Nature, Published online: 16 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03303-9

Data from mouse brains and 13 human brains show a link between levels of a lipid-degrading enzyme and cognitive resilience.

Nature, Published online: 16 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03338-y

Cryptographers’ inboxes are being flooded with requests to validate cipher solutions.

Nature, Published online: 16 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03308-4

Building the Nobel-prizewinning neutrino experiment was a big risk. To continue its success, scientists — and funders — need to stay bold.

Nature, Published online: 16 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03341-3

Nature staff discuss a new ink that could be useful for medical tattooing — plus, an insight into why small dogs live longer than big ones.

Nature, Published online: 16 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03195-9

The mitoproteomes of five parasites and a plant hold medical potential — and reignite the question of just when the mitochondrion evolved.

Nature, Published online: 16 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03112-0

A note to self.

Nature, Published online: 16 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03253-2

US PhD graduates who used artificial intelligence were more likely to work in industry.

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03336-0

Ghostly white corals are fully restored in eight weeks by contact with a healthy counterpart. Plus, arXiv is capping submissions per researcher and four good news stories to brighten your day.

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03178-w

An expert panel debates the impact of artificial intelligence on doctoral programmes.

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03233-6

Programmer whose forward-thinking and reliable code helped to save the Apollo 11 mission.

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11263-3

Nearly half of reef-building corals face elevated relative risk of extinction

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03329-z

Governments have voted to abolish the leap second immediately and replace it with a leap hour.

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03238-1

Solitary primates spend energy and time travelling to patches of forest for get-togethers.

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03152-6

Drugs that can reverse multiple sclerosis in mice and a new species of penguin are just the beginning.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03322-6

Explore China’s efforts to grow its scientific and technological might. Plus, how butterflies trick the eye and what could be the oldest shipwreck ever found.

Nature, Published online: 15 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03194-w

Major preprint platform tightens its rules to curb a surge of submissions, including those generated by artificial-intelligence tools.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03239-0

Pollution from transport across the Pacific Ocean is raising ozone levels above a region whose own emissions have dropped.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03266-x

A coral fragment can form a tissue bridge with a dying counterpart — and provide it with crucial microalgae.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11267-z

Author Correction: Wafer-scale epitaxy growth of high-mobility p-type boron carbon nitride

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11242-8

Catalytic transfer of carbon atoms enables spirofusion of C–C σ-bonds

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03301-x

High-speed camera footage reveals the visual tricks butterflies use to evade predators.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03307-5

Analysis suggests number of protected areas is hugely underestimated but biodiversity is still in peril — plus, a huge study looking at the health effects of brown fat.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03081-4

Governments around the world have pledged to conserve 30% of the terrestrial realm by 2030, but official data suggest that the target is barely halfway to being met. A combined global and national-level data set now shows that up to 27% of land area is conserved, but gaps in ecological representation remain.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02645-8

The fossil discovery of an early avian ancestor in China reveals that flightless birds lived alongside the known flying species.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03075-2

Twelve methane-sensing satellites were tested for their accuracy in measuring controlled-release events in the Arizona desert over a year-long blind test. Many were found to detect and quantify releases accurately, with instruments purpose-built for methane sensing performing best.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03219-4

Appeals for extra money are failing. Fundamental changes are needed to safeguard the planet for future generations.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03085-0

Alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells are the stem cells of the lung’s air sacs and are responsible for maintaining alveolar structure and gas exchange. A study that tracked AT2 cells shows that, after injury to the airway, they can also migrate between lung compartments and become bronchiolar cells to help repair damaged airways.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03061-8

As fish evolved into four-limbed creatures, their skull separated from their shoulders to form a neck. Now we learn that this early neck was surprisingly rigid.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11239-3

Structural basis of ligand recognition and gating in mosquito IRs

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03302-w

Massive study of more than 100,000 people finds surprising connection between ‘good’ body fat and improved mental health.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11138-7

Machine-learning-enabled atomistic simulations, spectroscopy, electrochemical data and quantum-chemical calculations reveal previously unstudied multi-lithium-ion complexes without bound anions, improving understanding of lithium-ion-battery functionality at the atomic level.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11157-4

A globally representative sample of 25 countries and territories indicates that conservation areas cover 26.81% of the land, much closer to the 30% by 2030 target than officially reported.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11176-1

A tetravalent nanobody-based myeloid-selective IL-10 receptor agonist recapitulates IL-10’s potent suppression of monocytes, macrophages and dendritic cells while avoiding stimulation of T cells.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11112-3

Primary cultured haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are used to analyse the molecular mechanisms of brain myeloid differentiation, and this platform enabled the identification of elongation factor ELP1 as an important regulator of this process.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11164-5

A mouse embryo model derived from chemically induced totipotent-like stem cells progresses through key developmental milestones, including gastrulation, embryonic axis formation, haematopoiesis and early organogenesis.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11065-7

The mechanical properties of medium-entropy alloys at 20 K show a plateau in tensile yield strength and fracture toughness as a function of temperature, with no apparent ductile-to-brittle transition.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11117-y

Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy shows that the fractional spin-1/2 end states of molecular Haldane chains couple differently to a superconducting condensate depending on whether the chain contains an even or odd number of spin-1 triangulene units.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11171-6

R(+)2501 reverses capillary no-reflow by relaxing pericytes, restoring microvascular perfusion and improving survival in animal models of myocardial infarction and acute kidney injury.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11115-0

A year-long single-blind study shows that multiple satellites can accurately detect and quantify methane point-source emissions.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11143-w

De novo-designed enzymes use an activated cysteine nucleophile to hydrolyse polypeptide backbones in a sequence-dependent manner.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11167-2

RFdiffusion methods are used to de novo design proteins with water-activating zinc-based active sites adjacent to a peptide substrate binding pocket, yielding highly active, programmable proteases with potential applications in therapeutics, biotechnology and bioremediation.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11150-x

Longitudinal genomic analyses in patients with astrocytoma or oligodendrioglioma suggest that these two types of tumour differ in the mechanisms by which they become resistant to treatment, with astrocytomas accumulating copy-number alterations and chromosomal instability markers but oligodendrogliomas acquiring new driver mutations.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11136-9

DFT investigations combined with spectroscopic and catalytic studies of disrupted subnanometric Rh2O3 clusters show that Rh+ centres in a zeolite-based catalyst are blocked with N-containing molecules, whereas Rh3+ sites are stabilized, allowing hydroformylation reactions with enhanced regioselectivity and efficiency.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11174-3

Optogenetic stimulation of motor-cortex neuron ensembles shows that precisely timed activity in the primary motor cortex can generate learned neural patterns and movements, demonstrating an active role in skilled motor control.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11162-7

Artificial intelligence-enabled quantification and analyses of brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity uncover links between BAT and a healthier metabolic profile along with lower rates of psychiatric disease, and can identify pharmacologic agents that could be repurposed to activate this tissue in humans.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11158-3

Biomechanical analysis of several early tetrapods using sturgeon as an analogue revealed that early tetrapods had limited neck mobility despite separation of the head and shoulders.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11141-y

Commodity microplastics exhibit intrinsic physicochemical activity at water interfaces, manifested by spontaneous generation of reactive oxygen species, challenging the prevailing paradigm of plastic inertness, with implications for human health and the environment.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11120-3

Resolution and control of the hidden solution-phase chemistry of 5-aminovaleric acid added to perovskite precursor solutions is described for producing films with a near-unity mean peak photoluminescence quantum yield and near-infrared perovskite LEDs with enhanced external quantum efficiencies.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11109-y

Two-dimensional graphene films with unusual folded surfaces are synthesized through a modular assembly strategy and show enhanced strength, toughness and elastic strain owing to stress distribution between interlayer folds.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11163-6

Wave coarsening in active elastic media is a phenomenon in which vibrations spontaneously increase in wavelength, period and amplitude before forming a globally synchronized time crystal.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11159-2

Long-term live imaging of adult mouse ear skin reveals sex-specific differences in the clonal dynamics of epidermal stem cells and transit-amplifying cells during homeostasis.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11166-3

A 450 ka Andean speleothem record shows Southern and Northern Hemisphere monsoons generally vary out of phase, but occasionally synchronize during rapid climate change and glacial terminations.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11119-w

A regulatory sequence code for neuronal microexons reveals genetic variants predicted to alter their splicing in individuals with autism.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11154-7

A randomized controlled trial involving a health-education intervention in rural villages in Honduras shows that the intervention changed social network connections, including not only health-related connections but also friendships and financial ties.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11126-x

The AI framework probabilistic bias correction is shown to correct weather forecast errors 2 to 6 weeks ahead and boost forecast skill, making it promising for improved extreme-weather prediction.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10972-z

A fossil bird from the Upper Jurassic Zhenghe Fauna of southeastern China contemporary with Archaeopteryx and that clearly could not fly sheds new light on the ecological diversification of early-diverging avialans.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03202-z

Assimilating the latest technology into health systems is a key challenge facing the field.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02442-3

A researcher in Latin America seeks advice on the best way to present themselves when applying for faculty positions in Europe and North America.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03206-9

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality that is available free online at natureindex.com.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03204-x

These nations are making their distinct mark in the field through specialization and collaboration.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03205-w

Researchers are making great advances across medical disciplines, using a wide range of tools and processes.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03203-y

To harness the full value of wearable devices for monitoring and diagnosing medical conditions, protocols must be established.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03114-y

An endless blessing.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03306-6

Hear how researchers answered Nature’s 2026 science-job satisfaction survey. Plus, a detector for AI-generated ideas and the winners of the economics Nobel prize.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11084-4

A thorium-229 nuclear clock is realized by stabilizing a continuous-wave laser to the 148-nm nuclear excitation with a rapid feedback loop based on absorption spectroscopy.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03223-8

China trains more AI talent than any other country. Nature spoke to analysts and scientists about how AI research there compares to the United States.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03222-9

The nation is on a trajectory to lead the world in science, a development that will reshape technological advancement, innovation and the balance of global power.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03236-3

Burials in the United Kingdom’s Peak District, one of Europe’s largest lead-production regions in centuries past, hint at social inequality.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03252-3

Compounds inspired by the blockbuster weight-loss drugs are also being trialled for schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease, among other conditions.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11246-4

Author Correction: Parkinson’s disease as a somato-cognitive action network disorder

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11257-1

Atomic-scale spin sensing of a 2D d-wave altermagnet via helical tunneling

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11255-3

Selective, Catalytic Oxidation of Polyethylene Surfaces

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03220-x

International scientific organizations are ready to help the committees that award the prizes to invite a wider range of nominators.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03221-w

Speaking out against misconduct is challenging without external adjudicators.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02974-8

A scientist puzzles over the origins of a curious gelatinous substance, and the complexities of measuring time, in our weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03153-5

Researchers question whether these will work to stem the deluge of manuscipts.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02668-1

A small act of appreciation won’t solve the structural problems of academic life. But it can’t hurt.

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03247-0

A tool called IdeaLens helps to judge whether concepts — rather than just writing — in scientific papers are AI-generated.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03226-5

Meaningful work, flexibility and job security all matter more than salaries do, Nature’s job satisfaction survey shows.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03244-3

Preserve research data for tomorrow’s AI-enabled integrity checks

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03245-2

Decentralized AI needs more evidence on energy use

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03246-1

When microbes degrade plastic, where does it go?

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03234-5

Why not every global problem can be tackled by an IPCC-like organization

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03255-0

Step into the rainforest with climatologist David Lapola. Plus, watch an ‘invisible’ tattoo be revealed by ultraviolet light and explore PhD remuneration across Europe.

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03243-4

Epigenetic genes accumulate faster in big dogs. Plus, what’s know about reports of plague in Russia and the legacy of software engineer Margaret Hamilton.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03231-8

OpenAI has released 700 preprints tackling maths problems. Plus, a gut microbe could protect against cardiovascular disease and the value of silent meetings.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02715-x

Programming is still an essential skill, but how you do it needs to change, says Jacques Cornwell.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03251-4

Laureates share award that builds on the theories that contributed to governments intervening during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11250-8

Antiviral immunity via telomerase-like reverse transcription in bacteria

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02970-y

A technique called time-resolved X-ray liquidography has been used to shed precision light on the steps involved in a classic chemical reaction.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03240-7

The incident has prompted discussions about the use of artificial intelligence in scientific imagery.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03207-8

From a single night of sleep, AI tools can uncover physiological patterns linked to disease and mortality that are missed by conventional sleep measures.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03227-4

Concerns about privacy, reproducibility and cost are prompting scientists to use models on their computers rather than in the cloud.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11253-5

Author Correction: Timing and trajectory of BCR::ABL1-driven chronic myeloid leukaemia

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03181-1

Earnings come in a combination of scholarships and salaries and vary widely between countries, an analysis by international federation Eurodoc reveals.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03224-7

Smartphones and artificial intelligence are undermining our ability to follow a complex argument, with grave consequences.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03225-6

Better career support and more funding stability is needed to retain this invaluable group of scientists.

Nature, Published online: 12 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02714-y

An ambiguous instruction caused the chatbot to send three e-mails from Ying Zhao’s connected account. The incident advanced Zhao’s project, but showed that chatbots need limits.

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03159-z

Results could help researchers to develop painkillers that are safer and more effective than existing treatments.

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03210-z

The ink could be useful for medical tattooing, but more tests are needed before it is widely available.

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11273-1

Publisher Correction: Sleep chart of biological ageing clocks in middle and late life

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03216-7

Nature staff discuss a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02909-3

David Lapola is testing a big climate-science unknown: how will the forest cope as atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to rise?

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03158-0

The relatively short lifespans of non-human great apes might explain why their brain mass is maintained in later life

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03217-6

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03116-w

Change is in the air.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03128-6

Scientists worry that increasingly capable large language models will beat them to discoveries.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03215-8

Unverified rumours swirl around the death of a Siberian laboratory technician. Nature talks to a biosecurity specialist to unpack the fallout.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03193-x

Gene-editing technologies enabled researchers to trace the cell-by-cell development of a single fertilized mouse egg to a late-stage embryo.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03199-5

Study of almost 900 dogs from roughly 120 breeds finds that rapid ageing of large canines is linked to changes in the epigenome.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03218-5

In the Arab world, lack of training, research and discussion about menopause is hampering care. Three changes can help.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02921-7

Suggested change to immigration rules would choke off a crucial STEM talent pipeline, policy specialists say.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11266-0

Author Correction: Histone readers MLLT1 and MLLT3 concentrate AID to confer locus specificity

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11070-w

Editorial Expression of Concern: Maternal gut bacteria promote neurodevelopmental abnormalities in mouse offspring

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03212-x

Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Plus, the biggest success stories in cancer survival and one of the biggest debates in neuroscience.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03154-4

The device will be launched on a joint UAE-US-built craft. Some researchers say it could be the last mission constructed with outside help.

Nature, Published online: 08 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03045-8

A start-up company is testing whether stabilizing areas of rapidly eroding permafrost can prevent greenhouse-gas emissions.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03197-7

Annotated images and more collected by the four astronauts could inform missions to the lunar surface.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03198-6

President Donald Trump wants to replace ‘artificial intelligence’ with ‘Super Intelligence’ — but there are questions about whether we’re there yet.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03208-7

Nature rounds up the Nobel prizes for science — plus, hints of the ancestral human gut microbiome.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03196-8

The firm used an unreleased model to tackle hundreds of high-profile problems.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02968-6

A material that was previously assumed to be an electrical insulator has been shown to be a semiconductor, with potential uses in electronics and optics.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03072-5

Most disease-associated genetic alterations do not affect the genes themselves, but instead change how strongly they are expressed, often by modifying genome accessibility. Gene expression and accessibility have now been analysed simultaneously in 10 million immune cells from 1,108 people, linking disease-associated changes in accessibility to gene expression.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03060-9

Ultraprecise clocks that use transitions in atomic nuclei to keep time show promise as a next-generation time standard and for probing fundamental physics.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03059-2

Most LLMs cannot reliably evaluate text on the level of individual letters. A technique called byteification retrofits existing models to enable it.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02969-5

The Indigenous African Hadza and South American Tsimane share gut microorganisms that shed light on human dispersals and microbial losses in industrialized societies.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03069-0

A fossil of an early ancestor of mammals from the Jurassic period reveals a mammal-like throat passage (pharynx) and throat bones (hyoids). It fills a gap in our knowledge about throat features in the animals from which modern mammals evolved their ability to swallow as adults and suckle milk as babies.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03184-y

The suppression of Indigenous burning practices probably spurred the growth of flammable forests.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03189-7

Intestinal bacterium secretes a molecule that reduces cholesterol production, according to a mouse study.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02934-2

Semiconductor crystals grow from tiny nuclei, but the position of these nuclei is difficult to control precisely and can affect the crystal’s properties. An approach using ‘etching flux’ has now been developed that constrains the position at which a nucleus forms, enabling spatially programmable growth of large single crystals of semiconducting material.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11105-2

Gas chromatography analysis of compounds formed by the superheavy element seaborgium shows that the hexacarbonyl complex Sg(CO)6 exhibits lower first bond dissociation energy than the lighter chemical homologue W(CO)6, owing to relativistic bond weakening effects.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-11140-z

RNase P RNA forms shifting active and inactive conformers whose catalytic activity depends on Mg2+-driven tertiary-interaction dynamics, which are modulated by binding of accessory proteins.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02836-3

Swapping to a system in which lab members read memos quietly before team discussions helped to create an open culture.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02999-z

Information on the methodology used in the ranking for the 2026 Nature Spotlight: Infectious diseases.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02985-5

Comparable data are key to protecting the world from the next epidemic, says bioengineer Polina Brangel.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03127-7

The United Nations’ deadline for eliminating HIV/AIDS as a public-health threat is unlikely to be met. But medical, political and social advances have raised hopes that longer-term success is still possible.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02983-7

As the Bundibugyo virus public-health crisis continues to evolve, physician Richard Kojan is finding ways to care for people with the infection and helping relatives to visit loved ones safely.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02864-z

Identity crisis.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03093-0

Prize goes to two chemists who probed why life favours one mirror-image molecule over another.

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03132-w

Scientists have debated for decades whether the human brain sprouts new neurons throughout life. What would it mean if it could — and how much evidence is enough?