans. Why is it so hard? Read the full story here
Over 150,000 COVID-19 Deaths Could Be Missing From The Official US Data
The number of deaths from COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic in the US could have been substantially undercounted. According to a new analysis, 19 percent more deaths occurred than were reflected in official mortality figures. Some communities were at greater risk of being left out of the data than others, raising questions about how we could avoid a similar situation in a future pandemic. Read the full story here
Newly Discovered Buried River System On Mars Extends Possible Habitability Back Hundreds Of Millions Of Years
NASA's Perseverance has been exploring Jezero Crater for five years, traveling across the Western Delta, a river structure that has been seen from orbit and a crucial reason for sending the rover there. New analysis suggests that fluvial features are not just skin-deep in this area of Mars. They go down deep, providing new insights into what Mars used to be like. Read the full story here
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Feature of the week:
Project Hail Mary: Author Andy Weir On Creating Erid, Eridians, And The Curious Biology Of “Rocky”
What would it be like to wake up alone in space? If you asked Project Hail Mary’s Ryland Grace (played by Ryan Gosling in the new movie adaptation), we suspect he’d say two things: tubes. Lots of tubes.
The opening to this intergalactic adventure sees our unlikely hero grapple with a new and frightening reality as it’s revealed he’s trapped on a spaceship with no idea where he is or why he’s there – until he makes the grim realization that the fate of Earth rests on his shoulders. Ahead of the cinematic release, we caught up with Project Hail Mary author Andy Weir to find out how you invent an alien – or an alien atmosphere, for that matter – and what it was like to see his creation brought to life as a very real, very technical puppet. Read the full story here
More content:
Have you seen our e-magazine, CURIOUS? Issue 44, March 2026, is available now. This month, we asked, “Are We Really More Microbe Than Human?” – check it out for exclusive interviews, book excerpts, long reads, and more.
PLUS, the We Have Questions podcast – an audio version of our coveted CURIOUS e-magazine column – continues. In episode 18, we ask, “What Do Other Worlds Smell Like?”
Our Break It Down podcast now has a new monthly format, coming at you in both audio and visual. So tune in each month to hear about some of the wildest science stories and adventures we’ve been on. Kick off this month with “AI Assassins, Inside A De-Extinction Lab, And Life On Mars?”
The Big Questions podcast season 5 has now concluded, but here’s one more bonus episode to help see you into 2026: Can Magic Be Used As A Tool In Science? You can catch up on the whole of season 5 here.
