Nature, Published online: 21 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02932-4Many academics are concerned about threats to independent enquiry in higher education. Here’s how it can be protected…
Nature, Published online: 21 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02931-5Artificial-intelligence systems can generate hypotheses, design experiments and analyse data — but humans still need to…
Common preservatives hiding in processed foods may carry unexpected heart risks, with heavy consumption linked to substantially higher rates of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease….
Cats may identify one another through a surprisingly durable chemical “calling card” made from 13 unusual fatty acids in their urine. The compounds appear linked to mysterious fat droplets in the…
Researchers may have solved a long-running mystery surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls by proposing that the Qumran sect really did use its distinctive 364-day calendar. Its perfectly ordered 52-week…
Understanding how human language evolved is one of the hardest problems in science to unpick
The human brain uses about the same amount of wattage as a lightbulb
A new report from Google, Google DeepMind and M.I.T. finds that researchers are using AI—a lot. It’s just not helping as much in the lab
OpenAI’s claimed proof of the Navier-Stokes problem is a mathematical tour de force, but any real-world applications may be years away—if they ever arrive at all
The Climate Grand Challenges “New World of Weather” project shows how modeling, planning tools, and infrastructure analysis are translating research into real-world resilience.