From a new space telescope searching for the mysteries of dark matter to an ancient Polish grave surrounded by fears of the undead—and a fossilized pile of dinosaur poop containing clues to a prehistoric food web.

There’s plenty to explore in this week’s Science Stories with Joe Johnson:

• Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: NASA’s newest major space observatory launched August 30 and is headed to the Sun-Earth-Moon system’s L2 region, roughly 930,000 miles from Earth. It is designed to study dark matter, map millions of galaxies in three dimensions, and search for exoplanets using gravitational lensing. It is expected to begin observations in early 2027.
• “Vampire” burials in Poland: Archaeologists have uncovered unusual 17th-century burials believed to reflect fears that the dead could return and harm the living. One young woman was buried with a padlock attached to her toe and a sickle across her throat—ritual measures intended to prevent her from rising from the grave.
• Dinosaur poop and a prehistoric food web: A fossilized dinosaur dropping found in Montana contains remarkably preserved remains, including a feather from a late-Cretaceous bird and fish scales. Scientists say the find provides a snapshot of a food chain from about 66 million years ago and may offer clues about why some birds survived the mass extinction while others did not.