A green dye marks lipocartilage cells from the ear of a rat.Credit: Plikus lab, University of California, Irvine The ear and the nose are squishy and stretchy thanks in part to ‘bubble wrap’ cells that provide extra cushioning and structural support to various body parts, a wide-ranging study1 shows. These ‘lipocartilage’ cells — which are […]
Publishing records provide information about the lengths of scientists’ careers in academia. Credit: Nickbeer/Getty Female scientists are quitting academic publishing earlier than their male counterparts, even in biological-science disciplines that have roughly equal representation. A study tracked the scholarly publications of more than 86,000 scientists in 38 countries working in neuroscience, biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, […]
A team of health-care workers screen people for sleeping sickness in the village of Boffa in Guinea.Credit: Brent Stirton/Getty Images for DNDI Wilfried Mutombo Kalonji wanted to devote his life to doing the most good possible. So, after graduating from medical school in 2004, he moved to Kasansa, a remote village in the Democratic Republic […]
Little Bibi Bené couldn’t sleep. She tossed and turned in her pod. Tiny paper stars hung above her, swaying gently. Bibi had drawn a face on each one. Most smiled, those were for the happy days, but some frowned, too. Every day Bibi was awake, she made a new star and Mumi always hung it […]
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 […]
Cratonic boundaries or margins Although cratonic margins host abundant metal deposit types or systems1,2,3,4, the margins of cratons are frequently not clearly defined. Previous studies constrained the margins of cratons using the lithospheric thickness2,11 or tectonic boundaries3. However, continents with lithospheric thicknesses of 150–250 km (ref. 11) or >170 km (ref. 2) are a cursory constraint and tectonic boundaries […]
Nature, Published online: 08 January 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-04108-4 The enzyme nitrogenase ‘fixes’ nitrogen gas to form bioavailable ammonia, a vital process for life. Two studies solve a long-standing mystery: how a small protein saves nitrogenase from destruction by oxygen.
The University of Toronto in Canada raised its graduate-student stipends last November.Credit: James Wagner/Getty Stipends for biology and physics graduate students at Canadian universities fall well short of a living wage, an analysis reports. “All of the minimum stipends we found were below the poverty line after tuition, except for the physics department at the […]
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 […]
The vase is tan with abstract designs in black: curved triangles that swoop into circles, a motif with an elegant, organic flow. It looks contemporary, or perhaps like the work of a mid-century artist on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. This ceramic piece is in a museum, but not […]
