Reuters Science News Summary

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Bones from Iraqi cave hint at violence and compassion in Neanderthals

The bones of a ​Neanderthal from a cave in Iraq's Kurdistan region are offering evidence of both violence ​and compassion in the closest evolutionary cousins of our species, exhibiting ‌a wound ​apparently from a fatal spear attack as well as signs of an earlier nonfatal injury that may have elicited kindly care. Researchers have discovered at Shanidar Cave in the Zagros Mountains of northern Iraq a partial skeleton of a Neanderthal, aged in the mid-40s, that included a left shoulder ‌blade, or scapula, with a circular hole six-tenths of an inch (15 mm) wide indicative of a deeply penetrating stab.

US company announces progress toward resurrecting the extinct dodo

A US biotech company says it is making progress toward its goal of resurrecting the dodo, the famous flightless bird with a large hooked beak, and returning it to its native Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, where humans drove it to extinction in the 17th ‌century. Dallas-based Colossal Biosciences said on Wednesday it has used a newly developed AI platform to identify genetic changes that may be responsible for the dodo's distinctive craniofacial traits as its scientists pursue gene-editing targets ‌to bring back this lost species.

CERN and Mistral partner to build Flare, a new AI model for physics

European physics research centre CERN and Mistral AI have established a long-term strategic partnership to develop a foundation model for scientific discovery, the two organisations said on Thursday. The statement of intent gives the French AI company access to one of the world's largest scientific datasets as it seeks to compete on frontier science.

Space startups secure record $20.8 billion funding as infrastructure bets surge, report shows

Space startups ⁠attracted a record $20.8 ​billion in funding in the third quarter, as investors ⁠poured money into launch providers, manufacturing and other infrastructure ventures, according to a report by global investment firm Seraphim. The figure was nearly triple the $7.4 billion invested in the second quarter and more than double the prior peak. Excluding Blue Origin's $10 billion ⁠financing, investment was still at an all-time high of $10.8 billion, underscoring growing demand across the sector.

Explainer-What is Starshield, SpaceX's military version of Starlink?

Ukraine said on Wednesday that Elon Musk's SpaceX had restricted "military-grade" Starlink services, hampering Ukrainian drone strike missions and ​air defenses. The complaint has drawn renewed attention to the distinction between Starlink, SpaceX's commercial satellite internet service, and Starshield, a military version developed for the Pentagon. While Musk has said the two ⁠systems are separate, in many cases they share the same underlying satellite technology.

Chinese fossil of bird with undersized wings scrambles avian evolution

Scientists have discovered the fossil of a crow-sized bird that lived in China roughly 150 million years ago and possessed undersized wings ⁠that ​may have made it more of a runner than a flier — a discovery that paints a more complicated picture of early avian evolution. The new Jurassic Period species, Yuezhuornis yangyuanensis, represents one of the earliest-known birds, similar in age to the famous Archaeopteryx from Europe. Yuezhuornis is puzzling for an early bird in that it seems already to have diminished the ability to fly in favor of running on ⁠the ground, perhaps somewhat like a roadrunner — a fast runner but clumsy flier that rarely takes to the air.

Large dogs age more quickly than small dogs at a molecular level

Few animals ⁠show the link between size and lifespan as clearly as ⁠dogs. Within this one species, large breeds such as Great Danes typically die younger than small ones such as Chihuahuas. A new study indicates the reason may lie in how DNA changes with age in dogs. Across mammals, bigger species like elephants usually live longer lives than smaller ones like mice, ‌but within a species that pattern ‌can reverse. Earlier comparisons across species linked certain biological mechanisms to exceptional longevity, but those are less ​suited to explaining differences among individuals within a species.