Abstract In the age of big data and open science, what processes are needed to follow open science protocols while upholding Indigenous Peoples’ rights? The Earth Data Relations Working Group (EDRWG), convened to address this question and envision a research landscape that acknowledges the legacy of extractive practices and embraces new norms across Earth science…

A green dye marks lipocartilage cells from the ear of a rat.Credit: Plikus lab, Univ. California, Irvine The ear and the nose are squishy and stretchy thanks in part to ‘bubble wrap’ cells that provide extra cushioning and structural support to various body parts, a wide-ranging study1 shows. These ‘lipocartilage’ cells — which are found…

I’ve lived in San Francisco now for more than five years, and until a few weeks ago I had never been to some of its most storied institutions. I have excuses.  One is timing — I arrived about six months before the pandemic. By the time I settled into my neighborhood and underwent a major…

RNA viruses including SARS-CoV-2 constantly accrue new mutations.Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library The holy grail of pandemic preparedness is being able to predict how a virus will evolve just by looking at its genetic sequence. Those days are still a way off, but a growing number of research groups are using artificial intelligence (AI) to…

On a warm, sunny beach near Melbourne, Australia, Alethea Jerebine watched her daughters scrambling up a jumble of rocks. “Can they do that?” she worried about her 10-year-old and 13-year-old. The rocks were pocked with crevices and so steep that they gave Jerebine vertigo. Instinctively, she wanted to tell them to stop. At the same…

Particles known as fermions (illustration) can’t share the same state.Credit: Roman Andrade 3Dcienca/Science Photo Library Theoretical physicists have proposed the existence of a new type of particle that doesn’t fit into the conventional classifications of fermions and bosons. Their ‘paraparticle’, described in Nature on 8 January1, is not the first to be suggested, but the…

Quantum theory helped to explain how the energy levels of an atom split in a magnetic field, a phenomenon known as the Zeeman effect.Credit: Harsh Vardhan Dewangan/Shutterstock It is rare for a scientific idea or theory to fundamentally change our perspective on reality. One such revolutionary moment is being celebrated in 2025, which the United…

Human genome editing could markedly reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer’s disease. The brain scan on the left is of someone with Alzheimer’s disease; the one on the right is of a ‘typical’ brain.Credit: Centre Jean Perrin, ISM/Science Photo Library Scientists know about tens of thousands of DNA variants that are associated with human diseases. On…

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. RNA viruses including SARS-CoV-2 constantly accrue new mutations.Credit: Steve Gschmeissner/SPL Can AI help us see into viruses’ futures? A growing number of research groups are using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the evolution of viruses such…

The University of Toronto in Canada raised its graduate-student stipends last November.Credit: James Wagner/Getty Stipends for biology and physics graduate students at Canadian universities fall well short of a living wage, an analysis reports. “All of the minimum stipends we found were below the poverty line after tuition, except for the physics department at the…