Obelisks

Wow! Biologists seem to have discovered an entirely new kind of life form. They’re called ‘obelisks’, and you probably have some in you.

They were discovered in 2024—not by somebody actually seeing one, but by analyzing huge amounts of genetic data from the human gut. This search found 29,959 new RNA sequences, similar to each other, but very different from any previously known. Thus, we don’t know where these things fit into the tree of life!

Biologists found them when they were ...