Nature

1. Bromberg-Martin, E. S., Matsumoto, M. & Hikosaka, O. Dopamine in motivational control: rewarding, aversive, and alerting. Neuron 68, 815–834 (2010). CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar  2. Kravitz, A. V. & Kreitzer, A. C. Striatal mechanisms underlying movement, reinforcement, and punishment. Physiology (Bethesda) 27, 167–177 (2012). Google Scholar  3. Vidal-Gadea, A. G. &

The world’s most massive iceberg named A-68a was dangerously headed into an island populated by a penguin colony. It broke into two pieces, scientists who have been monitoring its journey reported on Friday.  The enormous chunk of ice first broke off from the Antarctic ice shelf in 2017 and has been drifting since. The size

1. Husmann, D. & Gozani, O. Histone lysine methyltransferases in biology and disease. Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol. 26, 880–889 (2019). CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Article  Google Scholar  2. Bennett, R. L., Swaroop, A., Troche, C. & Licht, J. D. The role of nuclear receptor-binding set domain family histone lysine methyltransferases in cancer. Cold Spring Harb.

1. Ozbudak, E. M., Thattai, M., Kurtser, I., Grossman, A. D. & van Oudenaarden, A. Regulation of noise in the expression of a single gene. Nat. Genet. 31, 69–73 (2002). CAS  Article  Google Scholar  2. Elowitz, M. B., Levine, A. J., Siggia, E. D. & Swain, P. S. Stochastic gene expression in a single cell.

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted on Sunday, prompting Hawaii county Civil Defense Agency to warn residents to stay indoors. The eruption occurred in Halema’uma’u crater, where a new lava flow and a pool of water interacted inside the crater leading to a short-lived but fairly vigorous eruption. A steam cloud shot up at about 30,000 feet

1. Benner, S. E., Wahl, G. M. & Von Hoff, D. D. Double minute chromosomes and homogeneously staining regions in tumors taken directly from patients versus in human tumor cell lines. Anticancer Drugs 2, 11–25 (1991). CAS  PubMed  Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar  2. Turner, K. M. et al. Extrachromosomal oncogene amplification drives tumour evolution

When you hear an animal speaking, the first thing that comes into your mind is a parrot, right? However, scientists confirmed that this bird is not the only one capable of learning human speech.  (Photo : Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)A chimpanzee looks out from an enclosure after the official opening ceremony of Sydney Zoo

1. Gao, X., Xu, C., Asada, N. & Frenette, P. S. The hematopoietic stem cell niche: from embryo to adult. Development 145, dev139691 (2018). Article  Google Scholar  2. Hoggatt, J., Kfoury, Y. & Scadden, D. T. Hematopoietic stem cell niche in health and disease. Annu. Rev. Pathol. 11, 555–581 (2016). CAS  Article  Google Scholar  3.

Hear our reporters’ top podcast segments of 2020. Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 In this episode: 00:32 Following the Viking footprint across Europe In September, we heard about the researchers mapping ancient genomes to better understand who the Vikings were, and where they went. Nature Podcast: 16 September 2020 Research

A platypus whisperer from Tasmania surprises experts with his citizen science. The man has bonded with a platypus, an animal that is known to be very elusive. The man, Pete Walsh, comes from Hobart, the capital city of Australia’s island Tasmania state. Vonna Keller, his partner, named him “platypus whisperer” due to his special relationship with a platypus, whom they called Zoom. 

replying to K. Soltesz et al. Naturehttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-3025-y (2020) The accompanying Comment1 concerns our original paper, Flaxman et al.2, in which we introduced a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the transmission intensity (in terms of the time-varying reproduction number, Rt) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from observed counts of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related deaths.

A new population of blue whales was discovered by an international team of researchers in the western Indian Ocean. In a paper published in the Endangered Species Research journal, the researchers report that the newly reported blue whale song were recorded from Arabian Sea coast of Oman, crossing the Chagos Archipelago in the central Indian

arising from S. Flaxman et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2405-7 (2020) Flaxman et al.1 took on the challenge of estimating the effectiveness of five categories of non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI)—social distancing encouraged, self isolation, school closures, public events banned, and complete lockdown—on the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On the basis of mortality data

The Hayabusa2 capsule that landed in the desert in South Australia.Credit: AP/Shutterstock Asteroid dust recovered from Hayabusa2 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 the spacecraft Hayabusa2, which landed in an Australian desert last week, contained black

The rainforest is teeming with life, and are precious ecosystems that harbor 80% of the world’s entire terrestrial biodiversity of animals, plants, and other organisms.  This article features some of the most amazing rainforest animals that are currently being protected due to threats to their existence.  The mountain gorilla These primates are the largest extant primates and are our closest animal relatives together with

Climate comeback 2021 looks set to be a pivotal year for the fight against climate change. US president-elect Joe Biden has made clear that he will move to restore the country’s leadership in that regard, including by rejoining the Paris climate agreement to fight global warming. (President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of

Climate change is impacting the yields of the ‘red gold‘ saffron crop from Kashmir this year. The saffron fields that were once lush in bright purple now only have the bedraggled and thin flowers that farmers woefully harvest this year. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Pampore, south from Srinagar city, is

A Philippine pangolin pup nuzzles close to its mother, who is curled into a protective ball. Credit: Gregg Yan (CC BY-SA 4.0) Conservation biology 22 December 2020 The expertise of local people could help to protect an extremely rare Philippine species. The Philippine pangolin is a mammal of mystery: poorly understood, except that it is

After winning the US presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden moved quickly to begin naming the experts who will advise him on a range of issues — including science. He immediately announced a task force of public-health specialists who will counsel him on a strategy to curtail the coronavirus pandemic, and he has since created a

Scientists have seen how the Colorado potato beetle earns its reputation as a notorious pest because of its capability of resisting various kinds of pesticides. These beetles can overcome any poison thrown at them, including DDT, mercury, dieldrin, lead arsenate, and more than 50 other pesticide chemicals. They develop resistance against each of these within only several years. How can they

As an emergency physician, Megan Ranney is used to dealing with hard questions about injury and illness. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, she has found herself scrambling for answers. “I kept getting asked by people whether it was safe to do certain activities,” says Ranney. “‘Is it safe to go to the beach, or to

A new study has found evidence that exposure to metals may cause pre-term birth and low weight babies. Metals can change the concentrations of prenatal hormone composition during pregnancy, according to a study by Rutgers researchers and colleagues. Examples of such metals include arsenic, nickel, lead, and cobalt. They can disrupt the hormones of a pregnant woman while she is

In March, with its doors closed, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, let its Rockhopper penguins explore the place. Nature media maestro Tom Houghton (who illuminates the Nature Briefing) was inspired to enrich your day by hiding a Rockhopper in a scientifically fascinating location. Thus was born the legend that is Leif Penguinson and the

Climate scientist Kim Cobb speaks at a women’s empowerment event in Atlanta, Georgia.Credit: Lorikay Stone As the world hopes for swift roll-outs of COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, researchers’ ambitions are likely to still be constrained by the continuing pandemic and its effects. Amid shifting career priorities, Nature asked scientists for their advice to colleagues and

Two people, including a baby three months old, died in Cyclone Yasa, a category five storm that brought devastation in Vanua Levu, the second largest island of the nation Fiji, last Thursday evening. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed by Yasa, causing damages amounting to hundreds of millions in dollars. The full damage report is yet to

Regan will be the first Black man to lead the EPA.Credit: N.C. Department of Environmental Quality US president-elect Joe Biden has nominated Michael Regan, North Carolina’s top environmental regulator, to lead the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — and scientists and environmentalists are optimistic. Regan, who will now need to be confirmed by the US

The world’s ugliest orchid has just been discovered by scientists, and its scientific name is Gastrodia agnicellus. It is a native of Madagascar. A new species of orchid (Photo : Burian, R. Curtis’s Bot. Mag., 2020)The flower of Gastrodia agnicellus, showing the stem and part of the rhizome.Ranomafana September 2019. British botanists from the UK

Cemetery workers wear personal protective equipment to prepare graves for those who have died from COVID-19 in Juárez, Mexico.Credit: Mario Tama/Getty The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread — and Why They Stop Adam Kucharski Wellcome Collection (2020) COVID-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened and How to Stop the Next One Debora Mackenzie

When scientists began seeking a vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in early 2020, they were careful not to promise quick success. The fastest any vaccine had previously been developed, from viral sampling to approval, was four years, for mumps in the 1960s. To hope for one even by the summer of 2021 seemed highly optimistic.

A friendly deer named Carrot has been making waves online after it was photographed by a wildlife photographer based in Ontario to have survived an arrow shot through the head. Wildlife photographer Lee-Anne Carver of Kenora, Ontario has known the deer named Carrot ever since he was a fawn that passed through her yard. The carrot was

Taylor Engdahl’s motivation slumped after she ran a lonely marathon.Credit: Getty In 2020, I had one big personal goal: to run my first marathon, a Rock n’ Roll series race in Nashville, Tennessee. I had spent much of 2019 training. On long runs I would picture family, friends and strangers cheering me as I made

Winter weather mayhem is to be expected next week until Christmas. Meteorologists warn that weather issues may occur in the region of the Northwest up to December 24. A storm may develop in the Central US states and cause trouble by mid-week. There may also be small weather troublemakers which are a cause for monitoring, according to forecasters.

GHANA: We are building capacity Gordon Awandare In Ghana, the pandemic has not been severe, and deaths have been very low compared with those in other parts of the world. Our group was among the first to sequence SARS-CoV-2 in Africa. We achieved this because we are building capacity for next-generation sequencing for other research

The 305-metre radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico survived decades of hurricanes, including Hurricane Maria in 2017, and earthquakes, including unusually strong ones in early January 2020. It also survived attempts by its owner, the US National Science Foundation, to reduce its funding. But in the early morning of 1 December 2020,

The Kuril-Kamchatka Trench which is found in the Pacific Ocean is a microplastics trap. A new study led by Senckenberg Research Institute & Natural History Museum researchers Serena Martina Abel and Dr. Angelika Brandt looked at samples of sediment from the trench to look for microplastics. The results of their study were published recently in the journal Environmental Pollution. The study demonstrated that a single kilo of the sediment has

The molluscs called giant feathery shipworms use their long siphons (pictured) to wrestle for the chance to mate. Credit: Dr Reuben Shipway/University of Portsmouth Animal behaviour 18 December 2020 First footage of ‘pseudocopulation’ shows the lengths certain molluscs go to to mate. Researchers have captured videos of acrobatic styles of sex in shipworms, molluscs that

In Queensland, residents were plagued with heavy rains and floods, inundating Gold Coast residences and businesses. Gold Coast, Queensland residents devoted the morning to cleaning their surroundings after the torrential rains had passed and caused flooding in low-lying locations yesterday. A week of torrential rains (Photo : Pixabay)In Queensland, residents were plagued with heavy rains and floods, inundating Gold Coast residences

Rivers in the United States tend to be either yellow or, like the Tennessee River (pictured), green. Credit: J. R. Gardner et al./Geophys. Res. Lett. Hydrology 18 December 2020 In the past 35 years, some US waterways have become greener and others yellower, providing clues to ecosystem health. One-third of large rivers in the United

Benjamin Thompson, Noah Baker and Traci Watson discuss some of 2020’s most significant coronavirus research papers. Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 In the final Coronapod of 2020, we dive into the scientific literature to reflect on the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers have discovered so much about SARS-CoV-2 – information that has

A new study has found that kangaroos can learn to ask help from humans the way domestic animals like dogs and horses do. In wildlife sanctuaries and zoos, kangaroos have been observed to use various gestures and another body language when they want to ask people for help. This is a similar behavior employed by domestic animals like horses and dogs. It suggests

I study the structure and evolution of Earth. To imagine what Earth looked like millions of years ago, I probe the preserved recordings deep beneath our feet. For example, I look at 3D seismic reflections, essentially computed tomography scans of Earth, for clues to ancient volcanoes or mountain valleys, and I analyse rocks from 7

A huge winter storm passed through the region of the Mid Atlantic as it proceeded to the Northeast, which brought freezing rain, heavy snowfall, and hazardous roads. The storm is among the biggest in East Coast cities since the crippling blizzard in 2016 It resulted in pileups of dozens of vehicles in Clinton, Pa., with two dead. New York had a multi-car

Some members of Noam Shomron’s lab on a day trip in December 2019.Credit: Shomron lab Once a year, around the time that Christians celebrate Easter, Muslims celebrate Ramadan and Jews celebrate Passover, I invite my 24-person team to a festive dinner at my place. To accommodate the needs of all my students, the food I

Credit: Andrew Khosravani In contrast to the gut, which offers a near-ideal habitat for the growth of fermentative bacteria, the skin is an inhospitable expanse. Much of the epidermal layer that protects humans from the elements is dry, salty, acidic and nutrient-poor. The exceptions are the oases around lipid-rich hair follicles. Despite this adversity, a

A girl aged nine years old died after undergoing an asthma attack and has been considered as the first individual in the UK who died due to air pollution. Air pollution has been listed as the cause of death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, a UK resident living near Lewisham’s South Circular Road in southeastern London. She expired last

A cancer cell (green; artificially coloured) and an immune cell called a T cell. Obesity puts a strain on the body’s antitumour immune brigade. Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL Cancer 16 December 2020 Changes triggered by obesity help to give tumour cells the upper hand in the struggle for nutrients. Excess weight can increase the risk of

The burning of Madagascar forests intensified this year since the pandemic lockdown started to clear forests to grow food crops and fell trees for firewood. Hunting also intensified as the critically-endangered Madagascar lemur became food.  An article from National Geographic describes how the world is losing the critically-endangered Madagascar lemur in the face of the pandemic lockdown.

1. Rollison, D. E., Viarisio, D., Amorrortu, R. P., Gheit, T. & Tommasino, M. An emerging issue in oncogenic virology: the role of beta human papillomavirus types in the development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. J. Virol. 93, e01003-18 (2019). CAS  Article  Google Scholar  2. Strickley, J. D. et al. Immunity to commensal papillomaviruses protects