How the brain coordinates speaking and breathing

How the brain coordinates speaking and breathing

MIT researchers have discovered a brain circuit that drives vocalization and ensures that you talk only when you breathe out, and stop talking when you breathe in. The newly discovered circuit controls two actions that are required for vocalization: narrowing of the larynx and exhaling air from the lungs. The researchers also found that this … Read more

A better way to charge a quantum battery

A better way to charge a quantum battery

Charging a quantum battery wirelessly could prevent its efficiency from fading over time1. Access options Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $29.99 / 30 days cancel any time Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Rent or buy … Read more

Why a former Disney legend wants to use this $20 app to make a feature-length animated movie

Why a former Disney legend wants to use this  app to make a feature-length animated movie

While CG is still the medium of choice for many of the largest animation studios like Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks, traditional 2D animation still holds the hearts of many, including myself. However, be it financial pressures, tighter deadlines, or viewers’ preference for the more glossy, finished feel of CG animation, there’s not a lot of … Read more

How does a virus hijack insect sperm to control disease vectors and pests?

How does a virus hijack insect sperm to control disease vectors and pests?

A widespread bacteria called Wolbachia and a virus that it carries can cause sterility in male insects by hijacking their sperm, preventing them from fertilizing eggs of females that do not have the same combination of bacteria and virus. A new study led by microbiome researchers at Penn State has uncovered how this microbial combination … Read more

159 days of solitude: how loneliness haunts astronauts

159 days of solitude: how loneliness haunts astronauts

In 2010, astronaut Cady Coleman left her husband and young son to go into space.Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Space: The Longest Goodbye Greenwich Entertainment Directed by Ido Mizrahy Neither NASA nor the Chinese space agency are probably consulting screenwriters as they develop their plans to send humans to the Moon and Mars. But they need to … Read more

Refurbished Sonos Era 300 speakers are $90 off in a rare deal

Refurbished Sonos Era 300 speakers are  off in a rare deal

Sonos has been excluding its first music speaker designed for spatial audio from previous sales events since it was released last year, so listen up: The company is selling refurbished units of the Era 300 for $359, or $91 less than retail. Yes, it’s not brand new, but Sonos’ refurb program has a good track … Read more

The next iPad Air is rumored to come with a key camera change

The next iPad Air is rumored to come with a key camera change

It shouldn’t be too much longer until we see the sixth-generation iPad Air, and another detail about the tablet has leaked: it’s rumored to be getting a landscape front-facing camera, in line with the 10th-gen entry-level iPad launched in 2022. In other words, the selfie cam is on the top of the tablet when you’re … Read more

New study reveals insight into which animals are most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change

New study reveals insight into which animals are most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change

In a new study, researchers have used the fossil record to better understand what factors make animals more vulnerable to extinction from climate change. The results could help to identify species most at risk today from human-driven climate change. The findings have been published today in the journal Science. Past climate change (often caused by … Read more

Show off your science in Nature’s photo competition

Show off your science in Nature’s photo competition

Nature’s 2024 photo competition is now live, providing a chance to celebrate the diverse, interesting, challenging, striking and colourful work that scientists do around the world. Now in its fifth iteration, the competition is open to anyone who isn’t a professional photographer. It’s looking for images that showcase the work that scientists do — anywhere … Read more