Scientists have long agreed that early humans mated with Neanderthals, but a pair of recent studies have shed light on when exactly this DNA mixing occurred. Such a revelation could help geneticists learn more about our past — and crucially, our future. The studies, published Dec. 12 in the journals Science and Nature, provide information…

Abstract Avoiding the worst effects of climate change depends on our ability to scale and deploy technologies faster than ever before. Scale-up has largely been the domain of industrial research and development teams, but advances in modeling and experimental techniques increasingly allow early-stage researchers to contribute to the process. Here we argue that early assessments…

Open-access journal eLife has been in the vanguard of experimental publishing since its founding in 2012.Credit: Nature The open-access journal eLife is facing upset after the news that the journal will lose its impact factor — a controversial metric based on citations that is often used as shorthand for quality. Clarivate, the London-based analytics firm…

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria and was tested as a treatment for COVID-19.Credit: George Frey/AFP via Getty Controversial COVID study retracted A study that stoked enthusiasm for the now-disproven idea that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine…

President-elect Donald Trump has promised to increase US fossil-fuel production.Credit: Matt Smith/Alamy Washington DC If Donald Trump follows through on promises for his second term as US president, he will unleash sweeping changes in climate policy within hours or days of his inauguration on 20 January. Among the shifts, he could pull the United States…

Military spending is fuelling wars such as the one in Sudan, forcing people to flee.Credit: Luis Tato/AFP/Getty The fall of the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, which brought widespread joy and optimism, was a rare and welcome development in what has mostly been another devastating year of violence and conflict around the world.…

Hiroshima M. G. Sheftall Dutton (2024) Born and educated in the United States, M. G. Sheftall settled in Japan in 1987 to teach modern Japanese cultural history at university. His detailed book on the 1945 US atomic bombing of Hiroshima skilfully integrates science and technology with the human aspects of this horrific event. It stands…

Findings from clinical trials are summarized in Cochrane’s systematic reviews, which guide medical treatment.Credit: Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty A huge collaboration has confirmed growing concerns that fake or flawed research is polluting medical systematic reviews, which summarize evidence from multiple clinical trials and shape treatment guidelines worldwide. The study is part of an effort…

A climate finance protest at COP29 in Baku. Science activism is increasing.Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty People in some 70 countries took part in various national elections this year, a record number. And in March, Nature reported that results in at least five polls could either boost or block climate action (see Nature 627, 22–25; 2024). Overall,…

Podcasts generated by artificial intelligence are shaking up how researchers interact with the literature and the public.Credit: Aleksei Gorodenkov/Alamy “My brain starts to die when I try to read a journal article,” says Jessica Sacher, a microbiologist at Stanford University in California. Papers are written to be technically comprehensive rather than understandable, she says. “I…