Nature

CORRESPONDENCE 08 June 2021 Diagnostic genomic laboratories should share their data Kok-Siong Poon  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0873-2682 0 & Evelyn Siew-Chuan Koay  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6472-1462 1 Kok-Siong Poon National University Hospital, Singapore. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Evelyn Siew-Chuan Koay National University of Singapore. View author publications You can

A 15-member herd of wandering elephants in Beijing, China garnered international attention over the media. A drone footage had captured a group of elephants which appeared to be resting outside a village in Xiyang township went viral on social media, Monday night. The herd began moving again on Tuesday morning. The herd of wild Asian elephants

CORRESPONDENCE 08 June 2021 Indigenous lands: make Brazil stop mining to secure US deal Glenn Shepard 0 Glenn Shepard Emílio Goeldi Museum, Belém do Para, Brazil. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via E-Mail

CORRESPONDENCE 08 June 2021 Chilean polymath Humberto Maturana remembered Francisco J. Parada 0 , Alejandra Rossi 1 & Daniel Rojas-Líbano 2 Francisco J. Parada Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Alejandra Rossi Diego Portales University, Santiago, Chile. View author publications You can

A “HIGH-speed” solar storm could hit our planet tomorrow, which could eventually lead to complications with the power grid and satellite technology issues. (Photo : Getty Images) Solar Flare  Scientists monitoring the surface activity of the Sun have detected a sunspot that released coronal mass ejection (CME) or a solar flare. While this flare was

CAREER NEWS 07 June 2021 Feedback needed: take our salary and job-satisfaction survey Nature’s in-depth study of scientists’ troubles and triumphs will help us to identify and address barriers to research careers. Chris Woolston 0 Chris Woolston Chris Woolston is a freelance journalist in Billings, Montana. View author publications You can also search for this

Last year, news broke out about the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) awarding a gold medal to a new species for distinguished service. Since then the world has learned about Magawa, the heroic mine-detecting rat from Cambodia. That is why it is only fitting that this year will also be the year of Magawa’s

Download PDF I have been training astronauts at the European Space Agency (ESA) since 1992, when I was a computer engineer teaching them about information technology. I gradually took on more types of training, and have helped to design prospective human missions to Mars as well as missions to explore lunar caves. This picture was

The sharp stylus of an atomic-force microscope (boxy structure) can be used to adjust the strength of an atomic bond. Credit: Jörg Kröger Condensed-matter physics 07 June 2021 A light touch changes the strength of a single atomic bond A technique that uses an electric field to tighten the bond between two atoms can allow

A US Geological Survey geophysicist told CNN that over 600 minor earthquakes were reported this weekend in a rural area near the Salton Sea in Southern California. The highest has a magnitude of 5.3. (Photo : Pixabay) From Saturday through shortly before daybreak Sunday, there were 603 temblors of a magnitude of at least one,

NEWS AND VIEWS 04 June 2021 Attraction and repulsion cooperate during brain-circuit wiring Examination of the molecular interactions that govern the assembly of neural circuits in a brain region called the hippocampus reveals that neuronal projections are guided to their targets by both attractive and repulsive cues. Yajun Xie 0 & Corey Harwell 1 Yajun

The AccuWeather team of tropical forecasters is watching out for possible development in days to come as meteorologists expect one chief ingredient for cyclonic activity to become a factor sometime next week. (Photo : Getty Images) Homebrew Storms  During the last week of May and the first official week of the Atlantic hurricane season, which

CAREER COLUMN 04 June 2021 Education outreach can inspire the next generation of scientists David Hiller finds that the joy of exploring maths and science with kids rivals his best days in the lab. David Hiller 0 David Hiller David Hiller is a research scientist in biochemistry and biophysics at Yale University in New Haven,

NEWS 04 June 2021 A complete human genome sequence is close: how scientists filled in the gaps Researchers added 200 million DNA base pairs and 115 protein-coding genes — but they’ve yet to entirely sequence the Y chromosome. Sara Reardon Sara Reardon View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google

These frozen prehistoric animals are extremely well-preserved and now famous all over the world. The remote and icy north of the Yakutia Republic in Siberia has become famous for the discovery of remnants of Ice Age mammals within its thick permafrost deposits. In some cases, completely buried carcasses that have been shrunken and dried up

NEWS Q&A 04 June 2021 First science adviser in US president’s cabinet talks COVID, spying and more Eric Lander spoke to Nature during his first day as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Nidhi Subbaraman Nidhi Subbaraman View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed

UK government pushes through an outright ban of selling real animal fur while animal rights activists support the movement to ‘spare millions of animals’ and protect them from mistreatment. Previous studies say that UK was the first country in Europe to ban fur farming back in 2000, but selling fur was still legal in the

NEWS 04 June 2021 Antibody-laden nasal spray could provide COVID protection — and treatment Scientists create a hybrid antibody that can sharply cut the amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs of infected mice. Diana Kwon Diana Kwon View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Share on Twitter Share

A suite of proteins in the blood could one day predict how much cardiovascular benefit a person will gain from a strenuous workout regime. Credit: Lars Baron/Getty Metabolism 04 June 2021 How fit can you get? These blood proteins hold a clue Scientists pinpoint almost 150 biomarkers linked to intrinsic cardiovascular fitness, and 100 linked

AccuWeather forecasters say the future forecast is bad news for those looking for a lengthy stretch of dry weather throughout swampy portions of the south-central United States. (Photo : Getty Images) The likelihood of urban and river flooding will increase as much more rain is forecast to fall on parts of the south-central United States

NATURE PODCAST 04 June 2021 Coronapod: Uncertainty and the COVID ‘lab-leak’ theory How doubt is fuelling the debate over the origin of coronavirus Noah Baker & Amy Maxmen Noah Baker View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Amy Maxmen View author publications You can also search for this

The reputation of piranhas precedes them. These feisty South American fish are infamous for their sharp teeth, fierce demeanor, and great appetites, which allegedly can force a group of piranhas to skeletonize a cow in few minutes. Yet while they are a powerful force in their native waterways, piranhas are also far more assorted –

A pedestrian seeks relief from searing temperatures in Spain, where a high proportion of heat-related deaths have been linked to climate change. Credit: SALAS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Climate change 04 June 2021 More than one-third of heat deaths blamed on climate change Warming resulting from human activities accounts for a high percentage of heat-related deaths, especially in southern

NEWS 04 June 2021 WHO approval of Chinese CoronaVac COVID vaccine will be crucial to curbing pandemic CoronaVac is one of two Chinese vaccines already sustaining vaccination campaigns in more than 70 nations. Both should soon be much more widely available to low-income countries. Smriti Mallapaty Smriti Mallapaty View author publications You can also search

Did you know that 4 out of 5 people are terrified of snakes? These people have what we call as Ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes). And we also know that a snake bite could potentially kill you. Well in fact, over 138,000 snake bite deaths are tallied every year.  Apparently we need to know which snakes

NEWS 03 June 2021 ‘The perfect storm’: lax social distancing fuelled a coronavirus variant’s Brazilian surge Genomic analysis draws a link between a devastating second COVID wave in Brazil and increased travel and contact. Ewen Callaway Ewen Callaway View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Share on Twitter

While the ocean has always been seen as a place brimming with animal life (some still not understood), there are actually places beneath it that can be very inhospitable, also known as dead zones. And no, these are not the usual pollutant hotspots or secret dumping grounds of toxic wastes. These are oxygen minimum zones (OMZs),

CAREER COLUMN 03 June 2021 Use micro-affirmations and call out microaggressions to help others By taking positive action, as well as by protecting others from subtle slights, we can foster a better academic culture. Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via E-Mail Share via E-Mail Credit: Getty I

NATURE PODCAST 02 June 2021 On the origin of numbers The cross-discipline effort to work our how ancient humans learned to count. Nick Petrić Howe & Benjamin Thompson Nick Petrić Howe View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Benjamin Thompson View author publications You can also search for

According to a draft study acquired by the Visalia Times-Delta, a California wildfire that scorched the southern Sierra Nevada last year resulted in the destruction of a tenth of the world’s adult giant sequoias. Burning Sequoia (Photo : Wikimedia Commons) The Times-Delta analysis utilized satellite photos and modeling from prior fires to determine that between

This work was supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under contract numbers DE-AC02-06CH11357 and DE-AC02-98CH10886 and grant numbers DE-FG02-97ER41041 and DE-FG02-97ER41033; the National Science Foundation under grant number PHY-1203100; and the Polish National Science Centre under grant number 2017/25/B/ST2/00901. This research used resources of Argonne National

When Hailey Morinico observed a giant bear fighting with her family dogs from the top of a wall in their backyard in southern California, she didn’t hesitate. (Photo : Screenshot from ABS News Youtube Channel ) The 17-year-old dashed outdoors, shoved the bear away, picked up the dogs, and returned to her home in Bradbury,

1. Chiara, C. J. et al. Isomer depletion as experimental evidence of nuclear excitation by electron capture. Nature 554, 216–218 (2018). ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar  2. Wu, Y., Keitel, C. H. & Palffy, A. 93mMo isomer depletion via beam-based nuclear excitation by electron capture. Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, 212501 (2019). ADS  CAS  Article  Google

An elephant hoovers up rutabaga cubes, which it will hold in its trunk before manoeuvreing them into its mouth. Credit: Andrew Schulz, Jia Ning Wu Animal behaviour 01 June 2021 Elephants’ trunks are mighty suction machines The pachyderms can nab a treat lying nearly 5 centimetres away through sheer sucking power. Share on Twitter Share

 For two weeks in June 2020, a great dust plume dubbed as ‘Godzilla’ from Saharan Africa creeps westward across the Atlantic, overlaying the Caribbean and Gulf Coast states in the U.S. (Photo : Getty Images) Godzilla  The dust storm was very powerful, it got the nickname “Godzilla.” Now, scientists from the University of Kansas have

CORRESPONDENCE 01 June 2021 COVID: treatment trials are still urgent Steve Rauchman 0 Steve Rauchman North Valley Eye Medical Group, Mission Hills, California, USA. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via E-Mail Share via

Parrots are commonly associated with tropical islands, lush rainforests as well as the usual pirates. However, there is one species of parrot that defies all these associations: the kea. Found exclusively in New Zealand, the kea is the only known parrot species to dwell high up in the cold, stony crags of alpine environments. However,

CORRESPONDENCE 01 June 2021 Academic bullying: mediatiors hear both sides Alastair Hay 0 Alastair Hay University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via E-Mail Share via E-Mail Download PDF I

Whether severe or not, increased anxiety during storms might stem from a previous unpleasant encounter with weather or a sense of being out of control during these situations. (Photo : Photo by Robert King/ Newsmakers) Storm Anxiety  (Photo : Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) For a good reason, anticipating the advent of a hurricane, tornado,

A rare tree frog was discovered in the lowland rainforests of New Guinea and its unique chocolate-colored feature surprised Queensland Museum scientists. Scientists confirmed that the likely new frog species was related to the common green tree frog of Australia known as Litoria mira. The genus litoria is a Pelodryadidae tree frog native to Australia

I study the interactions between cell proteins and DNA. I want to understand how the gene-editing tool CRISPR makes unintended changes to organisms’ DNA. I have a faculty appointment at Leipzig University in Germany. But in March 2021, I took parental leave — which will probably become permanent leave — and came home to Zimbabwe

Storm surge is the most consequential threat to human life and property with any landfalling hurricane. As the level of the sea rises, these impacts are anticipated to become even more consequential. (Photo : Getty Images) Hurricane Laura  Jamie Rhome, who heads the storm surge unit at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said: “The ocean

Italy is known for a handful of cities with a strange closeness to water. Whether it is the Floating City of Venice or the underwater site of Baiae, tourists have come from all over to see these historical urban wonders. However, smaller yet no less significant underwater towns also exist in the countryside. Back in

After the 2018 attempt to ban commercial plastic bags in Chile, environmental advocates supported by the government ultimately passed a plastic regulation bill to fight against plastic pollution and reduce Chile’s plastic waste by 2024. The law on single-use plastic ban, which will take effect on 2021, expects restaurants, bars, cafes, and other food industries

NEWS 27 May 2021 Gibberish papers still lurk in the scientific literature Hundreds of nonsensical computer-generated articles, spotted years after the problem was first seen, could lead to a wave of retractions. Richard Van Noorden Richard Van Noorden View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Share on Twitter

Earlier forecasts have already declared summer-like heat in southeastern parts of the US. In the meantime, places like Las Vegas should expect the first triple-digit days in the coming week. Specifically,temperatures are expected to go beyond the 100 degree threshold on the Tuesday after Memorial Day. Preparing for summer-like heat for Vegas trips (Photo :

NEWS 27 May 2021 Elite US science academy expels astronomer Geoff Marcy following harassment complaints This is the first time the National Academy of Sciences has kicked out a member for violating its amended code of conduct. Nidhi Subbaraman Nidhi Subbaraman View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

NATURE BRIEFING 28 May 2021 Daily briefing: The NAS expels a member for the first time The US National Academy of Sciences has terminated astronomer Geoffrey Marcy’s membership, in light of sexual-harassment complaints. Plus, hundreds of gibberish papers lurk in the literature and a research-integrity specialist faces legal action. Flora Graham Flora Graham View author