Featured
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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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Career Feature |
Breaking ice, and helicopter drops: winning photos of working scientists
Nature’s annual photography competition attracted stunning images from around the world, including two very different shots featuring the Polarstern research vessel.
- Jack Leeming
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News |
Monkeypox virus: dangerous strain gains ability to spread through sex, new data suggest
A cluster of mpox cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo sparks worries of a wider outbreak.
- Max Kozlov
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News Feature |
Lethal AI weapons are here: how can we control them?
Autonomous weapons guided by artificial intelligence are already in use. Researchers, legal experts and ethicists are struggling with what should be allowed on the battlefield.
- David Adam
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Research Highlight |
Dozens of genes are linked to post-traumatic stress disorder
Findings underscore that genetic factors contribute to development of the condition after a traumatic incident.
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News |
How to freeze a memory: putting worms on ice stops them forgetting
The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans is quick to forget a notable odour — unless it is chilled or given lithium.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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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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Comment |
Will AI accelerate or delay the race to net-zero emissions?
As artificial intelligence transforms the global economy, researchers need to explore scenarios to assess how it can help, rather than harm, the climate.
- Amy Luers
- , Jonathan Koomey
- & Eric Horvitz
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Article
| Open AccessMultimodal cell atlas of the ageing human skeletal muscle
The Human Muscle Ageing Cell Atlas provides a series of integrated cellular and molecular explanations for sarcopenia and frailty development in advanced ages.
- Yiwei Lai
- , Ignacio Ramírez-Pardo
- & Miguel A. Esteban
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News |
Do insects have an inner life? Animal consciousness needs a rethink
A declaration signed by dozens of scientists says there is ‘a realistic possibility’ for elements of consciousness in reptiles, insects and molluscs.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is ‘transforming’ because of repeated coral bleaching
The coral reef is experiencing its worst mass bleaching event on record — and warming waters brought on by climate change are to blame.
- Bianca Nogrady
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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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Outlook |
AI’s keen diagnostic eye
Powered by deep-learning algorithms, artificial intelligence systems could replace agents such as chemicals currently used to augment medical scans.
- Neil Savage
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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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News & Views |
Surprise hybrid origins of a butterfly species
Mating between different species has often been considered an evolutionary dead end, but a study in longwing butterflies suggests that such hybridization could underlie the origins of a new species.
- Megan E. Frayer
- & Jenn M. Coughlan
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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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News & Views |
Bacteria deploy umbrella toxins against their competitors
Bacteria make protein toxins to compete with other bacteria in microbial communities. A study of a common soil bacterium has revealed a previously unknown type of antibacterial toxin that forms a striking umbrella-like structure.
- Sarah J. Coulthurst
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News & Views |
An exploration of how the insect-wing hinge functions
The hinge enables insects to control their wing movements, but how it works is hard to study. Multidisciplinary research, using imaging and machine-learning methods, now sheds light on the mechanism that underlies its operation.
- Tanvi Deora
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News & Views |
The sympathetic nervous system arose in the earliest vertebrates
The sympathetic nervous system, which enables the fight-or-flight response, was thought to be present only in jawed vertebrates. Analysis of a jawless vertebrate suggests that this system might be a feature of all animals with a spine.
- Uwe Ernsberger
- & Hermann Rohrer
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News |
AI traces mysterious metastatic cancers to their source
Algorithm examines images of metastatic cells to identify the location of the primary tumour.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Outlook |
Exploring the lung microbiome’s role in disease
Unusual microbial communities in a person’s lower airways could influence the onset and progression of lung cancer and other conditions, and might point the way to therapies.
- Anthony King
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Article
| Open AccessHybrid speciation driven by multilocus introgression of ecological traits
Genomic studies of Heliconius butterflies provide evidence that Heliconius elevatus is a hybrid species, and that its speciation was driven by introgression of traits from Heliconius melpomene into the other parent, an ancestor of Heliconius pardalinus.
- Neil Rosser
- , Fernando Seixas
- & Kanchon K. Dasmahapatra
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Spotlight |
Deadly diseases and inflatable suits: how I found my niche in virology research
Virologist Hulda Jónsdóttir studies some of the world’s most pathogenic viruses at the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland.
- Nikki Forrester
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News & Views |
Coupled neural activity controls working memory in humans
How does the human brain temporarily store information without losing track of it? Neuroscientists have discovered that neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes work together to hold information in working memory.
- Ziv Williams
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Analysis
| Open AccessRefining the impact of genetic evidence on clinical success
Human genetic evidence increases the success rate of drugs from clinical development to approval but we are still far from reaching peak genetic insights to aid the discovery of targets for more effective drugs.
- Eric Vallabh Minikel
- , Jeffery L. Painter
- & Matthew R. Nelson
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Article
| Open AccessControl of working memory by phase–amplitude coupling of human hippocampal neurons
Hippocampal theta–gamma phase–amplitude coupling integrates cognitive control and working memory storage across brain areas in humans.
- Jonathan Daume
- , Jan Kamiński
- & Ueli Rutishauser
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Article
| Open AccessStreptomyces umbrella toxin particles block hyphal growth of competing species
Streptomyces are discovered to produce antibacterial protein complexes that selectively inhibit the hyphal growth of related species, a function distinct from that of the small-molecule antibiotics they are known for.
- Qinqin Zhao
- , Savannah Bertolli
- & Joseph D. Mougous
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Article
| Open AccessControl of neuronal excitation–inhibition balance by BMP–SMAD1 signalling
Signalling by the developmental morphogen BMP2 through the transcription factor SMAD1 has a key role in controlling the glutamatergic innervation of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons and maintaining the balance between excitation and inhibition in the mammalian cortex.
- Zeynep Okur
- , Nadia Schlauri
- & Peter Scheiffele
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Nature Podcast |
Keys, wallet, phone: the neuroscience behind working memory
Brain areas work in tandem to temporarily store important information, and an aurora on a cool brown dwarf.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Noah Baker
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News Feature |
What toilets can reveal about COVID, cancer and other health threats
Wastewater testing grew tremendously during the pandemic. But is it ready to tackle the opioid crisis, air pollution and antibiotic resistance?
- Betsy Ladyzhets
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Article
| Open AccessDNA glycosylases provide antiviral defence in prokaryotes
A screen utilizing an environmental DNA library in Escherichia coli is used to identify Brig1, a previously unknown anti-phage defence system with homologues across distinct clades of bacteria.
- Amer A. Hossain
- , Ying Z. Pigli
- & Luciano A. Marraffini
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Article |
Stepwise activation of a metabotropic glutamate receptor
We propose a model for a sequential, multistep activation mechanism of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5, including a series of structures in lipid nanodiscs, from inactive to fully active, with agonist-bound intermediate states.
- Kaavya Krishna Kumar
- , Haoqing Wang
- & Brian K. Kobilka
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Article |
Neural crest origin of sympathetic neurons at the dawn of vertebrates
Challenging the belief that sympathetic ganglia are an innovation of jawed vertebrates, a study reports the presence of sympathetic neurons in an extant jawless vertebrate, the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus.
- Brittany M. Edens
- , Jan Stundl
- & Marianne E. Bronner
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Article
| Open AccessNetwork-level encoding of local neurotransmitters in cortical astrocytes
A study investigates subcellular, single-cell and network-level comunication within the astrocyte network in response to the two major neurotransmitter inputs.
- Michelle K. Cahill
- , Max Collard
- & Kira E. Poskanzer
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Article |
Brain endothelial GSDMD activation mediates inflammatory BBB breakdown
Lipopolysaccharide-induced breakdown of the blood–brain barrier requires activation of GSDMD-mediated plasma membrane permeabilization and pyroptosis in brain endothelial cells.
- Chao Wei
- , Wei Jiang
- & Feng Shao
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Article
| Open AccessEnvironmental drivers of increased ecosystem respiration in a warming tundra
Datasets from in situ warming experiments across 28 arctic and alpine tundra sites covering a span of less than 1 year up to 25 years show the importance of local soil conditions and warming-induced changes therein for future climatic impacts on ecosystem respiration.
- S. L. Maes
- , J. Dietrich
- & E. Dorrepaal
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Article |
Machine learning reveals the control mechanics of an insect wing hinge
Measurements of fly muscle activity using a genetically encoded calcium indicator and high-speed imaging of wing movement were used to construct a model of the insect wing hinge and the role of steering muscles in flight control.
- Johan M. Melis
- , Igor Siwanowicz
- & Michael H. Dickinson
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Article |
Promiscuous G-protein activation by the calcium-sensing receptor
Structures of the human calcium-sensing receptor can be bound into complex with G proteins from three different Gα subtypes while maintaining G-protein-binding specificity.
- Hao Zuo
- , Jinseo Park
- & Qing R. Fan
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Article |
Biogeographic response of marine plankton to Cenozoic environmental changes
Analysis of a global dataset reveals spatiotemporal patterns of marine plankton and their biogeographical responses during climatic and environmental changes across the Cenozoic era.
- Anshuman Swain
- , Adam Woodhouse
- & Christopher M. Lowery
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News & Views |
A step along the path towards AlphaFold — 50 years ago
Paring down the astronomical complexity of the protein-folding problem, plus Isaac Newton’s ambiguous use of the word ‘axiom’, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
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News Feature |
Obesity drugs aren’t always forever. What happens when you quit?
Many researchers think that Wegovy and Ozempic should be taken for life, but myriad factors can force people off them.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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Research Briefing |
Long online discussions are consistently the most toxic
An ambitious investigation has analysed discourse on eight social-media platforms, covering a vast array of topics and spanning several decades. It reveals that online conversations increase in toxicity as they get longer — and that this behaviour persists despite shifts in platforms’ business models, technological advances and societal norms.
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News |
US COVID-origins hearing puts scientific journals in the hot seat
Politicians spar over whether academic publishers colluded with government scientists to suppress the lab-leak hypothesis.
- Max Kozlov
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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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Technology Feature |
A milestone map of mouse-brain connectivity reveals challenging new terrain for scientists
A pioneering ‘connectomics’ collaboration has successfully reconstructed one cubic millimetre of brain tissue, but researchers are still just scratching the surface of the complexity it contains.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Book Review |
Are women in research being led up the garden path?
A moving memoir of botany and motherhood explores the historical pressures on female scientists.
- Josie Glausiusz
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News |
AI now beats humans at basic tasks — new benchmarks are needed, says major report
Stanford University’s 2024 AI Index charts the meteoric rise of artificial-intelligence tools.
- Nicola Jones
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Research Highlight |
Biological age surges in survivors of childhood cancer
People who survived paediatric cancers age faster and are at higher risk of early death.
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News |
This fMRI technique promised to transform brain research — why can no one replicate it?
The DIANA technique sparked excitement from neuroscientists. But two new papers have cast doubt over the results.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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