The search for signs of consciousness has expanded, thanks to advanced neuroimaging techniques. These tools allow researchers to detect consciousness in unresponsive humans, and now researchers are looking to develop tests that work in animals and perhaps even artificial intelligence systems of the future. 

This is an audio version of our Feature: How to detect consciousness in people, animals and maybe even AI

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In the late 1700s, rural France was beset with rapidly spreading rumours of aristocratic plots to suppress revolutionary ideas. But how, and why, these rumours were able to spread so quickly has puzzled historians. Now, using modern epidemiological modelling, a team suggests that a combination of high wheat prices, income and literacy level drove this period of French history known as the Great Fear.

Research Article: Zapperi et al.

News: An abiding mystery of the French Revolution is solved — by epidemiology

An unorthodox explanation for dark energy — plus, and how a tiny marsupial predator overcame near extinction.

Research Highlight: Does dark energy spawn from black holes? Could be a bright idea

Research Highlight: Tiny Australian predator defies drought to recover from near-extinction

Physicists differ widely in their interpretations of quantum mechanics, and so do Nature readers, according to our Cosmo-inspired quiz. The quantum world is notoriously difficult to explain, with interpretations of the mathematical foundations ranging from the epistemic, which only describes information, to the realist, where equations map onto the real world. The quiz suggests that many readers prefer the realist, even if that is difficult to mesh with the physics itself.

Feature: Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey show

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Researchers have used electrochemistry to increase the rates of nuclear fusion reactions in a desktop reactor. Fusion energy promises abundant clean energy, but fusion events are rare, hindering progress. Now, inspired by the controversial claim of cold fusion, researchers used electrochemistry to get palladium to absorb more deuterium ions, that are used in fusion. When a beam of deuterium was fired at the deuterium-filled palladium, they saw a 15% increase in fusion events. They did not get more energy than they put in, but the authors believe this is a step towards enhancing fusion energy and shows the promise of electrochemical techniques.

Research Article: Chen et al.

News and Views: Low-energy nuclear fusion boosted by electrochemistry

Do ants hold the key to better teamwork? — plus, the coins that hint at extensive hidden trade networks in southeast Asia.

Research Highlight: Super-efficient teamwork is possible — if you’re an ant

Research Highlight: Ancient coins unveil web of trade across southeast Asia

Chocolate gets its best tastes from microbes, according to a new study. Fermentation of cocoa beans helps create chocolate tastes but not much has been known about the process. Now, the temperature, pH and microbes involved have been identified and the researchers showed how it would be possible to manipulate these to produce premium chocolate flavours.

News: Why chocolate tastes so good: microbes that fine-tune its flavour

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In this Podcast Extra, we discuss a report released by the US Department of Energy, which concluded that global warming is “less damaging economically than commonly believed”. However, many researchers say that the report misrepresents decades of climate science.

We discuss how scientists are trying to coordinate a unified response amidst concerns that this report will be used in attempts to repeal a 2009 government ruling that greenhouse gases endanger public welfare.

News: Outrage over Trump team’s climate report spurs researchers to fight back

News: Are the Trump team’s actions affecting your research? How to contact Nature

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Researchers have used a phenomenon known as thermal transpiration to create a solar-powered flying device that can stay aloft without any moving parts. The diminutive device, just one centimetre across, consists of two thin, perforated membranes that allow air to flow through the device, generating lift. Although only a proof-of-concept, the team hope that a scaled-up version of the device could be used to measure conditions in the mesosphere, a particularly hard-to-study part of the Earth’s atmosphere, or even on Mars.

Research Article: Schafer et al.

News and Views: Levitating platform could ride sunlight into the ‘ignorosphere’

News: These tiny flyers levitate on the Sun's heat alone

A 3D scan of body art on a 2,000-year-old mummy reveals the techniques used by ancient tattooists — plus, the bacterial cause of a devastating sea-star disease.

Research Highlight: Intricate origins of ice mummy’s ink revealed

Research Highlight: Mystery of billions of sea-star deaths solved at last

Despite being one of the most successful scientific frameworks in history, there is one thing that quantum physics can’t explain: gravity. Whether gravity is quantum in nature is something that has had physicists vexed, but now a slew of experiments are being planned to try and answer this question. We hear how these experiments will work, and what their results might mean for physicists’ understanding of the universe.

News Feature: Is gravity quantum? Experiments could finally probe one of physics’ biggest questions

How genes can have different effects depend on the parent they come from, and how lithium shows promise in treating Alzheimer’s disease in mice studies.

Nature: These genes can have the opposite effects depending on which parent they came from

Nature: New hope for Alzheimer’s: lithium supplement reverses memory loss in mice

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Aided by machine learning, researchers have developed a super-sticky compound that works as an underwater adhesive. Inspired by animals like barnacles, the team developed a new kind of a material called a hydrogel. The material is capable of securely fastening objects together even when immersed in salty water— a challenge for existing adhesives. To show off its properties the researchers applied it to a rubber duck, which stuck firmly to a rock on a beach despite being battered by waves.

Research Article: Liao et al.

News and Views: AI learns from nature to design super-adhesive gels that work underwater

The tomato-infused origins of the modern potato — plus, a specific group of stem cells that may help to drive osteoarthritis.

Research Highlight: Potato, tomato: the roots of the modern tater

Research Highlight: Ageing stem cells in the knees drive arthritis damage

By taking samples from over 150 trees in a forest in the US, researchers have revealed a previously unknown community of microorganisms living there. While the microbiomes of animals have been well explored, studies looking at the microbes living inside trees are limited. In this work the team show distinct populations of microbes living within different parts of a tree, and huge diversity in populations between trees. The team behind the work hope these findings will lead to a greater understanding of tree physiology and the role these microbes play in broader ecosystems.

Research Article: Arnold et al.

Back in April, the company Colossal Biosciences claimed to have de-extincted dire wolves, a large-bodied wolf species that once roamed North America. We discuss the science behind this technology, and the debates within the research community surrounding Colossal’s announcement.

News Feature: This company claimed to ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves. Then the fighting started.

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Researchers have dived down to more than 9,000 metres below the surface of the Pacific and discovered surprisingly complex communities of life living in deep ocean trenches. The new research shows an array of animal life that appears to be using methane as a source of energy. The researchers are planning more dives to learn more about this mysterious ecosystem and how these animals can thrive despite the extreme pressure they face.

Research Article: Peng et al

A fossilized leg bone reveals an 11-million-year-old fight between a terror bird and a caiman, plus the anti-ageing secret of ‘immortal’ stars.

Research Highlight: Rumble in the Miocene: terror bird versus caiman

Research Highlight: ‘Immortal’ stars have an elixir of youth: dark matter

New research reveals that infection by a respiratory virus has the potential to awaken dormant cancer cells. In mice studies, a team showed that inflammation caused by infection with influenza or SARS-CoV-2 could initiate the awakening of breast cancer cells that had metastasized to the lungs. Observational studies using human health data also showed that a COVID-19 infection was associated with increased risk of lung metastasis and cancer death. While the precise mechanisms are unknown, the team say that understanding the process could help mitigate any risks of cancer progression caused by a viral infection.

Research Article: Chia et al.

News and Views: Inflammation during viral infection can rouse dormant cancer cells

A survey of more than 1,100 physicists has revealed that there are widely different interpretations of what quantum mechanics means for our understanding or reality. Reporter Lizzie Gibney takes us through the different ideas physicists have and asks if such disagreements even matter.

Nature: Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey shows

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A new study suggests that gold can be superheated far beyond its melting point without it becoming a liquid. Using an intense burst from a laser, a team heated a gold foil to 14 times its melting point, far beyond a theoretical limit put forward in previous studies. The team suggest that the speed at which they heated the gold allowed them to shoot past this limit, but there is scepticism about whether the team actually achieved the level of heating they report.

Research Article: White et al.

News and Views: Solid gold superheated to 14 times its melting temperature

News: Superheated gold stays solid well past its predicted melting point

How island life led to huge wingspans for flying foxes, and how a sugary diet ‘rewires’ a mouse’s brain.

Research Highlight: How the world’s biggest bats got their enormous wingspans

Research Highlight: How sugar overload in early life affects the brain later

With increasing political polarisation and more nuclear-armed nations, researchers are warning about the threat of nuclear war. Reporter Alex Witze has been speaking to scientists, and she told us about their chief concerns and how to avoid a conflict in an era of AI and misinformation.

News Feature: How to avoid nuclear war in an era of AI and misinformation

What a new AI model from China means for science, and why some dolphins use sponges to hunt.

Nature: ‘Another DeepSeek moment’: Chinese AI model Kimi K2 stirs excitement

Associated Press: Some Australian dolphins use sponges to hunt fish, but it’s harder than it looks

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A simple methodological error meant that for years researchers considered drinking moderate amounts of alcohol to be healthy. Now plenty of evidence suggests that isn't the case, but errors like this still plague the scientific literature. So, how can the scientific literature become more error-free?

In the first episode of this two-part series, to determine what steps can be taken to help clean up science we explore peer review, replications, AI and even paying people to detect errors.

This episode was written and produced by Nick Petrić Howe. Dan Fox was the editor. The Swiss horn music came from DangerLaef on Freesound. All other sound effects and music were provided by Triple Scoop Music.

Correction 25 July 2025: a previous version of this podcast incorrectly stated that one in five papers are retracted, when it should have been one in 500. This has now been updated.

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In this episode:

The extinct marine mega-predator Temnodontosaurus had specialised adaptations to stealthily hunt its prey, suggests an analysis of a fossil flipper. Although Temnodontosaurus was a member of a well-studied group of marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs, its lifestyle has been a mystery due to a lack of preserved soft tissue. Now, a team have studied the fossil remains of a fore-fin, revealing several anatomical details that likely reduced low-frequency noise as the animal swam. It’s thought that these adaptations helped Temnodontosaurus stalk other ichthyosaurs and squid-like creatures that made up its prey.

Research Article: Lindgren et al.

Research shows that future space probes could navigate using two stars as reference points, and how objects are more memorable when people encounter them while feeling positive emotions.

Research Highlight: Lonely spacecraft can navigate the stars

Research Highlight: Memory gets a boost from positive emotion

Cumulative damage to mitochondria during waking hours could be a key driver for the need to sleep, according to new research. In fruit fly experiments, a team showed that being awake caused damage to mitochondria found in a specific set of neurons. Once this damage reaches a threshold it kicks off a process that ultimately leads to sleep. Although it’s unclear if this process occurs in humans, the researchers think this need for sleep may be an ancient process that coincided with the evolution of organisms with power-hungry nervous systems.

Research Article: Sarnataro et al.

Researchers have been sneaking text into their papers designed to trick AI tools into giving them a positive peer-review report. Multiple instances of these prompts have been found, which are typically hidden using white text or an extremely small font invisible to humans. We discuss the rise in this practice and what is being done to tackle it.

Video: Could hidden AI prompts game peer review?

Nature: Scientists hide messages in papers to game AI peer review

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