Download the Nature Podcast 8 January 2025 In this episode of the Nature Podcastwe catch up on some science stories from the holiday period by diving into the Nature Briefing. 00:53 The retraction of a controversial COVID study that promoted unproven treatment A much-critiqued study demonstrating the now-disproven idea that hydroxychloroquine can treat COVID-19 has […]
RNA viruses including SARS-CoV-2 constantly accrue new mutations.Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library The holy grail of pandemic preparedness is being able to predict how a virus will evolve just by looking at its genetic sequence. Those days are still a way off, but a growing number of research groups are using artificial intelligence (AI) to […]
As the science of skin care continues to expand, some of those advances have landed directly in consumers’ hands. Is that a good thing?
Over the holiday weekend, all but one member of the editorial board of Elsevier’s Journal of Human Evolution (JHE) resigned “with heartfelt sadness and great regret,” according to Retraction Watchwhich helpfully provided an online PDF of the editors’ full statement. It’s the 20th mass resignation from a science journal since 2023 over various points of […]
For most of our evolutionary history, human activity has been linked to daylight. Technology has liberated us from these ancient sleep-wake cycles, but there is evidence sunlight has left and continues to leave its mark. Not only do we still tend to be awake in the daytime and sleep at night, we can thank light […]
A comparison of the fast-growing fish-eating Baltic herring (Slåttersill in Swedish) and slow-growing plankton-eating spring- and autumn-spawning Baltic herring. Credit: Leif Andersson/Uppsala University Atlantic and Baltic herring are typical plankton-eating fish of central importance for the northern Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea ecosystems. A new study published in Nature Communications led by scientists from Uppsala […]
Members of a group including the Zlatý kůň woman and the Ranis individuals travel across Europe some 45,000 years ago (illustration). Credit: Tom Björklund The oldest human genomes ever sequenced are helping to illuminate some extremely ancient baby-making. The Neanderthal DNA found in all people with ancestors outside Africa entered the family tree much more […]
An image of an anole (a species of ‘false chameleon’) crushing a snail with its jaws. Credit: Professor Anthony Herrel A University of Bristol study has shed light on how lizards and snakes—the most diverse group of land vertebrates with nearly 12,000 species—have evolved remarkably varied jaw shapes, driving their extraordinary ecological success. This research, […]
Living on Earth: Life, Consciousness and the Making of the Natural World Peter Godfrey-Smith William Collins (2024) Philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith has devoted his career to examining how animal minds evolved. He blends formidable analytical skills with a deep curiosity about the natural world, mostly experienced at first hand in his native Australia. While writing his […]
More than 2 million years ago, a mutation reduced the power of the chewing muscles in human ancestors. That may indicate they were doing more food preparation, but also possibly making more controlled use of their mouths. Expanded nerve outlets in the thoracic vertebrae appeared in Homo erectusindicating the millisecond control of breathing that is […]
