A hotly debated species of dinosaur, assumed by many to be a juvenile T. rex, is actually a separate species, according to new research. Nanotyrannus was a dinosaur anatomically similar to T. rex, but about a tenth of the size, leading many to argue it was a young version of the iconic species. However, examination of the limb bones of a well-preserved Nanotyrannus fossil suggests it was close to finishing its growth and so would never become as large as a T. rex, leading the authors to argue that it is, in fact, a different species.

Research Article: Zanno and Napoli

News and Views: T. rex debate settled: contested fossils are smaller rival species, not juveniles

News: ‘Teenage T. rex’ fossil is actually a different species

Video: Hotly debated dinosaur is not a tiny T. rex after all

An artificial ‘neuron’ could pave the way to build a brain-inspired computer — plus, how bats buck the trend by hunting prey their own size.

Research Highlight: Artificial brains with less drain

Research Highlight: By the time you hear these bats, it’s too late

An ‘anti-hormone’ therapy has shown promise in halting the onset of hallmarks associated with breast cancer, in a small trial. Breast cancer is a leading cause of death in women worldwide, but preventative measures, such as mastectomies, are invasive. A new study examined the efficacy of a treatment that blocks progesterone, a hormone thought to play an important role in breast cancer progression. The therapy reduced both specific clinical markers of breast cancer and the number of cells that can become cancerous. Larger, longer trials are needed to show that this treatment could ultimately become part of a breast cancer prevention strategy, but the team think that this work shows the promise of this approach.

Research Article: Simões et al.

A new approach to speed up CRIPSR therapies reaching clinical trials, and how vocal cords could be healed using a tiny 3D printer.

Nature: Personalized gene editing helped one baby: can it be rolled out widely?

Nature: World’s smallest 3D bioprinter could rebuild tissue during surgery

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Researchers have uncovered a protein that enhances DNA repair and may explain how bowhead whales can live more than 200 years. The protein, cold-induced RNA-binding protein, was shown to enhance repair of double stranded DNA breaks, a particularly troublesome kind of damage. The team showed that this protein could also extend the lives of Drosophila flies and enhance repair in human cells. More needs to be understood about how this protein works, but the researchers hope that it could, one day, help prevent cancer and ageing in humans.

Research Article: Firsanov et al.

News: This whale lives for centuries: its secret could help to extend human lifespan

A precise way to grow crystals, with lasers — plus, the specialist organ that allows stinkbugs to protect their eggs from wasps.

Research Highlight: How to grow crystals when and where you want them

Research Highlight: Stinkbug ‘ear’ actually hosts parasite-fighting fungi

Researchers have used ‘nanobodies’ to create an antivenom that works against 17 snake species’ venom. Snakebites kill millions each year, so getting the right antivenom can be life or death. But they are difficult to produce and often are very specific. Now, using nanobodies from llamas, researchers created an antivenom against a broad range of snake species’ venom. The new antivenom can now even be produced without the llamas, and the team hope it will pave the way for a more universal antivenom.

Research Article: Ahmadi et al.

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Advice on how to get good sleep is everywhere, with the market for sleep aids worth more than US$100 billion annually. However, scientists warn that online hacks and pricey tools aren’t always effective, and suggest that lessons learnt about the workings of a network of biological clocks found in the human body could ultimately lead to improved sleep.

This is an audio version of our Feature: How to get the best night’s sleep: what the science says

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Researchers have uncovered the neural mechanisms that underlie an aggressive behaviour in mice prompted by hunger and hormonal state. Virgin female mice can become aggressive towards mouse pups when they are food deprived, but it seems that the relevant amounts of pregnancy hormones, oestrogen and progesterone, also played a role. By investigating the neurons involved, neuroscientists showed how hunger and hormones are integrated by the brain to lead to aggressive behaviour. This could help researchers understand more about how multiple stimuli are interpreted by the brain, something much harder to study than single stimulus effects.

Research Article: Cao et al.

The overlooked environmental costs of wastewater treatment facilities — plus, an ancient communal hunting system that lasted well into the eighteenth century.

Research Highlight: Wastewater treatment produces surprising amounts of greenhouse gases

Research Highlight: Andean peoples hunted and gathered long after they embraced farming

Around the world, universities and students are scrambling to adapt to the use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. And while there is optimism that these tools could improve education, there are also concerns about the ways they could stifle independent, critical thought. We hear about the studies trying to unpick the potential impact of this new technology.

News Feature: Universities are embracing AI: will students get smarter or stop thinking?

A blood test for Alzheimer’s, and what should be the next ‘test’ for AI after the Turing test?

Nature: Blood tests are now approved for Alzheimer’s: how accurate are they?

Nature: AI language models killed the Turing test: do we even need a replacement?

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A vaccine capable of protecting against multiple strains of avian influenza virus may be a step closer, according to new research. The H5 subtype of avian influenza viruses has spilled over into mammals and is particularly concerning to researchers due to the risk of them evolving to cause another pandemic. But because there are multiple variants of these viruses, it has been hard to pre-prepare vaccines. Now, a team have used information on how these viruses evolved over time to design a vaccine that in animal studies provided protection against different H5 strains. They hope their approach could be applied to create stockpiles of vaccine that could be used in the event of a pandemic, regardless of the strain that causes it.

Research Article: Kok et al.

Making muon beams without a huge particle accelerator — plus, the bats hunting migrating birds in mid-air.

Research Highlight: Portable muon beam could accelerate archaeology scans

Research Highlight: European bats capture migrating birds and eat them on the wing

A new search engine that can sift through the staggering volumes of biological data, and the multiple failings revealed by an assessment of 25 years of carbon offsetting data.

Nature: ‘Google for DNA’ brings order to biology’s big data

The Guardian: Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says​​​​​​​

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Stereotyped assumptions about women’s ages and their perceived job suitability are enhanced by Internet imagery, according to new research. A study of hundreds of thousands of online images shows that women appear younger than men. This stereotype extends to the jobs that people perceive women do, with men being associated with roles such as CEO or head of research, while women were linked to occupations like cook or nurse. The research shows that these biases have been embedded into the training data for AI models and could affect future hiring. The researchers caution that society is at risk of creating a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ where these stereotypes shape the real world.

Research Article: Guilbeault et al.

News and Views: Distorted representations of age and gender are reflected in AI models

A very hungry planet — plus, how climate change is leading to larger trees in the Amazon.

Research Highlight: ‘Rogue’ planet is fastest-growing ever observed

Research Highlight: Trees of the Amazon are becoming even mightier

Thirty years ago, astronomers announced the discovery of the first exoplanet around a Sun-like star, sparking a renewed passion into spotting these planets that lie beyond our Solar System. In celebration, Nature asked researchers to tell us about their favourites.

News: These alien planets are astronomers’ favourites: here’s why

Hear the music of a distant planetary system

Flora Graham from the Nature Briefing joins us to talk about the winners of this year’s science Nobel prizes.

Nature: Medicine Nobel goes to scientists who revealed secrets of immune system ‘regulation’

Nature: Groundbreaking quantum-tunnelling experiments win physics Nobel

Nature: Chemistry Nobel for scientists who developed massively porous ‘super sponge’ materials

Nature: Will AI ever win its own Nobel? Some predict a prize-worthy science discovery soon

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Research suggests that ancient viral-DNA embedded in the human genome is playing a key role in early embryo development. Around 8% of our genome consists of endogenous retrovirus DNA — the remnants of ancient infections, but knowledge of their activity is limited. Now, a team show that these sequences are required for the correct development of lab-derived embryo analogues, and for the switching on of human-specific genes.

Research Article: Fueyo et al.

News and Views: Ancient viral DNA in the human genome shapes early development

Longer whale mothers are more likely to give birth to daughters — plus, how the stink of the corpse flower waxes and wanes to attract pollinators.

Research Highlight: Big mother whales have more daughters than sons

Research Highlight: Corpse flowers waft out stinky compounds as fast as landfills do

Researchers have developed a way to use heat to recharge DNA-based computer circuits, which could help overcome one of the stumbling blocks preventing this technology from being scaled up. Although DNA strands have been used to perform computational tasks for some time, current methods can run out of energy or build up waste products, preventing their continued use. Now, using just heat a team have demonstrated a reuseable neural network based on DNA. They hope that ultimately this could be a step in the development of bigger and more powerful DNA computers that could be used to power targeted clinical therapies.

Research Article: Song & Qian

A one-time gene therapy for Huntington’s disease show promise at slowing the brain disorder’s progression — plus, how mitochondria throw out ‘tainted’ DNA.

Nature: Huntington’s disease treated for first time using gene therapy

Nature: Mitochondria expel tainted DNA — spurring age-related inflammation

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In April, Robert F. Kennedy Jr held a press conference about rising diagnoses of autism, and said he would soon be announcing a study to find the responsible agent. Although Kennedy said that environmental factors are the main cause of autism, research has shown that genetics plays a bigger part. Also, the rise in prevalence, many researchers say, is

predominantly caused by an increase in diagnoses rather than a true rise in the underlying symptoms and traits.

Although the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a US$50 million to fund studies on the causes of autism, many researchers were dismayed that these developments seemed to ignore decades of work on the well-documented rise in diagnoses and on causes of the developmental condition.

This is an audio version of our Feature: Autism is on the rise — what’s really behind the increase?

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