Research Briefing |
Featured
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News |
These crows have counting skills previously only seen in people
The corvids are the first animals other than humans known to produce a deliberate number of calls on command.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News & Views |
Seed-stashing chickadees overturn ideas about location memory
Certain neurons encode memories of events that occurred in specific physical locations known as place fields. Chickadees show patterns of neuronal activity that are specific to locations of hidden food but independent of place fields.
- Margaret M. Donahue
- & Laura Lee Colgin
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Technology Feature |
DeepLabCut: the motion-tracking tool that went viral
Mackenzie and Alexander Mathis were still early in their careers when their software created a sensation. Now they’re using it to support other young scientists.
- Jyoti Madhusoodanan
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News & Views |
Parental-care puzzle in mice solved by thinking outside the brain
Both parents of oldfield mice care for offspring, whereas in deer mice, mothers usually care for pups. The discovery of a type of adrenal-gland cell that is present in oldfield mice but not in deer mice helps to explain the difference.
- Jessica Tollkuhn
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Nature Podcast |
Lizard-inspired building design could save lives
How knocking down a building helped researchers design a safer structure, and a sustainable 3D printing resin made from a bodybuilding supplement.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Elizabeth Gibney
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Research Highlight |
These parrots go on killing sprees over real-estate shortages
Scientists recorded green-rumped parrotlets pecking others’ chicks to death, probably to claim the nest space.
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News |
Puppy-dog eyes in wild canines sparks rethink on dog evolution
The eyebrows of the African wild dog have scientists wondering whether other dogs can make the irresistible ‘puppy-dog eyes’ expression.
- Gillian Dohrn
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News & Views |
Streamlined skull helps foxes take a nosedive
Some fox species leap up and pounce head first into snow to capture prey that they hear below the surface. An analysis of the forces involved reveals how the shape of the skull has evolved to minimize damage from this behaviour.
- Mary Abraham
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News |
‘Orangutan, heal thyself’: First wild animal seen using medicinal plant
The Sumatran orangutan used a plant known to humans for its medicinal qualities.
- Gayathri Vaidyanathan
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Correspondence |
Zoos should focus on animal welfare before claiming to champion conservation
- Donald Broom
- , Hsiao Mei Yeh
- & Shawn Peng
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Research Briefing |
Elephant-nose fish ‘see’ farther by electric sensing when in groups
The elephant-nose fish senses its environment by emitting electrical pulses. A multi-pronged investigation suggests that this remarkable sensing ability is amplified in social groups by individuals ‘listening in’ on the pulses of their neighbours.
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News & Views |
Charles Darwin investigates: the curious case of primrose punishment
Birds emerge as top suspects for unexplained flower mutilation, and reflections from 1974 mark the 21st anniversary of the discovery of the DNA double helix, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
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News |
Your perception of time is skewed by what you see
Features of a scene such as size and clutter can affect the brain’s sense of how much time has passed while observing it.
- Lilly Tozer
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News |
Why queasiness kills hunger: brain circuit identified
Feelings of hunger, nausea and fullness seem to be governed by separate brain circuits, finds a study in mice.
- Gillian Dohrn
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Nature Video |
AI and robotics demystify the workings of a fly's wing
New research unveils the workings of one of the most complex bio-mechanical structures in the natural world
- Dan Fox
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Spotlight |
I dive for fish in the longest freshwater lake in the world
Biologist Carolin Sommer-Trembo describes her fascination for fish and why she enjoys doing science in Switzerland.
- Nikki Forrester
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Research Highlight |
A spa session for humpback whales
The gigantic animals have worked out an unusual way to exfoliate — a perfect way to deal with whale lice.
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Obituary |
Frans de Waal (1948–2024), primatologist who questioned the uniqueness of human minds
Researcher and prolific science communicator who laid bare the social lives of apes.
- Andrew Whiten
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Book Review |
The comings and goings of ants: how are social skills shaped in an ever-changing world?
A colourful study of the natural history of ants that takes in dry deserts and lush forests aims to show that sociality is shaped by, and changes with, the environment.
- Seirian Sumner
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Book Review |
Survival of the nicest: have we got evolution the wrong way round?
How humans, animals and even single-celled organisms cooperate to survive suggests there’s more to life than just competition, argues a cheering study of evolutionary biology.
- Jonathan R. Goodman
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Nature Podcast |
Pregnancy’s effect on ‘biological’ age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg
We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Noah Baker
- & Flora Graham
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News & Views |
Birds convey complex signals in simple songs
The quality of a bird’s song during courtship can influence whether a male is selected as a mate. An innovative approach using machine learning offers a way to analyse the characteristics of birdsong.
- Kate T. Snyder
- & Nicole Creanza
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News & Views |
Whales make waves in the quest to discover why menopause evolved
Why do several species of whale experience menopause, and why does the phenomenon occur at all? Analysing whale data might help to answer these questions and shed light on why menopause evolved in humans.
- Rebecca Sear
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Article
| Open AccessThe evolution of menopause in toothed whales
A comparative analysis tests competing evolutionary hypotheses in toothed whales in which menopause has evolved many times as females extended their overall lifespan but not their reproductive lifespan, increasing their opportunity for intergenerational help without increasing intergenerational reproductive competition.
- Samuel Ellis
- , Daniel W. Franks
- & Darren P. Croft
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News Q&A |
Meet the real-life versions of Dune’s epic sandworms
A Dune-loving worm palaeontologist makes the case that worms have been just as important on Earth as they are in the blockbuster film.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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Nature Video |
Bumblebees show behaviour previously thought to be unique to humans
The bees learn how to complete a two-step puzzle too complex to solve independently, by watching other bees.
- Dan Fox
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News & Views |
Bees and chimpanzees learn from others what they cannot learn alone
It has been argued that human culture rests on a unique ability to learn from others more than we could possibly learn alone in a lifetime. Two studies show that we share this ability with bumblebees and chimpanzees.
- Alex Thornton
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Article
| Open AccessBumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone
Bumblebees can learn how to open a two-step puzzle box by observing another trained bee, indicating that these insects can use social learning to acquire a behaviour too complex to otherwise be learnt through individual trial and error.
- Alice D. Bridges
- , Amanda Royka
- & Lars Chittka
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Obituary |
Christophe Boesch (1951–2024), primatologist and chimpanzee champion
Zoologist whose understanding of chimpanzee behaviours has helped to assure their survival.
- Kathelijne Koops
- & Richard Wrangham
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them
Endangered apes are increasingly being put at risk by human diseases.
- Rachel Nuwer
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Nature Podcast |
How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved
Baleen whales sing using a modified larynx, but this leaves them them unable to escape human noise.
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News & Views |
An innovative way for whales to sing
Mammals make sounds when air flow causes paired tissue folds in their voice box to oscillate. However, such air flow in the baleen group of whales takes an unusual path, enabling them to make sounds in a previously unknown way.
- Joy S. Reidenberg
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Research Highlight |
What a tease! Great apes pull hair and poke each other for fun
The animals’ shenanigans hint that mischievous play evolved well before Homo sapiens did.
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Research Highlight |
‘Altruistic’ bull elephant seal lends a helping flipper
Male elephant seals generally have nothing to do with pups — but astounded scientists observed a notable exception.
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News & Views |
How population size shapes the evolution of guppy fish
A long-term fish experiment reveals how a mechanism called density dependence, in which the population growth rate slows as the number of individuals rises, affects population dynamics on time scales relevant for ecology and evolution.
- Bernt-Erik Sæther
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News & Views |
Absence of female partners can explain the dawn chorus of birds
Why birds sing intensely in a dawn chorus during the early morning has long been debated. Evidence gathered from observing birds in the wild offers a fresh perspective on what might drive this phenomenon.
- Diego Gil
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Nature Video |
‘Like a moth to a flame’ — this strange insect behaviour is finally explained
Many explanations have been put forward for insects’ attraction to light, but high tech cameras now suggest a different answer.
- Dan Fox
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News |
This fast-living marsupial chooses sex over sleep — and dies young
Male antechinus make the most of their single breeding season by forgoing shut-eye.
- Sara Reardon
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News Feature |
Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them
Humans are increasingly passing pathogens to animal populations, imperilling endangered species such as chimpanzees and gorillas.
- Rachel Nuwer
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Nature Podcast |
The science stories you missed over the holiday period
We highlight some of the Nature Briefing’s stories from the end of 2023, including a polar bear fur-inspired sweater, efforts to open OSIRIS-REx’s sample canister, and a dinosaur’s last dinner.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Noah Baker
- & Flora Graham
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News & Views |
From the archive: waltzing mice, and Louis Pasteur’s beer battle
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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Nature Video |
Super-propulsion: how sharpshooting insects flick their pee
High-speed cameras reveal tiny insects employing a physical phenomenon, never-before seen in a natural system to avoid drowning in their own urine
- Noah Baker
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Nature Podcast |
The Nature Podcast highlights of 2023
The team select some of their favourite stories from the past 12 months.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
Reindeer can activate sleep mode while eating
Putting the brain into sleep mode helps to maximize food intake during bountiful Arctic summers.
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Nature Podcast |
What were some of the biggest stories of 2023? Join us for the Nature Podcast quiz!
In a game of twenty questions our contestants stretch their memories to remember some of the science stories that made headlines this year.
- Shamini Bundell
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News & Views |
Domestic cats eat whatever they can catch
A meta-analysis of the diets of domestic cats.
- Andrew Mitchinson
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News & Views |
How hyenas decide whether to form a lion-fighting mob
Monitoring complex hyena societies in the wild sheds light on factors that predict whether individuals will engage in a risky collective activity.
- Mary Abraham
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Research Highlight |
Dolphins have a feel for electric fields
The bottlenose dolphin’s keen ‘electroreception’ sense might help it to locate buried prey and navigate the seas.
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News |
This penguin survives on 4-second microsleeps — thousands of times a day
The power naps of the chinstrap penguin are even briefer and more frequent when it is tending eggs.
- Mariana Lenharo