For biologists, a long-standing question has been why some animals live longer than others. This week a team have attempted to answer this, by measuring the rates that different animal species accumulate mutations. They show that longer-lived animals acquire mutations at a slower rate, which helps to explain why cancer risk does not scale with lifespan.
Research article: Cagan et al.
News and Views: Mutational clocks tick differently across species
A clinical trial suggests a change to the treatment of a pregnancy ailment, and astronomers identify the largest known structure produced by a single galaxy.
Research Highlight: Ambitious trial inspires a rethink on a common ailment of pregnancy
Research Highlight: Even among ‘giant’ galaxies this one is record-setting
Many European countries are dependent on Russian fossil fuels for energy production. Following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, these countries are looking to wean themselves off these fuels, which could have short- and long-term impacts on emissions and food production.
Feature: What the war in Ukraine means for energy, climate and food
Editorial: The EU can simultaneously end dependence on Russia and meet climate goals
Editorial: The war in Ukraine is exposing gaps in the world’s food-systems research
Last week, a new estimate of the W boson’s mass caused much excitement among physicists. The result suggests that this particle is heavier than theory predicts, a finding that could be the first major breach in the standard model of particle physics. However, measuring W bosons is notoriously tricky, and further work will be needed to confirm the finding.
News: Particle’s surprise mass threatens to upend the standard model
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13 February 2020: The puzzling structures of muddled materials, and paving the way for the quantum internet
06 February 2020: Out-of-office emails and work-life-balance, and an update on the novel coronavirus outbreak
30 January 2020: Linking Australian bushfires to climate change, and Asimov's robot ethics
23 January: How stress can cause grey hair, and the attitude needed to tackle climate change
16 January 2020: Strange objects at the centre of the galaxy, and improving measurements of online activity
09 January 2020: A look ahead at science in 2020
01 January 2020: Our reporters’ top picks of 2019
Nature PastCast, December 1920: The Quantum Theory
Podcast Extra: From climate lawyer to climate activist
Podcast Extra: Epigenetics
19 December 2019: The three-body problem, and festive fun
Long Read Podcast: How to save coral reefs as the world warms
12 December 2019: Social priming, and acoustic science
05 December 2019: Genomic sequencing and the source of solar winds
Nature Pastcast, November 1869: The first issue of Nature
28 November 2019: Nature’s 2019 PhD survey, and older women in sci-fi novels
21 November 2019: A new antibiotic from nematode guts, grant funding ‘lotteries’, and butterfly genomes
14 November 2019: A rapid, multi-material 3D printer, and a bacterium’s role in alcoholic hepatitis
Backchat: Nature's 150th anniversary
07 November 2019: The fossil of an upright ape, science in 150 years, and immunization progress around the world
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