Nature

Two life-size scarecrow-like puppets, an adult and a child, dressed in blue and pink jackets, stand beside a deserted rural road, surrounded by empty fields, scattered houses and leafless trees

When humans disappear, biodiversity takes a surprising turn

For decades, conservation has worried about the risks of too many people. In some places, depopulation is the real threat.

See a tardigrade shed its skin — October’s best science images

The month’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team.

Davide Castelvecchi
News04 Nov 2026
Mysterious anthrax outbreak kills hippos in Africa — raising concerns for human spread

The latest cases, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, come as the country grapples with ongoing Ebola and cholera outbreaks.

Mohana Basu
Rachel Fieldhouse
News04 Nov 2026
Stone and water governed early human settlement of the desert

A geoarchaeological survey of the Rub’ al Khali (the Empty Quarter of Arabia) and spatial modelling of the Arabian Peninsula suggest that human settlement tracked the co-occurrence of water and stone suitable for making tools, rather than water alone.

Rudolf W. Dellmour
Emily Coco
Jeffrey I. Rose
ArticleOpen Access28 Oct 2026
Daily briefing: ‘A triumph of scientific self-correction’

Explore how researchers debunked race science. Plus, pressure put on your bones by exercise might slow ageing and watch a snake do a forward roll to escape danger.

Flora Graham
Nature Briefing02 Nov 2026
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Current Issue29 Oct 2026

News & Comment

Ecosystems depend on people: don’t abandon them

It might seem counterproductive to put more people in nature, but sometimes human activity nurtures biodiversity.

Editorial04 Nov 2026
See a tardigrade shed its skin — October’s best science images
Davide Castelvecchi

News04 Nov 2026
Mysterious anthrax outbreak kills hippos in Africa — raising concerns for human spread
Mohana Basu
Rachel Fieldhouse

News04 Nov 2026
When humans disappear, biodiversity takes a surprising turn
Emma Marris

News Feature04 Nov 2026
Trump’s executive order on women’s health feels like déjà vu
Alina Salganicoff

World View03 Nov 2026
How democracy depends on science — and must protect it
Martin Kahanec
Naomi Ellemers
Mangala Srinivas

Comment03 Nov 2026
Chinese doctoral students in clinical medicine can graduate without a thesis — more degrees to follow
Xiaoying You

News03 Nov 2026

Latest Reviews & Analysis

- Whence dragons?
  
  The ecology and evolution of winged legendary beasts, and monkeys that show their behinds to their buddies, in this week’s pick from the Nature archive.
  
  News & Views03 Nov 2026
- Accounting of Africa’s water reveals a management gap
  
  A map of Africa’s water demand reveals that the scarcity of water is only part of the problem facing the continent — management is a separate challenge.
  
  Xu Wang
  
  News & Views28 Oct 2026
- Tethered to stone: how rock and water availability shaped early desert occupation
  
  Fresh water in deserts often points to sites with signs of early humans and stone tools. But, in Arabia’s Rub’ al Khali region, water alone does not predict occupation.
  
  Emanuele Cancellieri
  
  News & Views28 Oct 2026
- Lactate takes a shortcut into mitochondria to power the heart
  
  A cellular fuel called lactate is channelled directly into energy-generating organelles in heart muscle, defying the prevailing view about lactate transport.
  
  Trace Thome
  Zolt Arany
  
  News & Views28 Oct 2026
- Clues about complex life come from freshly cultivated archaea
  
  Two archaeal strains that belong to a lineage closely related to the ancestor of eukaryotic cells (complex cells with membrane-bound organelles) have been brought into culture. Their simple internal organization, elaborate surface structures, microbial partnerships and protein-dependent lifestyle provide clues about how eukaryotic cells arose.
  
  Research Briefing28 Oct 2026
- An unexpected function of a cell-cycle enzyme might explain the toxic effects of its inhibitors
  
  Research Briefing28 Oct 2026
- Meta-study sparks questions about what it means to be good at regulating emotions
  
  Hedy Kober
  Kevin Ochsner
  
  News & Views28 Oct 2026
- Genetic variants that alter gene regulation in specific cell types are closely tied to disease
  
  Heini M. Natri
  Nicholas E. Banovich
  
  News & Views28 Oct 2026
- Ribbon made of carbon pentagons and heptagons has metallic properties
  
  Research Briefing28 Oct 2026

Latest Research articles

Switchable Chlorine Atom Transfer Radical Reactions

Jun Huang
Yu Liu
Jin Xie
Article28 Oct 2026
Back-to-monomer depolymerization of silicones by deoxygenative chlorination

Biping Xu
Tobias Randt
Martin Oestreich
Article28 Oct 2026
Stone and water governed early human settlement of the desert

A geoarchaeological survey of the Rub’ al Khali (the Empty Quarter of Arabia) and spatial modelling of the Arabian Peninsula suggest that human settlement tracked the co-occurrence of water and stone suitable for making tools, rather than water alone.

Rudolf W. Dellmour
Emily Coco
Jeffrey I. Rose
ArticleOpen Access28 Oct 2026
Clostridium perfringens Delta toxin targets CD9 to drive NEC and brain injury

A subset of necrotizing enterocolitis in infants is mediated specifically by the Clostridium perfringens Delta toxin.

Shimeng Zhang
Xiaoqing Gong
Xiaozhe Xiong
ArticleOpen Access28 Oct 2026
Tandem repeat variation shapes immune cell type-specific gene expression

Whole-genome sequencing and cell-level gene expression measurements show that length variation in tandem repeats in the human genome contributes to cell type-specific differences in gene regulation and expression, as well as the architecture of complex traits.

Hope A. Tanudisastro
Anna S. E. Cuomo
Daniel G. MacArthur
Article28 Oct 2026

Collections

Illustrative depiction of doctor and patient sitting opposite each other, across a large smartwatch. The background is blue.

Biomedical engineering

From wearable sensors to advanced prosthetics and engineered tissues, biomedical engineering is producing new ways to understand the human body and improve patient care across the board.

Nature Index 14 Oct 2026

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Science jobs

Postdoctoral Fellow

We are looking for highly motivated, energetic individuals to join our collaborative team at Mount Sinai and help push transplant medicine forward....

One Gustave L. Levy Place, Annenberg 23, New York, NY 10029

Mount Sinai Icahn School of medicine
Seeking Global Talents at All Levels - SIAT

We find Distinguished PIs, Senior PIs, Junior PIs, Senior Engineer, Junior Engineer, Post-doctoral fellow, Assistant research fellow.

1068 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518055 P. R. China

Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT), Chinese Academy of Sciences（CAS)
Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Human Behaviour

Job Title: Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Human Behaviour Organisation: Nature Portfolio Location: Shanghai, Beijing, Berlin or Madrid – hybrid...

Shanghai, Beijing, Berlin or Madrid – hybrid working model

Springer Nature Ltd
Associate Professor or Professor - Human Translational Infectious Disease and Immunology

The Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute (VGTI) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) invites applications for a faculty position at the rank of...

Beaverton, Oregon

Oregon Health & Science University, Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute
7 PhD positions in Mechanics and Chemical Engineering - MSCA COFUND PhD@Tec21 doctoral programme UGA

About PhD@Tec21 : The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Cofund doctoral programme PhD@Tec21 is dedicated to training the next generation of experts in mechani...

Grenoble (Ville), Isère (FR)

PhD@Tec21

When humans disappear, biodiversity takes a surprising turn

See a tardigrade shed its skin — October’s best science images

Mysterious anthrax outbreak kills hippos in Africa — raising concerns for human spread

Stone and water governed early human settlement of the desert

Daily briefing: ‘A triumph of scientific self-correction’

News & Comment

Ecosystems depend on people: don’t abandon them

See a tardigrade shed its skin — October’s best science images

Mysterious anthrax outbreak kills hippos in Africa — raising concerns for human spread

When humans disappear, biodiversity takes a surprising turn

Trump’s executive order on women’s health feels like déjà vu

How democracy depends on science — and must protect it

Chinese doctoral students in clinical medicine can graduate without a thesis — more degrees to follow

Latest Reviews & Analysis

Whence dragons?

Accounting of Africa’s water reveals a management gap

Tethered to stone: how rock and water availability shaped early desert occupation

Lactate takes a shortcut into mitochondria to power the heart

Clues about complex life come from freshly cultivated archaea

An unexpected function of a cell-cycle enzyme might explain the toxic effects of its inhibitors

Meta-study sparks questions about what it means to be good at regulating emotions

Genetic variants that alter gene regulation in specific cell types are closely tied to disease

Ribbon made of carbon pentagons and heptagons has metallic properties

Latest Research articles

Switchable Chlorine Atom Transfer Radical Reactions

Back-to-monomer depolymerization of silicones by deoxygenative chlorination

Stone and water governed early human settlement of the desert

Clostridium perfringens Delta toxin targets CD9 to drive NEC and brain injury

Tandem repeat variation shapes immune cell type-specific gene expression

Collections

Biomedical engineering

Trending - Altmetric

Science jobs

Postdoctoral Fellow

Seeking Global Talents at All Levels - SIAT

Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Human Behaviour

Associate Professor or Professor - Human Translational Infectious Disease and Immunology

7 PhD positions in Mechanics and Chemical Engineering - MSCA COFUND PhD@Tec21 doctoral programme UGA

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Patrick Stewart dies: how Captain Picard inspired today’s science leaders

‘A perfect scientist, a perfect mum’: researchers mourn two biologists’ deaths in Spanish train crash

Alzheimer’s disease genetics converges on microglial and neuronal dysregulation

A single-molecule spin–photon interface

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