Nature

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

Human waste and the lack of adequate toilet facilities in US National Parks harm wildlife and streams, but an entrepreneur proposes a neat solution. For two decades, Mt Rainier national park ranger Richard Lechleitner dug human waste from backcountry toilets to carry it down from the mountains. Dirty toilets Washington state park staff deal with thousands of visitors and climbers to the 14,000-foot

Credit: Getty Literature reviews are important resources for scientists. They provide historical context for a field while offering opinions on its future trajectory. Creating them can provide inspiration for one’s own research, as well as some practice in writing. But few scientists are trained in how to write a review — or in what constitutes

Hurricane Maria battered homes for three years which until now, thousands of people in Puerto Rico are still longing for a safe shelter that is resilient to the climate crisis. A couple introduced a new construction technique that would aid house owners in making SuperAdobe homes, a climate-resilient home from cheap materials. SuperAdobe Homes   Paula

This photonic computer performed in 200 seconds a calculation that on an ordinary supercomputer would take 2.5 billion years to complete.Credit: Hansen Zhong A team in China claims to have made the first definitive demonstration of ‘quantum advantage’ — exploiting the counter-intuitive workings of quantum mechanics to perform computations that would be prohibitively slow on

Scientists can transform a microscopic particle (above) from barium-based to cadmium-based without sacrificing its complex form. Credit: H.C. Hendrikse et al./Adv. Mater. Materials science 03 December 2020 Self-assembling particles exhibit a mind-boggling array of structure and composition. In a neat chemical sleight-of-hand, researchers can swap out the ions in microscopic structures without disturbing the structures’

There is an urgent need for sustainable ocean management to address food security, biodiversity, and climate change and improve the economy. An ongoing review of the threats and opportunities for the ocean was made by the Ocean Panel, or the High-Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, starting in 2018. It is a 14-country panel led by Palau and Norway. It takes a holistic approach regarding what a

Do you need a postdoc to thrive as a scientist outside academia? Julie Gould explores the pros and cons with industry insiders. Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Nessa Carey, a UK entrepreneur and technology-transfer professional whose career has straddled academia and industry, including a senior role at Pfizer, shares insider

Hundreds of people evacuate from Mount Semeru volcano in Java, Indonesia as it erupts and exudes lava and ash. Locals fled from homes when the rumbling volcano started spewing hot ash up to thousands of meters out into the atmosphere. It also belched dangerous lava from its crater. Erupting Mount Semeru The active volcano Mount Semeru is located on the island of Java in Indonesia. Yesterday, it

William Frankland, who popularized the pollen count and who died earlier this year aged 108, likened the role of an allergist to that of a detective. Superior powers of observation, chance encounters and the rejection of evidence that initially seems compelling have all delivered breakthroughs in allergy medicine. For instance, for many years, guidelines advised

Hear the latest science news, with Noah Baker and Nick Howe. Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 In this episode: 00:47 Reversing ageing Researchers claim to have identified a method to revert cells in mice eyes back to a younger state. Research article: Lu et al. News and Views: Sight restored

Air Pollution from Stubble Burning Continue to Plague Northern India | Nature World News By Victoria Sinla Dec 02, 2020 12:00 PM EST A significant source of air pollution in Northern India comes from stubble burning. Stubbles are left-over straws from grain crops that farmers burn. Its smoke reaches up to 250 kilometers (or 155 miles) to Delhi. Public health

A Long March-5 rocket carrying Chang’e-5 lifts off.Credit: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/Shutterstock China probe on way to Moon A Chinese spacecraft is on its way to the Moon after launching off the coast of Hainan Island in southern China at 4.30 a.m. local time on 24 November. Chang’e-5’s mission is to retrieve rocks from the Moon and

Indonesia: Mount Semeru Erupted Two Days After Ili Lewotolok’s Blast | Nature World News By Victoria Sinla Dec 01, 2020 09:03 PM EST Authorities in Indonesia are closely monitoring several volcanoes as Mount Semeru erupted on Tuesday, two days after Ili Lewotolok’s blast two days ago, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people. On Tuesday, Mount Semeru

SARS-CoV-2 likely originated in bats, but how it passed to people is being investigated by the WHO.Credit: Marko Konig/imageBROKER/Shutterstock An epidemiologist who helped to tie the 2012 outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) to camels, a food safety officer who studies how pathogens spread in markets, and a veterinarian who found evidence linking the

Ponds created by small-scale gold mining in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. Such ponds hasten production of a compound that can poison animals. Credit: Melissa Marchese Environmental sciences 01 December 2020 Mining ponds move the toxic element into the food web. Lake and pond ecosystems created by artisanal gold miners in Peru convert

Utah officials were delighted to witness dozens of animals crossing the Utah wildlife overpass earlier than expected. The bridge was built so that local animals like raccoons, moose, elk, and deer can safely migrate while keeping them away from cars and trucks speeding across the state’s infamous “Slaughter Row.” Experts originally believed that local wildlife

In 2015, bioinformatician Johannes Köster was what he called “kind of a full-time Python guy”. He had already written one popular tool — the workflow manager Snakemake — in the programming language. Now he was contemplating a project that required a level of computational performance that Python simply couldn’t deliver. So he began casting about

By Rein F. Nov 30, 2020 10:00 PM EST Researchers from the Universities of Göttingen, Bern, and St. Andrews discovered an interesting relationship between the scent of a cooperating rat and the helpfulness of other rats who smell such odor. Through a series of tests, researchers found out that a rat’s odor that is engaged

Ahmadreza Djalali has been sentenced to death in Iran.Credit: Belga via ZUMA Press A medical researcher sentenced to death in Iran three years ago on a charge of spying — which he denies — is under threat of imminent execution, Nature has been told. Ahmadreza Djalali, a scholar in disaster medicine who has dual Iranian–Swedish

An injection syringe of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, used for a trial in a hospital in Ankara, Turkey.Credit: Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency/Getty Vaccine developers who have already reported promising phase III trial results against COVID-19 estimate that, between them, they can make sufficient doses for more than one-third of the world’s population

The pits and mine ponds from digging small deposits of alluvial gold in the Amazons of Peru has altered the landscapes dramatically and has increased the indigenous communities and wildlife’s risk of mercury exposure, a new study revealed. This particular study is the first to document how mining has greatly altered the landscape and amplified mercury poisoning