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Hello Nature readers,
Happy winter solstice! Today, we look back at the science news that shaped the year, enjoy every ‘find the penguin’ puzzle and remember our recipe for Neanderthal ‘flatbread’.
I’ll be back in your inboxes next Thursday with a hand-picked round-up of the best science books of the season (exclusively for Briefing readers) and some more holiday treats. We’ll return to our regular routine on Monday 6 January. |
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| Inés Azofeifa Rojas is a primate researcher with SalveMonos, a non-profit wildlife organization based in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. (Diego Mejias for Nature) |
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Where I Work |
In Guanacaste, Costa Rica, hundreds of golden-mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata palliata) die each year after being electrocuted by power lines. “In this image, I’m teaching my colleague how best to install a camera trap to monitor howler monkeys,” says primate researcher Inés Azofeifa Roja. “We can then determine where to add a canopy bridge.” The rope bridges seems to be working, says Roja. “Over the past three years, our measurements have shown that monkey electrocutions have decreased by 30%.” Nature | 3 min read
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Game |
The myth, the legend, the penguin that is Leif Penguinson offers you the updated complete set of find-the-penguin adventures, plus the hardest challenge of all time (so far). Our feathered friend has travelled to 83 scientifically interesting (and eye-poppingly beautiful) locations around the world. We hope that Leif has brought a little penguin-shaped ray of sunshine into your inboxes. Nature | Leisurely penguin hunt
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Books |
From thoughtless obedience to the healing power of trees, bibliophile Andrew Robinson reveals his pick of the 10 essential science reads from the past year. Nature | 10 min read
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A fraud buster, a nuclear-clock maker and a virus hunter are just a few of the remarkable people chosen for this year’s Nature’s 10. The list, compiled by Nature’s editors, includes Kaitlin Kharas, a PhD student who helped to lead a campaign to get Canadian graduate students and postdocs their biggest pay rise in 20 years; and Muhammad Yunus, an economist and Nobel peace laureate who is now the interim leader of Bangladesh. Nature | 10 profiles
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 | | (Josh Drury) | | Feature | Stargazers at Stonehenge near Salisbury, UK, were treated to a magical sight as the Perseid meteor shower, seen each year when Earth passes through debris left by comet Swift–Tuttle, rained shooting stars over the prehistoric monoliths. Astrophotographer Josh Dury spent 3.5 hours photographing the spectacle, and combined 43 images of the meteors, Stonehenge and the Milky Way to create this image.
See more of the year’s sharpest science shots, selected by Nature’s photo team, and hear from each of our media editors on a photo that said something special to them in 2024. Nature | Leisurely scroll
| | News | Google has placed an order for six or seven new small nuclear reactors in a bid to source low-carbon energy to power its artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. And in September, Microsoft announced a deal that would reopen part of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power its data centres. Observers say that the involvement of tech giants might provide a boost to start-up companies that are pioneering cheaper, smaller prefabricated nuclear reactors. But the funding needs will be enormous, the technology comes with safety risks and the timelines will be long. “If we’re talking 15 years from now, will AI need that much power?” asks policy analyst Allison Macfarlane, the former chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nature | 8 min read
This story was the year’s most-read in Nature Briefing: AI & Robotics — all about the rise of the machines; 100% written by humans, of course.
| | Feature | What will it be like to live in your nearest city — but in a warmer world? This interactive analysis of climate and weather categorizes and tracks 70 cities between now and 2070 and predicts what living there will feel like as the planet heats up. Watch Los Angeles turn from temperate now to arid by 2070, becoming desert. Scandinavian countries will become temperate rather than cold. And Moscow will be the only remaining cold city by 2070. The Pudding | 3 min read
This story was the year’s most-read in Nature Briefing: Anthropocene — a newsletter about climate change, biodiversity, sustainability and geoengineering.
| | News | Bacteria have stunned biologists by reversing the usual flow of information from DNA to RNA in cells. “This is crazy molecular biology,” says bioinformatician Aude Bernheim. “I would have never guessed this type of mechanism existed.” Viruses such as HIV already accomplish this feat using an enzyme known as reverse transcriptase to convert RNA into DNA. But a bacterial version of reverse transcriptase in Klebsiella pneumoniae is even weirder: it can make completely new genes written in DNA. These genes are then transcribed back into RNA, which is translated into protective proteins when a bacterium is infected by a virus. The discovery left biochemist and co-author Samuel Sternberg in awe: “It should change the way we look at the genome.” Nature | 4 min read
This story was the year’s most-read in Nature Briefing: Microbiology, covering the most abundant living entities on our planet — microorganisms — and the role they play in health, the environment and food systems.
Reference: Science paper
| | Careers | A lab leader — who has had run-ins with poor mentors herself — feels guilty after asking a PhD student to leave her laboratory in a Nature advice column. Two careers advisers and a research-group leader chime in with their observations on how to support students through challenging times, when to let them go — and how to head off problems in the first place. Nature | 6 min read
This story was the year’s most-read in Nature Briefing: Careers — insights, advice and award-winning journalism to help you optimize your working life.
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Neanderthal ‘flatbread’ recipeA couple of years ago, researchers discovered the oldest cooked meal ever found: a tasty-sounding seed flatbread that might have been cooked by Neanderthals 70,000 years ago.
As I ponder what to do with my bounty of holiday leftovers, it occurred to me that a modern version of this recipe is sure to come in handy, and palaeoecologist Chris Hunt did not let us down. Here are the edited details, which I’m sharing on the understanding that you will send me your photos and reviews of your own efforts.
Based on an analysis by archaeobotanist Ceren Kabukcu, Hunt and their colleagues at Shanidar Cave in the north-west Zagros Mountains. “Following this recipe, you get something quite earthy tasting from the lentils and quite toasty, too, from the ‘grass’ seeds,” says Hunt.
Ingredients: Two parts grass seeds — Hunt recommends wheat berries or pot barley One part lentils — try brown or Puy lentils
- Soak everything overnight and then drain.
- Grind in a pestle and mortar, or use a stick blender if you must.
- Keep going until you have a mush with most components “in the 1-2 millimetre or smaller range” — add a little water as you go if needed.
- Add more water until you have a thick paste.
- Scoop some mixture onto a flat griddle or frying pan.
- Cook gently, browning on each side. “Better for 15–20 minutes on a low heat rather than getting things really smoking!” advises Hunt, who sounds like he speaks from experience here.
Fast-forward 30,000 years and there is evidence from Shanidar that food was more diverse, including fruit from the terebinth (related to the pistachio), a wild precursor of the fava bean and mustard seeds, as well as wild grasses and wild lentils. And there is separate evidence that Neanderthals ate almonds. Add modern versions of these to your mix, and you’ll find the taste “significantly more interesting”, says Hunt. Combining it with grilled goat or fish would also be “quite legitimate”, he adds. Sorry — no news on leftover turkey, and strictly no salt. |
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