In
our
top
science
stories
this
week,
reporter
Ed
Cara
explores
the
similarities
and
differences
between
today’s
popular
obesity
drugs
and
fen-phen,
a
briefly
trendy
weight
loss
aid
that
was
pulled
from
the
market
after
doctors
discovered
dangerous
side
effects.
NASA
confirmed
that
a
chunk
of
debris
that
crashed
into
a
Florida
home
came
from
a
battery
pallet
ejected
from
the
ISS,
and
archaeologists
found
evidence
that
humans
used
a
lava
tube
as
a
shelter
over
thousands
of
years.
—Rose
Pastore
Two
recent
flybys
of
Jupiter’s
moon
Io
by
NASA’s
Juno
spacecraft
revealed
a
couple
of
stunning
surprises:
a
remarkably
steep
mountain
and
islands
in
the
middle
of
a
burbling
lava
lake.
-
Isaac
Schultz
Read
More
For
some
people,
Ozempic
and
its
ilk
are
simply
the
latest
iteration
of
a
well-worn
cautionary
tale:
too-good-to-be-true
weight
loss
aids
that
will
inevitably
prove
to
be
dangerous
and
even
deadly.
-
Ed
Cara
Read
More
The
pallet
packed
with
old
nickel-hydrogen
batteries,
photographed
shortly
after
being
released
by
the
Canadarm2
robotic
arm.
Photo:
NASA
Well,
this
is
awkward.
A
NASA
investigation
confirmed
that
a
small
piece
of
trash
tossed
from
the
International
Space
Station
(ISS)
survived
atmospheric
reentry
and
ended
up
in
a
Florida
home.
This
is
a
rare
case
of
space
junk
causing
damage
on
Earth,
and
the
homeowner
may
be
seeking
legal
action.
-
Passant
Rabie
Read
More
The
mouth
of
the
Umm
Jirsan
lava
tube.
Photo:
Green
Arabia
Project
Three
needs
are
famously
fundamental
to
survival:
food,
water,
and
shelter.
According
to
new
research,
ancient
humans
had
at
least
two
of
those
three
needs
met
by
a
nearly
mile-long
lava
tube
about
77
miles
(125
kilometers)
north
of
Medina,
Saudi
Arabia,
for
at
least
7,000
years.
-
Isaac
Schultz
Read
More
The
Lyrids
meteor
shower,
as
viewed
from
the
International
Space
Station
in
2012.
Photo:
NASA/JSC/D.
Pettit
We
haven’t
experienced
a
major
meteor
shower
since
the
Quadrantids
ended
in
early
January,
but
the
annual
meteor
drought
has
officially
ended
with
the
Lyrids
now
in
action.
Here’s
what
you
need
to
know
about
this
yearly
light
show
and
how
to
watch
it.
-
George
Dvorsky
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More
A
Zepbound
injection
pen
from
Eli
Lilly.
Image:
oleschwander
(Shutterstock)
The
newest
weight
loss
drug
on
the
market,
Zepbound,
might
also
help
keep
people’s
snoring
down.
On
Wednesday,
Eli
Lilly
announced
the
preliminary
results
of
two
Phase
III
trials
testing
its
drug
tirzepatide
for
people
with
both
obesity
and
obstructive
sleep
apnea.
-
Ed
Cara
Read
More
The
ISS
is
home
to
a
unique
population
of
microbes.
Photo:
NASA
The
International
Space
Station
is
home
to
crews
of
astronauts
conducting
research
in
low
Earth
orbit,
but
it
also
hosts
mutated
bacteria
that
are
thriving
under
the
harsh
conditions
of
space.
-
Passant
Rabie
Read
More
Much
of
the
ocean’s
life
remains
a
mystery
to
us,
but
an
international
team
of
scientists
has
just
filled
in
a
few
blanks
after
a
40-day
expedition
to
the
Salas
y
Gómez
Ridge.
The
ridge
is
a
lengthy
corridor
filled
with
over
100
underwater
mountains
that
extends
from
Chile
to
Rapa
Nui,
more
commonly
known
as
Easter
Island.
-
Ed
Cara
Read
More
It
could
be
worse.
At
least
these
Escherichia
coli
bacteria
don’t
have
fangs.
Illustration:
Kateryna
Kon
(Shutterstock)
Eat
your
heart
out,
A24:
Some
real-life
bacterial
germs
are
literally
hungry
for
our
blood,
new
research
suggests.
Scientists
have
found
evidence
that
certain
disease-causing
bacteria,
including
strains
of
Escherichia
coli,
are
chemically
attracted
to
the
serum
in
our
blood
as
a
source
of
food.
The
horrifying
findings
seem
to
explain
why
these
bacteria
tend
to
cause
life-threatening
sepsis.
-
Ed
Cara
Read
More
Depiction
of
the
binary
system,
in
which
a
star
orbits
the
unusually
large
stellar
black
hole.
Image:
ESO
The
supermassive
black
hole
at
the
center
of
our
galaxy
is
the
undisputed
heavyweight
champion
of
the
Milky
Way,
but
a
newly
spotted
object
takes
the
crown
for
the
most
massive
stellar
black
hole
known
in
our
galaxy,
weighing
in
at
an
impressive
33
times
the
mass
of
our
Sun.
-
George
Dvorsky
Read
More
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