As a result of the pandemic, workers around the world have become accustomed to meeting colleagues online. To find out if this switch from face-to-face meetings came at a cost to creativity, a team compared the number of ideas generated by workers collaborating either online, or in-person. They showed that people meeting virtually produced fewer creative ideas than those working face-to-face, and suggest that when it comes to idea generation maybe it’s time to turn the camera off.
Research article: Brucks & Levav
News and Views: Virtual collaboration hinders idea generation
Video: Why video calls are bad for brainstorming
Fragments from an ancient pyramid suggest earliest known use of a Maya calendar, and how sweet snacks could damage rare iguanas’ metabolism.
Research Highlight: Deer symbol hints at early adoption of Maya calendar
Research Highlight: Tourists’ sweet treats threaten rare iguanas’ health
Researchers looking at the skin cells of zebrafish have discovered a new type of cell division, which doesn’t require DNA replication. DNA is usually essential for healthy cells, but the researchers think this puzzling finding may be a temporary measure to help the fish produce skin more rapidly during growth spurts.
Research article: Chan et al.
News and Views: Stretched skin cells divide without DNA replication
Video: A new kind of cell division
We discuss some highlights from the Nature Briefing. This time, how laser-equipped submarines could help analyse gelatinous animals’ anatomy, and a push for a flagship mission to Uranus.
The New Yorker: Shedding Light on Untouchable Sea Creatures
Nature: Next stop, Uranus? Icy planet tops priority list for next big NASA mission
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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
Nature Pastcast, October 1993: Carl Sagan uses Galileo to search for signs of life
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