The coco de mer (Lodoicea maldivica) has the largest seeds of any plant on Earth. Blickwinkel/Alamy
Plant sciences
Research Highlights
Selections from the scientific literature by Nature's news team
- Volume 548
- Issue 7665
Modern Australian black swans (Cygnus atratus) replaced a larger, flight-reduced species in ancient New Zealand. Michael Carroll/EyeEm/Getty
Animal behaviour
Mice act differently around mutants
Exoplanets
Snowball planets’ lifeless future
A sealant inspired by slug mucus successfully patched a hole in a beating pig’s heart. Jianya Li/Adam D. Celiz/David J. Mooney
Biomaterials
Slug-inspired glue stays sticky when wet
Nearby galaxies could be exchanging more matter than previously thought. Fred Herrmann 2014
Astronomy and astrophysics
Half of our Galaxy’s matter comes from far, far away
The stiffness of collagen (shown in blue) around cancer cells could be used to trigger the delivery of drug treatments. Linan Liu and Jenu V. Chacko
One of the ancient individuals sequenced by researchers puzzling out the history of the Canaanite people. C. Doumet-Serhal/The Sidon Excavation
Residents of Pacific islands might have to get used to more rain. Macduff Everton/Getty
Climate sciences
