This article is part of Nature Outlook: Skin, an editorially independent supplement produced with financial support from LEO Pharma. About this content. KaDee Troop is the mother of seven adopted children, four of whom have a rare genetic disorder that causes their skin to blister and tear at the slightest touch. Wounds heal slowly —…
Male ants of different species laid by the same mother: Messor ibericus (left) and Messor structor (right) Jonathan Romiguier Some of the eggs laid by Iberian harvester ant queens contain males of another species, the builder harvester ant – and these males father all of the workers in the colony. “This statement sounds really, really…
September 6, 2025 3 min read A Mammoth Toothache: Bacterial Community Discovered in Mouth of Ancient Mammoth Genetic-sequencing techniques have identified microorganisms that lived in the mouths of ancient mammoths By Katie Kavanagh & Nature magazine Ancient mammoth teeth, pictured here, contained DNA from 310 different species of bacteria. An analysis of the bones and…
Birds aren’t easy to photograph – they are quick, flighty and prone to fickleness. But their resplendent colours and prismatic feathers have long enticed those behind the lens. Now, a collection of images that gathers the work of more than 50 photographers from around the world is putting birds centre stage. Aviary: The bird in…
September 5, 2025 4 min read Acne Vaccines Could Offer Robust Defense Researchers are hoping to trick the immune system into fighting back against the bane of adolescents everywhere By Benjamin Plackett This article is part of Nature Outlook: Skin, an editorially independent supplement produced with financial support from LEO Pharma. About this content. Acne…
William Gibson in 1985, a year after the prescient Neuromancer came out Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty Images NeuromancerWilliam Gibson (Orion Publishing (UK); Ace Books (US)) Neuromancer begins with a brilliant, highly memorable line: “The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel.” The novel was first published in 1984, when very few…
Picture an apple, any apple. As long as you don’t have aphantasia—the inability to visualize things in your mind’s eye—this suggestion triggers brain activity that’s surprisingly similar to what happens when you see a real-world apple with your eyes. Such neural overlap is economical because both cases require the brain’s visual system to carry out…
Lithium-rich brine in an evaporation pond in the Atacama desert, Chile John Moore/Getty Images The mining of lithium for batteries – the key to the electric vehicle revolution and levelling out the power supplied by renewables – is environmentally damaging. But an experimental sun-powered method that produces fresh water as well as lithium could make…
September 5, 2025 2 min read This Gloriously Weird Fish Has Teeth on Its Forehead for Sex Researchers have finally traced the origin of the spotted ratfish’s bizarre forehead teeth, which are used for mating By Kate Wong edited by Jeanna Bryner The researchers identified teeth on the tenaculum of ancient relatives to the modern…
Broken bones often need a material to fill the void Sopone Nawoot/Alamy With slight modifications, hot glue guns commonly used in arts and crafts can repair damaged bones quickly and cheaply, researchers say. Bones can repair themselves after small injuries, but if there is a void – because of serious trauma or tumour removal, for…
