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Neanderthals mastered fire — 400,000 years ago
Baked soil, ancient tools, and materials that could be used to start fires show that Neanderthals were making fire in the UK 400,000 years ago — the earliest evidence of this skill found so far. Ancient humans are known to have used naturally occurring fires, but evidence of deliberate fire-starting has been hard to come by. A new suite of evidence pushes back the date of fire mastery by 350,000 years. The team behind the finding believe it helps create a more nuanced picture of Neanderthals, who perhaps gathered round fires and told stories in ancient Europe.
Research Article: Davis et al.
News and Views: Oldest known evidence of the controlled ignition of fire
Machine-learning algorithms can help to identify traces of life in ancient rocks — plus, why paintings containing a vivid green pigment lose their lustre over time.
Research Highlight: AI finds signs of life in ancient rocks
Research Highlight: The mystery of emerald green — cracked
Research suggests that artificial-intelligence chatbots can influence voters’ political views and have a bigger effect than conventional campaigning and advertising. One study found that chatbot conversations swung participants’ candidate preferences by up to 15 percentage points, while another revealed that the chatbots’ effectiveness stems from their ability to synthesize a lot of information in a conversational way.
Nature: AI chatbots can sway voters with remarkable ease — is it time to worry?
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Briefing Chat: ‘Zombie cells’ resurrected with new genes
11:01|Nature staff discuss some of the week's top science news.00:18 ‘Zombie cells’ revived with genome transplantNature: ‘Zombie cells’ return from the dead — after a genome transplant05:27 A limit to cloning, in miceNature: Can a mouse be cloned indefinitely? Decades-long experiment has answersSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Why insects aren't huge: a new challenge to a decades-old idea
22:42|00:44 Why insects aren’t massiveResearch Article : Snelling et al.11:39 Research HighlightsNature: Faster ticking of ‘biological clock’ predicts shorter lifespanNature: Mighty mini-magnet is low in cost and light on energy use14:05 CRISPR creates CAR-T cancer therapy inside miceResearch Article: Nyberg et al.News & Views: A gene-editing method generates immunotherapeutic CAR T cells in the bodyNature: CRISPR makes enhanced cancer-fighting immune cells inside miceSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.
Briefing Chat: Are scientists funny? The evidence is in — and it's no joke
09:52|In this episode:00:22 Exploring how gut microorganisms contribute to ageingNature: Memory loss is fuelled by gut microbes in ageing mice04:30 How good jokes are in short supply during academic conferencesNature: Knock knock, no one’s there. Study finds scientists’ jokes mostly fall flatSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Botanical mystery solved: how plants make a crucial malaria drug
15:55|In this episode:00:46 Piecing together a biochemical puzzleResearch Article : Lombe et al.12:26 Research HighlightsNature: Electric-vehicle batteries toughen up to beat the heatNature: Live parrots were carried across the Andes before the Incas’ rise
Briefing chat: ‘Can it run Doom?’ — why scientists got brain cells and a satellite to play the classic game
10:34|00:26 Why researchers keep using Doom in their researchNature: How the classic computer game Doom became a tool for scienceSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.This fish shouldn’t exist — the weird genetics of clonal vertebrates
23:22|A study reveals how the asexual Amazon molly defies evolutionary expectations — plus, evidence of what may be powering superluminous supernovae.In this episode:00:46 Unravelling the genetics of an asexual fish that should be extinctResearch Article: Ricemeyer et al.News and Views: How an all-female fish species defies evolutionary expectations10:19 Research HighlightsNature: Jam-packed star system is most compact of its kind ever foundNature: Peanut-processing microbes ward off dangerous allergic shock11:31 How a superluminous supernova got so brightResearch Article : Farah et al.News and Views: Ultra-bright supernova wobbles like a spinning topSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday: https://www.nature.com/briefing/signup
Briefing chat: What Galileo’s scribbled margin notes reveal about his scientific journey
09:35|In this episode:00:25 How paediatricians’ antibodies could treat serious viral infectionsNew Scientist: Paediatricians’ blood used to make new treatments for RSV and colds04:22 Galileo’s annotations in an ancient textScience: Galileo’s handwritten notes found in ancient astronomy textSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Heart surgery with quick-setting magnetic fluid could prevent strokes
18:12|Injectable fluid safely fills area in which blood clots can form, in animal trials — plus, strong evidence that an elusive form of diamond has been made in the lab.00:47 A magnetic seal to stop clots forming in the heartResearch Article : Wang et al.News and Views: Magnetic fluid offers better seal in heart-plugging medical procedureVideo: Magnetic gel injected into the heart could stop strokes07:02 Research HighlightsNature: Sewage systems secretly waft pollution into the airNature: This ant species is composed of only queens — no workers or males11:31 Making hexagonal diamondResearch Article: Lai et al.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Audio long read: Many people have no mental imagery. What’s going on in their brains?
18:23|This is an audio version of our Feature: Many people have no mental imagery. What’s going on in their brains?