Nature

NATURE PODCAST 20 October 2021 Omnimagnets move non-magnetic objects every which way An ancient solar storm helps pinpoint when Vikings lived in the Americas, and using magnets to deftly move non-magnetic metals. Benjamin Thompson & Nick Petrić Howe Benjamin Thompson View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Nick

According to a study by researchers at Rutgers University, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and other institutions, a potential nuclear war may have devastating effects on humanity for years to come. Smoke from the resulting fires would cause climate change that could last up to 15 years. This in turn would threaten global food

Astronomers have detected an intermittent source of radio waves near the centre of the Galaxy that doesn’t seem to fit the profile of any known astrophysical phenomenon1. Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year 199,00 € only 3,90 € per issue

Later this week, a monster bomb cyclone will form just off the northwest United States and western Canada coasts, and AccuWeather analysts believe it could equal the ferocity of powerful hurricanes from the Atlantic this season in several ways. The huge storm will have severe and devastating effects all along the West Coast, but the

NEWS FEATURE 20 October 2021 Why fossil fuel subsidies are so hard to kill Behind the struggle to stop governments propping up the coal, oil and gas industries. Jocelyn Timperley 0 Jocelyn Timperley Jocelyn Timperley is a freelance climate journalist in San José, Costa Rica. View author publications You can also search for this author

CORRESPONDENCE 19 October 2021 Countries of the Indo-Gangetic Plain must unite against air pollution Muhammad Fahim Khokhar  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4489-6593 0 , Muhammad Shehzaib Anjum  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2873-5741 1 , Abdus Salam  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5609-6828 2 , Vinayak Sinha  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5508-0779 3 , Manish Naja  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4597-1690 4 , Hiroshi Tanimoto  ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5424-9923 5 , James H. Crawford

Scorpions are venomous reptiles. They’ve one of the most ferocious beasts here on earth for millennia, with their 8 legs, a brace of anguish forceps, and a tail that culminates in a stinger. History, astronomy, Greek myths, games consoles, and corporate logos all contain them Nevertheless, in a recent finding, there was another identical seen

NEWS AND VIEWS 19 October 2021 From the archive Nature’s pages feature a look at the wonders of chemistry from a human angle and describe a solar explosion. Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via E-Mail Share via E-Mail 100 Years Ago Access options Access through your institution

In a year of intense heat and drought, California has had its driest water year in terms of precipitation in a century, and scientists are afraid the future 12 months will be even worse. (Photo : Getty Images) Drought The Western Regional Climate Center projected that in the 2021 water year, California received a total

CORRESPONDENCE 19 October 2021 United States has several programmes for early-career leaders Dalal Najib 0 , John Boright 1 & John Hildebrand 2 Dalal Najib National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington DC, USA. View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar John Boright National Academies of Sciences,

NEWS 19 October 2021 Attempt to charge Mexican scientists with ‘organized crime’ prompts international outcry The Mexican government has accused 31 scientists and officials of organized crime and money laundering — allegations that they deny and that many claim are politically motivated. Sara Reardon 0 Sara Reardon Sara Reardon is a freelance writer in Bozeman,

Researchers from Oregon State University and a group of international experts have uncovered new information about a group of Brazilian jaguars’ food, population density, and social interactions. (Photo : Getty Images) Ecology of Jaguars Jaguars in a remote marsh area of Brazil eat mostly fish and aquatic reptiles, making them the first jaguar population known

Lakes throughout the world are getting warmer and freezing for fewer days per year because of global climate change1. Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year 199,00 € only 3,90 € per issue Subscribe Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Companies that contributed millions of pounds to sponsor the Cop26 climate conference have blasted it as “mismanaged” and “very last minute” as the event in Glasgow approaches next month. The sponsors, which include some of the country’s largest corporations, have filed formal complaints with the government, blaming “very inexperienced” civil servants for delayed decisions, poor

NATURE BRIEFING 15 October 2021 Daily briefing: The puzzle of COVID super-immunity Why do people who have recovered from COVID-19 show such spectacular immune responses when they get vaccinated? Plus, the first mission to the Trojan asteroids is ready to launch and how eclectic acupuncture zaps inflammation in mice. Flora Graham Flora Graham View author

Serge Dedina is the mayor of Imperial Beach, a modest working-class community on the California coast. He is a surfer, an environmentalist, and a surfer. According to the fossil fuel sector, he’s also at the center of a plot to extort hundreds of millions of dollars from big oil.  ExxonMobil and its allies have accused Dedina of

Octopuses are among the most unusual creatures on the planet. They are curious, Intelligent, and also shape-shift. The creature really captures the imagination – as shown by the response to a documentary – My Octopus Teacher. (Photo : Getty Images) Factory Farming Octopus Yet our relationship with this extraordinary creature has been threatened by food-related

NEWS 15 October 2021 Physicists make most precise measurement ever of neutron’s lifetime But decades-long mystery of how long the particles live persists. Davide Castelvecchi Davide Castelvecchi View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via

Although the Atlantic hurricane season doesn’t technically finish until November 30, experts say the chances of another tropical storm forming shortly are slim. There is currently just one name remaining on the list of storm names for 2021, after a hectic pace during hurricane season’s peak. Wanda. Is it possible that that name will go unnoticed?

CAREER COLUMN 15 October 2021 How I wrote a pop-science book Much of John Tregoning’s pandemic year was spent writing a book about infectious disease. Now that it’s out, what has he learnt? John Tregoning 0 John Tregoning John Tregoning is a reader in respiratory infections in the Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London,

Footage of a woman along with her two friends on a small plane flying 27 puppies so they will be saved from being euthanised has gone viral. (Photo : Getty Images) The Viral Video Cassandra Bergeron, a dog-lover who stuffed the puppies into a small plane, flying them from Alabama to Florida so they can

Download PDF When it comes to preserving the cherished memories of the vacation where he’ll propose to his girlfriend, Ryan Burkeman doesn’t play cheap. Somewhere in the lines of the itemized receipt from his travel agent — signed off on by the happy couple — is the cost of an extra airline ticket: first class,

Industrial fishing might have disrupted some of the chemical flows in the ocean as much as human-induced climate change has1. Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year 199,00 € only 3,90 € per issue Subscribe Tax calculation will be finalised during

Since the middle of September, eruptions of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma have devastated significant swathes of the territory, leaving massive quantities of lava and ash on the ground. However, one type of island dweller had been overlooked for the last month: the canines. (Photo : Getty Images) Drone

BOOK REVIEW 15 October 2021 Climate lessons from COVID, and the end of paperwork: Books in brief Andrew Robinson reviews five of the week’s best science picks. Andrew Robinson 0 Andrew Robinson Andrew Robinson’s many books include Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World’s Undeciphered Scripts and Einstein on the Run: How Britain Saved the

After detecting probable gasoline traces in the city’s tap water, officials in Canada’s northernmost capital have declared a municipal state of emergency. Residents of Iqaluit, the Arctic territory of Nunavut’s capital, have been advised not to consume, boil, or cook with the city’s water. Public Health Warning pic.twitter.com/3hdvDvzWfl — Government of Nunavut (@GOVofNUNAVUT) October 12,

NEWS 15 October 2021 Scientists under attack and weird viruses — the week in infographics Nature highlights three key infographics from the week in science and research. Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via E-Mail Share via E-Mail Why winter viruses are behaving weirdly Pandemic response measures such

After the devastating mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs, snakes quickly developed a taste for a bountiful array of creatures — helping to give rise to the nearly 4,000 modern-day snake species1. Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year 199,00

On Wednesday after three-and-a-half weeks of volcanic activity, experts said there is no chance that the volcanic eruption in Spain’s Canary Islands will come to an end any time soon. (Photo : Getty Images) La Palma Volcano  A spokesman for the Canaries’ volcanologist group Pevolca, Maria Jose Blanco said at the Cumbre Vieja volcano which

As a violet-blue light washes over a newly created gel, the glow prompts ‘traveller’ molecules embedded within to begin their march — a journey that could lead to the development of new molecular-scale machines1. Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year

Locals in Batemans Bay, a coastal beach town south of Sydney, discovered murdered animals (kangaroos) on two different roadways on Saturday, according to a report. The kangaroos were also struck by a car, according to the report, and both culprits have been detained. They will face in court next month on charges of carelessly assaulting

Some mentoring relationships last for decades. How do they change over time? Julie Gould finds out. Your browser does not support the audio element. Download MP3 See transcript Some researchers never lose touch with group leaders or committee members who mentored them as graduate students. As Jen Heemstra, a chemistry professor at Emory University in

1. Tsui, D. C., Stormer, H. L. & Gossard, A. C. Two-dimensional magnetotransport in the extreme quantum limit. Phys. Rev. Lett. 48, 1559–1562 (1982). ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar  2. Laughlin, R. B. Anomalous quantum hall effect: an incompressible quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations. Phys. Rev. Lett. 50, 1395–1398 (1983). ADS  Article  Google Scholar 

Since the 1-in-100-year covid-19 pandemic began over a year now, it has driven millions of children into hunger. But every 4-7 years, an El Niño prompts the shift in weather patterns across the tropics, and this usually brings about warmer temperatures and precipitation changes as well as global impacts on agriculture, conflicts, infectious diseases, and

NATURE PODCAST 13 October 2021 How electric acupuncture zaps inflammation in mice The neurons behind acupuncture’s effect on inflammation, and how antibiotics affect gut bacteria. Benjamin Thompson & Shamini Bundell Benjamin Thompson View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Shamini Bundell View author publications You can also search

“The Lizard King” – a Florida reptile dealer – faces federal charges because of his illegal activities which are collecting turtles from the wild and smuggling them out of the United States so they can be sold overseas. (Photo : Getty Images) Illegal Turtle Harvest Michael Van Nostrand, 54, is the owner of the reptile

NEWS ROUND-UP 13 October 2021 Vaccines and Delta, Moon volcanism and an NIH departure The latest science news, in brief. Share on Twitter Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Facebook Share via E-Mail Share via E-Mail Download PDF A health worker gives a COVID-19 vaccine in Hanoi.Credit: Nhac Nguyen/AFP/Getty Vaccines cut delta transmission

A few kilometres off the Yemeni coast lies an abandoned oil tanker that has long aroused fears of a catastrophe: it could crack or explode at any time, and would release more than four times the amount of oil leaked by the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Modelling work shows that such a spill would endanger

Covid-19 may have killed a large cat at the Great Plains Zoo in South Dakota, zoo authorities said over the weekend. Baya, a female snow leopard, died last Thursday after suffering from severe respiratory problems. So far, one cat at the zoo has tested positive for the virus, and others have been ill in the

CORRESPONDENCE 12 October 2021 Recognize 727 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves for biodiversity COP15 Alicia D. Barraclough 0 , Maureen G. Reed 1 , Inger Elisabeth Måren 2 , Martin F. Price 3 , Andrés Moreira-Muñoz 4 & Kaera Coetzer 5 Alicia D. Barraclough University of Bergen, Norway. View author publications You can also search for this

A massive solar storm is expected to hit Earth today, potentially wreaking havoc on electrical infrastructures and satellites throughout the globe. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued the geomagnetic storm notice, with a solar flare expected to impact Earth today. A massive solar flare is due to hit Earth today, authorities are warning

Download PDF I spend a lot of time looking upwards. Here, at Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome, I’m peering through the Vatican Observatory’s historic 1891 telescope. It can’t compete with Rome’s light pollution and is mainly for fun and tourism — we’re hoping to welcome visitors again soon — but it still offers views of the

Physicists have built a new kind of device for coaxing light to act like a superfluid — a fluid at very low temperatures that can flow without any internal friction1. Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year 199,00 € only 3,90

Human DNA is remarkably similar to that of the chimpanzee, our closest living relative in evolutionary terms. However, researchers from Lund University in Sweden have discovered a previously unknown portion of human DNA, known as non-coded DNA, that appears to contribute to a distinction that, despite our similarities, may explain why our brains function differently.

The operation of a notorious Soviet plutonium-making facility decades ago caused ecological devastation in the Southern Urals1. Access options Access through your institution Change institution Buy or subscribe Subscribe to Journal Get full journal access for 1 year 199,00 € only 3,90 € per issue Subscribe Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Rent or

A powerful magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit Tokyo on Thursday night, damaging underground water pipes and halting trains and subways. Reports say 30 more people are injured. This caused traffic disruptions and major local train delays on Friday, having hundreds of commuters overflow in Kawaguchi station and long waiting line outside of Shinjuku station. Most trains

Tesla, founded in Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, is relocating its headquarters to Texas, where billionaire CEO Elon Musk already resides, while the company will continue to manufacture automobiles in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Photo : Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Musk made the revelation at Tesla’s almost finished Texas Gigafactory in Austin

NATURE PODCAST 08 October 2021 Coronapod: new data affirms the benefits of air filters and masks Cheap air filters effectively scrub SARS-CoV-2 particles from hospital air and masks get gold standard approval Noah Baker & Tosin Thompson Noah Baker View author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar Tosin Thompson