Reviews & Analysis

Four future greenhouse gas emission scenarios for the global plastics system are investigated, with the lead scenario achieving net-zero emissions, and a series of  technical, legal and economic interventions recommended.

Snippets from Nature’s past.

The analysis of DNA sequences sheds light on microbial biology, but it is difficult to assess the function of genes that have little or no similarity to characterized genes. Here, scientists discuss this challenge from genomic and microbial perspectives.

A rare example of the reversal of a bacterial predator–prey relationship suggests that such species interactions are more complex than was realized.

Small groups of mobile neutral atoms have been manipulated with extraordinary control to form ‘logical’ quantum bits. These qubits can perform quantum computations more reliably than can individual atoms.

Measurements of groundwater levels in 170,000 wells reveal the global extent of groundwater decline. But the data also show that such depletion is not inevitable in a changing climate, providing hope for a resilient water future.

Millions of tonnes of ‘red mud’, a hazardous waste of aluminium production, are generated annually. A potentially sustainable process for treating this mud shows that it could become a source of iron for making steel.

Snippets from Nature’s past.

Mass-mortality events of predators are becoming more common, but their precise effects on food webs remain unclear. Experimentally induced predator die-offs led both to reduced predation and to fertilization from the bottom up. Together, these effects stabilized food webs.

A comprehensive analysis of satellite data finds that the Greenland ice sheet has lost more ice in the past four decades than previously thought. Moreover, the glaciers that are the most sensitive to seasonal temperature swings will probably retreat the most in response to future global warming.

Self-assembling DNA can process information, but the computations have been limited to digital algorithms. A self-assembling DNA system has now been designed to perform complex pattern recognition.

In heavy-fermion compounds, hybridization between mobile charge carriers and localized magnetic moments gives rise to exotic quantum phenomena. The discovery of heavy fermions in a van der Waals metal that can be peeled apart to a layer a few atoms thick allows these phenomena to be studied and manipulated in two dimensions.

A branch of computer science known as genetic programming has been given a boost with the application of large language models that are trained on the combined intuition of the world’s programmers.

Snippets from Nature’s past.

LINE-1 DNA elements self-duplicate, inserting the copy into new regions of the genome — a key process in chromosome evolution. Structures of the machinery that performs this process in humans are now reported.

GPS data reveal that young people encounter fewer individuals from diverse groups than do adults. The isolation of young people is exacerbated in larger cities, and for those living in poverty.

Materials that adhere tightly to human tissues can promote healing and boost the sensitivity of biomedical diagnostic devices. An ‘evolving’ gel has been made that synergizes two strategies for forming interfaces with tissue.

Tracking the gene-expression profiles of individual cerebellar cells during development in humans, mice and opossums revealed evolutionarily conserved as well as species-specific cellular and molecular features.

DNA in the cytoplasm can be a sign of abnormalities such as viral infections or cancer. A protein with a role in DNA-damage response was unexpectedly found to activate defences against the threats indicated by cytoplasmic DNA.

This study reveals a distinctive network of lymphatic vessels at the back of the nose that serves as a major hub for the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to deep cervical lymph nodes in the neck. These deep cervical lymphatics remain intact with ageing, and their pharmacological activation enhanced CSF drainage in mice.