Featured
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Correspondence |
Real-world plastic-waste success stories can help to boost global treaty
- Haoxuan Yu
- & Izni Zahidi
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Editorial |
A DARPA-like agency could boost EU innovation — but cannot come at the expense of existing schemes
If Europe wants to create a high-risk, high-reward research body, it needs grass-roots backing.
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Correspondence |
Beware of graphene’s huge and hidden environmental costs
- Shijie Guo
- , Zihan Cai
- & Qingyuan Ding
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Correspondence |
Countering extreme wildfires with prescribed burning can be counterproductive
- David Lindenmayer
- & Philip Zylstra
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World View |
Expat grants won’t fix Brazilian research
Permanent jobs and fairer hiring practices would encourage overseas scientists to return.
- Juliano Morimoto
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News |
US funders to tighten oversight of controversial ‘gain of function’ research
New policy on high-risk biology studies aims to address criticism that previous rules were too vague.
- Max Kozlov
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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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Correspondence |
Climate-targets group should rescind its endorsement of carbon offsets
- William R. L. Anderegg
- & Libby Blanchard
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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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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 |
NIH pay rise for postdocs and PhD students could have US ripple effect
Salary increases for the 17,000-plus recipients of an NIH research award could lead to increases in other academic settings.
- Amanda Heidt
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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 |
The Middle East’s largest hypersaline lake risks turning into an environmental disaster zone
- Alireza Mohammadi
- , Ali Azareh
- & Moslem Sharifinia
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Correspondence |
More work is needed to take on the rural wastewater challenge
- Jinlou Huang
- , Duo Li
- & Xiao Jin Yang
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Editorial |
Any plan to make smoking obsolete is the right step
The United Kingdom is correct to attempt to end the single largest preventable cause of illness and death, as was New Zealand before its government changed its mind.
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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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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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Editorial |
UN plastics treaty: don’t let lobbyists drown out researchers
Tackling plastic pollution needs scientists to be in the negotiating room at upcoming talks.
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World View |
We must protect the global plastics treaty from corporate interference
A United Nations-backed agreement to end plastic pollution is within reach — but only if scientists, civil society and businesses unite against powerful vested interests.
- Martin Wagner
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News |
Smoking bans are coming: what does the evidence say?
Countries are cracking down on tobacco use and vaping — the laws could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars, say scientists.
- Carissa Wong
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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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Correspondence |
Use game theory for climate models that really help reach net zero goals
- Kathleen B. Aviso
- , Raymond R. Tan
- & Maria Victoria Migo-Sumagang
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Correspondence |
Female academics need more support — in China as elsewhere
- Daxin Wang
- , Yongbing Cao
- & Chuanli Ren
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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
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Comment |
Citizenship privilege harms science
Researchers from the global south face often-distressing immigration bureaucracy that most from the global north do not. Six steps can begin to counteract this inequity.
- Mayank Chugh
- & Tiffany Joseph
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News |
Revealed: the ten research papers that policy documents cite most
An exclusive analysis shows that economics and interdisciplinary teams get the attention of policymakers.
- Dalmeet Singh Chawla
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News |
What the India election means for science
With voting about to start in India’s general election, some researchers are concerned that sluggish funding growth and slow decision-making processes could hold the country back.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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Correspondence |
How to break big tech’s stranglehold on AI in academia
- Michał Woźniak
- & Paweł Ksieniewicz
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Correspondence |
Brazil’s postgraduate funding model is about rectifying past inequalities
- Lucindo J. Quintans-Júnior
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Correspondence |
Declining postdoc numbers threaten the future of US life science
- Anastasia Gromova
- & Steven F. Grieco
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World View |
AI-fuelled election campaigns are here — where are the rules?
Political candidates are increasingly using AI-generated ‘softfakes’ to boost their campaigns. This raises deep ethical concerns.
- Rumman Chowdhury
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Editorial |
The EU’s ominous emphasis on ‘open strategic autonomy’ in research
A reboot of the flagship Horizon Europe fund risks prioritizing a mindset geared towards security over open, future-facing research collaboration.
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Correspondence |
Cuts to postgraduate funding threaten Brazilian science — again
- Marcus F. Oliveira
- & Adriane R. Todeschini
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Correspondence |
Don’t underestimate the rising threat of groundwater to coastal cities
- Daniel J. Rozell
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World View |
‘Exhausted and insulted’: how harsh visa-application policies are hobbling global research
Institutions and individuals from low- and middle-income countries are wasting time, effort and money trying to get visas for research travel, only to be rejected. A new approach is needed.
- Sandra Owusu-Gyamfi
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Correspondence |
‘Global swimways’ on free-flowing rivers will protect key migratory fish species
- Twan Stoffers
- , Catherine A. Sayer
- & Fengzhi He
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News |
How to stop ‘passing the harasser’: universities urged to join information-sharing scheme
The Misconduct Disclosure Scheme would make it harder for perpetrators to hide their past, advocacy group says.
- Sarah Wild
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Nature Index |
Take these steps to accelerate the path to gender equity in health sciences
Without action, parity is still half a century away. We cannot afford to wait that long.
- Christina Mangurian
- & Claire D. Brindis
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Editorial |
Bring PhD assessment into the twenty-first century
PhD supervisors can learn a lot from innovations at other stages in education.
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Comment |
Why the world cannot afford the rich
Equality is essential for sustainability. The science is clear — people in more-equal societies are more trusting and more likely to protect the environment than are those in unequal, consumer-driven ones.
- Richard G. Wilkinson
- & Kate E. Pickett
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News |
Biden seeks to boost science funding — but his budget faces an ominous future
The US president proposes a 2025 budget even as negotiations continue over federal funding for 2024.
- Jeff Tollefson
- , Max Kozlov
- & Alexandra Witze
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Comment |
The world must rethink plans for ageing oil and gas platforms
Earth’s oceans are awash with ageing energy infrastructure. A change in the law is needed to ensure that these structures are decommissioned in ways that maximize environmental and societal benefits.
- Antony Knights
- , Anaëlle Lemasson
- & Paul Somerfield
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News |
Trump versus Biden: what the rematch could mean for three key science issues
Depending on the winner of November’s election, researchers anticipate two completely different paths ahead for the environment, public health and more.
- Jeff Tollefson
- , Natasha Gilbert
- & Mariana Lenharo
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World View |
Megafires are here to stay — and blaming only climate change won’t help
It’s not just global warming that’s driving the growth in destructive wildfires. Better land management is the first step to mitigating the risks.
- Renata Libonati