Tools such as Sora can generate convincing video footage from text prompts.Credit: Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Artificial intelligence (AI) tools that translate text descriptions into images and video are advancing rapidly. Just as many researchers are using ChatGPT to transform the process of scientific writing, others are using AI image generators such as Midjourney, Stable … Read more
The film Dune: Part Two might feature human actors Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, but the biggest stars — at least literally — are the sandworms. The sandworms are central to the desert ecosystem of the fictional planet Arrakis, the film’s main setting, and to the culture of its inhabitants, the Fremen. Sandworms live underground and … Read more
Illustration: Sam Falconer Andrew Day, a molecular microbiologist at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, is four years sober. His journey to this point inspires his work, which he hopes might help others who are struggling with alcohol. Nature Outlook: The human microbiome There are many risk factors associated with alcohol-use disorder (AUD), including mental-health conditions … Read more
Megan Majocha, a tumour-biology researcher in the laboratory at the US National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, says Deaf researchers shouldn’t have to spend time developing sign language for their science.Credit: NIH Sign language in science The lack of scientific terms and vocabulary in many of the world’s sign languages can make science education … Read more
A district court judge ruled on Susanne Täuber’s dismissal on International Women’s Day last year.Credit: Susanne Täuber I began a position as a gender-equality researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in 2009, achieving tenure in 2015. I was studying factors that undermine the effective implementation of policy into practice. In 2018, after … Read more
Three months after Javier Milei took office as the new president of Argentina, scientists there say that their profession is in crisis. As Milei cuts government spending to bring down the country’s deficit and to lower inflation — now more than 250% annually — academics say that some areas of research are at risk. And … Read more
The Maya and other ancient Mesoamerican cultures smoked tobacco in the form of cigars. An analysis of ceramic vases suggests that some of these ancient peoples also consumed tobacco as a liquid infusion, probably as part of curative and purification practices1. Access options Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value … Read more
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
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
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