Nature Portfolio

Torrents of data from cell atlases, brain organoids and other methods are finally delivering answers to an age-old question: What makes the human brain so special? Read the Nature feature.

What's so special about the human brain? Nature News & Comment

The genetic history of the aurochs—the wild ancestors of domestic cattle—reveals a complex ancestry and migration across Eurasia and North Africa, shaped by climate change and human activity, according to research published in Nature.

Read the paper: https://go.nature.com/3YID64P

Trauma and infections increase during war, while routine cancer care is disrupted, but telemedicine, AI chatbots and electronic health records can help, reports a feature in Nature Medicine. 🔒

How health technology can ease the terrible toll of war Nature Medicine

Drug-related errors are a leading cause of preventable patient harm in the clinical setting. A paper in npj Digital Medicine presents the first wearable camera system to automatically detect potential errors, prior to medication delivery.

Read the paper: https://go.nature.com/3C0dCqS

A Perspective in Nature Reviews Microbiology reflects on current approaches and challenges of defining a ‘healthy microbiome,’ and proposes an updated framework for interpreting these dynamic ecosystems. Read the article: https://go.nature.com/3AnCdFt 🔒

A paper in Nature describes a fossil tadpole from around 161 million years ago, which is the oldest known tadpole reported to date. Read the paper: https://go.nature.com/3YJkzp7

A collection of papers from the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) published across Nature Portfolio journals present maps of tumours and their surrounding environments, including breast, colon and pancreas, which offer new insights into tumour biology.

Human Tumor Atlas Network Nature Portfolio

Announcing the 2024 Inspiring Women in Science Award Winners! Congratulations to Claire Chewapreecha on winning Scientific Achievement, and WITIN Girls STEM Clubs for Science Outreach Award! From life-saving genomics to empowering girls in Nigeria, their work is shaping a brighter, more inclusive future in STEM.

Learn more about the winners: https://go.nature.com/3vsFdxo

To celebrate Halloween, Nature Careers asked nine scientists what inspired them to study unorthodox animals and plants and what they want the world to know about their favourite organisms.

Nine reasons we love our spooky, kooky model organisms Nature Careers

A study in Nature Mental Health identifies increased hippocampal, posterior hippocampal, and amygdala connectivity in people who had experienced whiplash and mild traumatic brain injury and who developed chronic pain one year later. Read the article: https://go.nature.com/3YFOkXP 🔒

A paper in Scientific Reports presents the Cough2COVID-19 framework, an AI that can detect COVID-19 in cough audio signals with 98% accuracy.

Cough2COVID-19 detection using an enhanced multi layer ensemble deep learning framework and CoughFeatureRanker Scientific Reports

A Data Descriptor in Scientific Data presents Course-Skill Atlas, a longitudinal dataset of skills inferred from over three million course syllabi taught at nearly three thousand U.S. higher education institutions.

Read the article: https://go.nature.com/3UkCXC0

A study in Nature Computational Science projects e-waste growth from generative AI to reach a total accumulation of 1.2-5 million metric tons during 2020-2030 if no waste reduction measures are implemented.

Read the paper: https://go.nature.com/4e2RDg7

Achieving net-zero climate targets requires substantial land for carbon dioxide removal. A paper in Nature Communications quantifies the land area in countries’ climate pledges at approximately 1 billion hectares, often involving the conversion of existing land uses to forests.

Over-reliance on land for carbon dioxide removal in net-zero climate pledges Nature Communications

Given the concerns over US leadership in science, how does the country measure up and what comes next after the election? Nature examines the numbers and a few key issues that could determine the United States’ scientific future.

The US is the world's science superpower -- but for how long? Nature News & Comment

A paper in Nature Medicine presents an intervention known as AVATAR therapy that enables people with psychosis who hear distressing voices to engage with a digital embodiment of the voice they hear and may lead to short-term improvements in voice-related distress. Read the article: https://go.nature.com/3YrrIJa

Political polarization is an understudied determinant of health. A Review in Nature Medicine describes the types of political polarization and how they impact the health of populations and individuals, including potential mitigation strategies and research priorities. Read the article: https://rdcu.be/dX7Zr

Bureaucrats in Pakistan and India are more likely to impose sanctions on crop residue burning when its negative effects are felt in their jurisdiction rather than across the border, a paper in Nature suggests.

The findings show that action varies according to the geographical consequences (both on the environment and public health) of the practice and offer insights on how better control may be implemented.

Read the paper: https://go.nature.com/3BTmw9j

Nature reports how models have vastly underestimated the energy costs of reproduction across the animal kingdom and what researchers are doing about it.

How much energy does it take to make a baby? Researchers are rethinking what they know Nature News & Comment

Base editing screens of 11 cancer genes identify four functional classes of variants that collectively underpin sensitivity and resistance to ten commonly used drugs in cancer cell lines, according to a paper in Nature Genetics. https://go.nature.com/48jXtsc

A Review in Nature Reviews Cardiology describes the adverse effects of soil and water pollution—including heavy metal, pesticide, and microplastic and nanoplastic pollution—on cardiovascular health. Read the Review: https://go.nature.com/3YfdWt8 🔒

A study published in Nature reports on the successful treatment of patients suffering from toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) using JAK inhibitors. TEN is a rare but often fatal reaction to common medications.

Spatial proteomics identifies JAKi as treatment for a lethal skin disease Nature

Hiring managers want applicants to show passion and dedication, but not overconfidence or exaggerations. A feature from Nature Careers describes how to walk this line.

How job-seeking scientists should walk the line between high-calibre and humble Nature Careers

A study in Nature finds that two archaeological sites located over 2,000 m above sea level in the mountains of Uzbekistan were major urban centres. The discovery of the remote sites, positioned along Asia’s medieval Silk Routes, may warrant a rethink of the role of peripheral communities in shaping trade and political interactions along the Silk Road. Read the article: https://go.nature.com/3NzIAIV