AI Agents Come to an Agreement, Gemstones on Mars, And More! : ScienceAlert

We understand how hectic your schedules are, so each week, we curate the essential science stories you need to know.

This Week in Science: AI organization improved, dolphins were observed teaching fishing techniques, and a novel allergy treatment showed encouraging results.

First up: 1,000 AI Agents Started Agreeing Without Anyone Directing Them

Also this week:

Continue reading below, and don’t forget to watch our TWIS video!

1,000 AI Agents Started Agreeing Without Anyone Directing Them

Picture a virtual room filled with 1,000 artificial intelligence (AI) agents, each tasked with choosing between two arbitrary options.

There is no correct choice. They receive no incentive for agreeing, no guidance to collaborate, and no leadership. Yet, some of the most advanced AI agents today can still reach the same decision.

This is more than a simple experiment. It indicates that large groups of AI agents might coordinate without centralized control, potentially forming collectives larger than informal human groups.

A recent study in Science Advances explains how this spontaneous consensus arises and explores its potential benefits and risks.

Read the full story here.

‘Very Unexpected’: NASA Rover Zapped a Rock on Mars And Found a Gemstone Surprise

In 2025, when NASA’s Perseverance rover used its laser to examine some pale rocks in Jezero Crater, scientists anticipated the usual findings.

However, what they discovered was entirely unforeseen.

The rocks contained a mineral never before found on Mars—corundum, the crystalline material forming rubies and sapphires—and even traces of chromium, imparting rubies with their characteristic hues.

Read the full story here.

Incredible Footage Shows Dolphins Hunting With Shells Off The East Coast of Australia – And Possibly Passing The Skill on

Dolphins off Queensland, Australia’s coast, have been filmed using a seldom-seen hunting method called ‘shelling’.

Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), known as ‘buthu’ in the Indigenous Butchulla language, are intelligent creatures known for using tools.

However, few people have witnessed the dolphins performing shelling, let alone captured it on video.

The newly captured videos from Hervey Bay were presented by researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast, detailed in a study in Marine Mammal Biology.

“The moment I saw that shell in the air, I knew what was happening,” behavioral ecologist Alexis Levengood told ScienceAlert.

Read the full story here.

The World’s Vegetables Are Vanishing, And It’s Quietly Wrecking Our Diets

Many people are not consuming enough vegetables, leading to health issues.

Moreover, the variety of vegetables being cultivated is dwindling, further reducing dietary diversity.

A new report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by international nutrition, agriculture, and botany experts suggests that embracing vegetable biodiversity is crucial for improving both human and planetary health.

Agriculture scientist Maarten van Zonneveld, who led the research at the World Vegetable Center, believes the current agricultural approaches are inadequate for addressing global nutrition challenges.

“The solution isn’t just about growing more vegetables – it’s about cultivating a wider variety of them,” he says.

Read the full story here.

First-of-Its-Kind Trial Against Food Allergies Yields ‘Exciting’ Results

Significant progress has been made in food allergy treatments, with oral immunotherapies and skin patches aiding in peanut desensitization for children.

An alternative method to retrain the immune system involves the gut, home to a vast array of bacteria and other microbes that influence health.

In a new trial, 15 adults with peanut allergies received capsules containing fecal microbiota—carefully processed communities of gut bacteria derived from healthy donors’ stool.

This method, known as fecal microbiota or fecal matter transplant (FMT), aims to ‘reset’ the gut microbiome and has shown promise in alleviating depression, inflammatory bowel disease, type 2 diabetes, and more (though it’s not effective for everyone).

Research also indicates that treating mice with selected gut bacteria cultures can suppress food allergies.

Now, preliminary human data suggest that FMT might offer similar benefits.

Read the full story here.

Pinot Noir Might Be Doomed as Droughts Become More Frequent

As Western Europe’s hottest summer on record draws to a close, vineyards across the world’s most renowned wine regions are starting their harvests early—if their grapes haven’t been scorched by heat and drought.

Evidence suggests that wine regions in Europe and worldwide will continue to face increasingly hot, dry conditions.

A recent study by viticulture experts from France, Germany, and Argentina examined how well two popular wine grape varieties—Pinot noir and Chardonnay—might endure as droughts become more common with climate change.

Read the full story here.

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