12博

No Abstract

Despite the advantages of high effluent quality and small footprint, membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology faces challenges in sustainable development due to energy consumption and membrane fouling. Weighing the advantages and disadvantages of MBRs requires a comprehensive assessment from techno–economic–environmental perspectives. In this paper, we reviewed the related research on MBRs from three aspects:

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Snippets from Nature’s past.

Students and institutions should treat PhD degrees as they would a job.

Curtailment of freedoms and disregard for the rule of law in the United States is destroying the ability of science to serve the nation’s, and the world’s, interests. Researchers can take action.

I should have paused and asked myself some tough questions. Instead, I started to type.

Science stands to benefit from a project in which experienced academics and early-career researchers co-review studies.

Five US-based researchers tell Nature why they are exploring career opportunities overseas.

Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 12 May 2025

Results from a phase III clinical trial suggest that taking ubrogepant at the first sign of an oncoming migraine can prevent pre-headache fatigue and light sensitivity.

The drumming cultures of chimpanzees differ between subspecies. Plus, the EPA and NOAA are being hobbled by DOGE red tape and how fast the human genome mutates.

The steepest drops in number are seen in areas that host the largest populations — a trend observed for more than 80% of bird species across the continent.

Jakub Pachocki, who leads the firm’s development of advanced models, is excited to release an open version to researchers.

The transmuted metal only lasted a fraction of a second before it was obliterated but can tell researchers more about how atoms change.

Cesária Huó is collecting bat vocalizations to understand how the sounds they make evolve.

An adventurous survey of inhospitable habitats unearths extraordinary organisms that pose challenging research questions.

Researchers looking to study the social ramifications of mass traumas must not overlook the histories of affected communities in the search for healing.

Theoretical physicists are in thrall to a misguided mindset that allows viable ideas to be advanced only by overturning what already exists.

A small tweak to a common enzyme lets stinky plants make their distinctive scents. Plus, physicists turned lead into gold for a fraction of a second and the migrations of herrings are being altered by the loss of elders’ knowledge.

Intercalated cells (ICs) in the mammalian kidney regulate circulatory pH through IC subtype–restricted actions of bicarbonate transporters: pH is elevated by Slc4a1 restricted to type A-ICs (A-ICs) and depressed by Slc26a4 in type B-IC (B-ICs). NonA-nonB-ICs (nA/nB-ICs) also produce Slc26a4 though their function is unclear. Though both nephron and ureteric progenitor lineages generate A-ICs, the former

The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) represents a major shift in Earth’s surficial redox balance. Delineating the driver(s) and tempo of the GOE and its impact on microbial evolution and biogeochemistry can be aided by characterizing the cycling of redox-sensitive elements such as nitrogen. While previous studies have shown that the transition to a broadly aerobic marine nitrogen cycle occurred in step

Climate change is significantly impacting the geographic range of many animal species and their associated microorganisms, hence influencing emergence of vector-borne diseases. Mosquito-borne viruses represent a potential major reservoir of human pathogens, highlighting the need for improved understanding of ecological factors associated with variation in the mosquito viral community (virome). Here

Tool use is widely reported across a broad range of the animal kingdom, yet comprehensive empirical tests of its function and evolutionary drivers remain scarce, predominantly focused on a few relatively intelligent vertebrate lineages. In this study, we provide a comprehensive examination of tool use behavior in the assassin bug Pahabengkakia piliceps , a specialist predator of stingless bees that

While most people believe that women (vs. men) experience more discriminatory treatment at work, especially in male-dominated professions, relatively few women report experiencing such treatment themselves. These low levels of reporting may arise either because discriminatory treatment has declined, even while laypeople’s assumptions of widespread discrimination persist, or because it is difficult

Mitochondrial energy metabolism is vital for muscle function and is tightly controlled at the transcriptional level, both in the basal state and during adaptive muscle remodeling. The importance of the transcription factors estrogen-related receptors (ERRs) in controlling innate mitochondrial energetics has been recently demonstrated. However, whether different ERR isoforms display distinct functions

Intermolecular interactions underlie all cellular functions, yet visualizing these interactions at the single-molecule level remains challenging. Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) offers a potential solution. Given a nanoscale map of two putative interaction partners, it should be possible to assign molecules either to the class of coupled pairs or to the class of noncoupled bystanders

MEX-5 regulates the formation and dissolution of P granules in Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, yet the thermodynamic basis of its activity remains unclear. Here, using a time-resolved in vitro reconstitution system, we show that MEX-5 dissolves preassembled liquid-like PGL-3/RNA condensates by altering RNA availability and shifting the phase boundary. We develop a microfluidic assay to systematically

The incident ultraviolet (UV) irradiance on the surface of Mars is strongly sterilizing and plays a critical role in atmospheric and near-surface photochemistry. The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) instrument, which includes the first UV sensor sent to Mars on board the Curiosity rover, has been measuring the UV irradiance at Gale Crater since 2012, providing ground-truth data regarding

Enhancement of the cyclization of membrane lipids GDGTs (glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers) is a critical strategy for archaea to adapt to various environmental stresses. However, the physiological function of membrane lipid cyclization remains unclear. Here, we reported that the GDGT ring synthases mutant, deficient in GDGT cyclization, inhibited archaellum formation and reduced cell motility

Scheduled surgeries elicit stress in many patients. Levels of preoperative stress, anxiety, and female gender are known risk factors for increased and prolonged postoperative pain. The mechanisms by which psychological stress increases postoperative pain, especially in women, remain unknown. We hypothesized that stress amplifies postoperative pain by sensitizing dorsal root ganglion (DRG) nociceptors

In 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional protection of abortion rights established in Roe v. Wade . In doing so, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization moved status quo on abortion policy more into line with the Republican Party’s stance. Subsequent research has documented the decision’s impact on mass political behavior and opinion, yet less is known about its impact on the

Flamingos feature one of the most sophisticated filter-feeding systems among birds, characterized by upside-down feeding, comb-like lamellae, and a piston-like tongue. However, the hydrodynamic functions of their L-shaped chattering beak, S-curved neck, and distinct behaviors such as stomping and feeding against the flow remain a mystery. Combining live flamingo experiments with live brine shrimp and

The ability to coherently manipulate phonons through light permits cooling and heating microscale quantum systems for various critical fields in metrology, information processing, and sensing. However, these physical systems often are hard to isolate and open for exchanging energy externally, making themselves non-Hermitian. Here, we experimentally observe a super-cooling/heating state in a non-Hermitian

In healthy awake individuals, the neural processing of bodily signals is not only essential for survival but can also influence perception and compete with external stimulus processing. Yet, the mechanism underlying this bidirectional processing of bodily and external stimuli, as well as its persistence or modulation in unconscious states, remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated the role of

Solar-driven atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) presents a sustainable approach for freshwater production with sunlight as the sole energy input. To address challenges posed by diurnal moisture variations and diffusive sunlight, we present a system-wide approach that synergistically enhances moisture capture and solar energy utilization in an integrated water harvester. Moisture utilization at the

Photosystem II (PSII) is a protein–pigment complex that utilizes sunlight to catalyze water oxidation and plastoquinone reduction, initiating the electron transfer (ET) cascade in oxygenic photosynthesis. The D1 and D2 proteins are the most important transmembrane subunits of PSII that bind all redox-active components involved in primary charge separation (CS) and ET. D1 is susceptible to oxidative

Breast milk is crucial for infant health, offering essential nutrients and immune protection. However, despite increasing exposure risks from nanoparticles (NPs), their potential infiltration into human breast milk remains poorly understood. This study provides a comprehensive chemical profile of NPs in human breast milk, analyzing their elemental composition, surface charge, hydrodynamic size, and

This study presents the results of geochemical compositional analysis through portable X-ray fluorescence of 788 artifacts from the Templo Mayor in Mexico City. The results reveal that the Mexica (Aztecs) preferred green obsidian from Sierra de Pachuca. However, a diachronic analysis (c. 1375-1520 CE) demonstrated that they continuously consumed obsidian from seven additional sources with some temporal

The gut microbiota influences systemic immunity and the function of distal tissues, including the brain, liver, skin, lung, and muscle. However, the role of the gut microbiota in the foreign body response and fibrosis is largely unexplored. To investigate this connection, we perturbed the homeostasis of the murine gut microbiota via infection with the pathogenic bacterial species enterotoxigenic Bacteroides

The global energy budget is fundamental for understanding climate change. It states that the top-of-atmosphere imbalance between radiative forcing (which drives climate change) and radiative response (which resists the forcing) equals energy storage in Earth’s heat reservoirs (i.e. the ocean, atmosphere, land, and cryosphere). About 90% of Earth’s energy imbalance is stored as heat content in the ocean

B cells discriminate antigens in immune synapses by capturing them from antigen-presenting cells (APCs). This discrimination relies on the application of mechanical force to B cell receptor (BCR)-antigen bonds, allowing B cells to selectively disrupt low-affinity interactions while internalizing high-affinity antigens. Using DNA-based tension sensors combined with high-resolution imaging, we demonstrate

Substance use disorders disrupt the dopaminergic system of the human brain, which plays a central role in movement and reward processing, altering perception, and cognition. The pleasurable urge to move to music, known as groove, relies on dopamine for reward, anticipation, beat perception, and motor system activity. Using a well-established paradigm, which shows an inverted-U relationship between

Mycobacterial cell envelopes are rich in unusual lipids and glycans that play key roles during infection and vaccination. The most abundant envelope glycolipid is trehalose dimycolate (TDM). TDM compromises the host response to mycobacterial species via multiple mechanisms, including inhibition of phagosome maturation. The molecular mechanism by which TDM inhibits phagosome maturation has been elusive

Buckling in compression is the archetype of elastic instability: when compressed along its longest dimension, a thin structure such as a playing card will buckle out-of-plane accommodating the imposed compression without a significant change of length. However, recent studies have demonstrated that tension applied to sheets with microscopic structure leads to out-of-plane deformation in applications

Mitochondria coordinate several metabolic pathways, producing metabolites that influence the immune response in various ways. It remains unclear whether mitochondria impact antigen presentation by the MHC-class-I-related antigen-presenting molecule, MR1, which presents small molecules to MR1-restricted T-lymphocytes. Here, we demonstrate that mitochondrial complex III and the enzyme dihydroorotate

Public-health measures to curb high blood-sugar levels, smoking and obesity could help to rein in the trend.

Just five nations account for more than three-quarters of the emissions of this potent greenhouse gas that stem from rice cultivation.

A newly identified species of poison-dart frog seems to be monogamous, making it a rarity of its kind.

E-mails reveal the stoppage at the US Environmental Protection Agency, which is encouraging workers to resign ahead of a reorganization.

Drug makers are scrambling to navigate an ‘existential threat’ to a once-celebrated technology.

Chatbot can analyse health-care imagery, such as PDFs of test results, to accurately diagnose a range of medical conditions.

Correction to: Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07512-y Published online 14 May 2024

Researchers say that a NASA-funded institute is over-interpreting Trump’s anti-DEI order.

Underground coal gasification plays a critical role in enabling efficient development and low-carbon utilization of deep coal resources (>2,200?m), characterized by gasifying agents operating under supercritical conditions. This study proposes a novel underground coal gasification system incorporating supercritical hydrothermal combustion, supercritical H2O/CO2 gasification and high-pressure pyrolysis

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.