Book Review |
Featured
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News |
France’s research mega-campus faces leadership crisis
The contest to elect the next president of Paris-Saclay University has collapsed, reflecting wider issues at the giant research centre.
- Barbara Casassus
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Career Feature |
Hunger on campus: why US PhD students are fighting over food
Graduate students are relying on donated and discounted food in the struggle to make ends meet.
- Laurie Udesky
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Book Review |
Smarty plants? Controversial plant-intelligence studies explored in new book
A deep dive into plant behaviour and consciousness asks why the topic has been taboo for so long, and whether botanists are changing their minds about plants’ cognitive abilities.
- Beronda L. Montgomery
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News |
Who’s making chips for AI? Chinese manufacturers lag behind US tech giants
Researchers in China say they are finding themselves five to ten years behind their US counterparts as export restrictions bite.
- Jonathan O'Callaghan
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Obituary |
Daniel Kahneman obituary: psychologist who revolutionized the way we think about thinking
Nobel prizewinner whose insights into the foibles of human decision-making launched the field of behavioural economics and sent ripples through all social sciences.
- Eldar Shafir
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News |
Mount Etna’s spectacular smoke rings and more — April’s best science images
The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.
- Emma Stoye
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Career News |
US National Academies report outlines barriers and solutions for scientist carers
Carers need better support from employers, such as paid parental leave, subsidized childcare and relief for other types of caregiving. But is there will among institutions to provide it?
- Amanda Heidt
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Career Feature |
My PI yelled at me and I’m devastated. What do I do?
It can be hard when junior scientists feel unsupported. Nature asked three scientists for their advice on how to respond.
- Nikki Forrester
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Nature Index |
Plagiarism in peer-review reports could be the ‘tip of the iceberg’
Researchers say swathe of copied text could indicate a widespread problem.
- Jackson Ryan
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Nature Podcast |
Sex and gender discussions don't need to be toxic
The science of sex and gender is too often misinterpreted and weaponized. Now, three experts cut through the misinformation in search of a positive future for this long-neglected area of research
- Lucy Odling-Smee
- , Florence Ashley
- & Noah Baker
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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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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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Spotlight |
I fell out of love with the lab, and in love with business
The COVID-19 pandemic changed Karolina Makovskytė’s career ambitions, propelling her to a business development role in her home nation of Lithuania.
- Jacqui Thornton
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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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Spotlight |
How I’m supporting other researchers who have moved to Lithuania
Biochemist Stephen Knox Jones chose a role in the Baltic country over other faculty positions in Denmark and the United States. He explains why.
- Jacqui Thornton
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Spotlight |
How bioinformatics led one scientist home to Lithuania
Juozas Gordevičius founded a data-science company in the United States before returning to Vilnius.
- Jacqui Thornton
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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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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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Spotlight |
A snapshot of Lithuania’s life-sciences landscape
Nature examines the Baltic country’s research ambitions as it marks 20 years of European Union membership.
- Jacqui Thornton
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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 |
Climate-targets group should rescind its endorsement of carbon offsets
- William R. L. Anderegg
- & Libby Blanchard
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World View |
Why doing science 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 |
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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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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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 |
How reliable is this research? Tool flags papers discussed on PubPeer
Browser plug-in alerts users when studies — or their references — have been posted on a site known for raising integrity concerns.
- Dalmeet Singh Chawla
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Technology Feature |
85 million cells — and counting — at your fingertips
Chan Zuckerberg CELL by GENE Discover aims to be a one-stop shop for single-cell RNA sequencing data storage, access and analysis.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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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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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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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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Nature Index |
Algorithm ranks peer reviewers by reputation — but critics warn of bias
There are questions about whether the tool, which could be used by editors to find and shortlist peer reviewers, would disadvantage inexperienced candidates or those in certain locations.
- Dalmeet Singh Chawla
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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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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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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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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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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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News Explainer |
Bird flu in US cows: is the milk supply safe?
Pasteurized milk is probably not a threat to people, but fresh milk droplets on milking equipment could be spreading the virus in a herd.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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News Explainer |
NATO is boosting AI and climate research as scientific diplomacy remains on ice
As the military alliance created to counter the Soviet Union expands, it is prioritizing studies on how climate change affects security, cyberattacks and election interference.
- Natasha Gilbert
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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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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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Editorial |
Retractions are part of science, but misconduct isn’t — lessons from a superconductivity lab
Journals, funders and institutions that employ researchers all want to produce or disseminate rigorous scientific knowledge — and all can learn lessons from misconduct cases.
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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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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