Early voting is already taking place in the 2024 US presidential election. Here, voters mark their ballots at a location in Virginia.Credit: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty The US presidential election has divided a nation, but scientists seem to be on the same page. Researchers inside and outside the United States overwhelmingly favour the Democratic candidate…

Far-right leader Geert Wilders heads the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), which is in a coalition government that is seeking cuts to the research budget.Credit: Remko de Waal/ANP via Alamy A surge in far-right parties entering governments across Europe is raising concerns for science. The parties, whose focus is typically immigration, care little about research,…

After graduating from the medical and biological illustration programme at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, Shiz Aoki fulfilled a long-held dream: she launched her own company. Founded in 2010 in Toronto, Canada, Anatomize Studios works with large clients — pharmaceutical companies, magazines and medical professionals with niche needs and capacious budgets. Yet Aoki would…

Abstract Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) requires substantial computational resources for model training and inference, but the electronic-waste (e-waste) implications of GAI and its management strategies remain underexplored. Here we introduce a computational power-driven material flow analysis framework to quantify and explore ways of managing the e-waste generated by GAI, with a particular focus on large…

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump at their first (and only) televised debate, on 10 September.Credit: J Matt/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Next week, US voters will go to the polls to elect a new president, along with members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. This election will take place at a time of extreme uncertainty,…

Garden and landscape design is uniquely concerned with direct relations among art, science, and nature. It operates exactly at the frontier between people and nature, developing transitional connecting zones between the outside limits of buildings and engineering structures and the natural forms and processes that surround them. This is true for large houses and gardens…

Credit: Rohini Godbole Rohini Godbole, Indian particle physicist and ardent advocate of women in science, passed away today at age 71. She was an honorary professor at the centre for High Energy Physics at Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. Godbole was born in Pune and studied physics at the local Sir Parshurambhau College and…

Rather than being a hindrance, an ADHD diagnosis helped Ana Bastos to excel as a scientist.Credit: Antje Gildmeister Some years ago, an advert caught my eye: “become a bus driver”. I felt tempted. I was in my second postdoctoral programme, juggling several projects, my first supervision duties and teaching — all on top of adjusting…

Abstract Recent progress in deep learning has significantly impacted materials science, leading to accelerated material discovery and innovation. ElemNet, a deep neural network model that predicts formation energy from elemental compositions, exemplifies the application of deep learning techniques in this field. However, the “black-box” nature of deep learning models often raises concerns about their interpretability…

The new species is similar in appearance to this Hypsibius sp. tardigrade, photographed using an electron microscope.Credit: Robert Schuster/Science Photo Library A newly described species of tardigrade is giving scientists insights into what makes these tiny eight-legged creatures so resistant to radiation. Tardigrades, also known as water bears, have long fascinated scientists with their ability…