Nature

Why kids need to take more risks: science reveals the benefits of wild, free play

Studies reveal how risky play can benefit child development. But encouraging it can be a challenge for parents.

What will viruses do next? AI is helping scientists predict their evolution

Forecasts of viral variation could improve vaccine and antiviral treatments ahead of time.

Smriti Mallapaty
News08 Jan 2025
How quantum mechanics emerged in a few revolutionary months 100 years ago

It began with concerns about the orbits used to explain the motion of electrons in atoms — but quantum theory ended up upending reality itself.

Kristian Camilleri
Essay08 Jan 2025
One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction

A global multi-taxon extinction risk assessment of freshwater fauna for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species finds one-quarter of species to be at high risk of extinction.

Catherine A. Sayer
Eresha Fernando
William R. T. Darwall
ArticleOpen Access08 Jan 2025
Daily briefing: Why did Europe’s first cities disappear? Uncovering the mysterious Cucuteni–Trypillia culture

We examine evidence that global warming might be speeding up and ask what happened to the egalitarian Cucuteni–Trypillia culture.

Flora Graham
Nature Briefing07 Jan 2025
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Current Issue09 Jan 2025

News & Comment

Why kids need to take more risks: science reveals the benefits of wild, free play

Studies reveal how risky play can benefit child development. But encouraging it can be a challenge for parents.

Julian Nowogrodzki

News Feature08 Jan 2025
Quantum mechanics 100 years on: an unfinished revolution

Editorial08 Jan 2025
We need to talk about human genome editing

Editorial08 Jan 2025
Physicists describe exotic ‘paraparticles’ that defy categorization
Davide Castelvecchi
News08 Jan 2025
What will viruses do next? AI is helping scientists predict their evolution
Smriti Mallapaty
News08 Jan 2025
Who built Europe’s first cities? Clues about the urban revolution emerge
Emma Marris
News Feature07 Jan 2025
NASA still has no plan for how to bring precious Mars rocks to Earth
Alexandra Witze
News07 Jan 2025

Latest Reviews & Analysis

- Electrochemical synthesis goes wireless
  
  Electrochemical reactions for organic synthesis typically require intricate, specialized equipment, slowing progress in this field. Minuscule electric generators now enable faster reaction discovery and development.
  
  Thomas M. O’Brien
  Alastair J. J. Lennox
  
  News & Views08 Jan 2025
- Circadian rhythms are set by epigenetic marks in neurons
  
  Chemicals derived from neurotransmitter molecules in the brain can act as epigenetic marks on histone proteins to regulate gene expression. These marks control circadian clock genes and influence behaviour.
  Debosmita Sardar
  Tatiana G. Kutateladze
  
  News & Views08 Jan 2025
- Spiky fossils Punk and Emo change our understanding of molluscan evolution
  
  The early evolutionary history of molluscs has long been controversial, and remains imperfectly understood. Two exceptionally preserved 3D fossils dating to about 430 million years ago highlight previously unknown diversity in the physical form and ecology of the molluscs, and the evolutionary plasticity inherent to the group.
  
  Research Briefing08 Jan 2025
- AI learns from chromatin data to uncover gene interactions
  
  An artificial-intelligence model trained on data about where DNA is tightly packaged and where it is open to regulators can predict gene expression and interactions between transcription factors that regulate key genes.
  Alicja Brożek
  Christina V. Theodoris
  
  News & Views08 Jan 2025
- The AI tool that can interpret any spreadsheet instantly
  
  Artificial intelligence is already used extensively to infer outcomes from tables of data, but this typically involves creating a model for each task. A one-size-fits-all model just made the process substantially easier.
  Duncan C. McElfresh
  
  News & Views08 Jan 2025
- Human embryo editing against disease is unsafe and unproven — despite rosy predictions
  Shai Carmi
  Henry T. Greely
  Kevin J. Mitchell
  
  News & Views08 Jan 2025
- How a small but mighty protein protects a life-sustaining enzyme
  Amy C. Rosenzweig
  
  News & Views08 Jan 2025
- Computational microscopy with coherent diffractive imaging and ptychography
  Jianwei Miao
  
  Review Article08 Jan 2025
- Reinventing type 2 immunity in cancer
  Marek Wagner
  Hiroyoshi Nishikawa
  Shigeo Koyasu
  
  Review Article08 Jan 2025

Latest Research articles

Precursors of exhausted T cells are preemptively formed in acute infection

Talyn Chu
Ming Wu
Dietmar Zehn
Article08 Jan 2025
Crypt density and recruited enhancers underlie intestinal tumour initiation

Liam Gaynor
Harshabad Singh
Ramesh A. Shivdasani
Article08 Jan 2025
An early precursor CD8 T cell that adapts to acute or chronic viral infection

Daniel T. McManus
Rajesh M. Valanparambil
Rafi Ahmed
Article08 Jan 2025
β-C−H bond functionalization of ketones and esters by cationic Pd complexes

Diverse methyl β-C−H functionalizations of ketones and esters are enabled by cationic Pd(II) complexes with MPANA ligands, offering access to spirocyclic and fused ring systems through enhanced catalyst–substrate affinity.

Yi-Hao Li
Nikita Chekshin
Jin-Quan Yu
Article08 Jan 2025
Hippocampal neuronal activity is aligned with action plans

Using high-density electrophysiological recordings, how internally generated cell assemblies are updated by action plans to meet external goals is explored.

Ipshita Zutshi
Athina Apostolelli
György Buzsáki
Article08 Jan 2025

Materials science is a rapidly growing area of research in journals tracked by the Nature Index and one where the real-world applications are often an essential part of tackling global environmental and health challenges.

Nature Index 11 Dec 2024

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Science jobs

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

A Cellular/Molecular Postdoc is available at Columbia University to identify and develop novel biomarkers, including Alzheimer's disease.

Columbia University Medical Center in New York City

Sabrina Simoes
Tumor Microenvironment in Metastasis Postdoctoral Fellow

Tampa, Florida

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Postdoctoral Fellow

Qualified postdoctoral candidates are invited to join the laboratory of Dr. Vassilis Koliatsos at the Division of Neuropathology, Johns Hopkins Uni...

Baltimore, Maryland

Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine Department of Pathology/Division of Neuropathology
IRTG PhD Positions

International Research Training Group (IRTG) PhD Positions in Molecular Biomedicine and Translational Oncology at University of Cologne, Germany.

Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen (DE)

University of Cologne - Pathology
Postdoctoral Research Associate

A Postdoctoral Research Associate position is available for 2 years in human 3D organoid-based disease modelling in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (...

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences

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One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction

High-resolution genomic history of early medieval Europe

Sleep microstructure organizes memory replay

Abrupt changes in biomass burning during the last glacial period

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