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An astrophysical object called a microquasar in the Milky Way has been found to emit γ-rays. The discovery shows that these systems accelerate particles to extremely high energies, and could provide insight into Galactic cosmic rays.
Scientists have engineered a modified insulin that reduces its activity at low glucose levels. This glucose-responsive insulin could prevent people with diabetes from experiencing dangerously low blood glucose.
An unexpected link has been found between the metabolic pathways that produce energy for embryo growth, and the cellular signalling systems that regulate cell specialization and movement during early development.
Researchers have narrowed down the sources of the most common types of meteorite to a few collisional events that happened much more recently than was previously thought.
How much of Earth’s plant diversity is distributed across islands, and how might this affect conservation efforts? It emerges that islands contain a disproportionately large share of global plant diversity and endangered species.
Photography from the air was helping archaeologists find the right spot to dig, plus a screaming frog makes a narrow escape, in our weekly peek at Nature’s archive.
A glaring gap in the portfolio of reactions used to synthesize libraries of organic compounds has been filled by the advent of a general method for joining together 3D molecular fragments — a boon for pharmaceutical research.
Considerable uncertainties surround whether and how Earth could bounce back from a transgression of the temperature limits agreed in Paris. An analysis of overconfidence in models suggests that it might be safer to avoid such a path.
The race is on to find interventions that improve health and promote longevity. The mechanisms behind and possible benefits of one such intervention, dietary restriction, are more complex than previously thought.
The jury has been out on whether global warming will increase the erosion of riverbanks in the Arctic — with consequences for human infrastructure and the environment. A detailed analysis of an Alaskan river suggests that it will.
What is the neural basis of our perceptual experience? Simultaneous recordings from many individual neurons in humans provide surprising insights into how odours are processed in different regions of the brain.
Migrating animals can bring food and contaminants to their destination. An assessment of Pacific salmon migrations from 1976 to 2015 reveals changes in the scale of this coupled transport and potential effects for consumers.
Lynx numbers ebb and flow as these predators hunt hares across Alaska, but analysis suggests that this population wave is mediated by survival rather than by how lynx disperse.
Dinosaur bones found on the shores of an African Great Lake, and unintentional explosions get London’s birds into a flap, in our weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
Abnormal filaments of a single type of protein are hallmarks of neurodegeneration. Structural studies reveal filaments made from two discrete but interwoven proteins, giving clues about the origin of neurodegenerative conditions.
Neuroscientists have reconstructed the first complete wiring map of the fruit-fly brain, including 140,000 neurons and more than 50 million connections. This resource has already begun to revolutionize the field.
Aircraft observations of high-energy rays emitted by thunderstorms reveal that they are both intense and dynamic. Long-lasting glows that switch to rapidly flickering flashes could offer clues to how lightning forms.
Mammals feed using a jaw hinge formed by dentary and squamosal bones. Fossil evidence reveals that this type of joint evolved independently in an extinct species of mammalian relatives called cynodonts.