Featured
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Obituary |
Arno A. Penzias (1933–2024), co-discoverer of the cosmic microwave background
Astrophysicist whose radio-wave observations confirmed the Big Bang origin of the Universe.
- John Bally
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Article |
A lanthanide-rich kilonova in the aftermath of a long gamma-ray burst
A modelling analysis shows that an unusually long gamma-ray burst gave rise to a lanthanide-rich kilonova following the merger of a neutron star–neutron star or of a neutron star–black hole.
- Yu-Han Yang
- , Eleonora Troja
- & Ignacio Pérez-García
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News & Views |
Rare isotopes formed in prelude to γ-ray burst
The afterglow of a long burst of γ-rays suggests that the events leading to these explosions can be sizeable sources of some of the Universe’s rare isotopes — and that classifications of γ-ray bursts are too simplistic.
- Daniel Kasen
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Article |
The Radcliffe Wave is oscillating
Spatial and kinematic analysis of the solar neighbourhood shows that the Radcliffe Wave, a wave-shaped chain of star-forming gas clouds, is oscillating through the Galactic plane while also drifting radially away from the Galactic Centre.
- Ralf Konietzka
- , Alyssa A. Goodman
- & Núria Miret-Roig
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Where I Work |
Building precision instruments to explore the cosmos
Phil Korngut tests NASA’s SPHEREx telescope under extreme conditions at his laboratory in California.
- Rachael Pells
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News |
The decimal point is 150 years older than historians thought
Origin of the powerful calculation tool traced back to a mathematician from the Italian Renaissance.
- Jo Marchant
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Article |
Rapid spin changes around a magnetar fast radio burst
X-ray observations of two large glitches bracketing a fast radio burst in the active Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154 reveal a connection between rapid spin change and radiative behaviours of the magnetar.
- Chin-Ping Hu
- , Takuto Narita
- & Keith C. Gendreau
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News |
This new map of the Universe suggests dark matter shaped the cosmos
The eROSITA telescope’s detailed pictures are among the most precise cosmological measurements ever made.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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Article |
A high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in a lensed AGN in the early Universe
JWST/NIRSpec observations of Abell2744-QSO1 show a high black-hole-to-host mass ratio in the early Universe, which indicates that we are seeing the black hole in a phase of rapid growth, accreting at 30% of the Eddington limit.
- Lukas J. Furtak
- , Ivo Labbé
- & Christina C. Williams
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Article |
A massive galaxy that formed its stars at z ≈ 11
A massive galaxy observed with the JWST indicates that the bulk of its stars formed within the first 500 million years of the Universe.
- Karl Glazebrook
- , Themiya Nanayakkara
- & Angel Chandro-Gomez
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Nature Podcast |
Smoking changes your immune system, even years after quitting
The lingering effect of cigarettes on T cell responses, and the Solar System's new ocean.
- Shamini Bundell
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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Article |
A recently formed ocean inside Saturn’s moon Mimas
An analysis of the orbital motion of Saturn’s moon Mimas shows that a recently formed global subsurface ocean lies beneath its cratered icy shell and that this ocean is probably still evolving.
- V. Lainey
- , N. Rambaux
- & K. Baillié
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News |
The Solar System has a new ocean — it’s buried in a small Saturn moon
The sea inside Saturn’s satellite Mimas formed in the past 25 million years, a blink of the eye in geological terms.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
JWST is most in-demand telescope ever — leaving many astronomers in the cold
Reviewers will probably approve only one in every nine research proposals submitted in latest application cycle.
- Rahul Rao
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Article
| Open AccessA dynamical measure of the black hole mass in a quasar 11 billion years ago
Using the GRAVITY+ instrument, dynamical measurement of the black hole mass in a quasar at a redshift of 2.3 (11 billion years ago) shows how the relationship between galaxies and black holes evolves with time.
- R. Abuter
- , F. Allouche
- & G. Zins
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News |
Near death experience — Japan’s Moon lander makes a comeback
After nine days in a state of suspension, the upside-down Moon lander has received enough sunlight to start operating again.
- Gemma Conroy
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News |
‘Sci-fi instrument’ will hunt for giant gravitational waves in space
An experiment has been given the go ahead to send lasers to orbit the Sun to hunt for gigantic ripples in space-time.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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News |
Black-hole observations solve cosmic-ray mystery
Data from an African observatory show that jets from a collapsed star are capable of producing some of the Galaxy’s fastest particles.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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Matters Arising |
Probing supernovae and kicks in post-supernova binaries
- C. Larsen
- , H. C. G. Larsen
- & T. M. Tauris
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Matters Arising |
Replying to: Probing supernovae and kicks in post-supernova binaries
- Noel D. Richardson
- & Jan J. Eldridge
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Nature Podcast |
Toxic red mud could be turned into ‘green’ steel
Researchers extract useful metal from industrial waste, and how analysis of blood proteins could help unravel the mystery of long COVID.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
China’s new dark-matter lab is biggest and deepest yet
The laboratory is scaling up its equipment to hunt for dark matter.
- Gemma Conroy
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News |
Japan’s successful Moon landing was the most precise ever
Landing within 100 metres of its target zone, the craft has pioneered a new image-based automatic navigation system. But its mission might be cut short.
- Ling Xin
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Article |
Stream–disk shocks as the origins of peak light in tidal disruption events
A three-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulation of a tidal disruption event (TDE) flare from disruption to peak emission shows how deterministic predictions of TDE light curves and spectra can be calculated using moving-mesh hydrodynamics algorithms.
- Elad Steinberg
- & Nicholas C. Stone
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Article
| Open AccessA small and vigorous black hole in the early Universe
An extensive analysis of the JWST-NIRSpec spectrum of GN-z11 shows a supermassive black hole of a few million solar masses in a galaxy 440 million years after the Big Bang.
- Roberto Maiolino
- , Jan Scholtz
- & Fengwu Sun
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Article
| Open AccessSulfur dioxide in the mid-infrared transmission spectrum of WASP-39b
Observations from the JWST MIRI/LRS show the detection of SO2 spectral features in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of the hot, Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b, suggesting that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres.
- Diana Powell
- , Adina D. Feinstein
- & Sergei N. Yurchenko
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Article |
A 12.4-day periodicity in a close binary system after a supernova
A stripped-envelope supernova, SN 2022jli, shows 12.4-day periodic undulations during the declining light curve, and narrow Hα emission is detected in late-time spectra with concordant periodic velocity shifts.
- Ping Chen
- , Avishay Gal-Yam
- & Lin Yan
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Article |
Ionized gas extends over 40 kpc in an odd radio circle host galaxy
We find that the optical emission due to ionized gas that is characteristic of a shock extends 40 kpc in diameter across the host galaxy of an odd radio circle.
- Alison L. Coil
- , Serena Perrotta
- & Kelly E. Whalen
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News & Views |
Neutrino secrets could be revealed by Earth’s atmosphere
Scientists typically look at the skies or take to the laboratory to probe the neutrino’s properties. But neutrinos produced in Earth’s atmosphere could reveal this long-sought information — and the experiments are already well under way.
- Josh Spitz
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Essay |
Does quantum theory imply the entire Universe is preordained?
The popular idea that quantum physics implies everything is random and nothing is certain might be as far from the truth as it could possibly be.
- Eddy Keming Chen
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Book Review |
Black holes, love and poetry — an artistic exploration of intimacy and adventure
A book by physicist Kip Thorne and artist Lia Halloran explores the mysteries of space through poetry and paintings.
- Ron Cowen
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Career Q&A |
Crossing the generational divide: what established scientists and early-career researchers can learn from each other
Astrophysicist and Shaw prizewinner Victoria Kaspi describes how science forums can help researchers of all ages to share ideas and career concerns.
- Kamal Nahas
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News |
The science events to watch for in 2024
Advanced AI tools, Moon missions and ultrafast supercomputers are among the developments set to shape research in the coming year.
- Miryam Naddaf
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Nature Podcast |
Navigating planets, plays and prejudice — a conversation with Aomawa Shields
The astronomer joins us to talk about her memoir Life on Other Planets.
- Benjamin Thompson
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News |
How a bullying scandal closed a historic astronomy department
Lund University in Sweden reorganizes in the face of years of accusations against two professors.
- Alexandra Witze
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News |
Korean lunar mission provides a view into the Moon’s dark spaces
South Korea’s first trip to the Moon has been labelled a success.
- Alexandra Witze
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Spotlight |
India’s year in science
The country has made history in many ways in 2023, but is it using science and technology enough to help its economic and social development?
- Jack Leeming
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Article |
A shock flash breaking out of a dusty red supergiant
A type II supernova (SN 2023ixf) was observed in the galaxy M101 at a distance of 6.85 ± 0.15 Mpc, at about 1.0 h after the explosion.
- Gaici Li
- , Maokai Hu
- & Eliot Herman
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News Feature |
The engineer who helped India to reach the Moon
Kalpana Kalahasti had a crucial role in ensuring Chandrayaan-3’s triumphant touchdown on the Moon.
- Jatan Mehta
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Spotlight |
I predict solar storms
Yoshita Baruah says understanding space weather has immediate practical applications for our technology-reliant world.
- Sahana Ghosh
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Nature Careers Podcast |
The Chandrayaan lunar landing and how it could impact India’s brain drain
Astrophysicist and university vice-chancellor Somak Raychaudhury outlines the significance of the country’s space programme.
- Jack Leeming
- & Julie Gould
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News |
‘Head-scratcher’: first look at asteroid dust brought to Earth offers surprises
Researchers have begun examining the pristine space rocks collected by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
- Alexandra Witze
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Where I Work |
Star-struck: living my childhood dream as an astronomer
Sthabile Kolwa uses data from South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope to shed light on black holes and how the Universe evolves.
- Linda Nordling
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News |
The best science images of 2023 — Nature’s picks
Cosmic dust, microscopic syrup, a flying gecko and more.
- Emma Stoye
- , Nisha Gaind
- & Carissa Wong
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Article |
Bipolar outflows out to 10 kpc for massive galaxies at redshift z ≈ 1
An ultra-deep MUSE image of the mean Mg II emission for a sample of galaxies at redshift z ≈ 1 suggests the presence of bipolar outflows on scales of 10 kpc or more.
- Yucheng Guo
- , Roland Bacon
- & Martin Wendt
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News |
Gravitational waves from giant black-hole collision reveal long-sought ‘ringing’
Researchers find massive merger’s signature aftershocks hidden in 2019 data from LIGO and Virgo detectors.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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Matters Arising |
Reply to: Accelerating ‘Oumuamua with H2 is challenging
- Jennifer B. Bergner
- & Darryl Z. Seligman
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