Science · 1 October 2026 · From issue 46

Verification makes discovery matter

A top US health research funder will start paying to recheck old discoveries, not just fund new ones.

Jay Bhattacharya.

Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 6 October 2026. Read the source

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Also in issue 46 15 papers

A lung cancer vaccine plus immune drug brought immune cells into tumors but did not shrink them.
Nature Communications
Dust levels rose over nearly half of studied land during fast topsoil drying events.
Geophysical Research Letters
In mice, a three-armed flu drug clumped viruses together and beat existing long-acting drugs.
Nature Communications
People focus more on tasks that already feel easy, making hard tasks even harder.
Nature Human Behaviour
A computer program tracked grass pollen shapes to reveal 25,000 years of ecosystem change.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In mice and lab models, blocking a protein called PAK4 slowed melanoma growth and weakened its immune defenses.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In the deep sea, clams and their gut bacteria adjust teamwork when food gas runs low.
Science Advances
An AI beat the top human Stratego champion, a first for the game.
Nature
In a pulsar study, beam height shrank at low radio frequencies instead of growing as predicted.
The Astrophysical Journal
In yeast colonies, on-and-off drug treatment can free trapped resistant cells to spread.
Nature Ecology & Evolution
In lab solutions, layered polymer sheets melt apart in a set order and then rebuild themselves.
Nature Communications
Chemists confirmed a rare triple bond between uranium and carbon for the first time.
Nature Chemistry
AI now helps decide which science questions get asked and which evidence counts.
Science
In basalt rock, mild squeezing tilts tiny magnetic particles but barely shifts the rock's overall magnetic direction.
Geophysical Research Letters