Broad uptake of smFRET has been hindered by high instrument costs and a lack of open-source hardware and acquisition software. Here, the authors present the smfBox, a cost-effective open-source platform capable of measuring precise FRET efficiencies between dyes on freely diffusi … | Continue reading
With its orbiter Hope on its way to Mars, the United Arab Emirates has now set its sights on the Moon. | Continue reading
Multiplayer games can be used as testbeds for the development of learning algorithms for artificial intelligence. Omidshafiei et al. show how to characterize and compare such games using a graph-based approach, generating new games that could potentially be interesting for traini … | Continue reading
Genoa R. Warner found a new way to manage her work–life balance. | Continue reading
A fringe theory links microbes in the brain with the onset of dementia. Now, researchers are taking it seriously. | Continue reading
Manual segmentation of biological images is a time-consuming task. Here the authors present Biomedisa, an open-source online platform for segmentation of large volumetric images starting from sparsely presegmented slices. | Continue reading
Evidence that magnetars can be sources of fast radio bursts. | Continue reading
Bottom-up workshops have laid a foundation for responsible research, but institutions must add structural support. | Continue reading
Genetic and antibody clues to a cause of life-threatening illness. | Continue reading
The vaccine, designed to prevent harmful mutations, is seen as key to eradicating polio. | Continue reading
Designing efficient and low power memristors-based neuromorphic systems remains a challenge. Here, the authors present graphene-based multi-level (>16) and non-volatile memristive synapses with arbitrarily programmable conductance states capable of weight assignment based on k … | Continue reading
The directive could make it easier to fire some agency researchers and hire others for political reasons. | Continue reading
Haplotype linked to severe COVID-19 is derived from Neanderthals. | Continue reading
Zeolites and other technologies should be evaluated and pursued for reducing methane concentrations in the atmosphere from 1,860 ppb to preindustrial levels of ~750 ppb. Such a goal of atmospheric restoration provides a positive framework for change at a time when climate action … | Continue reading
Some of the cells on a cephalopod’s suckers respond to substances produced by ocean creatures. | Continue reading
Nature talks to Peter Shor 25 years after he showed how to make quantum computations feasible — and how they could endanger our data. | Continue reading
The accurate representation of data is essential in science communication, however, colour maps that visually distort data through uneven colour gradients or are unreadable to those with colour vision deficiency remain prevalent. Here, the authors present a simple guide for the s … | Continue reading
Astrophysicists now have enough black-hole mergers to map their frequency over the cosmos’s history. | Continue reading
Howard Hughes Medical Institute's six-figure donation is a step towards addressing racial injustice in the sciences. | Continue reading
Genomes trace how the animals moved around the world — often with humans by their side. | Continue reading
Survey finds climate scholars take more flights on average per year — but make greater effort to offset their emissions. | Continue reading
A computer cracks the Boolean Pythagorean triples problem — but is it really maths? | Continue reading
A handful of experiments are raising questions about whether clumps of cells and disembodied brains could be sentient, and how scientists would know if they were. | Continue reading
Pandemic politics highlight how predictions need to be transparent and humble to invite insight, not blame. | Continue reading
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) looked at the Moon in the 6 µm wavelength region and found a signature of molecular water, distinguishing it from other forms of hydration. The authors estimate water abundances between 100 and 400 µg g−1 at high latitu … | Continue reading
Whether and how fish might benefit from swimming in schools is an ongoing intriguing debate. Li et al. conduct experiments with biomimetic robots and also with real fish to reveal a new behavioural strategy by which followers can exploit the vortices shed by a near neighbour. | Continue reading
Worries about antimicrobial resistance and disease outbreaks have pushed farms to decrease drug use and improve hygiene. | Continue reading
The half-lives of α-emitters span an enormous range — from less than a microsecond to more than 1015 years — although the emitted α-particles vary in energy by less than an order of magnitude. This extreme sensitivity of the escape probability to the particle's energy was explain … | Continue reading
Why proposals to largely let the virus run its course — embraced by Donald Trump’s administration and others — could bring “untold death and suffering”. | Continue reading
The usual definition of external time is unlikely to survive if we want to unite quantum mechanics and relativity. Here the authors consider two quantum clocks moving in curved spacetime and formulate the probability distribution that relates their proper times, allowing them to … | Continue reading
Structural-biology method crosses a key resolution threshold. | Continue reading
A multilayer photonic structure is described that strongly reflects incident sunlight while emitting heat selectively through an atmospheric transparency window to outer space; this leads to passive cooling under direct sunlight of 5 degrees Celsius below ambient air temperature, … | Continue reading
Proponents of the trials say they can be run safely and help to identify effective vaccines, but others have questioned their value. | Continue reading
Why the diabolical ironclad beetle’s exoskeleton is so tough. | Continue reading
A tight-knit team of scientists worked feverishly to identify the deadly virus. Only one of them was awarded the Nobel. | Continue reading
Jigsaw-puzzle-shaped seams that hold a notoriously tough insect's wing cases together could inspire engineers. | Continue reading
Researchers fear that vaccines might not be as effective in people who are obese, a population already highly vulnerable to COVID-19. | Continue reading
Clinical trial results for a leading vaccine candidate. | Continue reading
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is about to execute a nail-biting manoeuvre to scoop up rock samples and send them back to Earth. | Continue reading
The arrangement will allow some researchers in Germany to publish openly — but critics say it comes with a high price. | Continue reading
Artificial intelligence and improved microscopy make it feasible to map the nervous system at ever-higher resolution. | Continue reading
As robotic systems become more autonomous, it gets less straightforward to determine liability when humans are harmed. This is an emerging challenge, with legal implications, in the field of surgical robotic systems. The iRobotSurgeon Survey explores public opinions about respons … | Continue reading
The Danish health system has been collecting health-related data on the entire Danish population for years. Here the authors present the Danish Disease Trajectory Browser (DTB), which allows users to explore population-wide disease progression patterns from data collected between … | Continue reading
Individual tree canopies pinpointed over a large area of West Africa. | Continue reading
Room-temperature superconductivity is observed in a photochemically synthesized ternary carbonaceous sulfur hydride system at 15 °C and 267 GPa. | Continue reading