Author: Nature

Brains of male and female mice recover differently from ketamine

Nature, Published online: 31 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02356-0Specialized immune cells found in the brain, known as microglia, reach out to neurons in female mice that were given a dose of ketamine anaesthetic.

Nature, Published online: 31 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02356-0

Specialized immune cells found in the brain, known as microglia, reach out to neurons in female mice that were given a dose of ketamine anaesthetic.

Amazonian earthwork survey indicates ancient population was much larger than thought

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02321-xAerial laser-scanning data reveal that, from ad 100 to ad 300, an area spanning less than 3% of the Greater Amazonia region probably supported between 1.25 million a…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02321-x

Aerial laser-scanning data reveal that, from ad 100 to ad 300, an area spanning less than 3% of the Greater Amazonia region probably supported between 1.25 million and 3 million people and contained more than 20,000 human-made earthworks. These findings call for a re-evaluation of the density of pre-colonial Amazonian populations and the influence these civilizations had on present-day tropical soils and forests.

How fruit flies track the edge of odour plumes

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02325-7Ants and bees are known to use spatial memories to navigate to fixed locations, such as a nest. Virtual-reality experiments in which Drosophila fruit flies follow fi…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02325-7

Ants and bees are known to use spatial memories to navigate to fixed locations, such as a nest. Virtual-reality experiments in which Drosophila fruit flies follow fictive odour plumes now show that these insects use components of a similar memory-guided navigational toolkit to track the edge of a plume towards its source.

Relatively few Black people benefited in the 1930s and 1940s from mortgages backed by the US government

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02246-5Newly digitized mortgage records from 38 US states reveal the profound racial inequality of two mortgage programmes during the 1930s and 1940s. These loans, supporte…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02246-5

Newly digitized mortgage records from 38 US states reveal the profound racial inequality of two mortgage programmes during the 1930s and 1940s. These loans, supported by the Federal Housing Administration and the Veterans Administration, were mainly responsible for the emergence of a US society that idealized home ownership. However, Black households were systematically excluded from receiving such loans. By contrast, immigrants received mortgages proportional to their number.

The first known cephalopod was only a millimetre long and lived about 520 million years ago

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02319-5The locomotion of modern cephalopods, such as squid and cuttlefish, relies on buoyancy control achieved mainly by a specialized structure called a siphuncle. The dis…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02319-5

The locomotion of modern cephalopods, such as squid and cuttlefish, relies on buoyancy control achieved mainly by a specialized structure called a siphuncle. The discovery of fossils of Eoceras — a millimetre-sized cephalopod with a siphuncle — suggests that the group had already emerged in the early Cambrian, around 520 million years ago.

Relapsed childhood cancers show genomic scars left by previous therapy

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02329-3Whole-genome sequencing of hundreds of childhood tumours, enriched for pretreated, relapsed and metastatic samples, shows that cancer therapies, especially platinum-…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02329-3

Whole-genome sequencing of hundreds of childhood tumours, enriched for pretreated, relapsed and metastatic samples, shows that cancer therapies, especially platinum-based ones, are associated with rapid acquisition of distinctive patterns of DNA damage. These mutational signatures are linked with worse outcomes and could be used to track relapses and guide treatment decisions.

A guide to the Nature Index

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02183-3A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality that is available free online at natureindex.com.

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02183-3

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality that is available free online at natureindex.com.