Featured
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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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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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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 |
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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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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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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Obituary |
Frans de Waal (1948–2024), primatologist who questioned the uniqueness of human minds
Researcher and prolific science communicator who laid bare the social lives of apes.
- Andrew Whiten
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Book Review |
The comings and goings of ants: how are social skills shaped in an ever-changing world?
A colourful study of the natural history of ants that takes in dry deserts and lush forests aims to show that sociality is shaped by, and changes with, the environment.
- Seirian Sumner
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Book Review |
Survival of the nicest: have we got evolution the wrong way round?
How humans, animals and even single-celled organisms cooperate to survive suggests there’s more to life than just competition, argues a cheering study of evolutionary biology.
- Jonathan R. Goodman
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Nature Podcast |
Pregnancy’s effect on ‘biological’ age, polite birds, and the carbon cost of home-grown veg
We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Noah Baker
- & Flora Graham
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News |
Scientists made a six-legged mouse embryo — here’s why
A rodent with two extra limbs instead of genitals shows the crucial role of a gene pathway in determining the fate of a primordial structure.
- Sara Reardon
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News & Views |
Birds convey complex signals in simple songs
The quality of a bird’s song during courtship can influence whether a male is selected as a mate. An innovative approach using machine learning offers a way to analyse the characteristics of birdsong.
- Kate T. Snyder
- & Nicole Creanza
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News & Views |
The 50th anniversary of a key paper on how bird flight evolved
For a century, scientists pondered whether bird flight evolved by animals gliding down from trees or by creatures running and flapping from the ground up. A landmark 1974 paper reset the debate to focus on the evolution of the flight stroke instead.
- Kevin Padian
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News & Views |
Whales make waves in the quest to discover why menopause evolved
Why do several species of whale experience menopause, and why does the phenomenon occur at all? Analysing whale data might help to answer these questions and shed light on why menopause evolved in humans.
- Rebecca Sear
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Article
| Open Access
The evolution of menopause in toothed whales
A comparative analysis tests competing evolutionary hypotheses in toothed whales in which menopause has evolved many times as females extended their overall lifespan but not their reproductive lifespan, increasing their opportunity for intergenerational help without increasing intergenerational reproductive competition.
- Samuel Ellis
- , Daniel W. Franks
- & Darren P. Croft
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News & Views |
From the archive: Brain–body connection, and cuttlefish ink distracts predators
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News |
Got milk? Meet the weird amphibian that nurses its young
Some caecilians feed their young on a combination of their own skin and a nutrient-rich milk-like liquid.
- Freda Kreier
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News Q&A |
Meet the real-life versions of Dune’s epic sandworms
A Dune-loving worm palaeontologist makes the case that worms have been just as important on Earth as they are in the blockbuster film.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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Nature Video |
Bumblebees show behaviour previously thought to be unique to humans
The bees learn how to complete a two-step puzzle too complex to solve independently, by watching other bees.
- Dan Fox
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News & Views |
Bees and chimpanzees learn from others what they cannot learn alone
It has been argued that human culture rests on a unique ability to learn from others more than we could possibly learn alone in a lifetime. Two studies show that we share this ability with bumblebees and chimpanzees.
- Alex Thornton
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Article
| Open Access
Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone
Bumblebees can learn how to open a two-step puzzle box by observing another trained bee, indicating that these insects can use social learning to acquire a behaviour too complex to otherwise be learnt through individual trial and error.
- Alice D. Bridges
- , Amanda Royka
- & Lars Chittka
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Nature Podcast |
These tiny fish combine electric pulses to probe the environment
Elephantnose fish share electric pulses to extend their senses, and the bumblebees that show a uniquely human trait.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Benjamin Thompson
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News |
Genetics solves mystery of rare brown pandas after 40 years
Chinese researchers find the gene responsible for the brown-and-white fur of a handful of giant pandas in China.
- Xiaoying You
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Obituary |
Christophe Boesch (1951–2024), primatologist and chimpanzee champion
Zoologist whose understanding of chimpanzee behaviours has helped to assure their survival.
- Kathelijne Koops
- & Richard Wrangham
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Correspondence |
Train young scientists in taxonomy to help solve the biodiversity crisis
- Dasheng Liu
- , Julian R. Thompson
- & Henglun Shen
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them
Endangered apes are increasingly being put at risk by human diseases.
- Rachel Nuwer
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Book Review |
How our love of pets grew from a clash of world views
Indigenous Americans’ relationships with and knowledge of animals have influenced how Europeans have thought about animals since 1492.
- Surekha Davies
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Nature Podcast |
How whales sing without drowning, an anatomical mystery solved
Baleen whales sing using a modified larynx, but this leaves them them unable to escape human noise.
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News & Views |
An innovative way for whales to sing
Mammals make sounds when air flow causes paired tissue folds in their voice box to oscillate. However, such air flow in the baleen group of whales takes an unusual path, enabling them to make sounds in a previously unknown way.
- Joy S. Reidenberg
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Obituary |
Claus Nielsen (1938–2024), zoologist of invertebrates
Danish marine biologist who proposed that the last common ancestor of flies and humans resembled a swimming larva.
- Max Telford
- , Andreas Hejnol
- & Detlev Arendt
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Article |
Evolutionary novelties underlie sound production in baleen whales
Studies of vocal production in baleen whales show that their larynx has evolved unique structures that enable their low-frequency vocalizations but limit their active communication range.
- Coen P. H. Elemans
- , Weili Jiang
- & W. Tecumseh Fitch
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News & Views |
From the archive: Tutankhamun’s coffin, and Darwin shares a letter
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News |
200 years of naming dinosaurs: scientists call for overhaul of antiquated system
Some palaeontologists want more rigorous guidelines for naming species, along with action to address problematic historical practices.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Research Highlight |
What a tease! Great apes pull hair and poke each other for fun
The animals’ shenanigans hint that mischievous play evolved well before Homo sapiens did.
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Research Highlight |
‘Altruistic’ bull elephant seal lends a helping flipper
Male elephant seals generally have nothing to do with pups — but astounded scientists observed a notable exception.
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News & Views |
How population size shapes the evolution of guppy fish
A long-term fish experiment reveals how a mechanism called density dependence, in which the population growth rate slows as the number of individuals rises, affects population dynamics on time scales relevant for ecology and evolution.
- Bernt-Erik Sæther
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News & Views |
Absence of female partners can explain the dawn chorus of birds
Why birds sing intensely in a dawn chorus during the early morning has long been debated. Evidence gathered from observing birds in the wild offers a fresh perspective on what might drive this phenomenon.
- Diego Gil
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Nature Video |
‘Like a moth to a flame’ — this strange insect behaviour is finally explained
Many explanations have been put forward for insects’ attraction to light, but high tech cameras now suggest a different answer.
- Dan Fox
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News |
This fast-living marsupial chooses sex over sleep — and dies young
Male antechinus make the most of their single breeding season by forgoing shut-eye.
- Sara Reardon
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News & Views |
From the archive: the mechanics of athletics, and the eating habits of jellyfish
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News Feature |
Chimpanzees are dying from our colds — these scientists are trying to save them
Humans are increasingly passing pathogens to animal populations, imperilling endangered species such as chimpanzees and gorillas.
- Rachel Nuwer
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News |
This is the oldest fossilized reptile skin ever found — it pre-dates the dinosaurs
Permian-period petroleum helped to preserve minute scraps of pebbly hide that probably belonged to a lizard-like creature.
- Emma Marris
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News |
Why did the world’s biggest ape go extinct?
The 300-kilogram primate couldn’t adapt when a changing environment forced a dietary shift.
- Gemma Conroy
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Nature Podcast |
The science stories you missed over the holiday period
We highlight some of the Nature Briefing’s stories from the end of 2023, including a polar bear fur-inspired sweater, efforts to open OSIRIS-REx’s sample canister, and a dinosaur’s last dinner.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Noah Baker
- & Flora Graham
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News & Views |
From the archive: the other Darwin, and illegitimate access to honey
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News & Views |
From the archive: a towering legacy, and unseasonal wasps
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News & Views |
From the archive: waltzing mice, and Louis Pasteur’s beer battle
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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Nature Video |
Super-propulsion: how sharpshooting insects flick their pee
High-speed cameras reveal tiny insects employing a physical phenomenon, never-before seen in a natural system to avoid drowning in their own urine
- Noah Baker
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Nature Podcast |
The Nature Podcast highlights of 2023
The team select some of their favourite stories from the past 12 months.
- Benjamin Thompson
- , Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
Do insects have an inner life? Animal consciousness needs a rethink