Nature
@nature.com
Research, news, and commentary from Nature, the international science journal. For daily science news, get Nature Briefing: https://go.nature.com/get-Nature-Briefing
Nature research paper: A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe
go.nature.com/4qcFJal
go.nature.com/4qcFJal
A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe - Nature
New results indicate that rhabdodontids and the previously described Ajkaceratops are actually distinctive European ceratopsians, a group better known from Asia and North America.
go.nature.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:30 AM
Nature research paper: A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe
go.nature.com/4qcFJal
go.nature.com/4qcFJal
Nature research paper: A young progenitor for the most common planetary systems in the Galaxy
go.nature.com/4qgECGP
go.nature.com/4qgECGP
A young progenitor for the most common planetary systems in the Galaxy - Nature
A nine-year transit-timing campaign has measured the extremely low masses and densities of four large planets orbiting the young star V1298 Tau, which are now predicted to contract and form a typical compact super-Earth and sub-Neptune system.
go.nature.com
January 10, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Nature research paper: A young progenitor for the most common planetary systems in the Galaxy
go.nature.com/4qgECGP
go.nature.com/4qgECGP
This artificial skin, inspired by octopuses, can change its colour and surface texture on demand
go.nature.com/3YtuwGn
go.nature.com/3YtuwGn
Octopus-inspired ‘synthetic skin’ changes colour and texture on demand
Nature - A material that can switch its appearance, cephalopod-style, could have future applications in robotics or display technology.
go.nature.com
January 10, 2026 at 5:06 PM
This artificial skin, inspired by octopuses, can change its colour and surface texture on demand
go.nature.com/3YtuwGn
go.nature.com/3YtuwGn
Neither jellyfish nor sea anemones have brains. But these animals sleep in ways strikingly similar to humans
go.nature.com/4juumIa
go.nature.com/4juumIa
Jellyfish sleep like humans — even though they don’t have brains
Nature - Studying ancient sea creatures’ snoozing habits could shed light on the origins of sleep.
go.nature.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Neither jellyfish nor sea anemones have brains. But these animals sleep in ways strikingly similar to humans
go.nature.com/4juumIa
go.nature.com/4juumIa
Nature research paper: Surface optimization governs the local design of physical networks
go.nature.com/3N9j28t
go.nature.com/3N9j28t
Surface optimization governs the local design of physical networks - Nature
Analysis of the local branching geometries of several physical networks shows violations of predictions of length and volume minimization, leading to the hypothesis that estimating the material cost requires accounting for the full three-dimensional geometry.
go.nature.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Nature research paper: Surface optimization governs the local design of physical networks
go.nature.com/3N9j28t
go.nature.com/3N9j28t
Researchers are targeting dormant tumour cells that might explain why some cancers reappear long after successful treatment
go.nature.com/4sxSygV
go.nature.com/4sxSygV
Why cancer can come back years later — and how to stop it
Nature - Researchers are targeting dormant tumour cells that might explain why some cancers reappear long after successful treatment.
go.nature.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Researchers are targeting dormant tumour cells that might explain why some cancers reappear long after successful treatment
go.nature.com/4sxSygV
go.nature.com/4sxSygV
Nature research paper: RNA-triggered Cas12a3 cleaves tRNA tails to execute bacterial immunity
go.nature.com/4bo6rbm
go.nature.com/4bo6rbm
RNA-triggered Cas12a3 cleaves tRNA tails to execute bacterial immunity - Nature
Cas12a3 nucleases constitute a distinct clade of type V CRISPR–Cas bacterial immune systems that preferentially cleave the 3′ tails of tRNAs after recognition of target RNA to induce growth arrest and block phage dissemination.
go.nature.com
January 10, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Nature research paper: RNA-triggered Cas12a3 cleaves tRNA tails to execute bacterial immunity
go.nature.com/4bo6rbm
go.nature.com/4bo6rbm
After years in limbo, NASA’s groundbreaking Mars Sample Return (MSR) programme, which was supposed to ferry Martian material collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth, looks set to be cancelled.
go.nature.com/4aTLe9i
go.nature.com/4aTLe9i
NASA won’t bring Mars samples back to Earth: this is the science that will be lost
A Congressional bill restores funding for most NASA space science missions, but there is no money for returning samples already collected on the red planet.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:24 PM
After years in limbo, NASA’s groundbreaking Mars Sample Return (MSR) programme, which was supposed to ferry Martian material collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth, looks set to be cancelled.
go.nature.com/4aTLe9i
go.nature.com/4aTLe9i
Nature research paper: An expanded registry of candidate cis-regulatory elements
go.nature.com/4pAbARf
go.nature.com/4pAbARf
An expanded registry of candidate cis-regulatory elements - Nature
The existing ENCODE registry of candidate human and mouse cis-regulatory elements is expanded with the addition of new ENCODE data, integrating new functional data as well as new cell and tissue types.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Nature research paper: An expanded registry of candidate cis-regulatory elements
go.nature.com/4pAbARf
go.nature.com/4pAbARf
What was originally thought to be a planet orbiting the Fomalhaut star was probably just the fallout of a wild collision
go.nature.com/45Ld18d
go.nature.com/45Ld18d
Disappearing ‘planet’ reveals a solar system’s turbulent times
What was originally thought to be a planet orbiting the Fomalhaut star was probably just the fallout of a wild collision.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:47 PM
What was originally thought to be a planet orbiting the Fomalhaut star was probably just the fallout of a wild collision
go.nature.com/45Ld18d
go.nature.com/45Ld18d
Latest from the Nature Podcast 🔊 A mysterious ancient fingerprint and a lemon-shaped planet — the stories you’ve missed
go.nature.com/4sw46Bt
go.nature.com/4sw46Bt
A mysterious ancient fingerprint and a lemon-shaped planet — the stories you’ve missed
Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 07 January 2026
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 12:21 PM
Latest from the Nature Podcast 🔊 A mysterious ancient fingerprint and a lemon-shaped planet — the stories you’ve missed
go.nature.com/4sw46Bt
go.nature.com/4sw46Bt
Nature research paper: Climate change shifts the North Pacific storm track polewards
go.nature.com/4jy48Vh
go.nature.com/4jy48Vh
Climate change shifts the North Pacific storm track polewards - Nature
An observation-based storm-track proxy shows that the winter North Pacific storm track has shifted substantially polewards, suggesting regional impacts on precipitation and warming patterns, with implications for temperature variability and extreme events.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Nature research paper: Climate change shifts the North Pacific storm track polewards
go.nature.com/4jy48Vh
go.nature.com/4jy48Vh
Researchers working on China’s ‘artificial sun’ have reported breaking a long-accepted threshold that has limited the operation of nuclear-fusion reactors for decades
go.nature.com/4jurz1K
go.nature.com/4jurz1K
Chinese nuclear fusion reactor pushes plasma past crucial limit: what happens next
Breaking the plasma density limit brings researchers a step closer to viable fusion reactors.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Researchers working on China’s ‘artificial sun’ have reported breaking a long-accepted threshold that has limited the operation of nuclear-fusion reactors for decades
go.nature.com/4jurz1K
go.nature.com/4jurz1K
Researchers who put major AI models through four weeks of psychoanalysis got haunting responses, from "abuse" to "fears of failure"
go.nature.com/49pxLU3
go.nature.com/49pxLU3
AI models were given four weeks of therapy: the results shocked researchers
Chatbots put through psychotherapy report trauma and abuse. Authors say models are doing more than role play, but researchers are sceptical.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 10:51 AM
Researchers who put major AI models through four weeks of psychoanalysis got haunting responses, from "abuse" to "fears of failure"
go.nature.com/49pxLU3
go.nature.com/49pxLU3
Low levels of albumin, a protein found in blood, are associated with poor clinical outcomes for people with the fungal disease mucormycosis
go.nature.com/4pyigzn
go.nature.com/4pyigzn
Blood protein thwarts deadly fungal disease
Low levels of albumin, a protein found in blood, are associated with poor clinical outcomes for people with the fungal disease mucormycosis.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Low levels of albumin, a protein found in blood, are associated with poor clinical outcomes for people with the fungal disease mucormycosis
go.nature.com/4pyigzn
go.nature.com/4pyigzn
Nature research paper: Prefrontal neural geometry of learned cues guides motivated behaviours
go.nature.com/49HCsKd
go.nature.com/49HCsKd
Prefrontal neural geometry of learned cues guides motivated behaviours - Nature
The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex encodes the value, salience and valence of learned stimuli along distinct neural dimensions, and the geometry of these representations shapes motivated behaviours in mice.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Nature research paper: Prefrontal neural geometry of learned cues guides motivated behaviours
go.nature.com/49HCsKd
go.nature.com/49HCsKd
A giant functional atlas of immune cells in a Chinese cohort reveals crucial differences with European and Japanese data sets
go.nature.com/4bmTzCm
go.nature.com/4bmTzCm
Huge Chinese cell atlas reveals surprising immune variation among peoples
A giant functional atlas of immune cells in a Chinese cohort reveals crucial differences with European and Japanese data sets.
go.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:02 PM
A giant functional atlas of immune cells in a Chinese cohort reveals crucial differences with European and Japanese data sets
go.nature.com/4bmTzCm
go.nature.com/4bmTzCm
Nature research paper: Bidirectional CRISPR screens decode a GLIS3-dependent fibrotic cell circuit
go.nature.com/45m7t4b
go.nature.com/45m7t4b
Bidirectional CRISPR screens decode a GLIS3-dependent fibrotic cell circuit - Nature
Integrated single-cell and spatial data analysis, combined with bidirectional CRISPR screens, identify the transcription factor GLIS3 as a key driver of chronic inflammation and fibrosis and a potential marker of disease severity in patients with ulcerative colitis.
go.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Nature research paper: Bidirectional CRISPR screens decode a GLIS3-dependent fibrotic cell circuit
go.nature.com/45m7t4b
go.nature.com/45m7t4b
Nature research paper: Soft biodegradable implants for long-distance and wide-angle sensing
go.nature.com/4suJaut
go.nature.com/4suJaut
Soft biodegradable implants for long-distance and wide-angle sensing - Nature
A soft, biodegradable, wireless sensing device can monitor pressure, temperature and strain over long distances (up to 16 cm), maintaining accuracy across varying positions and angles.
go.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Nature research paper: Soft biodegradable implants for long-distance and wide-angle sensing
go.nature.com/4suJaut
go.nature.com/4suJaut
Manipulating the activity of these immune cells could provide a way to reduce the severity of heart attacks
go.nature.com/4jtQNxr
go.nature.com/4jtQNxr
Putting immune cells into ‘night mode’ reduces heart-attack damage
Drugs that limit the activity of cells called neutrophils could make heart attacks less severe without compromising the immune system.
go.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Manipulating the activity of these immune cells could provide a way to reduce the severity of heart attacks
go.nature.com/4jtQNxr
go.nature.com/4jtQNxr
Nature research paper: Early hominins from Morocco basal to the Homo sapiens lineage
go.nature.com/49cjLyk
go.nature.com/49cjLyk
Early hominins from Morocco basal to the Homo sapiens lineage - Nature
New hominin fossils from the Grotte à Hominidés at Thomas Quarry I (ThI-GH) in Casablanca, Morocco, dated to around 773 thousand years ago are similar in age to Homo antecessor, yet are morphologically distinct.
go.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Nature research paper: Early hominins from Morocco basal to the Homo sapiens lineage
go.nature.com/49cjLyk
go.nature.com/49cjLyk
Protein-fortified foods and supplements form a market worth tens of billions of US dollars
go.nature.com/4qGVPc7
go.nature.com/4qGVPc7
How much protein do you really need? What the science says
Fitness influencers promote super-high-protein diets, but studies show there’s only so much the body can use.
go.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Protein-fortified foods and supplements form a market worth tens of billions of US dollars
go.nature.com/4qGVPc7
go.nature.com/4qGVPc7