Author: lisa nichols

Passionate about the power of words and their ability to inform, inspire, and ignite change, lisa Nichols is an accomplished article writer with a flair for crafting engaging and informative content. With a deep curiosity for various subjects and a dedication to thorough research, lisa Nichols brings a unique blend of creativity and accuracy to every piece

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Inside the room-temperature superconductivity scandal

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Light micrograph of white adipose tissue, or fat, stained with haematoxylin and eosin.

Long-term use of antiretroviral drugs can cause abnormal fat accumulation in people with HIV.Credit: Jose Calvo/SPL

People with HIV could benefit from semaglutide, the blockbuster drug marketed as Wegovy for obesity and Ozempic for diabetes. If early data about the treatment’s effects are confirmed, semaglutide and other drugs like it could become key to controlling the metabolic problems associated with anti-HIV medications. Studies presented last week at a conference suggest it helps people with HIV to lose weight and reduces certain conditions associated with fat accumulation that are especially common in people infected with the virus.

Nature | 3 min read

Researchers have launched an initiative calling for the safe and ethical use of protein design. The voluntary effort comes on the heels of reports from lawmakers, think tanks and other organizations exploring the possibility that AI tools — ranging from protein-structure prediction networks such as AlphaFold to large language models such as the one that powers ChatGPT — could make it easier to develop biological weapons, including new toxins or highly transmissible viruses. The new initiative calls for the biodesign community to police itself and for improved screening of DNA synthesis, a key step in making AI-designed proteins, for potentially harmful molecules.

Nature | 3 min read

Science in the cinema

The movie Oppenheimer scooped seven awards at last night’s Oscars. Its portrayal of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer owes a lot to the science advisers working alongside director Christopher Nolan. Physicist Kip Thorne remembers Oppenheimer as a superb mentor: “He had this amazing ability to grasp things very quickly and see connections, which was a major factor in his success as the leader of the atomic bomb project.” For Robbert Dijkgraaf, a theoretical physicist and the Dutch education minister, the movie got the science just right: “For me, the biggest surprise was that this difficult movie about a difficult topic and a difficult man, shot in a difficult way, became a hit around the world.”

Nature | 6 min read

The monster sandworms living on the planet Arrakis in the blockbuster movie Dune and its just-released sequel are pure fiction, but they share traits with the worms that live on our planet, says worm palaeontologist Luke Parry. Some giant worms grow 2–3 metres long and can ambush their prey, feeding off octopus and squid. Other worms have teeth for dragging themselves through burrows, or for catching prey. And worms played a key role in the Cambrian explosion, notes Parry: “Worms on Earth were responsible for burrowing into sediments over half a billion years ago and changing marine ecosystems forever.”

Nature | 4 min read

A worm with iridescent pale body, lots of appendages and wide jaws emerges from sediment.

The ambush predator called the bobbit worm (Eunice aphroditois) can reach 3 metres long.Credit: Constantinos Petrinos/Nature Picture Library

Features & opinion

In 2020, physicist Ranga Dias claimed to have discovered the first room-temperature superconductor — a material that would not require any cooling to conduct electricity with zero resistance — in a landmark paper published in Nature. It was retracted. Then came a fresh claim in another Nature paper, in 2023 — also later retracted. Now, an investigation by Nature’s news team (which is editorially independent of its journal teams) reveals how Dias distorted the evidence for room-temperature superconductivity — and indicates that he concealed information from his students, manipulated them and shut them out of key steps in the research and review process. The scandal raises questions about how universities, journals and funders deal with research misconduct.

Nature | 22 min read

Reference: Nature paper 1 (retracted) & paper 2 (retracted)

Events such as the resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay and the suicide of university administrator Antoinette Candia-Bailey came as no surprise to Nicola Rollock, who studies social policy and race. “Black female scholars and staff members continue to face exclusion and challenges in academia that often remain ignored,” writes Rollock. She outlines concrete actions that individual academics and institutions can take to demonstrate solidarity with Black women, including paying fairly, “citing our work and championing us”.

Nature | 4 min read

Researchers who set up a confusing puzzle box with a sweet reward revealed that bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) can learn skills from others that they could not acquire alone — a behaviour thought to be unique to people. After showing that no lone bee could work out how to solve the puzzle, the scientists painstakingly trained nine bees how to do it. The trained bees became demonstrators for other bees, who watched, learnt and won their reward.

Nature | 8 min video

Reference: Nature paper

Click to watch

(Queen Mary University of London)

Quote of the day

Pathologist Anthony Epstein was working on chicken viruses when he learnt of a mysterious childhood cancer during a talk he almost skipped. It led to the discovery, with his doctoral student Yvonne Barr, of the Epstein–Barr virus: the first virus able to cause cancer in people. Epstein died in February, aged 102. (BBC | 5 min listen, from 2014)

Read more: The quest to prevent MS — and understand other post-viral diseases (Nature | 12 min read, from 2022, Nature paywall)

On Friday, our penguin puzzle took us to the gleaming Ziquejie Rice Terraces in Hunan, China, where Leif Penguinson was hiding. Did you find the penguin? When you’re ready, here’s the answer.

Thanks for reading,

Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing

With contributions by Smriti Mallapaty and Sarah Tomlin

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Sony’s WH-1000XM5 headphones are back on sale for $328

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Sony’s 1000XM-series headphones have topped our list of the best wireless headphones you can buy for a couple years running. The current top pick is held by the WH-1000XM5 ANC headphones and right now they’re $72 off at Amazon, making them $328 instead of their $400 list price. That’s not an all time low — we saw them dip to $250 just before the holidays last year and this year they’ve gone for $300 and $280 at different retailers. But if you don’t want to wait and see if those discounts come back, $72 represents a decent savings on a pair of highly recommended over-ear speakers. The sale comes as part of a larger sale on Sony audio at Amazon.

Sony

Our top recommended headphones are currently $72 off. 

$328 at Amazon

Even at full price, the WH-1000XM5 are a wise buy if you’re looking for superior audio, excellent noise cancellation and an enduringly comfortable fit. Our audio expert, Billy Steele, said these are in a league of their own in his review. The audio is an improvement over the previous generation — which was already great — but now the bass is punchier and the clarity is even more finely tuned. They pack a long, 30-hour battery life and the noise cancellation is adept at blocking human voices, TV sounds and various other environmental noises. There are plenty of easy-to-suss out onboard controls, letting you do things like skip tracks and answer calls. There’s even a feature that pauses what you’re listening to when you start talking.

While these are an improvement over the prior model, Sony’s WH-100XM4 headphones, those are still a compelling option with great sound and a comfortable fit. They’re on sale for a much lower $248. That’s $100 off the list price and about $20 more than the all-time low they hit for Black Friday last year.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.



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Bring PhD assessment into the twenty-first century

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A woman holding a cup and saucer stands in front of posters presenting medical research

Innovation in PhD education has not reached how doctoral degrees are assessed.Credit: Dan Dunkley/Science Photo Library

Research and teaching in today’s universities are unrecognizable compared with what they were in the early nineteenth century, when Germany and later France gave the world the modern research doctorate. And yet significant aspects of the process of acquiring and assessing a doctorate have remained remarkably constant. A minimum of three years of independent study mentored by a single individual culminates in the production of the doctoral thesis — often a magisterial, book-length piece of work that is assessed in an oral examination by a few senior academic researchers. In an age in which there is much research-informed innovation in teaching and learning, the assessment of the doctoral thesis represents a curious throwback that is seemingly impervious to meaningful reform.

But reform is needed. Some doctoral candidates perceive the current assessment system to lack transparency, and examiners report concerns of falling standards (G. Houston A Study of the PhD Examination: Process, Attributes and Outcomes. PhD thesis, Oxford Univ.; 2018). Making the qualification more structured would help — and, equally importantly, would bring the assessment of PhD education in line with education across the board. PhD candidates with experience of modern assessment methods will become better researchers, wherever they work. Indeed, most will not be working in universities: the majority of PhD holders find employment outside academia.

It’s not that PhD training is completely stuck in the nineteenth century. Today’s doctoral candidates can choose from a range of pathways. Professional doctorates, often used in engineering, are jointly supervised by an employer and an academic, and are aimed at solving industry-based problems. Another innovation is PhD by publication, in which, instead of a final thesis on one or more research questions, the criterion for an award is a minimum number of papers published or accepted for publication. In some countries, doctoral students are increasingly being trained in cohorts, with the aim of providing a less isolating experience than that offered by the conventional supervisor–student relationship. PhD candidates are also encouraged to acquire transferable skills — for example, in data analysis, public engagement, project management or business, economics and finance. The value of such training would be even greater if these skills were to be formally assessed alongside a dissertation rather than seen as optional.

And yet, most PhDs are still assessed after the production of a final dissertation, according to a format that, at its core, has not changed for at least half a century, as speakers and delegates noted at an event in London last month on PhD assessment, organized by the Society for Research in Higher Education. Innovations in assessment that are common at other levels of education are struggling to find their way into the conventional doctoral programme.

Take the concept of learning objectives. Intended to aid consistency, fairness and transparency, learning objectives are a summary of what a student is expected to know and how they will be assessed, and are given at the start of a course of study. Part of the ambition is also to help tutors to keep track of their students’ learning and take remedial action before it is too late.

Formative assessment is another practice that has yet to find its way into PhD assessment consistently. Here, a tutor evaluates a student’s progress at the mid-point of a course and gives feedback or guidance on what students need to do to improve ahead of their final, or summative, assessment. It is not that these methods are absent from modern PhDs; a conscientious supervisor will not leave candidates to sink or swim until the last day. But at many institutions, such approaches are not required of PhD supervisors.

Part of the difficulty is that PhD training is carried out in research departments by people who do not need to have teaching qualifications or awareness of innovations based on education research. Supervisors shouldn’t just be experts in their field, they should also know how best to convey that subject knowledge — along with knowledge of research methods — to their students.

It is probably not possible for universities to require all doctoral supervisors to have teaching qualifications. But there are smaller changes that can be made. At a minimum, doctoral supervisors should take the time to engage with the research that exists in the field of PhD education, and how it can apply to their interactions with students.

There can be no one-size-fits-all solution to improving how a PhD is assessed, because different subjects often have bespoke needs and practices (P. Denicolo Qual. Assur. Educ. 11, 84–91; 2003). But supervisors and representatives of individual subject communities must continue to discuss what is most appropriate for their disciplines.

All things considered, there is benefit to adopting a more structured approach to PhD assessment. It is high time that PhD education caught up with changes that are now mainstream at most other levels of education. That must start with a closer partnership between education researchers, PhD supervisors and organizers of doctoral-training programmes in universities. This partnership will benefit everyone — PhD supervisors and doctoral students coming into the research workforce, whether in universities or elsewhere.

Education and training in research has entered many secondary schools, along with undergraduate teaching, which is a good thing. In the spirit of mutual learning, research doctoral supervisors, too, will benefit by going back to school.

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How to clean and organize your Mac

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The longer you use anything — your Mac included — the more cluttered it gets. One solution is to simply upgrade to a new machine, but the more economical (and environmentally-friendly) move is to make what you have work better. To help your computer feel like new, or at least cleaner and less chaotic, we put together this guide with techniques and useful apps that have helped us maintain a more civilized computer. From a physical cleaning to a hard drive spruce-up and tab management ideas, here’s how to clean and organize your Mac.

How to clean your Mac’s screen and body

While there are a lot of products you can buy that are specially made to help you with cleaning your computer, I’ve found the simplest approach works best — and it’s the one Apple recommends. To start, all you’ll need is some water in a spray bottle and a clean microfiber cloth. You can use either regular or distilled water. The advantage of the latter is that it’s far less likely to leave any residue on your Mac, particularly on the display. You can buy distilled water at a grocery store or make it yourself with some simple cookware. Either way, it’s more affordable than dedicated cleaning solutions and more versatile. If you don’t already own any microfiber cloths, Amazon sells affordable 24-packs you can get for about $14.

Two other products I’ve found that can make the job easier are Whoosh screen cleaner and a Giottos Rocket Blower. I can’t say enough good things about the latter. It will save you from buying expensive and wasteful cans of compressed air.

As for the process of cleaning your Mac, the most important tip to remember is to start with a clean cloth (that’s part of the reason we recommend buying them in bulk). You’ll save yourself time and frustration this way. Begin by turning off your computer and unplugging it. If you went out and bought a Rocket Blower, use it now to remove any dust. If not, take a dry microfiber cloth and go over your computer. Take special care around the keys, particularly if you own a Mac with a butterfly keyboard.

Next, dampen one side of your cleaning cloth with either water or Whoosh. Never spray any liquid directly on your computer. You’ll have more control this way and you’ll avoid getting any moisture into your Mac’s internals. I always clean the display first since the last thing I want to do is create more work for myself by transferring dirt from some other part of my computer to the screen. The last step is to buff and polish your computer with the dry side of the cloth. Be gentle here as you don’t want to scratch the screen or any other part of That’s it. Your Mac should be looking clean again.

How to organize your hard drive

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

One of the hardest parts of cleaning your Mac’s hard drive is knowing where to start. After all, most of us have apps on our computers we don’t even remember installing in the first place. Thankfully, macOS comes with a tool to help you with that exact issue.

Navigate to System Settings > General > Storage. Here you’ll find a tool that separates your storage into broad categories like Applications, Documents, Music, Photos and so on. Double click on an item in the list, such as Applications, to see the last time you used a program, as well as how much space it’s taking up. You can delete the apps from the same window.

The section dedicated to applications is particularly helpful since you can see the last time you used a program, as well as if it’s no longer supported by the operating system or if it’s outdated thanks to a more recent release.

AppCleaner

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

You don’t need me to tell you to uninstall programs you don’t use, but what you might not know is that there’s a better way to erase them than simply dragging them to the trash can. A free program called AppCleaner will help you track down any files and folders that would get left behind if you were just to delete an application.

After deleting any apps you don’t need, move to the Documents section. The name is somewhat misleading here since you’ll find more than just text files and excel spreadsheets. Documents, in this case, turns out to be the tool’s catch-all term for a variety of files, including ones that take up a large amount of space. You can also safely delete any DMGs (disc image files with the extension .dmg) for which you’ve installed the related app. The other sections in the storage space are self-explanatory. The only other thing I’ll mention is if you’ve been using an iPhone for a while, there’s a good chance you’ll have old iOS backups stored on your computer. You can safely delete those too.

CleanMyMac X

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

By this point, your hard drive should be in pretty good shape. If you want to take some additional steps to clean it, there are dedicated apps that can help. I like one called CleanMyMac X. It goes for $40 per year, and will save you the time and trouble of doing everything I mentioned above (and then some) on your own. It also doubles as a malware removal tool.

Tips and tricks for keeping a neat Desktop and Finder

Bartender

Igor Bonifacic

Let’s start with the menu bar. It may not technically be part of the desktop, but a tidy one can go a long way toward making everything else look less cluttered. My recommendation here is to download a $16 app called Bartender. At first glance, it’s a simple program allowing you to hide unwanted menu bar items behind a three dots icon. However, the strength of Bartender is that you get a lot of customization options. For example, you can set a trigger that will automatically move the battery status icon out from hiding when your computer isn’t connected to a power outlet.

While we’re on the subject of the menu bar, take a second to navigate to System Settings > General > Login Items and look at all the apps that launch when you boot up your system. You can speed up your system by paring down this list to only the programs you use frequently.

When it comes to the desktop itself, the best advice is less is more. Nothing will make your computer look like a cluttered mess more than a busy desktop. Folders and stacks can help, but, for most people, I suspect part of the problem is they use their desktop as a way to quickly and easily find files that are important to them.

If you’ve ever struggled to find a specific file or folder on your computer, try using your Mac’s tagging capabilities instead. Start by opening the Finder Settings menu (“command” + “,”) and click the “Tags” tab. You can use the default ones provided by macOS or make your own. Either way, drag the ones you think you’ll use most often to the favorites areas at the bottom of the preferences window. This will make it so that they’re easily accessible when you want to use them. To append a tag to a file or folder, click on it while holding the ctrl key and select the one you want from the dropdown menu. You can also tag a file while working on it within an app. Keep in mind you can apply multiple tags to a single file or folder. You can even apply them to applications.

macOS tagging

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

What makes tags so useful in macOS is that they can appear in the sidebar of the Finder and are easily searchable either directly through the Finder or using Siri. As long as you have a system for organizing your files, even a simple one, you’ll find it easier to keep track of them. As one example, I like to apply an Engadget tag to any files related to my work. I’ll add an “Important” tag if it’s something that’s critical and I want to find quickly.

One tool that can help supercharge your Finder experience is Alfred. It’s effectively a more powerful version of Apple’s Spotlight feature. Among other things, you can use Alfred to find and launch apps quickly. There’s a bit of a learning curve, but once you get a hang of it, Alfred will change how you use your Mac for the better.

How to organize your windows and tabs

Magnet

Igor Bonifacic / Engadget

If you’ve used both macOS and Windows 10, you’ll know that Apple’s operating system doesn’t come with the best window management tools. You can click and hold on the green full-screen button to tile a window to either the left or right side of your screen, but that’s about it and the feature has always felt less precise than its Windows counterpart.

My suggestion is to download an app that replicates Windows 10’s snapping feature. You have several competing options that more or less offer the same functionality. My go-to is an $5 program called Magnet. If you want a free alternative, check out Rectangle. Another option is BetterSnapTool, which offers more functionality than Magnet but doesn’t have as clean of an interface. All three apps give you far more ways to configure your windows than what you get through the built-in tool in macOS. They also come with shortcut support, which means you can quickly set up your windows and get to work.

This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.

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I quit my job and launched an advocacy non-profit

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Morteza Mahmoudi sitting on a rock wall above a stream and forest.

Morteza Mahmoudi is the co-founder of the Academic Parity Movement, an organization that aims to end bullying in academia.Credit: Haniyeh Aghaverdi

Whistle-blower stories

This column is the second of two in which academic whistle-blowers describe how they moved on professionally after raising concerns about their workplaces. In the first article, gender-equality researcher Susanne Täuber writes about challenging her employer’s gender-equity policy, and what she learnt as a result.

I experienced a wide spectrum of academic bullying and eventually had to quit a job because of it. It was a heart-wrenching decision. Since my departure, I’ve found peace in a supportive work environment. I was determined to use all the available means to prevent others from facing similar situations.

So, alongside my scientific work, I study the root causes of academic bullying and harassment and seek solutions to them. I forgave my bully last year, but I still find it challenging to forgive those who protected the bully and ultimately forced my departure.

In 2019, I co-founded the Academic Parity Movement, a non-profit organization based in Brookline, Massachusetts, with Saya Ameli Hajebi, an environmental activist. The organization’s ultimate goal is to bring an end to bullying and harassment in academia. I first met Saya through my wife, who is a friend of her mother.

The first thing we did was raise awareness of the problem among stakeholders, including academics, funding agencies and university ranking agency representatives. We then told them how to recognize bullying, and taught them strategies for addressing it.

Expanding our reach

I collaborated with Sherry Moss, an organizational-behaviour researcher at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to better understand the context of bullying and harassment in academia. We ran a global survey that garnered more than 2,000 responses1 and personal narratives. Some of these appeared in a 2021 story in Science, alongside the survey findings.

This meant that the voices of people who were bullied were being heard on a broader scale. A closer analysis of the survey data revealed that academic bullying and harassment does not affect all scientific fields equally2. This highlights the necessity for tailored and context-specific training, monitoring and intervention strategies when addressing academic bullying.

Next, I collaborated with specialists in tackling bullying from various scientific disciplines. We created a comprehensive list of actionable steps and precautions that those being harassed can take, and that bystanders can use to support them.

It took the Academic Parity Movement three years to assemble the necessary advisory board members, spanning different subjects and regions. All are volunteers, driven by a shared commitment to helping others in need. We have a newsletter, published every two months, which includes information about relevant publications, news, conferences and resources around academic bullying and harassment.

Last year, we received 832 requests for help. When a request comes in, we offer the person informal advice. Then, I refer them to a board member in their discipline and cultural context, so that the advice is more relevant and personalized. We also provide a course that helps to empower people by reinforcing the idea that they are not alone. Advice and testimonials from academics who have experienced bullying provides a sense of community and shared understanding.

Last January, we started providing access to lawyers specializing in academic-harassment cases, and also to sessions with counsellors specializing in trauma to help clients to improve their mental well-being. These services are funded by contributions from several of our board members, fundraising initiatives and membership fees.

We have held three annual conferences so far. They bring together representatives from funding agencies, academic institutions and ombudsperson offices, as well as journal editors and decision makers. The fourth will take place next month at Wake Forest University.

I also shared my own experiences and lessons I have learnt, alongside emerging patterns of bullying and harassment, in ‘A survivor’s guide to academic bullying’3, published in Nature Human Behaviour in 2020. My aim is to raise awareness and to empower people to understand their rights, helping them to protect themselves and their families. It is important to recognize that individuals at all levels of academia, from students to tenured faculty members, can be targets of bullying and harassment. I take immense pride in the progress we’ve made over the past few years, with numerous volunteers joining our cause. We’ve provided advice to thousands of people, financially supported many to get legal advice and mental-health counselling and brought stakeholders together at workshops and conferences.

And although my personal anguish lingers and can still bring me to tears, I hope that the community that we have created will turn the tide so that others — and their careers — won’t suffer as I did.

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged.

Competing Interests

M. M. is a co-founder and director of the Academic Parity Movement, a non-profit organization dedicated to addressing academic discrimination, violence and incivility, and a co-founder of Targets’ Tip, a bullying and harassment education programme. He receives royalties and honoraria for his published books, plenary lectures and licensed patents.

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Google’s presentation software has a new Gemini AI powered feature that is basically magic

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Google may have just shown off the power of its Gemini AI platform in an intriguing way that could save slideshow fans hours of stress.

The company has revealed it will be utilizing its flagship AI offering within Google Slides to help users with formatting in a very particular way that might seem like magic to some of us older users.

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How OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora could change science – and society

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An animated sequence from a video generated by OpenAI's Sora of a young man reading a book while sitting on a cloud.

Sora is one of several AI tools that generates video from text promptsCredit: OpenAI

The release of OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video AI tool last month was met with a mix of trepidation and excitement from researchers who are concerned about misuse of the technology. The California-based company showcased Sora’s ability to create photorealistic videos from a few short text prompts, with examples including clips of a woman walking down a neon-lit street in Tokyo and a dog jumping between two windowsills.

Tracy Harwood, a digital-culture specialist at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK, says she is “shocked” by the speed at which text-to-video artificial intelligence (AI) has developed. A year ago, people were laughing at an AI-produced video of the US actor Will Smith eating spaghetti. Now some researchers are worried that the technology could upend global politics in 2024.

OpenAI, which also developed ChatGPT and the text-to-image technology DALL·E, debuted Sora on 15 February, announcing that it was making the technology “available to red teamers to assess critical areas for harms or risks”. ‘Red teaming’ refers to the process of conducting simulated attacks or exploitation of a technology to see how it would cope with nefarious activity, such as the creation of misinformation and hateful content, in the real world.

Sora isn’t the first example of text-to-video technology; others include Gen-2, produced by Runway in New York City and released last year, and the Google-led Lumiere, announced in January. Harwood says she has been “underwhelmed” by some of these other offerings. “They are becoming more and more vanilla in what they present to you,” she says, adding that the programs require very specific prompts to get them to produce compelling content.

Misinformation is a major challenge for these text-to-video technologies, Harwood adds. “We’re going to very quickly reach a point in which we are swamped with a barrage of really compelling-looking information. That’s really worrying.”

Election fears

That poses particular problems with upcoming elections, including the US presidential election in November and an impending general election in the United Kingdom. “There will be colossal numbers of fake videos and fake audio circulating,” says Dominic Lees, who researches generative AI and filmmaking at the University of Reading, UK. Fake audio of the leader of the UK Labour Party, Keir Starmer, was released in October 2023, and fake audio of US President Joe Biden encouraging Democrats not to vote circulated in January.

One solution might be to require text-to-video AI to use watermarks, either in the form of a visible mark on the video, labelling it as AI, or as a telltale artificial signature in the video’s metadata, but Lees isn’t sure this will be successful. “At the moment watermarks can be removed,” he says, and the inclusion of a watermark in a video’s metadata relies on people actively researching whether a video they’ve watched is real or not. “I don’t think we can honestly ask audiences across the world to do that on every video they’re looking at,” says Lees.

There are potential benefits to the technology, too. Harwood suggests it could be used to present difficult text, such as an academic paper, in a format that is easier to understand. “One of the biggest things it could be used for is to communicate findings to a lay audience,” she says. “It can visualize pretty complex concepts.”

Another potential use might be in health care, with text-to-video AI able to talk to patients in place of a human doctor. “Some people might find it disconcerting,” says Claire Malone, a consultant science communicator in the United Kingdom. “Others might find it extremely convenient if they want to ask a medical professional questions multiple times a day.”

Data management

Text-to-video AI tools such as Sora could help researchers to wade through huge data sets, such as those produced by the European particle-physics laboratory CERN near Geneva in Switzerland and other large scientific projects, says Malone. Generative AI could “sift out code and do the mundane tasks of research”, she adds, but also do “much more sophisticated work [such as] giving it data and asking it to make predictions”.

Concerns have also been raised by people working in creative industries. The US actor Tom Hanks suggested last year that AI could enable him to continue appearing in films “from now until kingdom come” after his death. “If you were a young ambitious actor thinking about their future, and you were told ‘I’m sorry, Tom Hanks is always going to play the leading roles’, would you plan a future in that?” says Lees.

Text-to-video AI will throw up broad issues for society to face. “We’re going to have to learn to evaluate the content we see in ways we haven’t in the past,” says Harwood. “These tools put the opportunity to be a media content creator in the hands of everybody,” she says. “We’re going to be dealing with the consequences of that. It’s a fundamental shift in the way material will be consumed.”

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Apple is finally going to allow iOS app downloads from the web – but only in the EU

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Apple‘s walled garden is being further dismantled – in EU member states at least. Apple has announced that iPhone (and iPad) users in the EU will soon be able download apps directly from websites, just as you can on Windows or macOS.

The new options for app distribution (via MacRumors) also give developers more control over how in-app transactions are handled outside of the official App Store, as well as allowing third-party app stores to offer apps or games from a sole developer.

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11 reasons why we’ve stayed in academia

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In November 2023, 20 tenured professors told a career strategist why they left academia for industry roles. After the reasons were posted on the social-media site X (formerly known as Twitter), Nature asked 11 scientists to tell us why they’re thriving in academia and what fuels their passion for it.

DARYL YEE: Risky research and mentoring

Materials scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland.

Portrait of Daryl W. Yee in the lab

Materials scientist Daryl Yee can explore risky ideas in his academic research.Credit: Titouan Veuillet, EPFL

Two things come to mind: risky research and mentorship. I love that my job lets me work on risky, interesting problems, such as 3D printing DNA, that might or might not align with what industry is currently exploring. It’s fun to approach problems from unusual perspectives and see what we can learn along the way.

I also really enjoy teaching and mentoring students — helping them to learn concepts and grow as scientists. It is so rewarding to see students have those ‘aha’ moments when they understand how to overcome problems.

KATRINA CLAW: My community motivates me

Geneticist at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora.

Portrait of Katrina G. Claw

Katrina Claw is motivated by her collaborations with Native American communities on pharmacogenetics research.Credit: DBMI

Being in academia is a privilege and I never forget that. My dad was a heavy-equipment operator for more than 40 years, and in our tribe’s traditional ceremonies, he always prayed for me to have a job in which I would stay clean all day and have an office. I not only have an office with views of the Rocky Mountains, I also have a laboratory full of pristine equipment and lead a successful research programme that trains students and collaborates with Native American communities on pharmacogenomics and the cultural, ethical, legal and social implications of genomics research. My main responsibility is to think all day and write. My community motivates me to continue in academia and to hold my culture and traditions closely in my work. I’ve stayed in academia because no one has kicked me out yet (haha), and because I love it.

DEVIN SCHWEPPE: Talking ideas into fruition

Bioanalytical chemist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

I love talking to anyone I want to about anything scientific, letting ideas percolate and then turning that ‘we met at a meeting’ conversation into a project worth pursuing. And next, pitching that idea to mentors, peers and students, and eventually trying to get support and presenting it to the community. And finally, hopefully, you get buy-in and see people use your idea to do something even more amazing than you anticipated. That whole trajectory is what keeps my head above water.

ANKUR SINGH: Thrive with good balance

Bioengineer at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Portrait of Ankur Singh in the lab

Bioengineer Ankur Singh says he thrives in academia because he has learnt how to keep balanced, mentally and physically.Credit: Ankur Singh

I love academia and research. There is freedom to pursue risky, complex and futuristic ideas with the potential to transform human health and lives. You have opportunities to mentor bright young minds, earn competitive pay along with global recognition and live with a sense of stability in life.

However, academia is cut-throat and highly demanding. I thrive by maintaining a good work–life balance, focusing on my priorities and making thoughtful decisions. It took a few years to realize that I do not need to work outside of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, or on weekends. I spend a lot of time with my young children and wife and call my parents in India every day. I do whole-body workouts three to five days a week and run half marathons at least once a month. I enjoy grant writing, in which my creativity can shine. I am receptive to peer review. I do not give up. Instead, I compartmentalize my brain, plan and deliver. I thrive because I understand what academia demands and how to navigate it without burning myself out.

PAUL MACKLIN: Reshaping the academic system

Mathematician and associate dean for undergraduate education at Indiana University in Bloomington.

I stay for the opportunity to find connections between fields, such as using insights from immunology to improve my cancer simulations, or by adopting approaches from education to help make my software more robust and usable. I try to keep things fresh by working on a mixed portfolio of projects: basic sciences in multicellular systems biology, methods development in our simulation toolkits and practical applications in cancer immunology and tissues.

As my career has advanced, the chance to make a difference for others has motivated me to stay as well. I’ve reached a leadership position as an associate dean, in which I cannot just complain about ‘the system’, but instead help to reshape it to be more equitable and transparent, and to open up opportunities for our students.

JONATHAN MOORE: Charting your own path

Applied aquatic ecologist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada.

I value the intellectual freedom — learning and thinking about what type of research is important to do and then doing it. Intellectual independence is amazing, being able to chart your own path forwards. Another thing is getting the chance to work with young, emerging scientists. That continual influx of energy and different brains and personalities is super exciting. I love getting to know people and thinking about how their work can advance, and trying to provide them with a stepping stone for their careers.

ELANA FERTIG: Transdisciplinary happiness

Computational oncologist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.

Although high-quality research can be done in both academia and industry, scientific exploration for its own sake is best suited to academia. This remains my driving force for staying, despite the challenges. As a transdisciplinary scientist, being surrounded by specialists both in mathematical theory and biomedical science is crucial to my success, but also to my happiness. There are of course numerous pros to industry, such as larger-scale projects, team-based missions and products as a main goal. Everyone can and should find their own path, in the environment that best suits them. For myself, taking a greater than 50% pay cut to return to academia was the best decision of my life and I have never looked back.

MYUNGJAE LEE: Guiding future generations

Materials scientist at Seoul National University.

Portrait of Myungjae Lee

Materials scientist Myungjae Lee prioritizes building relationships with students and mentoring them.Credit: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University

I remain in academia because of its nurturing environment for personal and professional growth. Academic research encourages critical thinking, interdisciplinary collaboration and intellectual exploration, and allows me to explore ideas that contribute to the advancement of knowledge in my field of optical engineering. This continuous pursuit keeps me engaged and motivated.

One aspect that I particularly enjoy is the opportunity to guide future generations. I build strong relationships with students and dedicate myself to mentoring, just as my mentors did. It’s incredibly rewarding to evolve perspectives and ideas through this process.

YU ZHONG: Exploring the unknown

Materials scientist and engineer at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

My decision to stay is driven by several factors. The most important is my passion for exploring unknown puzzles. I enjoy the ‘eureka’ moments. Toward the end of my postdoc, I realized that I was well prepared for and capable of doing academic research. That’s when I decided to stay. Furthermore, the flexible working schedule appeals to me — especially when my family needs me urgently — although the job is not easy.

LANA GARMIRE: Freedom to create and realize

Biomedical informatician at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

I grew up in China, where intellectuals are considered to be among the most respected professionals. My mum was a teacher, and I’ve wanted to be an educator like her since I was little. So why have I stayed in academia? The freedom to think, create and realize an idea. The satisfaction of mentoring students and helping to shape their lives is utterly rewarding — and more important than the relatively low salaries compared with industry.

CHIARA ZURZOLO: Discovery as a team effort

Cell biologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.

Portrait of Chiara Zurzolo

Cell biologist Chiara Zurzolo enjoys the autonomy of academic research and nurturing scientific curiosity in the next generation.Credit: Institut Pasteur/François Gardy

My journey is driven by a passion for understanding how cells communicate and move in conditions such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, paving the way for potential cures.

Thriving in academia, for me, means having the freedom to explore uncharted territories. Unlike some industries, in which research tends to be more narrowly focused and directed towards specific goals, academia offers the liberty to follow our curiosity wherever it leads. This freedom is empowering — it lets us address challenging questions and test ideas in a creative environment. Importantly, discovery is a collective team effort.

What keeps me here is also sharing the excitement of unravelling the secrets of cells with the next generation of scientists. The academic journey goes beyond finding answers; it’s about instilling a passion for knowledge and contributing to a legacy of scientific understanding. Whereas some choose industry roles, I choose to remain because of the autonomy to shape my research direction and the joy of nurturing scientific curiosity.

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Motorola just announced two new budget phones, the Moto G Power and Moto 5 5G

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Motorola just announced a couple of new budget-friendly smartphones, which are set to be released in the near future. These are refreshes of the popular Moto G Power and the Moto 5 5G phones. The upcoming handhelds don’t reinvent the wheel, as they are iterative updates, but there are some decent specs worth sharing.

The 2024 Moto G Power boasts a 6.7-inch FHD+ 120Hz display, Dolby Atmos stereo speakers and a 50MP camera system with image stabilization tech. There’s a MediaTek Dimensity 7020 chipset, 128GB of internal storage with a microSD slot, 8GB of RAM, 5G connectivity and a 5000mAh battery complete with 30W fast-charging. This will certainly get the job done when it comes to streaming media, light gaming and browsing the web.

The new Moto G Power even features a fingerprint-resistant back cover made from vegan leather, which the company says provides a “stunning, premium design and comfortable feel.” This phone is coming to Cricket first, on March 22, before an unlocked version hits traditional retailers on March 29. It’ll cost $300.

A smartphone front and back.

Motorola

The Moto G 5G includes a slightly smaller 6.6-inch 120Hz display, Dolby Atmos stereo speakers and a 50MP camera system complete with a macro lens. As the name suggests, this is a 5G-capable phone with a Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 processor and 4GB of RAM. Just like the G Power, there’s a 5000mAh battery with quick-charging. It ships with 128GB of internal storage, but there’s an expandable microSD slot.

The updated Moto G 5G will be available at T-Mobile and Metro on March 21, with wider availability starting on May 2. It costs just $200. Motorola also recently released a , which is priced at $150. The company sure .

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