In January, the social-media platform Moltbook opened exclusively to artificial-intelligence agents (see Nature 650, 533–534; 2026) — it was acquired by Meta six weeks later. Within days of the launch, it hosted self-declared rulers demanding loyalty, the policing of ‘inauthentic’ participants and cryptocurrency-token launches framed as liberation from human gatekeepers. As AI agents permeate commercial…
Ryan Kelly is in awe of what floats invisibly in the air. “It is completely mind-blowing,” says Kelly, who studies environmental DNA (eDNA) at the University of Washington in Seattle. “We are absolutely surrounded by information in the form of DNA and RNA, at all times.” Rare bird’s detection highlights promise of ‘environmental DNA’ Scientists…
On 27 March, the National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced that it would no longer update or publish its journal ranking list — a system that had shaped research evaluation in China for 22 years. Competing Interests The author declares no competing interests. Source link
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now allows companies to apply for exploration and commercial mining through a consolidated process. This seems to be downplaying the importance of environmental baseline data at a time when the International Seabed Authority is still reviewing requirements under its draft Mining Act. Competing Interests The authors declare no…
Credit: demaerre/iStock via Getty Researchers hoping to find late-career success are in for bad news. A study that tracked the publishing output of hundreds of thousands of scientists has found that the most important predictor of being a top performer in the late-career stage is being a high achiever early on1. The paper, published in…
A Médecins Sans Frontières treatment centre in Monrovia, Liberia, in 2014 during the Ebola outbreak.Credit: Pascal Guyot/AFP via Getty With degrees in nursing, public policy and social anthropology, Beverley Stringer has worked in various sectors in her career, but has returned again and again to the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, also known as…
Nature’s 2025 PhD survey This article is the fifth in a series discussing the results of Nature’s 2025 PhD survey. The fourth one looked at why PhD students study abroad. The survey, created in partnership with Thinks Insight & Strategy, a research consultancy in London, launched in May and was advertised on nature.com, in Springer…
This Monday, 6 April, if all goes to plan, the astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II mission will fly around the far side of the Moon. This will be humans’ first visit to our celestial neighbour since 1972. Lift off! Artemis II mission sends humans to the Moon — opening a new era of exploration At…
Sex, Genes and Chromosomes: Their Discovery, Function and Evolution Jennifer A. Marshall Graves Cambridge Univ. Press (2026) “Sex is the most profound normal difference between human individuals,” explains geneticist Jennifer Graves in Sex, Genes and Chromosomes. In this definitive and wide-ranging book, she outlines the discovery, molecular biology and evolution of sex chromosomes as well…
Researcher-poets use verse to help to ease isolation and grief, sing the praises of nature or depict the joys of commuting by bicycle.Credit: WeBond Creations/Getty Last year, in a moving family farewell celebration, palliative-care physician and researcher Danielle Chammas said goodbye to a long-time patient with cancer. When Chammas came home afterwards, she wrote a…