Nature

Nowadays, worsening air pollution has been proven to be a silent killer, causing millions of deaths worldwide every year. And while many think COVID-19 is a pressing threat, experts claim that air pollution is a ‘pandemic in slow motion,’ which can cause disastrous consequences when ignored. Research has shown that the risk of premature death

Credit: Jonas Bergstrand The competition to be crowned the fastest, strongest or most technically proficient sportsperson on the planet will once again reach its peak this summer when athletes descend on Tokyo for the Olympic Games. The global pandemic might rule out the throng of enthusiastic spectators that are typical of such an event, but

Researchers from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a “smart” device that harvests daylight and relays it to underground spaces, reducing the need for traditional energy sources. (Photo : American Public Power Association on Unsplash) Authorities in Singapore consider whether it is feasible to dig deeper underground to create new space for infrastructure,

Food and surfaces are sampled for traces of the virus at a wet market in China.Credit: Wei Liang/China News Service via Getty Researchers say that a World Health Organization (WHO) report on the pandemic’s origins offers an in-depth summary of available data, including unseen granular details. But much remains to be done to establish the

Listen to the latest science news, with Benjamin Thompson and Nick Petrić Howe. Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 In this episode: 00:44 Cooling antimatter with a laser focus Antimatter is annihilated whenever it interacts with regular matter, which makes it tough for physicists to investigate. Now though, a team at

The Australian Academy of Science said that heatwaves will be twice as much and several properties will be uninsurable if global heating reaches 3C (Photo : Getty Images) Global Warming According to Australia’s leading researchers, Global heating of 3C would be more than twice the number of yearly heatwaves in some parts of Australia, leave

The Biden administration’s climate envoy John Kerry has reiterated US commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, but not yet specified which substances will be included in its pledge.Credit: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg/Getty The administration of US President Joe Biden has pledged 2050 as its deadline for net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions. Earlier, China declared 2060 for its own net-zero

Scientists dug deep into the hypothesis that carbon dioxide from volcanic eruptions in India contributed to killing off the dinosaurs. If you inquired from Joe Blow on the street how the dinosaurs vanished, he would most probably say an asteroid cleared them out, but the truth is a bit more complicated than that. (Photo :

Pallid-winged grasshoppers flock to a light a short distance from the renowned Las Vegas Strip in Nevada in 2019. Credit: Bridget Bennett/AFP/Getty Animal behaviour 30 March 2021 Bright lights drew a plague of grasshoppers to ‘Sin City’ Clouds of insects swarmed to the gaudy glare of a gambling hotspot at night. Share on Twitter Share

The scarlet macaw was exported live from humid forests to desert communities in South America almost 1,000 years ago. Credit: Carlos Capriles Farfán Archaeology 30 March 2021 Why mummified tropical parrots are buried in one of the world’s driest deserts Scarlet macaws and other birds plucked from distant jungles lived out their lives as pets

Recent research suggests the immeasurable majority of animals known as ‘wild dogs’ in Australia are literally pure canines or dingoes that are mostly dingo when it comes to their genetic makeup. Researchers gathered the outcomes from DNA tests of more than 5,000 wild canids across Australia and discovered that only about 1% were really dog-dominant

Visitors look at a scale model of the Thirty Meter Telescope at India’s Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum in Bangalore.Credit: Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty We are heartened to see a chapter on public engagement in science and technology in India’s draft Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2020 (see go.nature.com/3k7g6hf). We sincerely hope there is the

The Biden administration is working to significantly expand offshore wind energy along the US east coast, declaring that it is taking measures toward authorizing a major wind farm off the coast of New Jersey as part of a proposal to produce enough electricity to fuel over 10 million homes by 2030. (Photo : Pixabay) Job

My work focuses on a side of Ireland that few visitors ever see: the temperate rainforest of Killarney National Park, a 10,200-hectare reserve near the southwest coast. The climate here — usually damp and, by Irish standards, relatively warm, with temperatures in autumn afternoons typically edging beyond 10 °C — creates ideal growing conditions for all

A farmer in Ethiopia harvests teff, a cereal. Small farms tend to have more-diverse landscapes than do sprawling industrial operations. Credit: Andia/Universal Images Group/Getty Environmental sciences 29 March 2021 Small farms outdo big ones on biodiversity — and crop yields Large-scale farms account for most of the global food supply, but smallholdings protect species and

Nature is full of crazy creatures that defy all logic, and nothing is more astonishing than animals that can live to be older than humans. Some of the oldest animals in the world have lived since the time of Charles Darwin, and some survivors that may have been around during the time of the last

Ballet dancers and researchers alike need critical feedback to polish their performance.Credit: Javier Torres/AFP/Getty When I was 15, I was selected to dance a solo in my ballet school’s annual recital performance. I was ecstatic: this was the culmination of years of hard work. I memorized the dance my teacher had choreographed, and spent the

According to recent studies, renewable energies and batteries will secure Australia’s power grid almost as well as coal and gas. (Photo : pexels)We are now seeing what could so far be the most ambitious proposed solar power project in Australia and the world on renewable energy. Resources are available for this kind of energy, but

The U.S is home to almost 2,000 active landfills. Day by day, these massive piles of waste can discharge more than 2 million liters of liquid per spot into the ground, contaminating local water with potentially toxic substances. Liquid-based pollutants are an immediate threat to both nature and human health, but knowing which chemicals are the

Back when marsupial lions, mega wombats, and sheep-sized echidnas walked the ancient lands of Australia, there lived also an enormous flightless bird called the ‘demon duck of doom’ by some, paleontologist Trevor Worthy describes the Dromornis stirtoni as an “extreme evolutionary experiment.” “It would seem these large birds were likely what evolution created when it

Levine was confirmed by the US Senate on 24 March in a 52–48 vote.Credit: Daniel Shanken/Reuters/Alamy Rachel Levine has been sworn in as one of the top health officials in the United States, following her confirmation by the Senate earlier this week. Although she has made headlines for becoming the highest-ranking openly transgender official in

Former Peruvian president Martín Vizcarra was the first prominent person identified by local media to have received a COVID-19 vaccine in violation of clinical-trial standards.Credit: Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty A clinical trial of COVID-19 vaccines in Peru has sparked outrage and triggered a series of high-profile resignations at universities and in government. Politicians, researchers and some of

Having knowledge of what is and isn’t risky when you’re in unknown territory is tricky, but there are certain clues you can watch out for, such as bright, teeth coloration, or the similarity to a bear on a ton of cocaine. Footage that went viral lately on TikTok showed how simple it is to underrate

Noah Baker and Ewen Callaway discuss the latest on teh Oxford, Astra-Zeneca COVID vaccine. Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 Since the beginning of the pandemic the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been plagued by confusion and controversy. The vaccine has been authorised in over 100 countries, tens of millions of doses have

According to a recent study from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) understates methane emissions from oil and gas extraction in its annual Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. The study team discovered 90 percent higher oil production emissions and 50 percent higher

Subjected to pressures found 4 kilometres below the ocean surface, bacteria fare better (bottom) when fed the compound trimethylamine than bacteria that go without (top). Credit: Q. L. Qin et al./Sci. Adv. Microbiology 26 March 2021 How deep-sea bacteria thrive under pressure Microbes that survive in the dark depths import and process a molecule in

The light of young galaxies has given astronomers a glimpse of some of the interwoven tendrils of gas (illustration) filling the Universe. Credit: NASA/ESA/STScI/Science Photo Library Astronomy and astrophysics 26 March 2021 Faint galaxies light up the dark web filling the cosmos Dim, distant collections of stars hint at the early evolution of the Universe.

Researchers are mapping the strange “lost” continent of Zealandia for the first time. The huge landmass in the South Pacific vanished 23 million years ago under the waves – and has never been investigated. It was initially part of the huge Gondwana (supercontinent), which was created by continents that are present in the southern hemisphere.

In this 60-minute webinar, first broadcast live in May 2020 and now available to view on demand, Nature speaks to researchers who had their world turned upside down by the pandemic, and asks for some of their advice. Although many scientists are now used to working from home after a year of pandemic life, the

According to a new study published today in the journal Science, applying California’s strict diesel pollution requirements to the rest of the country could significantly boost the nation’s air quality and health, especially in low-income communities of color. California Diesel Emission Policy (Photo : Getty images )An aerial view shows MacArthur Park and downtown in

The sauteur d’Alfort rabbit, which cannot hop, walks on its front paws when it needs to move quickly or cover long distances. Credit: M. Carneiro et al./PLOS Genet. (CC BY 4.0) Genetics 25 March 2021 Rabbits that do ‘handstands’ help to find a gene for hopping A rare breed of acrobatic bunny enables a giant

The Victoria Building at the University of Liverpool, UK.Credit: Getty A university in the United Kingdom is facing criticism over the responsible use of research metrics, after it used information about scientists’ research income and publication records to identify dozens of jobs that are ‘at risk’. Critics say that using metrics in such a decision

Fossils discovered in Newfoundland throwback evolution of cephalopods by tens of millions of years. But does the longevity of species speak about its intelligence? If we count our little-brained ancestors, we go back half a million years. If we go all the way back to the tree-living rat-like animal which is the oldest ancestor of

Storm clouds that spawn lightning are becoming more common in the warming Arctic, where such light shows have been rare. Credit: Ivan Kmit/Alamy Atmospheric science 25 March 2021 Rising temperatures spark boom in Arctic lightning Warming in the frozen north leads to more clouds that can produce electrical discharge. Share on Twitter Share on Twitter

Do you think humans are the smartest animals? Don’t be surprised to know that Raccoons pick locks, bees hold dance-offs and crows know physics. Get ready to be amazed at some of the intelligent animals on earth as some of these animals will surprise you. (Photo : Getty Images) Raccoons Pick Locks If you have a plan

An extinct kangaroo’s massive, curving ‘fingers’ would have helped it to grasp and climb. Credit: N. M. Warburton & G. J. Prideaux/R. Soc. Open Sci. (CC BY 4.0) Palaeontology 24 March 2021 A sight to see 40,000 years ago: a hefty kangaroo up a tree Flexible shoulders hint that a sizable and now-extinct marsupial could

1. Luyssaert, S. et al. Old-growth forests as global carbon sinks. Nature 455, 213–215 (2008). ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar  2. Odum, E. P. The strategy of ecosystem development. Science 164, 262–270 (1969). ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar  3. Pan, Y. D. et al. A large and persistent carbon sink in the world’s forests. Science

You would think once human beings are dead, their body would stop doing normal things; without air and blood circulation, the internal organs would be fast depleted. But as a result of a weird quirk of biology, there are some things known as the living dead. At least, living cells inside a done and dusted

László Lovász (left) and Avi Wigderson were jointly awarded the 2021 Abel Prize.Credits: left, Hungarian Academy of Sciences/Laszlo Mudra/AbelPrize; right, Cliff Moore/Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton/AbelPrize Abel prize celebrates union of maths and computer science Two pioneers of the theory of computation have won the 2021 Abel Prize, one of the most prestigious honours in

A pair of researchers from the University of Lausanne has discovered a connection between invasive animal species and global pet trade commercial success. Jérôme Gippet and Cleo Bertelsmeier explained their analysis of invasive species sales and what they discovered in a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Photo : Photo by

A xenon atom’s electrons (grey circles; illustration) have been observed and even manipulated as they shifted their position. Credit: Carlos Clarivan/Science Photo Library Atomic and molecular physics 24 March 2021 An atom shuffles its electrons at ultrahigh speed — and is caught in the act Scientists capture the movement of electrons in a xenon atom,

An irrigation canal in the dry and intensively farmed San Joaquin Valley of California. Solar panels over such canals are more efficient than those on dry land. Credit: Citizens of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Renewable energy 23 March 2021 Solar panels that throw shade on canals are an environmental win–win Placing solar arrays over

A mystery monkey wandered around St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, for four years, bewildering dwellers and frustrating the attempt of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to capture the rogue primate. The monkey (a rhesus macaque), which was a native to Asia was finally apprehended after a three-hour inspection in 2012. The tale of

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here Ron Levine/Getty Puppies are hardwired to understand us Nearly 400 adorable puppies have helped researchers to show that dogs’ ability to understand human pointing — a rarity in the animal kingdom — appears to be hardwired

From all indicators, the electric car is finally coming into its own. A long-standing part of science fiction’s visions of the future, the electric car has been a reality for awhile now — and its popularity seems poised to grow considerably in the coming years. In fact, while gas cars may never entirely become extinct,

Astronomer Vera Rubin studying photographic plates in 1974.Credit: Carnegie Institution for Science Vera Rubin: A Life Jacqueline Mitton & Simon Mitton Belknap Press (2021) The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, under construction in Chile, is scheduled to begin scientific operations in 2023. Its ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time hopes to “see more of the

In this photo, taken in December 2020, I am reviewing students’ progress in a computer networking course at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, where I teach electrical engineering and telecommunication policy. The students are learning to configure computers to accommodate Voice over Internet Protocol, or online telephony. We’ve also explored the programming language Python, and

Bacterium is accountable for the extinction of critically endangered species. With wild populations wiped out, Christmas Island chained gecko or Lister’s gecko (Lepidodactylus listeri) and the blue-tailed skink only survive in captivity. Researchers from the University of Sydney have found a bacterium, which could potentially cause their extinction. (Photo : Getty Images) Christmas Island Chained