Life Style

Integrated optical frequency division for microwave and mmWave generation

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Integrated optical frequency division for microwave and mmWave generation

Microwave and mmWave with high spectral purity are critical for a wide range of applications1,2,3, including metrology, navigation and spectroscopy. Owing to the superior fractional frequency stability of reference-cavity stabilized lasers when compared to electrical oscillators14, the most stable microwave sources are now achieved in optical systems by using optical frequency division4,5,6,7 (OFD). Essential to … Read more

Bumblebees show behaviour previously thought to be unique to humans

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Bumblebees show behaviour previously thought to be unique to humans

Scientists have long accepted the existence of animal culture, be that tool use in New Caledonian crows, or Japanese macaques washing sweet potatoes. Read the paper here: Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone But one thing thought to distinguish human culture is our ability to do things too complex to work out … Read more

Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone

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Bumblebees socially learn behaviour too complex to innovate alone

Culture in animals can be broadly conceptualized as the sum of a population’s behavioural traditions, which, in turn, are defined as behaviours that are transmitted through social learning and that persist in a population over time4. Although culture was once thought to be exclusive to humans and a key explanation of our own evolutionary success, … Read more

Why scientists trust AI too much — and what to do about it

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Why scientists trust AI too much — and what to do about it

AI-run labs have arrived — such as this one in Suzhou, China.Credit: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Scientists of all stripes are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) — from developing ‘self-driving’ laboratories, in which robots and algorithms work together to devise and conduct experiments, to replacing human participants in social-science experiments with bots1. Many downsides of AI systems have … Read more

Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems

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Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems

Plastics are just about everywhere — food packaging, tyres, clothes, water pipes. And they shed microscopic particles that end up in the environment and can be ingested or inhaled by people. Now the first data of their kind show a link between these microplastics and human health. A study of more than 200 people undergoing … Read more

China has a list of suspect journals and it’s just been updated

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China has a list of suspect journals and it’s just been updated

The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.Credit: Yang Qing/Imago via Alamy China has updated its list of journals that are deemed to be untrustworthy, predatory or not serving the Chinese research community’s interests. Called the Early Warning Journal List, the latest edition, published last month, includes 24 journals from about … Read more

Geologists reject the Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch — after 15 years of debate

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Geologists reject the Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch — after 15 years of debate

After 15 years of discussion and exploration, a committee of researchers has decided that the Anthropocene — generally understood to be the age of irreversible human impacts on the planet — will not become an official epoch in Earth’s geological timeline. The ruling, first reported by The New York Times, is meant to be final, … Read more

Nature publishes too few papers from women researchers — that must change

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Nature publishes too few papers from women researchers — that must change

Women and early-career researchers: Nature wants to publish your research.Credit: Getty Researchers submitting original research to Nature over the past year will have noticed an extra question, asking them to self-report their gender. Today, as part of our commitment to helping to make science more equitable, we are publishing in this editorial a preliminary analysis … Read more

COVID protections eliminated a strain of flu

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COVID protections eliminated a strain of flu

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here. The Nigerian health ministry has been told to investigate reports of deaths in the northeastern state of Gombe (pictured).Credit: Tolu Owoeye/Shutterstock Nigeria’s National Assembly has instructed the country’s health ministry to investigate a “strange disease” said … Read more

The Correctives

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The Correctives

“What was the inspiration behind the app?” Saul asked, his fingers tapping at the air as he opened data files and new channels for their event. “All of this,” Miho said. She looked up towards the fluorescent blaze of train lines and sky-cars, their holograms obscuring the view of the sky. Behind them, she could … Read more