Senators have introduced new legislation aimed at clarifying patent eligibility criteria under Section 101. The legislation seeks to eliminate judicial exceptions to patent eligibility and outlines specific categories that are not eligible for patents, such as mathematical formulas not part of a certain invention, mental processes, unmodified human genes, natural materials, and processes that are economic, financial, business, social, cultural, or artistic in nature. The bill also allows courts to determine patent eligibility and limits considerations that can be taken into account. Senators Tillis and Coons believe this will bring clarity for inventors, particularly in fields like medical diagnostics and artificial intelligence, and help the United States maintain its competitive edge.

A leafless kauri stump in New Zealand, which remains alive despite lacking foliage, is sustained through underground root connections with neighboring trees. This phenomenon, observed for nearly two centuries, is rare and not fully understood. Forest ecologist Suzanne Simard's research on tree communication through fungal networks suggests a communal physiology among connected trees, likening forest ecosystems to superorganisms. The existence of such root grafts raises questions about evolutionary advantages and forest resilience, while also highlighting the risk of pathogen spread similar to social contagion. The research by Sebastian Leuzinger and Martin Karl-Friedrich Bader from Auckland University of Technology is timely given climate-induced forest dieback events.

Two days after Kurdish Peshmerga forces recaptured the Iraqi village of Shekhan from Islamic State fighters, the village was set ablaze. Kurdish fighters admitted to burning houses belonging to Arabs accused of supporting the Islamic State. The destruction of Shekhan, which was solely inhabited by Sunni Arabs, was not due to combat but rather to tensions between Arabs and Kurds in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan. Despite the Kurdish government criminalizing hate speech against Arabs, reports of discrimination and racism have increased. Some Kurdish refugees accuse their former Arab neighbors of collaborating with the Islamic State. Peshmerga officials have distanced themselves from the arson, while others, like Brigadier General Halgurd Hikmet, deny any involvement. The displaced residents of Shekhan deny supporting the Islamic State, and Amnesty International's Donatella Rovera has noted similar incidents of retaliation in other regions, though she refrains from calling it a pattern.