This week in science, 20–26 October

The main science news this week, 20–26 October, was a 150-million-year-old fossil described as an early bird, a driving record for NASA's Perseverance rover, a claimed first exomoon, a clinical trial of a cavity-stopping liquid, and a serious PHP flaw that reports say was found with AI help. Most of these are early or single-study results, so each comes with a caveat.

Last week's edition is in our science news roundup for 13–19 October. Many items below come from short summaries of studies rather than full papers, so treat them as first reports.

What did NASA's Perseverance rover achieve this week?

NASA's Perseverance rover set an off-world driving record on 21 October, helped by its self-driving system.

Curiosity returned images of wind-carved cliffs on Mars that may hold evidence of ancient volcanic activity. The word is 'may': the cliffs are a lead for further study, not a settled finding.

An analysis of 2,884 exploding stars, reported on 22 October, suggests dark energy may change over time, which would challenge current understanding. It is one analysis and needs independent checks. A claimed first moon beyond the Solar System, at least as massive as Jupiter and orbiting a brown dwarf, was reported on 24 October. It has been described as evidence and potentially historic, but it is not confirmed. For how to weigh such claims, see our checklist for evaluating a claim.

What is PHP2Shell, and do I need to update?

Reports say OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol model, working with Google's Wiz security agent, found two critical flaws in PHP, which were reported to have been present in every release since 2004. Emergency fixes were coordinated with Wiz, Cloudflare and US agencies including CISA, and reports say attack attempts are now in the millions. We could not confirm these details in OpenAI's own release.

Reports put PHP at 69.3% of websites whose server-side language is known. If you run a site, ask your host whether a patched version is installed. If you only visit sites, there is nothing for you to do.

Other AI news: Anthropic launched Claude Duet, a waitlisted preview for US Pro and Max subscribers that asks approval before sensitive actions such as payments. A US government clause on safeguarding data in large language model systems took effect on 19 October. If the terminology is new, our guide to what a large language model is helps. Nvidia unveiled the DSX Pod, a modular AI data centre it says can go live in 14 days, and Jensen Huang called humanoid robots the next great industry. Reports describe a £100 million UK AI Biosecurity Lab with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind; the funding figures are not confirmed as official.

Life and health: what the week's medical studies show

A simple liquid painted onto teeth stopped cavities without drilling in a major clinical trial involving young children. A clinical trial is stronger evidence than most items this week, though one trial is not the last word. An analysis of more than 91,000 people linked missing blood pressure medication to losing much of its protection against heart attacks and strokes; consistent users had an 11% reduction in major events.

Some results are associations, which cannot show cause. Two drinks a day were associated with a 1 in 25 lifetime risk of alcohol-related death. Low-dose aspirin was linked to a 70% lower relative dementia risk in older adults with a specific genetic profile. The summary itself flags a catch, so read this as an association only.

Lab and mouse work stays early. Pancreatic cancer cells were found reshaping their DNA to escape treatment, and switching off a protein called Mitch made human cells burn more fat. Lab and mouse results do not always carry over to patients. Our piece on what scientific consensus means explains why single studies deserve caution.

Earth, fossils and the past: volcanoes, a bird and a solar storm

The Kikai caldera in Japan is refilling with magma 7,300 years after a major eruption.

A 150-million-year-old fossil from China was described as an early bird with sharp teeth and a dinosaur-like claw. Scientists believe it is the earliest known example of flight, but we have not been able to confirm this independently.

A 178-year-old mystery concerns a train delayed by a solar storm; the incident is dated to 1848, not 1841. Tiny Southeast Asian snakes were also reported to roll up to four times faster than they slither.

Physics and chemistry: qubits, superconductors and the early universe

A quantum technique was reported to operate multiple silicon qubits at about 99.9% accuracy, which is described as a way past a scaling obstacle. We did not find this in a peer-reviewed paper in our checks.

A superconducting material studied for 40 years was found to have a hidden patchwork of crystal structures, revealed by 3D imaging. Helium formed in the first five minutes after the Big Bang was measured with unprecedented precision on 20 October, and a balloon-borne telescope revealed thread-like magnetic structures above the Sun.

What to look out for next

SpaceX's Falcon 9 Starlink 15-16 was scheduled for 26/27 October, carrying 27 satellites. Whether it launched was not confirmed when we checked. The next Starlink window, 15-18, opens 29/30 October.

Moonshot's Kimi K3.1 Pro has open weights due by 4 November, but they were not yet public. The week ahead brings the Fed decision on Wednesday, Microsoft and Alphabet results after the close, and Amazon results on Thursday. Anthropic is reported to be expected to file IPO paperwork publicly, which is not confirmed.