Futures |
Featured
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News |
Controversial virus-hunting scientist skewered at US COVID-origins hearing
Lawmakers interrogated Peter Daszak over his ties to China and whether his organization, EcoHealth Alliance, has been a good steward of taxpayer dollars.
- Mariana Lenharo
- & Lauren Wolf
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Editorial |
Why it’s essential to study sex and gender, even as tensions rise
Some scholars are reluctant to research sex and gender out of fear that their studies will be misused. In a series of specially commissioned articles, Nature encourages scientists to engage.
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Editorial |
Support communities that will lose out in the energy transition
Climate campaigners and politicians rightly concentrate on the benefits of clean energy — but without more support for those who are adversely affected, the backlash will only grow.
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World View |
How to meet Africa’s grand challenges with African know-how
Simple measures to strengthen the interface between science, policy and society in African nations could help the continent leapfrog others in sustainable innovation and development.
- Alfred R. Bizoza
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Comment |
We need more-nuanced approaches to exploring sex and gender in research
Some scientists are reluctant to investigate questions about sex and gender, particularly given today’s sociopolitical tensions around gender identity. But they should lean in and embrace the complexity.
- Stacey A. Ritz
- & Lorraine Greaves
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Comment |
Male–female comparisons are powerful in biomedical research — don’t abandon them
Binary sex studies have been denounced as too simplistic, but dropping them altogether would impede progress in a long-neglected area of biomedicine.
- Arthur P. Arnold
- , Sabra L. Klein
- & Jeffrey S. Mogil
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News & Views |
Resilience lessons from ancient societies are still relevant today
What lessons can we learn from the factors that govern the resilience of human populations? A large-scale analysis examining ancient societies around the world provides a detailed look at what drives sustainability.
- John Haldon
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News |
Chinese virologist who was first to share COVID-19 genome sleeps on street after lab shuts
Zhang Yongzhen shared the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 with the world, speeding up the development of vaccines.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News & Views |
How to stop students cramming for exams? Send them to sea
An innovative proposal to stop exam over-preparation, plus William Bateson’s 1924 take on the previous century of biology, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
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Correspondence |
Corrosion is a global menace to crucial infrastructure — act to stop the rot now
- Weichen Xu
- , Ruiyong Zhang
- & Donald Terry Greenfield
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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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Correspondence |
Climate-targets group should rescind its endorsement of carbon offsets
- William R. L. Anderegg
- & Libby Blanchard
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World View |
Why doing social science research is difficult in India today
With an election under way, the future of Indian science is on the ballot. Encouraging research and critical thinking should be a priority for the new government.
- Yamini Aiyar
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News Q&A |
The science of 3 Body Problem: what’s fact and what’s fiction?
Nature spoke to the sci-fi programme’s adviser and two other researchers about the portrayal of PhD scientists and their technologies.
- Sumeet Kulkarni
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News |
This social sciences hub galvanized India’s dynamic growth. Can it survive?
The Centre for Policy Research has lost its chief executive, most of its staff and is running out of cash.
- Michele Catanzaro
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health
New research is revealing the mechanisms linking loneliness and conditions like dementia, depression and cardiovascular disease.
- Saima May Sidik
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Career Feature |
Want to make a difference? Try working at an environmental non-profit organization
Moving to non-profit work requires researchers to shift their mindset to focus on applied science for policymaking and conservation practice.
- Natasha Gilbert
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News |
Future of Humanity Institute shuts: what’s next for ‘deep future’ research?
Researchers from several disciplines hope to predict — and prevent — scenarios that pose risks to humanity.
- David Adam
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Career Feature |
Scientists urged to collect royalties from the ‘magic money tree’
By joining a collecting society, researchers can ensure they are paid when copyrighted book content and papers are reproduced.
- Oscar Allan
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Essay |
‘Shut up and calculate’: how Einstein lost the battle to explain quantum reality
By suppressing questions they considered too ‘philosophical’, post-war physicists created an unquestioning orthodoxy that influences science to this day.
- Jim Baggott
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Outlook |
Are robots the solution to the crisis in older-person care?
Social robots that promise companionship and stimulation for older people and those with dementia are attracting investment, but some question their benefits.
- Tammy Worth
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News |
Judge dismisses superconductivity physicist’s lawsuit against university
Ranga Dias sued his university, in part, for allegedly conducting a biased investigation, which found he had committed extensive scientific misconduct.
- Dan Garisto
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News & Views |
Ancient DNA traces family lines and political shifts in the Avar empire
Genetic pedigrees spanning nine generations uncover the social organization of a nomadic empire that dominated much of central and eastern Europe from the sixth to the early ninth century.
- Lara M. Cassidy
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Nature Video |
Should the Maldives be creating new land?
The Maldives are racing to reclaim vast amounts of land to combat rising sea levels. But many are concerned that these efforts risk harming the paradise they aims to protect
- Shamini Bundell
- & Jesse Chase-Lubitz
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Arts Review |
Las Borinqueñas remembers the forgotten Puerto Rican women who tested the first pill
Clinical trials of the first oral contraceptive recalled in a bold theatre production.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
DNA from ancient graves reveals the culture of a mysterious nomadic people
Hundreds of genomes shed light on the marriage habits and social norms of the Avar people of central Europe.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Nature Podcast |
How gliding marsupials got their ‘wings’
Researchers find the genetic mutations that allow some marsupials to soar, and an ultra-accurate clock is put through its paces on the high seas.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Elizabeth Gibney
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Article
| Open AccessNetwork of large pedigrees reveals social practices of Avar communities
Analysis of ancient DNA from 424 individuals in the Avar period, from the sixth to the ninth century AD, reveals population movement from the steppe and the prolonged existence of a steppe nomadic descent system centred around patrilineality and female exogamy in central Europe.
- Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone
- , Zsófia Rácz
- & Zuzana Hofmanová
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Correspondence |
India’s 50-year-old Chipko movement is a model for environmental activism
- N. S. Prasanna
- & Gudasalamani Ravikanth
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Correspondence |
Chemistry lab destroyed by Taiwan earthquake has physical and mental impacts
- Fun Man Fung
- & Yi-Hsin Liu
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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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World View |
European ruling linking climate change to human rights could be a game changer — here’s how
The European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in a Swiss case cements the concept that climate inaction violates human rights — responsible nations around the world will take heed.
- Charlotte E. Blattner
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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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Book Review |
Dogwhistles, drilling and the roots of Western civilization: Books in brief
Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.
- Andrew Robinson
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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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Career News |
Londoners see what a scientist looks like up close in 50 photographs
Nature’s Where I Work images are being exhibited in the UK capital until June.
- Jack Leeming
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Research Highlight |
Burnt remains of Maya royalty mark a dramatic power shift
Finds in pyramid at Guatemalan site suggest that remains were disinterred and desecrated in a public ritual.
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Article
| Open AccessThe economic commitment of climate change
Analysis of projected sub-national damages from temperature and precipitation show an income reduction of 19% of the world economy within the next 26 years independent of future emission choices.
- Maximilian Kotz
- , Anders Levermann
- & Leonie Wenz
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Spotlight |
How young people benefit from Swiss apprenticeships
Computational biologist Jitao David Zhang says that the country’s vocational training programme teaches key work and life skills.
- Jitao David Zhang
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Spotlight |
CERN’s impact goes way beyond tiny particles
A global effort to uncover the nature of the Universe has had resounding effects on scientists and society.
- Nikki Forrester
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News |
Canadian science gets biggest boost to PhD and postdoc pay in 20 years
Government budget includes more money for basic research and notable increases to postgraduate stipends.
- Brian Owens
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News |
Humans and their livestock have sheltered in this Saudi Arabian cave for 10,000 years
Saudi herders have travelled the same routes for millennia, cave discovery suggests.
- Gillian Dohrn
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Correspondence |
It’s time to talk about the hidden human cost of the green transition
- Manuel Prieto
- & Nicolás C. Zanetta-Colombo
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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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Editorial |
How India can become a science powerhouse
As the world’s largest election kicks off this week, India has an opportunity to reimagine science funding.
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Career Feature |
Shrouded in secrecy: how science is harmed by the bullying and harassment rumour mill
Academics are calling for greater transparency in harassment cases. But do the benefits outweigh the risks?
- Sarah Wild