Nature

When are masks most useful? COVID cases offer hints

Masks offer the greatest protection indoors and during long exposures to people infected with the coronavirus — but other public-health measures matter, too.

US astronomy's 10-year plan is super-ambitious

Its ‘decadal survey’ pitches big new space observatories, funding for large telescopes and a reckoning over social issues plaguing the field.

Alexandra Witze
News 04 Nov 2021
COP26 climate summit: A scientists’ guide to a momentous meeting

Despite 30 years of climate diplomacy, urgent and aggressive action is needed to halt global warming. Nature explains what success looks like, and what’s on the line.

Jeff Tollefson
News Explainer 25 Oct 2021
Baleen whale prey consumption based on high-resolution foraging measurements

A combination of 3D whale locations and acoustic measurements of prey density is used here to show that whales’ consumption of krill is several times larger than often thought.

Matthew S. Savoca
Max F. Czapanskiy
Jeremy A. Goldbogen
Article 03 Nov 2021
Daily briefing: First authorization for Novavax COVID vaccine

Indonesia has given the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine its first emergency use authorization. Plus, lessons from the UK’s COVID strategy, and the banks’ plan to help get us to net zero.

Flora Graham
Nature Briefing 03 Nov 2021
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Current Issue 04 Nov 2021

News & Comment

The power of poo, and what to expect from robots: Books in brief

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the week’s best science picks.

Andrew Robinson

Book Review 05 Nov 2021
Whales’ gigantic appetites, climate fears — the week in infographics

News 05 Nov 2021
Sponge cells hint at origins of nervous system
- Max Kozlov
News 05 Nov 2021
Scientists cheer India’s ambitious carbon-zero climate pledge
- Gayathri Vaidyanathan
News 05 Nov 2021
Carbon emissions rapidly rebounded following COVID pandemic dip
- Jeff Tollefson
News 04 Nov 2021
US astronomy's 10-year plan is super-ambitious
- Alexandra Witze
News 04 Nov 2021
When are masks most useful? COVID cases offer hints
- Ariana Remmel
News 04 Nov 2021

Latest Reviews & Analysis

- Fifty years of the brain’s sense of space
  
  Neurons in a brain region called the hippocampus were found to be selectively active when rats are in a specific spatial location during natural navigation. The discovery launched research efforts into how the brain supports spatial memory.
  
  Isabel I. C. Low
  Lisa M. Giocomo
  
  News & Views 04 Nov 2021
- Mice with disrupted mitochondria used to model Parkinson’s disease
  
  Mice in which organelles called mitochondria are disrupted in vulnerable neuronal cells provide a new model of Parkinson’s disease. The pattern of neurodegeneration challenges long-held ideas about the disease’s motor symptoms.
  Zak Doric
  Ken Nakamura
  
  News & Views 03 Nov 2021
- GABA molecules made by B cells can dampen antitumour responses
  
  Analysis of immune cells shows that, unexpectedly, B cells secrete GABA, a molecule best known as a neurotransmitter. B-cell-derived GABA can modulate immune responses against tumours, raising the prospect of new therapies.
  Daniel L. Kaufman
  
  News & Views 03 Nov 2021
- A whale of an appetite revealed by analysis of prey consumption
  
  Reaching a deeper understanding of the ocean ecosystems that maintain whales might aid conservation efforts. Measurements of the animals’ krill intake indicate that previous figures were substantial underestimates.
  Victor Smetacek
  
  News & Views 03 Nov 2021
- A seagrass harbours a nitrogen-fixing bacterial partner
  
  How underwater seagrasses obtain the nitrogen they need has been unclear. Evidence has now emerged of a partnership with a bacterium that might be analogous to the system used by many land plants to gain nitrogen.
  Douglas G. Capone
  
  News & Views 03 Nov 2021
- A mediator of metabolic signals influences puberty and growth
  Alejandro Lomniczi
  
  News & Views 03 Nov 2021
- Relativity could ensure security for cash machines
  Gilles Brassard
  
  News & Views 03 Nov 2021
- From the archive
  
  News & Views 02 Nov 2021
- A reconstruction of early cryptic COVID spread
  Simon Cauchemez
  Paolo Bosetti
  
  News & Views 01 Nov 2021

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Latest Research articles

Drop-in Fuels from Sunlight and Air

Remo Schäppi
David Rutz
Aldo Steinfeld
Article 03 Nov 2021
Percolation transitions in compressed SiO₂ glasses

Amorphous–amorphous phase transitions in silicon dioxide are shown to proceed through a sequence of percolation transitions, a process that has relevance to a range of important liquid and glassy systems.

A. Hasmy
S. Ispas
B. Hehlen
Article 03 Nov 2021
Striatal indirect pathway mediates exploration via collicular competition

Indirect striatal projection neurons in the basal ganglia modulate activity in the superior colliculus, thereby controlling selection and exploration of actions in response to a reward omission.

Jaeeon Lee
Bernardo L. Sabatini
Article 03 Nov 2021
Experimental relativistic zero-knowledge proofs

A zero-knowledge proof, which can be used to verify secret information, is reported here with security that is enforced by the laws of special relativity.

Pouriya Alikhani
Nicolas Brunner
Hugo Zbinden
Article 03 Nov 2021
MC3R links nutritional state to childhood growth and the timing of puberty

MC3R deficiency is associated with a delay in the onset of puberty, and a reduction in growth and lean mass.

B. Y. H. Lam
A. Williamson
S. O’Rahilly
Article 03 Nov 2021

Collections

Research in support of COP26

This November, world leaders will meet in Glasgow, UK for the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to discuss action on the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Collection 11 Oct 2021