News & Views in 2023 (2025)

From the archive: waltzing mice, and Louis Pasteur’s beer battle

Snippets from Nature’s past.

Neutrino secrets could be revealed by Earth’s atmosphere

Scientists typically look at the skies or take to the laboratory to probe the neutrino’s properties. But neutrinos produced in Earth’s atmosphere could reveal this long-sought information — and the experiments are already well under way.

• Josh Spitz

Contact-tracing app predicts risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

The risk of catching COVID-19 as calculated by a smartphone app scales with the probability of subsequently testing positive for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, showing that digital contact tracing is a useful tool for fighting future pandemics.

• Justus Benzler

Large language models direct automated chemistry laboratory

Automation of chemistry research has focused on developing robots to execute jobs. Artificial-intelligence technology has now been used not only to control robots, but also to plan their tasks on the basis of simple human prompts.

• Ana Laura Dias
• Tiago Rodrigues

Mysterious ultraslow and ordered activity observed in the cortex

Neurons with a role in navigation fire sequentially in mice, forming patterns that repeat every minute or so — but which are neither spatially organized, nor related to any visible behaviour.

• Gilles Laurent

From the archive: scientific spelling, and ancient Egyptian art

Snippets from Nature’s past.

Viruses wrap up bacterial defence systems

Bacteria use diverse defences against viral predators called bacteriophages. A method to identify antibacterial counter-defences in viral genomes has revealed striking modes of defence inhibition.

• Tim R. Blower
• Stineke van Houte

How brine shrimps cope with salt

Mutant ion pumps help brine shrimp survive highly saline waters.

• Lucia Brunello

Muscle immune cells protect mitochondrial organelles during exercise

A suppressive type of immune cell called a regulatory T cell has a key role in helping muscles to adapt to exercise — guarding muscle mitochondrial organelles against damage mediated by proinflammatory factors generated during physical activity.

• Gerald Coulis
• S. Armando Villalta

Plastic pollution, viral evolution and drowned coasts: wrapping up a year of remarkable science

Highlights from News & Views published in late 2023.

Wetlands, neutrinos and warning coloration: kicking off a year of remarkable science

Highlights from News & Views published in early 2023.

The laser trick that could put an ultraprecise optical clock on a chip

Researchers have made a key breakthrough in how light is used to control time signals from the world’s most precise clocks. The technique marks a crucial step in bringing this technology into everyday life.

• Mengxi Tan
• David J. Moss

Modified messenger-RNA components alter the encoded protein

Modified components of messenger RNA can cause the protein-production machinery to stall during the process of translation. This might change the protein being made, a finding with implications for vaccines or therapies.

• Nicholas J. Tursi
• David B. Weiner

Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy linked to hormone from fetus

Maternal sensitivity to a hormone produced by the fetus might underlie the risk of severe nausea and vomiting in human pregnancy — a finding that could open up strategies for the treatment of this debilitating condition.

• Alice E. Hughes
• Rachel M. Freathy

Indigenous diversity in Australia’s DNA tapestry unlocked for genetic equity

Diverse genomic sequences might boost equity in areas such as health care. Genomic data from Indigenous Australians, shared through a community-consultation framework, aids efforts to boost genetic representation.

• Katrina G. Claw
• Amber Nashoba

Twisted system makes nanolasers shine together

Ultrathin semiconductor materials that mimic twisted layers of atoms have been used to build synchronized arrays of nanometre-scale lasers. The systems can be configured — and easily reconfigured — to form intricate patterns.

• Liqin Tang
• Zhigang Chen

A next-generation inhalable dry powder COVID vaccine

Current injectable COVID-19 vaccines are unable to induce robust immunity in the mucosal tissues lining the airways. A protein-based vaccine delivered to the lungs in the form of an inhaled dry powder shows promise as a way forward.

• Zhou Xing
• Mangalakumari Jeyanathan

Gene expression of single cells mapped in tissue sections

A tool that tags individual cells in a tissue with a unique barcode means that the gene-expression profile of each cell can be plotted in its original location. This allows spatial information to be captured at single-cell resolution.

• Patrik L. Ståhl

Domestic cats eat whatever they can catch

A meta-analysis of the diets of domestic cats.

• Andrew Mitchinson

From the archive: London fog, and an expedition team to envy

Snippets from Nature’s past.