Nature

International Women’s Day On Sunday 8 March, the world celebrates the achievements and well-being of its 4 billion female inhabitants.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, check out this collection on the rewards and challenges that face women in science, including news and research covering fresh approaches to women’s health, the motherhood penalty, and more.

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The world is getting hotter faster — its pace nearly doubled in the past decade Earth is now warming at a rate of around 0.35 ºC per decade, fresh analysis finds.

Earth is now warming at a rate of around 0.35 ºC per decade, fresh analysis finds.

go.nature.com/4boG2tH

Sea level much higher than assumed in most coastal hazard assessments - Nature Meta-analyses on a global scale show that the measured coastal mean sea level is higher than assumed in most coastal hazard assessments.

Nature research paper: Sea level much higher than assumed in most coastal hazard assessments

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First ‘half Möbius’ carbon chain wows chemists The looped molecule’s unusual shape could unlock strange physical properties

The Möbius strip, a twisted loop with one continuous surface, is inspiring chemists to create novel molecular structures.

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Genetically modified pig liver keeps man alive until human organ transplant First time the procedure has been performed on a living person.

A 56-year-old man with liver failure has become the first living person to be surgically connected to a genetically modified pig liver.

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These brain cells clear proteins that contribute to Alzheimer’s When specialized cells called tanycytes stop working, disease-causing tau proteins build up in the brain.

When specialized cells called tanycytes stop working, disease-causing tau proteins build up in the brain.

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A glucocorticoid–FAS axis controls immune evasion during metastatic seeding - Nature Glucocorticoid receptor activation is a key driver of resistance of triple-negative breast cancer to both CD8+ T cells and natural killer cells during initial metastatic seeding.

Nature research paper: A glucocorticoid–FAS axis controls immune evasion during metastatic seeding

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Rising temperatures pose a threat to tropical insects An assessment of sensitivity to increasing temperature for thousands of insect species in mountainous terrain reveals a risk of insect biodiversity loss in tropical lowlands.

An assessment of sensitivity to increasing temperature for thousands of insect species reveals a risk of insect biodiversity loss

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How these koalas bounced back from the brink of extinction Tracking DNA recombination offers hope for other species that have lost genetic diversity.

Once-threatened koala populations in parts of Australia are showing surprising signs of genomic recovery.

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The molecular basis of force selectivity by PIEZO2 - Nature PIEZO2 is intrinsically more rigid than PIEZO1, and disparate mechanical stimuli paradoxically evoke opposite conformational and gating responses in each channel.

Nature research paper: The molecular basis of force selectivity by PIEZO2

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The Epstein scandal is a wake-up call — new rules are needed on links with rich donors A systemic failure of oversight allowed the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to curry favour with academia. Stronger governance is urgently needed.

A systemic failure of oversight allowed the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to curry favour with academia. Stronger governance is urgently needed, says Arthur Caplan

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Advancing operational global aerosol forecasting with machine learning - Nature Reliable 5-day, 3-hourly forecasts of aerosol optical components and surface concentrations are obtained in 1 minute using a machine-learning-driven forecasting system.

Nature research paper: Advancing operational global aerosol forecasting with machine learning

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How AI is being used in war — and what’s next The conflict in Iran is highlighting the use of artificial intelligence in warfare.

The escalating conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran has thrown a spotlight on the use of artificial intelligence in warfare

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The first 'AI societies' are taking shape: how human-like are they? Scientists are studying forms of ‘social’ interactions between artificial-intelligence agents. Will they find a fresh form of sociology, or merely a sophisticated mime act?

Researchers are devising a fresh way to study human behaviour — and it doesn’t involve humans at all

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Wind shear enhances soil moisture influence on rapid thunderstorm growth - Nature Analysis of millions of events over sub-Saharan Africa shows that wind shear amplifies the impact of soil moisture in triggering rapidly developing thunderstorms.

Nature research paper: Wind shear enhances soil moisture influence on rapid thunderstorm growth

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Long-term thrombus-free left atrial appendage occlusion via magnetofluids - Nature In the presence of a sufficient magnetic field, magnetofluids can resist high-speed blood flow, offering a personalized and complete strategy for left atrial appendage occlusion.

Nature research paper: Long-term thrombus-free left atrial appendage occlusion via magnetofluids

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Heart surgery with quick-setting magnetic fluid could prevent strokes Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 4 March 2026

Latest from the Nature Podcast 🔊 Heart surgery with quick-setting magnetic fluid could prevent strokes

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Do obesity drugs treat addiction? Huge study hints at their promise Study of 600,000 US military veterans shows that those who took anti-obesity medications were less likely to develop some complications of substance-use disorders.

GLP-1 medications might help people avoid becoming addicted to drugs, including alcohol, cocaine, and opioids

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A metabolic alarmin from keratinocytes potentiates systemic humoral immunity - Nature Farnesyl pyrophosphate—a mevalonate pathway metabolic intermediate—is an endogenous alarmin that enhances IgG antibody responses through keratinocyte-derived IL-6 and CCL20.

Nature research paper: A metabolic alarmin from keratinocytes potentiates systemic humoral immunity

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Identical twins on trial: can DNA testing tell them apart? In a French criminal trial, conventional DNA analysis couldn’t distinguish between twin brothers, but emerging scientific methods could help in such cases.

An identical twin commits a crime and leaves their DNA at the scene. Can DNA testing reveal which twin is the culprit?

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DICER cleavage fidelity is governed by 5′-end binding pockets - Nature Cryo-electron microscopy and massively parallel assays shed light on the mechanism by which DICER, a key enzyme in the RNase III family, cleaves RNA at precise locations to produce small RNAs.

Nature research paper: DICER cleavage fidelity is governed by 5′-end binding pockets

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Genome modelling and design across all domains of life with Evo 2 - Nature Evo 2 is an artificial intelligence-based biological foundation model trained on 9 trillion DNA base pairs spanning all domains of life that predicts functional properties from genomic sequences and provides a rich generative model for researchers in biology.

Nature research paper: Genome modelling and design across all domains of life with Evo 2

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Limited thermal tolerance in tropical insects and its genomic signature - Nature A survey of tropical insect populations and thermal tolerance limits indicates that species from lowland areas have low capacity to survive increased temperatures, and that thermal tolerance is limited by fundamental properties of protein architecture.

Nature research paper: Limited thermal tolerance in tropical insects and its genomic signature

go.nature.com/4ua5R82

Heart surgery with quick-setting magnetic fluid could prevent strokes Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 4 March 2026

This week on the pod:

🫀 A magnetic seal to stop clots forming in the heart
💎 Making hexagonal diamond

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AI can write genomes — how long until it creates synthetic life? The Evo2 genomic language model can generate short genome sequences, but scientists say further advances are needed to write genomes that will work inside living cells.

This AI model is trained on trillions of DNA letters from organisms across the tree of life

go.nature.com/46Eikaf

Fresh claim of making elusive ‘hexagonal’ diamond is the strongest yet After decades of debate, researchers say that they have found the clearest evidence yet for this rare form of carbon.

Diamond is famously the hardest known mineral on Earth. This variant might be even harder

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Funding from individual donors: lessons from the Epstein case Universities need to establish and empower compliance teams to ensure adherence to ethical funding policies.

Universities need to establish and empower compliance teams to ensure adherence to ethical funding policies

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Flexible paths to multicellularity Close relatives of animals can become multicellular if distinct individuals join together or if dividing cells remain attached. A species has been found to use both mechanisms.

This species can become multicellular using two mechanisms previously thought to be mutually exclusive

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Cancer blood tests are everywhere. Do they really work? Their makers claim they can detect dozens of cancer types — but some scientists say they could be missing many cancers or delivering the wrong diagnosis.

The makers of cancer blood tests claim the tests can detect dozens of cancer types - but some scientists say they could be missing many cancers or delivering the wrong diagnosis

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Scientists must step up to avert a nuclear breakout The end of the US–Russia treaty to cap the number of nuclear weapons places the world at risk. Here’s what researchers can do.

Scientists must act as stewards of global security

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