Nature Briefing

Vagus nerve signalling causes damaging post-heart-attack inflammation. Plus, why birds decorate their nests with ‘tails’ and the health benefits of forest bathing.

A study of people over 100 years old in Brazil is offering clues about the limits of human longevity. Plus, what might be producing mysterious ‘dark oxygen’ in the depths of the ocean and the big benefits of just a little exercise.

Scientists are locked in debate over whether sponges or jellies were the first animal lineage. Plus, the United Kingdom has lost its measles elimination status and a stick that could be the oldest known wooden tool.

Beetle larvae are the first animal known to imitate the scent of a flower. Plus, a proposal for a new north-star number for climate progress and why Greenland is a unique hotspot for research.

A protein made by cancer cells seems to break down the hallmark plaques of Alzheimer’s disease. Plus, our breath might reveal what’s going on in our gut and the controversy surrounding a US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau.

Physicists have shown that a quantum object can be at least as big as a cluster of 7,000 sodium atoms. Plus, the oldest-known cave art in the world and why girls are starting puberty earlier than ever.

How one year of the Trump administration has impacted US science. Plus, baby-to-baby transmission shapes their developing gut microbiomes and the tech to look out for in 2026.

An Austrian cow named Veronika can use a broom to scratch her body. Plus, Japan is about to restart the world’s biggest nuclear plant and an effort to measure the extent of ‘toxic masculinity’.

Some dogs can learn words for hundreds of objects just by listening in to human conversations. Plus, the High Seas Treaty has officially entered into force and PhD students inherit their appetite for risk from their supervisors.

Painted flowers reveal an understanding of symmetry and spatial division long before written numbers came into use. Plus, travel the vast ocean with sea turtles and what to watch from the Trump administration in 2026.

A mitochondria-induced metabolic pathway helps cancer cells lay low in lymph nodes. Plus, why this year’s flu season is so bad and tips on how to overcome ‘the fear of the blank page’.

Rare immune errors can make usually harmless infections deadly in some people. Plus, the genetics of dogs’ floppy ears and a huge study on reasons for vaccine hesitancy.

Same-sex sexual behaviour could help some primates cope with complex social hierarchies. Plus, new clues as to where birds came from and the US Environmental Protection Agency will stop including human health in cost–benefit analyses.

A ‘motivation brake’ in our brains makes taking that first step towards a task less appealing. Plus, US scientists have signed an open letter in solidarity with Greenland and what Wikipedia can teach us about trust.

A Chinese reactor has jumped a hurdle that’s held nuclear fusion back for decades. Plus, astronauts are being evacuated from the International Space Station and AI chatbots in therapy make claims of abuse.

A new material can switch from matte to shiny and display a variety of other effects as required. Plus, humans were using poison arrows 60,000 years ago and the quest to authenticate a da Vinci drawing using DNA.

Greenland sharks are surprisingly eagle-eyed, even in old age. Plus, a call to ‘defossilize’ chemistry and the best books to help shape your science career.

Jellyfish seem to sleep in ways strikingly similar to humans, despite not having a brain. Plus, US lawmakers have pushed back on proposed cuts to science and why cancer can come back years after successful treatment.

‘Microchimeric’ cells passed from your mother can challenge basic tenets of immunology. Plus, an experimental cancer vaccine that uses blood ‘cleaned’ with ultraviolet light and the evidence for trying ‘Dry January’.

Can you spot the penguin in every game this year?