This Week in Science: Brain 'Rinse' While Zoning Out, 1,000‑sq‑ft Spider Web, Meteorite Hits Tesla, and More

This week’s highlights

This roundup covers recent research and discoveries—from why we sometimes zone out to a massive underground spider web, a suspected meteorite strike on a Tesla, challenges to simulation theory, and a troubling rise in reported cognitive difficulties in the US.

Fasting and cognition

A comprehensive meta-analysis finds that intermittent fasting and similar fasting protocols do not reduce cognitive performance in most healthy adults, although some evidence suggests children and teenagers may be affected. The authors say these results are reassuring for adults considering fasting for health or weight-loss reasons, but they note that more research is needed on younger age groups.

Meteorite suspected after Tesla windscreen damage (Australia)

In Australia, an object struck the windscreen of a moving Tesla, cracking and partly melting the glass. Museum specialists plan to inspect the windscreen for embedded particles and analyze their composition. If the mineralogy points to an extraterrestrial origin, mineralogists will then search the surrounding area for fragments to confirm a meteorite impact.

Brain 'rinse' while zoning out

New research suggests that brief episodes of zoning out—especially common after an all-nighter—may act like a short, sleep-like maintenance period for the brain. The study’s authors compare these lapses to bursts of microsleep during which the brain performs housekeeping tasks normally reserved for deeper sleep, temporarily reducing focused attention.

World’s largest cave spider web?

Scientists have documented what may be the world’s largest spider web inside a cave in Greece: a network of silk spanning roughly 1,000 square feet and hosting over 100,000 spiders. Beyond its size, the site is notable because surface-dwelling spiders appear to have adapted to a chemoautotrophic cave ecosystem and altered their social behaviors to thrive in this unusual environment.

Simulation theory challenged

A team of physicists argues that a fully algorithmic Theory of Everything is impossible, drawing on mathematical results about incompleteness and indefinability. They contend that a complete, consistent description of reality cannot be achieved through computation alone, which they say undermines the idea that our Universe could be a complete computer simulation.

Rising reports of cognitive disability in the US

An analysis of responses from more than 4.5 million people in the United States found an increase in reported serious cognitive difficulties between 2013 and 2023. Overall reports rose from 5.3% to 7.4%, while rates among adults under 40 nearly doubled (from 5.1% to 9.7%). Researchers urge further study to identify causes and public-health responses.

Also in this week’s science news

Other notable items included stories about blue dogs and gray hair, a mushroom-based computing experiment, reports of people hearing voices, unusual topics such as poop coffee and butt breathing, and research into a proposed ‘universal’ kidney and an unusual geological anomaly.

Read the full stories for more details on each item.