12博

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.

Error description in the original figure:

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.

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

Colliding beams of lead create fast-moving, short-lived gold ions. Understanding the process could help to refine particle accelerator experiments.

DNA sequencing of a family from children to great-grandparents reveals more mutations than previously seen.

US agency guidelines nix funding for studies on climate anxiety and more but allow it for those on extreme weather and health.

The structure of the taste receptor responsible for sweetness has finally been mapped out. Plus, the intricate patterns of cells in mouse brains illuminated with just a light microscope and a class of drugs offering hope for rare children's cancers.

A small tweak to a common enzyme gives plants the ability to make smelly sulfurous molecules.

Survey of hundreds of scientists’ work suggests that cutting off funding disrupts focus and reduces the novelty of research.

Chromatin architecture is critical in determining nuclear mechanics. Most studies focus on the mechanical rigidity conferred by chromatin condensation from densely packed heterochromatin, but less is known on how transient chromatin decompaction impinge on nucleus stiffness. Here, we used an array of vertically aligned nanopillars to study nuclear deformability in situ after chromatin decompaction

The distinction between “reinforcement” and “cloaking” has been overlooked in optimization-based design of devices intended to conceal a defect in an elastic medium. In the former, a so-called “cloak” is severely biased toward one or a few specific elastic disturbances, whereas in the latter, an “unbiased cloak” is effective under any elastic disturbance. We propose a two-stage approach for optimization-based

Recent research has identified several effective strategies for reducing Americans’ animosity toward supporters of opposing political parties. However, whether these strategies can durably reduce partisan animosity in a scalable manner and in everyday life remains unclear. We bridge the gap between prior research and useful application by assessing whether exposure to multiple, scalable treatments

What mechanisms underlie linguistic generalization in large language models (LLMs)? This question has attracted considerable attention, with most studies analyzing the extent to which the language skills of LLMs resemble rules. As of yet, it is not known whether linguistic generalization in LLMs could equally well be explained as the result of analogy. A key shortcoming of prior research is its focus

Wnt signaling orchestrates gene expression in a plethora of processes during development and adult cell homeostasis via the action of nuclear β-catenin. Yet, little is known about how β-catenin generates context-specific transcriptional outcomes. Understanding this will reveal how aberrant Wnt/β-catenin signaling causes neoplasia specifically of the colorectal epithelium. We have previously identified

RAS is the most frequently mutated oncogene in cancer. RAS proteins show high sequence similarities in their G-domains but are significantly different in their C-terminal hypervariable regions (HVR). These regions interact with the cell membrane via lipid anchors that result from posttranslational modifications (PTM) of cysteine residues. KRAS4b is unique as it has only one cysteine that undergoes

Predicting the exact many-body quantum dynamics of polarons in materials with strong carrier–phonon interactions presents a fundamental challenge, often necessitating one to adopt approximations that sacrifice the ability to predict the transition from nonequilibrium relaxation to thermodynamic equilibrium. Here, we exploit a recent breakthrough that generalizes the concept of memory beyond its conventional

Establishing a dominance hierarchy in social organisms is important for access to resources. Stress has been proposed as a major factor influencing an animal’s likely position in a social hierarchy. Although individual differences in vulnerability to stress are increasingly recognized, how social hierarchy affects vulnerability remains relatively understudied. Here, we examined how the social dominance

The potassium channel TWIK-2 is crucial for ATP-induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages. The channel is a member of the two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channel superfamily and an emerging therapeutic target to mitigate severe inflammatory injury involving NLRP3 activation. We report the cryo-EM structure of human TWIK-2. In comparison to other K2P channels, the structure reveals

Many phenotypic traits, such as fermentation activity, have been shown to be instable due to stochastic gene expression and environmental influence. While previous studies only have obtained understanding at the level of the microbial community, the fate of extraordinary traits of an individual through generations of reproduction has yet to be adequately investigated. This work uses the lactic acid

Nitrogen is one of the most limiting nutrients to forest productivity worldwide. Recently, it has been established that diverse ecosystems source a substantial fraction of their water from weathered bedrock, leading to questions about whether root-driven nitrogen cycling extends into weathered bedrock as well. In this study, we specifically examined nitrogen dynamics using specialized instrumentation

The aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AaRSs) are an ancient family of structurally diverse enzymes that are divided into two major classes. The functionalities of most AaRSs are inextricably linked to their oligomeric states. While GluRSs were previously classified as monomers, the current investigation reveals that the form expressed in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a rotationally pseudosymmetrical homodimer

Crystallization by amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) particle attachment (CPA) is a prevalent biomineralization mechanism among calcifying organisms. A narrow, controlled size distribution of ACC nanoparticles is essential for macroscopic crystal formation via CPA. Using in situ synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering, we demonstrate that synthetic magnesium-stabilized ACC (Mg-ACC) nanoparticles form

8-oxoguanine (8-oxoGua) is one of the most frequent forms of oxidative DNA base lesions, repaired by 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1) via base excision repair (BER) pathway to maintain genome fidelity. The human allelic variant hOGG1 S326C , prevalent in Caucasians and Asians, has been regarded as a susceptibility factor for various diseases, yet its pathogenic mechanism remains elusive. In this

Mitochondria are central metabolic organelles that control cell fate and the development of mitochondrial diseases. Traditionally, phase separation directly regulates cell functions by driving RNA, proteins, or other molecules to concentrate into lipid droplets. Recent studies show that phase separation regulates cell functions and diseases through the regulation of subcellular organelles, particularly

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 122, Issue 18, May 2025.

The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces an enzyme that breaks down biodegradable plastics.

Hint: it’s less than 1% — a lot less.

Recruiters want to see evidence of your potential to grow and develop, learn from mistakes, and how well you will fit into the team, says entrepreneur Ilana Wisby.

Some data practices can lead to statistically dubious findings. Here’s how to avoid them.

Correction to: Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08741-5 Published online 19 March 2025

Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 07 May 2025