Nature Portfolio

Women’s health Research into women’s health has suffered from historical neglect and lack of funding.

To mark International Women's Day on 8th March #IWD2026, the #NatureReviews Collection on women's health has been updated (go.nature.com/30kDWG3). The Collection covers various aspects of women's health and includes a new Primer on ovarian cancer from @natrevdiseaseprimers.nature.com

‘No one quite like her’: meet the female colleagues who inspire these award-winning women in science To mark International Women’s Day, Nature asked winners of its awards programmes to nominate a colleague who brings out the best in them.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, held each year on 8 March, Nature asked six previous winners of awards given in partnership with Nature to name a woman who has had a positive impact on their scientific career and well-being. 🧪

Human hippocampal neurogenesis in adulthood, ageing and Alzheimer’s disease - Nature Mapping of neurogenesis in human hippocampi across ages and different cognitive abilities using multiomic single-cell sequencing reveals distinct signatures between cognitive preservation and decline.

Aged adults with extraordinary memory capacity – known as SuperAgers – exhibit a unique neurogenesis profile with a surprisingly high number of young neurons, according to a study published in Nature. 🧪 #Neuroscience

Discovery of the most compact 3+1-type quadruple star system TIC 120362137 - Nature Communications There are only a few 3+1-type stellar systems known. Here the authors show that TIC 120362137 is the most compact hierarchical quadruple star, with three stars revolving within an area smaller than Mercury’s orbit, while the fourth star orbits closer to them than Jupiter from our Sun.

The most compact known example of a 3+1-type quadruple star system, where a star orbits a triple star system, is presented in Nature Communications. 🧪 🔭

Light curves of WOH G64.

Massive stars usually evolve gradually over millennia, but according to an article in Nature Astronomy, extreme star WHO G64 shifted from red to yellow in just a year, prompting the question whether this is due intrinsic instability or interaction with a hidden companion.
go.nature.com/4cYLEMp 🔭 🧪

Clonal-aggregative multicellularity tuned by salinity in a choanoflagellate - Nature The choanoflagellate Choanoeca flexa forms motile and contractile cell monolayers purely clonally, purely aggregatively or through a combination of both processes depending on environmental conditions.

A study in Nature shows that the single-celled form of a tiny, aquatic organism can turn into a multicellular version by three different routes. The discovery adds insight to the possible origins of multicellular life, suggesting a previously unrecognized degree of flexibility. 🧪

Leveraging tissue-resident memory T cells for non-invasive immune monitoring via microneedle skin patches - Nature Biomedical Engineering A strategy harnessing tissue-resident memory T cells to concentrate circulating immune cells enables non-invasive sampling of antigen-specific lymphocytes, providing a window into local and systemic immune responses in mice and humans.

A microneedle patch that uses tissue-resident memory T cells to enhance the detection of antigen-specific lymphocytes is presented in Nature Biomedical Engineering. 🧪 🩺

An intermittent dynamo linked to high-titanium volcanism on the Moon - Nature Geoscience Strong magnetic fields on the Moon between 3.854 and 3.580 billion years ago correlate with the titanium content of lunar basalts, suggesting a link between dynamo generation and eruption of high-Ti basalts, according to a heat-flux modelling study.

Whether the Moon had a strong or weak magnetic field during its early history has been the subject of scientific debate. A study in Nature Geoscience utilised samples from the Apollo missions to reveal that the Moon once had an extremely strong magnetic field – but only for a very short period. 🧪

This is figure 1, which shows a risk map of Antarctic ice catchment basins.

The results of a study in Nature Climate Change imply that the Antarctic Ice Sheet does not act as one single tipping element, but rather as several tipping systems interacting across drainage basins. go.nature.com/4rFXQ9q 🧪

AI is turning research into a scientific monoculture - Communications Psychology The rush to study generative AI is producing a feedback loop of topical and methodological convergence, flattening scientific imagination and crowding out the pluralism needed to keep research adaptive, resilient, and intellectually generative.

A Comment article published in Communications Psychology argues that the rush to study AI is producing a feedback loop of topical and methodological convergence, flattening scientific imagination and crowding out the pluralism needed to keep research adaptive. 🧪 #ArtificialIntelligence

Pokémon turns 30 — how the fictional pocket monsters shaped science The Japanese media sensation has inspired generations of researchers in fields as diverse as evolution, biodiversity and research integrity.

For Pokémon’s 30th anniversary, Nature spoke to scientists from around the world about how their work has been shaped by playing Pokémon games, watching animated TV series and films and trading cards in school playgrounds. 🧪

This is figure 2, which shows global diversification dynamics of six diverse butterfly families.

Butterflies and moths are key indicators of functioning and healthy ecosystems. A Review in Nature Reviews Biodiversity describes the evolutionary history of the order Lepidoptera and tracks shifts in researchers’ understanding of the clade in the genomic era. go.nature.com/4r0kbgS 🌍 🧪

The future of European outdoor summer sports through the lens of 50 years of the tour de France - Scientific Reports In this study, we consider how excessive heat, due to changing climate conditions, could affect the safety of summer sport competitions in Europe. We use the example of the world’s largest bicycle race, the Tour de France, to assess the changes in heat stress over the past five decades and discuss extreme heat protocols, data gaps and safe ways forward. We show that although July heat stress values have been increasing throughout France, the actual Tour de France race dates have so far been fortunate to avoid the days featuring the highest heat. For example, although July hourly heat stress values for Paris and its surroundings have crossed the high-risk threshold (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) > 28 °C) on five occasions over the last 50 years, four of which have occurred since 2014, this has so far not happened on the date of the Tour de France stage through Paris. Between 1974 and 2023, the hottest Parisian stage finish was in July 2002, with the hourly WBGT maximum of 26.8 °C staying just below the high-risk mark. With record-breaking heatwaves becoming more frequent, it seems only a question of time as to when the race will encounter the extreme heat stress days that will test the existing heat safety protocols. Considering the historical heat stress values, we find that the episodes of dangerous heat levels exceeding 28 °C WBGT, have been most common around Toulouse, Pau and Bordeaux in France’s southwest, and around Nîmes and Perpignan in the southeast. However, locations like Paris and Lyon are starting to cross the 28 °C WBGT threshold more frequently, becoming new heat stress hotspots. Our hourly July analysis for France, shows that morning hours are the safest part of the day and that high heat stress can persist late into the afternoon hours. Mountain locations largely remain safe.

A study published in Scientific Reports examines the impact of rising temperatures on summer sports in Europe, focusing on the Tour de France. The analysis reveals that dangerous heat levels are becoming more frequent in regions like Toulouse, Pau, Bordeaux, Perpignan and Nîmes. 🧪

China is waging war on Alzheimer’s. What can its approach teach the rest of the world? The country is facing a coming wave of dementia for its ageing population, and is investing in research into drugs, diagnostics and even surgery to prepare itself.

China is facing a coming wave of #Alzheimers disease and other dementia conditions for its ageing population, and is investing in research into drugs, diagnostics and surgery to prepare itself. Nature reports on what other countries can learn from the approach. #medsky 🧪

Voices of experience - Nature Human Behaviour Collective knowledge is a human strength. To benefit from the wisdom of experience, we launch a Series of Comments in a dedicated ‘How to’ style. These ‘How to’ Comments provide brief advice and practical recommendations to researchers across the wide spectrum of disciplines covered by the journal.

A new series of 'How to' Comment is now launched! It provides guidance & practical recommendations for topics of broad interest to our readership. Read our editorial about it:

Rare coding variants in CHRNB3 associate with reduced daily cigarette smoking across ancestries - Nature Communications Rare coding variants that reduce the activity of a protein can have a beneficial impact on health. Here, researchers identify rare genetic variants in the CHRNB3 gene that associate with reduced cigarette smoking across diverse populations.

Researchers have identified rare genetic variants in the CHRNB3 gene that are associated with reduced cigarette smoking across diverse populations. The findings are reported in Nature Communications. 🧪

National analysis of cancer mortality and proximity to nuclear power plants in the United States - Nature Communications ‘Populations residing near nuclear power plants may experience low-level chronic exposure to ionizing radiation through environmental release pathways. In here the authors find higher cancer mortality rates in U.S. counties closer to operational nuclear power plants, with the strongest relative risks observed in older adults.’

A study published in Nature Communications reports higher cancer mortality rates in U.S. counties closer to operational nuclear power plants, with the strongest relative risks observed in older adults. 🧪

How ‘forest bathing’ keeps lungs healthy Wooded environments release organic compounds that seem to improve respiratory health, but the magnitude and mechanism of the effect remains unclear.

Does ‘forest bathing’ improve health? Or does it just offer people a break from urban sources of harm? This article is part of our Nature Outlook: Lung Health. 🧪 🌍

Human hippocampal neurogenesis in adulthood, ageing and Alzheimer’s disease - Nature Mapping of neurogenesis in human hippocampi across ages and different cognitive abilities using multiomic single-cell sequencing reveals distinct signatures between cognitive preservation and decline.

Aged adults with extraordinary memory capacity – known as SuperAgers – exhibit a unique neurogenesis profile with a surprisingly high number of young neurons, according to a study published in Nature. 🧪 #Neuroscience

Early hominin arrival in Southeast Asia triggered the evolution of major human malaria vectors - Scientific Reports Some species of the Leucosphyrus Group of Anopheles mosquitoes in Southeast Asia are highly anthropophilic and efficient vectors of human malaria parasites, while others primarily feed on non-human primates (NHP) and transmit NHP malaria parasites. The evolutionary history of this group, particularly the origin of anthropophily, was studied using phylogenomic analysis of 2,657 high-confidence nuclear single-copy orthologous genes and 13 mitochondrial protein coding genes from 40 individuals of 11 species. Molecular dating and ancestral state reconstruction revealed that monkey-feeding is ancestral with speciation of monkey-feeding species dating to the Pliocene within Sundaland (Malay peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra and Java) which was covered in tropical rain forests during this period. Although less parsimonious alternatives cannot be excluded, molecular dating, ancestral state reconstruction and reticulation analysis indicated that anthropophily most likely evolved once, involving adaptive introgression, in the early Pleistocene in Sundaland, giving rise to multiple descendent anthropophilic species. Such early origination of anthropophily must necessarily have been in response to the arrival of early hominins (Homo erectus) rather than anatomically modern humans, likely associated with loss and fragmentation of rainforests during the early Pleistocene. The early origination of anthropophily also provides independent non-archaeological evidence supporting the limited fossil record of early hominin colonization in Southeast Asia around 1.8 Mya.

The preference of some mosquitoes in the Leucosphyrus Group of Anopheles mosquitoes for feeding on humans may have evolved in response to the arrival of early hominins in Southeast Asia ~1.8 million years ago. The findings are published in Scientific Reports. 🧪 #evobio

Measurement of a lithium plume from the uncontrolled re-entry of a Falcon 9 rocket - Communications Earth & Environment A plume of pollutants in the upper atmosphere above Germany is identified using lidar observations of lithium concentrations and can be traced back to the uncontrolled re-entry of a specific rocket launch through atmospheric modelling

A plume of upper-atmospheric lithium pollution observed in February 2025 has been attributed to the uncontrolled re-entry of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The findings are published in Communications Earth & Environment. 🧪

Evaluating the analytical performance of direct-to-consumer gut microbiome testing services - Communications Biology Comparative analysis of DTC gut microbiome testing services reveals significant methodological variability, underscoring the need for standardized reference materials and guidelines to ensure reproducibility and reliability in commercial microbiome testing.

Results and health assessments from gut microbiome home-testing kits vary whether they are produced by the same or different manufacturers. The findings, published in Communications Biology, highlight the need for caution when interpreting or acting on test results, according to the authors. 🧪

PAF15–PCNA exhaustion governs the strand-specific control of DNA replication - Nature PCNA–PAF15 has a key role in determining replisome dynamics during genome replication and protecting against genome instability.

A study published in Nature has identified a new mechanism that controls DNA’s ability to replicate – and thereby a cell’s ability to divide. A protein, PAF15, acts as the brake, preventing the replication machinery from becoming overloaded and protecting cells from replication catastrophe. 🧪

The image presents a study design, with sections labelled 'a' to 'd'. Section a outlines primary and secondary study objectives: association between two doses of RZV and reduced dementia risk in adults over 65. Sections b and d show KPSC EHR search flow, RZV vaccination status.

Vaccination with two doses of recombinant zoster vaccine is associated with a 51 percent reduction in the risk of dementia in adults over 65 years, reports a study published in Nature Communications. go.nature.com/4aHg6rM #medsky 🧪

This is figure 1, which shows ChatGPT Health under-triages emergencies while over-triaging nonurgent cases.

A study in Nature Medicine conducted a structured stress test of triage recommendations made by ChatGPT Health. The findings show missed high-risk emergencies and inconsistent activation of crisis safeguards. go.nature.com/4tR0SJz #medsky 🧪

Clonal-aggregative multicellularity tuned by salinity in a choanoflagellate - Nature The choanoflagellate Choanoeca flexa forms motile and contractile cell monolayers purely clonally, purely aggregatively or through a combination of both processes depending on environmental conditions.

A study in Nature shows that the single-celled form of a tiny, aquatic organism can turn into a multicellular version by three different routes. The discovery adds insight to the possible origins of multicellular life, suggesting a previously unrecognized degree of flexibility. 🧪

The squeak that happens when basketball shoes slide on a polished court is caused by deformations of the soft material rippling across the surface, according to a study in Nature. The research identifies ways to modify these effects. go.nature.com/4aATZEz 🧪

The science influencers going viral on TikTok to fight misinformation Scientists and medical experts are countering climate denialism, vaccine scepticism and wellness pseudoscience on social media.

To counteract the deluge of bad information on social media, pro-science content creators are taking strategies straight out of the influencer playbook. 🧪

This is figure 1, which shows the anatomy of A. cerropoliciensis based on the new specimen MPCA Pv 377.

A paper in Nature presents a nearly complete fossil of a dinosaur from Argentina that would have weighed less than 1 kg when alive and may be the smallest known dinosaur from South America discovered to date. go.nature.com/4kVlgox #Paleosky 🧪

This is figure 2, which shows global diversification dynamics of six diverse butterfly families.

Butterflies and moths are key indicators of functioning and healthy ecosystems. A Review in Nature Reviews Biodiversity describes the evolutionary history of the order Lepidoptera and tracks shifts in researchers’ understanding of the clade in the genomic era. go.nature.com/4r0kbgS 🌍 🧪