China’s cities are playing a key role in the development of specialist technologies such as solar energy.Credit: Yaorusheng/Getty Many of the patterns evident in the data for this year’s Nature Index Science Cities supplement will be familiar to watchers of global science trends over the past decade. China’s research output in the journals tracked by…

In a discovery that blurs the line between biology and technology, scientists have found that heart-shaped clams use fiber optic–like structures to channel sunlight through their shells in much the same way that telecommunications company use fiber optics to deliver high-speed internet connectivity into homes. This innovation, a first known example of bundled fiber optics…

Relying on natural carbon sinks such as forests and oceans to offset continued fossil fuel emissions will not stop global heating, the scientists who developed net zero have warned. Each year, the planet’s oceans, forests, soils and other natural carbon sinks absorb abouthalf of all human emissions, forming part of government plans to limit global…

Abstract Public trust in scientists is critical to our ability to face societal threats. Here, across five pre-registered studies (N = 2,034), we assessed whether perceptions of scientists’ intellectual humility affect perceived trustworthiness of scientists and their research. In study 1, we found that seeing scientists as higher in intellectual humility was associated with greater perceived trustworthiness…

Credit: Getty Nature’s 2024 hiring in science survey This article is the third in a short series discussing the results of Nature’s 2024 global survey of hiring managers in science. The survey, created in partnership with Thinks Insights & Strategy, a research consultancy in London, launched in June and was advertised on nature.com, in Springer…

Human fat cells (shown here in a coloured scanning electron microscopy image) carry a ‘memory’ of obesity, a study has shown.Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL Even after drastic weight loss, the body’s fat cells carry the ‘memory’ of obesity, research1 shows — a finding that might help to explain why it can be hard to stay trim…

Science and Politics Ian Boyd Polity (2024) Say what you really think, Sir Ian. Politics attracts people who are comfortable with “lying” and “manufacturing social truth” and who “do not distinguish between fantasy and reality”, Ian Boyd notes in his book Science and Politics. Moreover, many scientists are falling “for the wisdom of crowds”, “following…