Humpback whale song is a culturally transmitted behavior. Human language, which is also culturally transmitted, has statistically coherent parts whose frequency distribution follows a power law. These properties facilitate learning and may therefore arise because of their contribution to the faithful transmission of language over multiple cultural generations. If so, we would expect to find them in

Fast instinctive responses to environmental stimuli can be crucial for survival but are not always optimal. Animals can adapt their behavior and suppress instinctive reactions, but the neural pathways mediating such ethologically relevant forms of learning remain unclear. We found that posterolateral higher visual areas (plHVAs) are crucial for learning to suppress escapes from innate visual threats

The class III phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase complexes I and II (PI3KC3-C1 and -C2) have vital roles in macroautophagy and endosomal maturation, respectively. We elucidated a structural pathway of enzyme activation through cryo-EM analysis of PI3KC3-C1. The inactive conformation of the VPS15 pseudokinase stabilizes the inactive conformation, sequestering its N -myristate in the N-lobe of the pseudokinase

True to his campaign promises, on 20 January 2025, US President Donald Trump signed a broad range of Executive Orders, the scope of which ranged from renaming the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America” to reinterpreting the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution by curtailing birthright citizenship. At least one order is relevant to social scientists studying political communication because it aims to

Antarctica harbors many distinctive features of life, yet much about the diversity and functioning of Antarctica’s life remains unknown. Evolutionary histories and functional ecology are well understood only for vertebrates, whereas research on invertebrates is largely limited to species descriptions and some studies on environmental tolerances. Knowledge on Antarctic vegetation cover showcases the

Measures to combat the parasites that cause malaria have become compromised because of reliance on a small arsenal of drugs and emerging drug resistance. We conducted a transposon mutagenesis screen in the primate malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi , producing the most complete classification of gene essentiality in any Plasmodium spp. to date, with the resolution to define truncatable genes. We

Mitochondrial damage is a hallmark of metabolic diseases, including diabetes, yet the consequences of compromised mitochondria in metabolic tissues are often unclear. Here, we report that dysfunctional mitochondrial quality control engages a retrograde (mitonuclear) signaling program that impairs cellular identity and maturity in β-cells, hepatocytes, and brown adipocytes. Targeted deficiency throughout

Some plants have massive sex-linked regions. To test hypotheses about their evolution, we sequenced the genome of Silene latifolia , in which giant heteromorphic sex chromosomes were first discovered in 1923. It has long been known that the Y chromosome consists mainly of a male-specific region that does not recombine with the X chromosome and carries the sex-determining genes and genes with other

The powerful strikes generated by the smasher mantis shrimp require it to possess a robust protection mechanism to withstand the resultant forces. Although recent studies have suggested that phononic bandgaps complement the mantis shrimp’s defensive suite, direct experimental evidence for this mechanism has remained elusive. In this work, we explored the phononic properties of the mantis shrimp’s dactyl

Antarctica is a vital component of Earth’s climate system, influencing global sea level, ocean circulation, and planetary albedo. Major knowledge gaps in critical processes—spanning the atmosphere, ocean, ice sheets, underlying beds, ice shelves, and sea ice—create uncertainties in future projections, hindering climate adaptation and risk assessments of ice intervention strategies. Antarctica’s ice

Malaria parasites are highly divergent from model eukaryotes. Large-scale genome engineering methods effective in model organisms are frequently inapplicable, and systematic studies of gene function are few. We generated more than 175,000 transposon insertions in the Plasmodium knowlesi genome, averaging an insertion every 138 base pairs, and used this “supersaturation” mutagenesis to score essentiality

In many species with sex chromosomes, the Y is a tiny chromosome. However, the dioecious plant Silene latifolia has a giant ~550-megabase Y chromosome, which has remained unsequenced so far. We used a long- and short-read hybrid approach to obtain a high-quality male genome. Comparative analysis of the sex chromosomes with their homologs in outgroups showed that the Y is highly rearranged and degenerated

In eukaryotes, DNA-associated protein complexes coevolve with genomic sequences to orchestrate chromatin folding. We investigate the relationship between DNA sequence and the spontaneous loading and activity of chromatin components in the absence of coevolution. Using bacterial genomes integrated into Saccharomyces cerevisiae , which diverged from yeast more than 2 billion years ago, we show that nucleosomes

Under current nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, global warming is projected to reach 2.7°C above preindustrial levels. In this review, we show that at such a level of warming, the Arctic would be transformed beyond contemporary recognition: Virtually every day of the year would have air temperatures higher than preindustrial extremes, the Arctic Ocean

Cells have evolved mechanisms to distribute ~10 billion protein molecules to subcellular compartments where diverse proteins involved in shared functions must assemble. Here, we demonstrate that proteins with shared functions share amino acid sequence codes that guide them to compartment destinations. A protein language model, ProtGPS, was developed that predicts with high performance the compartment

According to Noether’s theorem, symmetries in a physical system are intertwined with conserved quantities. These symmetries often determine the system topology, which is made ever more complex with increased dimensionality. Quasicrystals have neither translational nor global rotational symmetry, yet they intrinsically inhabit a higher-dimensional space in which symmetry resurfaces. Here, we discovered

Plants grow complex root systems to extract unevenly distributed resources from soils. Spatial differences in soil moisture are perceived by root tips, leading to the patterning of new root branches toward available water in a process called hydropatterning. Little is known about hydropatterning behavior and its genetic basis in crop plants. Here, we developed an assay to measure hydropatterning in

Insulin resistance is a hallmark of obesity-associated type 2 diabetes. Insulin’s actions go beyond metabolic cells and also involve blood vessels, where insulin increases capillary blood flow and delivery of insulin and nutrients. We show that adrenomedullin, whose plasma levels are increased in obese humans and mice, inhibited insulin signaling in human endothelial cells through protein-tyrosine

Ice streams are major regulators of sea level change. However, standard viscous flow simulations of their evolution have limited predictive power due to incomplete understanding of involved processes. On the Greenland ice sheet, borehole fiber-optic observations reveal a brittle deformation mode that is incompatible with viscous flow over length scales similar to the resolution of modern ice sheet

The small trial will help to establish whether kidneys from genetically modified pigs can be transplanted into people safely and effectively.

Evolutionarily conserved molecular program used to form gills and ears.

Market forces could undercut the administration’s plans to increase the use of fossil fuels such as oil and petrol.

The month’s most stunning science images. Plus, a ‘data apocalypse’ as US public-health agencies move to comply with wide-ranging executive orders.

A five-step guide to communicating your science ethically and accurately.

Researchers in Gaza tell Nature of ‘unwavering commitment to education and knowledge’ as most universities lie damaged or destroyed.

Scientists studying the controversial 'running of the bulls' discover unique crowd movements they hope could prevent overcrowding deaths

Studying crowd dynamics could inform strategies that help to prevent dense gatherings from becoming dangerous.

A landmark study reporting the discovery of Australopithecus africanus one century ago put the African continent at the centre of the story of humanity.

A phase I clinical trial supports the safety and feasibility of a vaccine to limit disease recurrence in people with kidney cancer.