Science news

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03302-2

Stars in young galaxies must have been responsible for stripping most intergalactic gas of its electrons.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03359-z

Red lines for religious AI

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03361-5

Brazil’s COP30 legacy should be to protect more of its forests

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03329-5

Nature’s pages feature evidence that rodents reach refreshment through wily means, and a review of a book that celebrates everything honey.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03367-z

Researchers say that the number of infections for this time of year is unusual.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03358-0

AI’s therapeutic potential goes beyond emotional connection

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03360-6

Longer grant cycles would boost research in Africa

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03307-x

CRISPR-based tools can’t easily access the DNA in these organelles, but researchers are finding other ways in.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03305-z

Nobody should be going hungry in the twenty-first century. Scientists must determine the reasons why malnutrition is increasing so policymakers can act.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-03291-2

Architects and microbiologists are exploring whether making buildings hospitable to friendly microorganisms can improve human health.

High above the Sun’s blazing equator lie its mysterious poles, the birthplace of fast solar winds and the heart of its magnetic heartbeat. For decades, scientists have struggled to see these regions, hidden from Earth’s orbit. With the upcoming Solar Polar-orbit Observatory (SPO) mission, humanity will finally gain a direct view of the poles, unlocking secrets about the Sun’s magnetic cycles, space weather, and the forces that shape the heliosphere.

Scientists imaged the heart of the OJ 287 galaxy, uncovering a curved plasma jet around what appears to be two merging supermassive black holes. The structure reveals unimaginable energy levels and shockwaves in the jet. This achievement, using a virtual telescope the size of multiple Earths, sheds new light on how black holes shape galactic jets and gravitational waves.

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope hint that the universe’s first stars might not have been ordinary fusion-powered suns, but enormous “supermassive dark stars” powered by dark matter annihilation. These colossal, luminous hydrogen-and-helium spheres may explain both the existence of unexpectedly bright early galaxies and the origin of the first supermassive black holes.

Researchers at USC have created the first method to noninvasively measure microscopic blood vessel pulses in the human brain. Using advanced 7T MRI, they found these tiny pulsations grow stronger with age and vascular risk, disrupting the brain’s waste-clearing systems. The discovery may explain how circulation changes contribute to Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Researchers have synthesized enhanced vitamin K analogues that outperform natural vitamin K in promoting neuron growth. The new compounds, which combine vitamin K with retinoic acid, activate the mGluR1 receptor to drive neurogenesis. They also efficiently cross the blood-brain barrier and show stability in vivo. This discovery could pave the way for regenerative treatments for Alzheimer’s and related diseases.

Scientists at UC Irvine have found a way to potentially reverse age-related vision loss by targeting the ELOVL2 “aging gene” and restoring vital fatty acids in the retina. Their experiments in mice show that supplementing with specific polyunsaturated fatty acids, not just DHA, can restore visual function and even reverse cellular aging signs.

Groundbreaking Harvard research is exposing hidden energy failures inside brain cells that may drive major psychiatric conditions. By studying reprogrammed neurons, scientists are revealing how cellular metabolism shapes mood, thought, and cognition. The work calls for abandoning rigid diagnostic categories in favor of biology-based systems that reflect true complexity. It marks a decisive shift toward preventive and precision mental healthcare.

Finasteride, a common hair-loss drug, has long been tied to depression and suicide, but regulators ignored the warnings. Prof. Mayer Brezis’s review exposes global data showing psychiatric harm and a pattern of inaction by Merck and the FDA. Despite its cosmetic use, the drug’s effects on brain chemistry can be devastating. Brezis calls for urgent regulatory reforms and post-marketing studies to protect public health.

A team at Massachusetts General Hospital uncovered that an immune defense protein, Resistin-like molecule gamma, attacks heart cells after a heart attack—literally punching holes in them. This discovery explains why dangerous, fast heart rhythms can strike after an infarction. By removing this molecule in mice, the researchers reduced deadly arrhythmias twelvefold, suggesting that targeting immune-driven damage could open a new path to preventing sudden cardiac death.

Scientists at Mass General Brigham have created HPV-DeepSeek, a blood test that can detect HPV-linked head and neck cancers nearly a decade before diagnosis. By finding viral DNA in the bloodstream, the test achieved 99% sensitivity and specificity. This breakthrough could lead to earlier, less invasive treatments and significantly improve survival. A large NIH trial is underway to confirm the results.

On some of the dune fields on Mars, parallel channels, called linear dune gullies, are found. Contrary to their name these gullies are often highly sinuous.

The post Martian ‘Linear Dune Gullies’ are Created by Sliding Blocks of Carbon Dioxide Ice, Researchers Find appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

In 2024, a major new sauropod dinosaur track site was uncovered at Dewars Farm Quarry, near Bicester in Oxfordshire, England.

The post Europe’s Longest Sauropod Dinosaur Trackway Unearthed in England appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Exploring the possibility of the survival of life under extraterrestrial conditions is an important goal of astrobiology.

The post Baker’s Yeast Can Survive Mars-like Stress Conditions, New Study Shows appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

This happens due to plate tectonics and movements in the bedrock, caused by the large ice sheets on top melting and reducing pressure on the subsurface, according to a new paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.

The post Greenland is Shrinking and Drifting towards Northwest, Geoscientists Say appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

University of Manchester paleontologist Dean Lomax and his colleagues have identified a new genus and species of leptonectid ichthyosaur from a fossilized specimen found in Dorset, England.

The post Fossil of Long and Narrow-Snouted Ichthyosaur Uncovered in England appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

The evolution of the modern mammal jaw is more complex than previously thought, according to a new analysis of fossils belonging to two mammaliamorph species: Polistodon chuannanensis and Camurocondylus lufengensis.

The post Two Jurassic Mammal Relatives Had Uniquely Shaped Jaw Joints appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

That’s according to the first ever evidence-based dietary guidelines for adults with chronic constipation.

The post Kiwifruits, Rye Bread and High Mineral-Content Water Could Help Alleviate Chronic Constipation appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

A small, isolated population of common hippos (Hippopotamus amphibius) was present in the Upper Rhine Graben in southwestern Germany during the middle Weichselian, a period spanning from 47,000 until 31,000 years ago, according to new research.

The post Hippos Lived in Central Europe around 40,000 Years Ago, New Study Suggests appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

NGC 7496 is a barred spiral galaxy located approximately 24 million light-years away in the constellation of Grus.

The post Hubble Sees Dusty Spiral Galaxy: NGC 7496 appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

The discovery of 1I/Oumuamua, 2I/Borisov and 3I/ATLAS showed that significant numbers of interstellar objects populate interstellar space.

The post 3I/ATLAS-Like Interstellar Objects Could Kick Start Planet Formation around High-Mass Stars appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

Museum specimens collected during a 1907 marine expedition reveal loss of genetic diversity in the Philippines

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion, and Peter Howitt explained why the past 2 centuries have seen sustained economic growth rather than stagnation

Federal researchers confront growing uncertainty about future

A study could transform the lab study of olfaction—and may challenge a Nobel-winning hypothesis

Japanese botanist Kenji Suetsugu studies plants that steal carbon and nutrients from soil fungi

Science chats with photographer Lindsey Wasson, who captured how Nobel winner Mary Brunkow reacted to life-changing news

Study identifies entirely new suite of enzymes that can make psilocybin

Men-led papers receive more media coverage than women’s, new study finds

Researchers are testing multiple treatments for the rare genetic conditions

“Financial drubbing” underscores reliance of some independent research organizations on federal funding

As ancient humans left Africa, they encountered many harsh environments including the Sahara and the high Arctic, but one of the last places they inhabited was Britain, likely due to the relentless cold and damp climate

Keith Thomas, a man in his 40s with no sensation or movement in his hands, is able to feel and move objects by controlling another person's hand via a brain implant. The technique might one day even allow us to experience another person's body over long distances.

The equatorial regions of Mars are home to unexpectedly enormous layers of ice, and they may have been put there by dramatic volcanic eruptions billions of years ago

A whole library’s worth of papyri owned by Julius Caesar’s father-in-law were turned to charcoal by the eruption of Vesuvius. Nearly 2000 years later, we can at last read these lost treasures

Progesterone, oestrogen and testosterone can be detected in skeletons over 1000 years old, offering a way to identify individuals who died while pregnant or soon after giving birth

Babies born too soon seem to have stronger connections in one of the major brain areas that supports language processing if they regularly heard their mother read them a story while in intensive care

What you eat has a surprising impact on the pH of your body with wide ranging impacts on your health. But getting the balance right isn’t as simple as eating fewer acidic foods

Are you terse and informal when speaking to an AI chatbot? If so, you might be getting worse answers than if you used more formal language

Stars often fall into black holes, and now it seems the opposite can also occur, producing an extra long-lasting explosion as the star is consumed from within

Claims that one quantum computer is better than another rest on terms like quantum advantage or quantum supremacy, fault-tolerance or qubits with better coherence – what does it all mean? Karmela Padavic-Callaghan sifts through the noise

Poorer health is linked to a higher proportion of votes for the populist right wing political party, Reform UK, indicates an analysis of the 2024 general election voting patterns in England, published online in the open access journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research.

Lightning-induced wildfires are severe natural disasters. However, because of the regionality and random nature of lightning, there is still an incomplete understanding within the scientific community regarding the characteristics of lightning that cause fires.

Trees are essential to cooling down cities. However, a study by Concordia researchers at the Next Generation Cities Institute and the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre shows how tree distribution influences how some residents benefit more from them than others.

In science and engineering, it's unusual for innovation to come in one fell swoop. It's more often a painstaking plod through which the extraordinary gradually becomes ordinary.

Many measures have been initiated to reduce plastic pollution in Norway. Only a few of them will lead to extensive change and cleanup, a new study shows.

GLP-1–pathway agonists such as semaglutide and newer multi-agonists have transformed care for obesity and diabetes, yet developers still wrestle with durability, tissue targeting, and signal "bias." Macrocyclization, tying part of a peptide into a ring, can shield drugs from degradation and favor bioactive shapes, but conventional chemistry can be costly and hard to apply late in development.

Since the 1940s, antibiotics have been our primary weapon against harmful bacterial infections. But some stubborn pathogens, like Staphylococcus aureus, can infect and hide within our own immune cells, making it incredibly difficult for antibiotics to reach and eliminate them.

Modern industry requires multi-dimensional performance design of protective structural materials. In nature, many organisms maintain the mechanical strength required for defense and achieve camouflage effects at the same time. Among them, nacre demonstrates a fracture toughness far beyond its constituent components due to the sophisticated multi-level microstructure. How to effectively apply this structural design to engineering material systems remains a challenge.

Researchers at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, steered very thin conductors from superconductivity to insulation—creating an "impossible," strange state between the two mutually exclusive states.

According to a doctoral dissertation at the University of Vaasa, appealing to personal well-being is a more effective way to reduce clothing consumption than invoking environmental concerns. Essi Vesterinen's research in marketing reveals that extending the lifespan of clothes is linked to better subjective well-being and a more positive body image.

In The Water Remembers, Amy Bowers Cordalis shares her family’s account of the Indigenous-led fight to restore the Klamath River in the Pacific Northwest.

By weaving Kevlar or polyethylene nanofibers into standard neoprene in wetsuits, researchers found ways to limit injury during rare encounters with sharks.

The global die-off of coral reefs signals a critical shift in Earth’s climate system with global environmental consequences along with economic ones.

The growth spurt hints that the free-floating object evolves like a star, providing clues about rogue planets’ mysterious origins.

The findings show the insula fuses taste and certain smells into the sensation of flavor.

The advance hints at the possibility of portable muon-making devices that could help peer through solid materials for hidden contraband.

Solve our latest interactive crossword. We'll publish science-themed crosswords and math puzzles on alternating months.

Sensor data reveal greater noctule bats chasing, catching and chewing on birds during high-altitude, nighttime hunts.

Some dogs love playing with toys so intensely they can’t stop—offering scientists a window into behavioral addictions.

Protein is having a moment. But even if most people are eating enough protein, studies suggest they may not be eating the right mix.