Nature

The Mars InSight lander is equipped with a domed seismometer (left) and a probe for measuring heat flow (right).Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s InSight mission has finally peered inside Mars — and discovered that the planet’s crust might be made of three layers. This is the first time scientists have directly probed the inside of a planet

Scientists have found the genetic basis of ornaments in male swordtail fishes.  Males of many species have striking and beautiful ornamentation, which are, aside from helping find female mates, otherwise impractical. Scientists mapped these ornaments’ genetic bases in fish. Nature has innumerable examples of ornaments from mostly the males of various species. Such examples include peacock tail feathers, male rhinoceros beetle

Nature’s 10 is this journal’s annual list of ten people who helped to shape science in a given year. They might have been involved in making noteworthy discoveries, brought attention to crucial issues or gained notoriety for controversial actions. It is explicitly not an award or a ranking. Instead, it’s a way to highlight key

The Hayabusa2 capsule that landed in the desert in South Australia.Credit: AP/Shutterstock Japan’s mission to bring asteroid dust back to Earth has succeeded. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) confirmed on 14 December that a capsule from spacecraft Hayabusa2, which landed in the Australian desert last week, contained black grains from asteroid Ryugu. “The confirmation

A team of scientists found 20 new species and recorded 1,204 plants and animals in the misty forests of Zongo Valley Bolivia in an expedition done in March 2017. The expedition was organized by an international conservation organization, Conservation International, and was called the Rapid Assessment Program of the organizations. [embedded content] Trond Larsen, the

Just inside France’s border with Germany, enclosed between the Rhine River and the Grand Canal of Alsace, lies an island that is becoming a haven for biodiversity. The site, to the north of Basel, Switzerland, is being made into a conservation area in a joint project between the National Nature Reserve of the Petite Camargue

Human activities are damaging our marine environment, and ocean pollution threatens human health, a study revealed.  The research was conducted by an international research team that published their results in the journal Annals of Global Health. They wrote about the widespread damage inflicted upon the oceans by the actions of humans, which in turn also cause damage to human health. The researchers

Living cells can harbour protein aggregates with the properties of soft glasses. Credit: EYE OF SCIENCE/SPL Biophysics 14 December 2020 Odd protein droplets that behave like liquids make a smooth shift to having the properties of a solid. Some living cells contain protein clusters that behave like liquid droplets. But these droplets gradually stiffen with

Black vultures have been settling a town in southeastern Pennsylvania in astonishing numbers, settling on roofs and trees, defecating profusely, and causing substantial damage to properties in the tune of thousands of dollars. Resident John Enterline said the vultures were regular visitors in the previous years but this year the problem has become more extreme

The National Weather Service reminds everyone not to just think about tornadoes and severe storms but winter weather this holiday season. National Weather Service’s Krissy Hurley said that it is important to not let our guard down and make sure that we have winter weather safety kits. This important stuff maybe winter’s weather safety kits, battery-operated

A special military-grade infrared camera has been utilized to visualize the risks of the airborne spread of the COVID-19 virus. Winter is approaching while the United States continues to deal with the huge surge in new infections of COVID-19. So far, over 288,000 people in the US have already succumbed to the viral infection which public health officials are now saying is

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here Xinhua/Shutterstock) China has successfully launched a twin-satellite mission to investigate the most-energetic events in the cosmos. The National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences launched its Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor

The environmental authorities of Denmark are investigating the possibility that the millions of decomposing mink that were buried in dirt pits used as mass graves in the nationwide culling of mink farms could result in contaminated groundwater and be a threat to adjacent natural protected areas. The Environmental Protection Agency of Denmark fears that the contamination in the groundwater can affect lakes and streams nearby.The Danish Parliament

Credit: Getty If you’re an academic researcher, you must work on building meaningful relationships, also known as networking. Over time, as you show that you are a trustworthy colleague and can share ideas, skills and expertise, opportunities beyond collaborations can open to you. Building professional relationships can make the difference between staying professionally stagnant and

Mass extinctions in vertebrate terrestrial or land-dwelling animals such as amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds occur at a cycle lasting approximately 27 million years. This figure coincides with reported mass extinctions in ocean life in previous studies, as reported by a new publication by researchers in the Historical Biology journal. In addition, the study also found that the mass extinctions

Credit: Douglas Sacha/Getty Without easy access to our laboratories during lockdowns this year, I and other PhD students have shifted our focus towards data analysis and literature reading. But I struggled with that: I started my PhD programme in September last year and so didn’t have a lot of old data and work to catch

The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize an emergency rollout of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.Credit: Hugh Hastings/Getty A panel of experts has recommended that US regulators authorize the country’s first COVID-19 vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now expected to swiftly grant an emergency-use authorization that will allow the country’s

The Waorani tribe from the Amazon of Ecuador filed a lawsuit against the Chinese Oil Company PetroOriental on Thursday, accusing the company of contaminating their ancestral lands by flaring, the burning of natural gas from oil wells. The indigenous community is objecting to the practice of flaring where millions of cubic meters produced from wells

Rivers are a major source of renewable water, and provide food, jobs and a sense of place and cultural identity for people living in the vicinity. For many Indigenous peoples, rivers are central to how they understand themselves, their origins and their relationships to the rest of nature. As a citizen of the Penobscot Nation

Scientists have determined that for the first time in Earth’s history, the manmade mass of materials may now be outweighing all other life forms on Earth. They revealed their findings last Wednesday in a research that details this “crossover point” wherein the footprint of humanity is much heavier compared to the natural world. According to

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here Dams are just one type of infrastructure that can cause environmental damage.huseyintuncer/iStock/Getty The mass of human-made things just exceeded Earth’s total living biomass. Researchers compared the estimated dry weight of all living things on our planet

Credit: Getty While working as a postdoctoral researcher in immunology, I did some training to support my development as an independent scientist. I knew that getting a paper published in a high-impact journal would help me to land the funding to start my own laboratory, but I worried that, even if I got the money,

Many US regions have drinking water exposed to high amounts of arsenic. The national study on public water systems in the country discovered that levels of arsenic are not the same, despite the latest implemented national regulatory standard. Study assessed the differences in the arsenic content of public drinking water, separating them by subgroups geographically. It was conducted by scientists of

Children rarely show symptoms of COVID-19, even if they are infected.Credit: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Young children account for only a small percentage of COVID-19 infections1 — a trend that has puzzled scientists. Now, a growing body of evidence suggests why: kids’ immune systems seem better equipped to eliminate SARS-CoV-2 than are adults’. “Children are very much

California water scarcity has caused it to now start futures trading along with oil, gold, and various other commodities on Wall Street. This arose from speculations that water may turn scarce in most places in the world. It is now possible for municipalities, hedge funds, and farmers to bet on or hedge against the availability of water in the future

Credit: Taj Francis This supplement explores artificial intelligence (AI), one of the most rapidly advancing and controversial topics in scientific research. Driven by escalating computing power, expanding data sets, and algorithms of unprecedented sophistication, the number of journal and conference papers referring to AI in the Dimensions from Digital Science database increased by more than

1. Renard, D. & Tilman, D. National food production stabilized by crop diversity. Nature 571, 257–260 (2019). CAS  Article  Google Scholar  2. Mehrabi, Z. & Ramankutty, N. Synchronized failure of global crop production. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 3, 780–786 (2019). Article  Google Scholar  3. Cottrell, R. S. et al. Food production shocks across land and sea.

The mysterious illness in India’s southern state of Andra Pradesh has taken a more disturbing turn as authorities find excessive amounts of lead and nickel in the blood samples of the patients.  The mysterious illness was first reported on December 5 where more than 500 people in Andhra Pradesh’s Eluru town fell. The patients reported

South Africa’s publication-incentive scheme offers cash rewards when researchers publish journal papers.Credit: Shutterstock A survey of nearly 1,000 academic researchers in South Africa suggests that the majority are in favour of keeping a government scheme that offers cash rewards for publishing research papers in accredited journals, even though they agree that this can promote unethical

Last Monday, the EPA or US Environmental Protection Agency finalized its decision for setting limits on the amount of a certain type of air pollutant known as fine particulate matter or PM2.5. This limit, which is previously set, will now remain officially unchanged, despite the scientific research findings which say that more stringent limits or standards need to be imposed for it to save

Wall Disease Jessica Wapner The Experiment (2020) Since the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, border walls have multiplied, notes science journalist Jessica Wapner in her compelling, dispiriting, global survey. In the decade after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, 47 appeared worldwide; Wapner investigates their geography and psychological effects. “Wall disease” — a translation of Mauerkrankheit,

Giant pandas have thick coats but sometimes don an extra outer layer against the winter’s chill. Credit: Fuwen Wei Animal behaviour 08 December 2020 A steaming pile holds allure for giant pandas, especially at one time of year. Wild giant pandas sometimes mess up their neat black and white outfits by rolling in horse manure

A Singapore startup business wants to make roads made of plastic waste to help solve the growing worldwide plastic pollution problem. Singapore’s next step against plastic waste (Photo : Photo by Kin Pastor on Pexels )Plastic Waste May Pave the Roads of Singapore Soon Magorium is a company that breaks down various plastic trash and substitutes

[embedded content] Researchers claim to have reversed ageing in mice. It has long been believed that if we understand the causes of ageing, it may be possible to reverse it. New work on mice shows that it is possible to cure blindness caused by old age or injury. Researchers think that this effect may depend

An intense windstorm in Melbourne over the weekend flooded the suburb town of Hillside with almost waist-deep tumbleweed, stunning the residents with amazement and inconvenience.  The windstorm and tumbleweed flooding led to more than 200 calls to the State Emergency Service in the span of seven hours.  Other than a storm of tumbleweed, residents also reported downed

The pandemic is taking a toll on everyone — but the burden is larger for disadvantaged groups.Credit: Getty The coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire scientific world, but in unequal ways: although some scientists have been able to carry on with their lives and careers, many are struggling with family obligations, financial strain and tenuous

I have just spent six months in the Great Barrier Reef on the research vessel Falkor. Every cruise tackles cutting-edge science and, as lead technician, I’ve been able to witness so many firsts: the RV Falkor is the first ship to map much of this area at high resolution, and to put a remotely operated

A piece of good news for 2020: scientists discovered nests of “bum-breathing” Mary River turtle on an area previously thought to be outside their range. The newly discovered nest was found near Gympie by the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee, Tiaro Landcare, and Gympie Council while exploring the banks of Mary River, an activity which is

In Silico focuses on Henry Markram’s attempts to model rodent and human brains.Credit: Sandbox Films In Silico Director: Noah Hutton Sandbox Films (2020) In October 2013, I attended the launch of the Human Brain Project in Lausanne, Switzerland, as correspondent for Nature. I hoped to leave with a better understanding of the exact mission of

This season’s first and largest lake-effect winter snowstorm which started Tuesday caused 20 inches of snow in areas of Ohio such as Cleveland. The highest was seen in Thompson at 25.5 inches, followed by Concord at 24.6 inches, both of which are also in Ohio. The snow caused myriad travel difficulties as well as power

A team of conservationists, government officials, and local community members braved crocodile-infested waters and pulled off a successful rescue operation of a giraffe named Asiwa from a shrinking island in Kenya, the first of the eight giraffes that are due for rescue in the succeeding days.  The rescue operation entailed the construction of a giraffe-safe barge to

A common component chemical of tires has recently been discovered as the cause of the mysterious deaths of Coho salmon. Mysterious deaths It has been observed for several decades how coho salmon in urban streams living in the Pacific Northwestern region have been dying. Seattle started restoring the habitats of salmon during the 1990s and found that a maximum of 90 percent

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here Researchers have restored vision in old mice and in mice with damaged retinal nerves by resetting some of the thousands of chemical marks that accumulate on DNA as cells age. The work suggests a new approach

The Prime Minister (PM) of UK has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 68% by the year 2030, which is based on 1990 levels. According to the NAO or National Audit Office, this will affect our travel, our work, and our home heating, and our meat production. According to an NAO report, cutting carbon dioxide emissions is uncertain, although allowing temperature rise

Made, not born: blood-making stem cells (pictured) originate from cells that line the blood vessels. Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL Stem cells 03 December 2020 Sugars ‘write’ a signal that helps embryonic cells to transition to a vital new job. A ‘sugar code’ on the cells that pave the inside of blood vessels plays an important part

Two reports have been published by doctors pointing to climate change being the culprit in many illnesses and premature death, detailing the influence of global warming on human health. Comprehensive report World Meteorological Organization researchers published a report which showed the effect of the warmest decade on the health of millions of people, as they experienced extreme heat, wildfires, and floods this year,

Farmers who work in fields in India are especially at risk of getting bitten by snakes such as the Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii) shown here.Credit: John Benjamin Owens, MEFGL Bangor University/Captive & Field Herpetology Snakebites annually cost India’s citizens the equivalent of 3 million years of health and productivity. That figure, reported at a meeting

Crews living on Mars (artist’s impression) could survive on oxygen extracted from the salty water that permeates some of the planet’s soils. Credit: NASA/Clouds AO/SEArch Chemistry 04 December 2020 Water locked away in Martian sediments could be split into the gases needed by humans and their machines. A device that uses electricity to decompose water