The activity that consumes roughly one-third of our lives affects health in ways scientists are only beginning to fully understand.

Finding an effective treatment for insomnia is one thing — getting an insurance company to pay for it is another, says Rachel Nuwer.

Gene editing and many other useful biotechnology tools came from studies of bacteria fighting off viral invaders. But scientists have only begun to unlock the secrets of this ancient arms race.

Drugs that eliminate wakefulness, molecules in cannabis and wearable devices that modulate brain activity could help those with the condition.

A poor working relationship with a supervisor or manager can result in lost opportunities, creating an unexplained gap in an early-career researcher’s publication record.

The academic impact of early morning lectures, alcohol’s effects on sleep and other highlights from sleep studies.

Finspan is visually stunning and brilliantly captures the intricacies of the ocean’s ecosystems.

A typical person spends more than 20 years in a state of dreamy semi-consciousness. But surprisingly little is known about why we need this down time.

Sleep-medicine specialist Esra Tasali explains the science behind maintaining a healthy weight without the need for expensive drugs.

An established theory for how good sleep reduces a person’s risk of neurodegenerative disease has been called into question. The ensuing argument could have enormous consequences for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

The rhythm of life.

A critical challenge in the commercialization of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is the simultaneous attainment of high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and high stability. Employing polymers interfaces in PSCs can enhance durability by blocking water and oxygen, and by suppressing ions interdiffusion, but their electronic shielding poses a challenge for efficient and stable PSCs1–3. In this study,

US National Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Programme recipients in 15 years.

Funding for the National Science Foundation, which finances research at US bases on the icy continent, has already been reduced, and the agency faces steeper cuts soon.

Tiger numbers in India are starting to rebound after decades of being perilously low. This recovery offers lessons for conserving other rare animals.

Autophagy has long been presumed to decline with age, underpinning its designation as a hallmark of ageing. However, emerging evidence challenges this notion, showing tissue-specific variability and, in some cases, age-related increases in autophagic activity. Understanding these dynamics is vital for targeted therapeutic strategies.

Letter to the Editor

Snippets from Nature’s past.

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Lessons from environmental and other social movements can help researchers to protect scientific integrity from attack.

But public-health specialists worry that misinformation and funding cuts could affect vaccination rates.

Evidence shows that science and scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway.

Researchers jubilant over swift ministerial response to rule they say would hamper international recruitment.

The 50th anniversary of a landmark biosafety conference is an opportunity to ensure its spirit lives on in today’s scientists.

Researchers are studying why the energy factories are moving between cells and whether the process can be harnessed to treat cancer and other diseases.

Researchers solve the mystery of a disease outbreak through long-term surveillance of wildlife in Africa.

Nathan Alexander's laboratory welcomes ‘anyone and everyone’ to use a mix of mathematics and computing to solve challenges in society.

Success gives hope to scientists and advocates who managed to get millions of dollars in grants restored.

Meet Aaron Leanhardt, a physicist-turned-hitting coordinator for the New York Yankees. Plus, the top US vaccine regulator was pressured to provide conspiracy-confirming data and the winners of this year’s Breakthrough Prizes.

Neuroscientists have observed how deep-brain structures are activated when the brain becomes aware of its own thoughts. Plus, the world’s tiniest pacemaker and how the Trump tariffs will affect US science labs.

Posttranslational modifications can critically affect conformational changes of amyloid-forming proteins. Ubiquitination of the microtubule-associated tau protein, an intrinsically disordered biomolecule, has been proposed to influence the formation of filamentous deposits in neurodegenerative conditions. Given the reported link between aggregation propensity and intrinsic structural preferences (e

Engineering small autonomous agents capable of operating in the microscale environment remains a key challenge, with current systems still evolving. Our study explores the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster , a classic model system in biology and a species adept at microscale interaction, as a biological platform for microrobotics. Initially, we focus on remotely directing the walking paths of fruit

The integrated stress response (ISR) is a central signaling network that enables eukaryotic cells to respond to a variety of different environmental stresses. Such stresses cause ribosome collisions that lead to activation of the kinase Gcn2, resulting in the phosphorylation and inactivation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 and thereby promoting selective translation of mRNAs to restore homeostasis

Magnetic anisotropy plays a crucial role in determining the critical behavior and phase transitions in two-dimensional magnetic systems. It is also required for the design of thin-film spintronic devices. Despite its significance, sensing extremely weak anisotropy has proven challenging in van der Waals antiferromagnetic/ferrimagnetic materials. Here, we first employ simulations of micromagnetic energy

Various strategies targeting spinal locomotor circuitry have been associated with functional improvements after spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the neuronal populations mediating beneficial effects remain largely unknown. Using a combination therapy in a mouse model of complete SCI, we show that virally delivered brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (AAV-BDNF) activates hindlimb stepping and

Theoretically derived scaling laws capture the nonlinear relationships between rapidly expanding brain volume and cortical gyrification across mammalian species and in adult humans. However, the preservation of these laws has not been comprehensively assessed in typical or pathological brain development. Here, we assessed the scaling laws governing cortical thickness (CT), surface area (SA), and cortical

Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), a commensal in the human oral cavity, is overrepresented in the colon microbiota of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and is linked to tumor chemoresistance, metastasis, and a poor therapeutic prognosis. Fn produces numerous adhesins that mediate tumor colonization and downregulation of the host’s antitumor immune response. One of these, the trimeric autotransporter adhesin

The tubulin tail is a key element for microtubule (MT) functionality, but the functional redundancy of tubulin genes complicates the genetic determination of their physiological functions. Here, we removed the C-terminal tail of five alpha- and four beta-tubulin genes in the C. elegans genome. Sensory cilia typically exhibit an axoneme that longitudinally differentiates into a middle segment with doublet

Most members of the dynamin superfamily of large guanosine triphophatases (GTPases) have an ability to remodel membranes in response to guanosine triphosphate (GTP) hydrolysis. Ring Finger Protein 112 (RNF112) (ZNF179/neurolastin) is a recently identified brain-specific dynamin-like protein possessing a really interesting new gene (RING) finger domain. Despite its essential role as an E3 ligase in

Photovoltaic technology has emerged as a key candidate for powering underwater devices. However, traditional solar cells face limitations in real marine environments. Flexible solar cells offer new possibilities for underwater energy harvesting. This study identifies the optimal bandgap and depth for flexible underwater solar cells through detailed balance calculations and experiments. We also established

Humans and other animals are adept at learning to perform cognitively demanding behavioral tasks. Neurophysiological recordings in nonhuman primates during such tasks find that the requisite cognitive variables are encoded strongly in core oculomotor brain regions. Here, we assembled a large dataset—11 monkeys performing an abstract visual categorization task, surveyed across more than 1,000 neural

Seismic fault slip and rupture propagation often occur at crustal depths in the presence of hot and pressurized aqueous fluids (i.e., hydrothermal conditions). Previous experiments investigated fault frictional properties under hydrothermal conditions, but at imposed subseismic fault slip velocities ( V ~μm/s). Here, using a rotary-shear apparatus equipped with a hydrothermal pressure vessel, we study

Precise and reliable climate projections are required for climate adaptation and mitigation, but Earth system models still exhibit great uncertainties. Several approaches have been developed to reduce the spread of climate projections and feedbacks, yet those methods cannot capture the nonlinear complexity inherent in the climate system. Using a Transfer Learning approach, we show that Machine Learning

While Indigenous Knowledge (IK) contains a wealth of information on the behavior and habitat use of species, it is rarely included in the species–habitat models frequently used by Western species management authorities. As decisions from these authorities can limit access to species that are important culturally and for subsistence, exclusion of IK in conservation and management frameworks can negatively