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Coloured light micrograph of brain tissue from an Alzheimer's disease sufferer. At lower right is a large plaque (yellow/black) containing the abnormal protein amyloid.
Plaques (yellow-black) in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease contain amyloid-β, created by the breakdown of a protein called APP.Credit: Simon Fraser/Science Photo Library
Brain protein could be anti-ageing target
A protein involved in Alzheimer’s disease progression has been linked to normal brain ageing, raising the prospect that researchers could target it to stave off age-related mental decline. The breakdown of amyloid-β precursor protein (APP), creates amyloid-β peptides, which are often present in plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that knocking out the gene that produces APP in turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri) reduces signs of ageing — hinting that it has an overlooked role in neurodegeneration that isn’t caused by disease.
Nature | 4 min read
Reference: bioRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed)
Moon spacecraft can’t stick the landing
The latest attempt to land on the Moon was only partially successful on 6 March, as an ice-seeking spacecraft named Athena landed on its side in a lunar crater. The mission is over, because Athena has no way to recharge its batteries. “Teams are continuing to assess the data collected throughout the mission,” said lander-maker Intuitive Machines, including on the NASA ice drill that was the main reason for going to the lunar south pole.
Nature | 5 min read
Spatula hype spurs error-spotting AI
Last year’s over-egged warnings that black plastic cooking utensils contained worrying levels of cancer-linked flame retardants — based on a mathematical error — have inspired two projects that use artificial intelligence (AI) to find mistakes in scientific literature at scale. The first, the Black Spatula Project, is an open-source AI tool that has so far analysed around 500 papers for errors. The other, YesNoError, has analysed more than 37,000 papers in two months, says founder Matt Schlicht. Both projects want researchers to use their tools before submitting work to a journal to avoid mistakes entering the literature. The impact could be huge, but the methods also generate a lot of false positives and could have worrying unintended consequences; for example, if they are used to target certain fields.
Nature | 6 min read
‘Topological qubit’ claim faces scrutiny
Theoretical physicist Henry Legg has posted a preprint that pokes holes in the topological gap protocol (TGP) — a test that underlies a high-profile claim by Microsoft to have created the first ‘topological qubits’. Qubits are analogous to the ‘bits’ in classical computers, and topological ones are much-desired because they might make quantum computers more stable and easier to build at scale. “Since the TGP is flawed, the very foundations of the qubit are not there,” says Legg. Chetan Nayak, a theoretical physicist who leads Microsoft’s quantum computing effort, hit back at Legg’s analysis. “The criticism can be summarized as Legg constructing a false straw man of our paper and then attacking that,” he says.
Nature | 5 min read
Reference: arXiv preprint
#StandUpForScience
A Paris street is filled with people holding flags and signs expressing support for US scientists.
Crowds in Paris, France marched for science today. (Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed/Anadolu via Getty)
Scientists rise up in day of action
Nature journalists will be reporting on ‘Stand Up for Science’ rallies across the United States today. Scientists will gather to protest policies of the Trump Administration, such as funding freezes and mass firings, that they say are undermining US science. Follow the event onNature’s Bluesky account as it happens.
The #StandUpForScience movement has resonated with scientists in France. A column that calls on researchers to join events across the country today was signed by leading researchers including two Nobel laureates: economist Esther Duflo and virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. (Le Monde | 6 min read, paywall)
Meanwhile, physicists in Serbia joined a one-day strike in solidarity with student protests against what they say is government corruption and lack of accountability. (Physics World | 4 min read)
Features & opinion
Five best science books this week
Andrew Robinson’s pick of the top five science books to read this week includes the story of the Bishnoi, a desert people in India regarded as some of the earliest environmentalists, and a journey through the mineral world of Europe.
Nature | 3 min read
Futures:Little Shop of Dreams
In a world of dreaming-on-demand, reality begins to look a little more appealing in the latest short story forNature’s Futures series.
Nature | 6 min read
Bone tools date back 1.5 million years
The discovery of animal-bone tools in Tanzania reveals that ancient humans systematically crafted with this material much earlier than previously thought. This discovery pushes back the dedicated manufacture of bone tools — which could have helped these early humans develop new kinds of technology — by around a million years. “It might well be the case that early humans were making bone artifacts even earlier than even the sites that we discovered, but we simply don't know because it is not preserved in the archaeological records,” says archaeologist Ignacio de la Torre.
Nature Podcast | 30 min listen
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We took every precaution we could to try to contain it and keep it isolated to just that one patient... And it didn’t work. It didn’t work at all.”
Physician Leila Myrick had only read about measles in textbooks when her small town in Texas became the centre of the state’s largest outbreak in 30 years. Now she’s been forced to become an expert in the extremely contagious disease. (USA Today | 7 min read)