Alveolar stem cells go beyond making gas-exchange cells to repair damaged airways

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03085-0Alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells are the stem cells of the lung’s air sacs and are responsible for maintaining alveolar structure and gas exchange. A study that tracke…

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03085-0

Alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells are the stem cells of the lung’s air sacs and are responsible for maintaining alveolar structure and gas exchange. A study that tracked AT2 cells shows that, after injury to the airway, they can also migrate between lung compartments and become bronchiolar cells to help repair damaged airways.

A guide to the Nature Index

Nature, Published online: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03206-9A 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: 14 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03206-9

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.

Lead-tainted teeth reveal medieval mines’ unequal toll

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03236-3Burials in the United Kingdom’s Peak District, one of Europe’s largest lead-production regions in centuries past, hint at social inequality.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03236-3

Burials in the United Kingdom’s Peak District, one of Europe’s largest lead-production regions in centuries past, hint at social inequality.

Diversify Nobel-prize nominations before it’s too late

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03220-xInternational scientific organizations are ready to help the committees that award the prizes to invite a wider range of nominators.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03220-x

International scientific organizations are ready to help the committees that award the prizes to invite a wider range of nominators.

A mysterious jelly seems to be left behind by toads

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02974-8A scientist puzzles over the origins of a curious gelatinous substance, and the complexities of measuring time, in our weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

Nature, Published online: 13 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02974-8

A scientist puzzles over the origins of a curious gelatinous substance, and the complexities of measuring time, in our weekly dip into Nature’s archive.

Chimp and gorilla brains resist weight loss with age — unlike human brains

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03158-0The relatively short lifespans of non-human great apes might explain why their brain mass is maintained in later life

Nature, Published online: 09 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03158-0

The relatively short lifespans of non-human great apes might explain why their brain mass is maintained in later life

Genome accessibility reveals disease risk that gene expression misses

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03072-5Most disease-associated genetic alterations do not affect the genes themselves, but instead change how strongly they are expressed, often by modifying genome acce…

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03072-5

Most disease-associated genetic alterations do not affect the genes themselves, but instead change how strongly they are expressed, often by modifying genome accessibility. Gene expression and accessibility have now been analysed simultaneously in 10 million immune cells from 1,108 people, linking disease-associated changes in accessibility to gene expression.

An early predecessor to mammals could swim, suckle and swallow

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03069-0A fossil of an early ancestor of mammals from the Jurassic period reveals a mammal-like throat passage (pharynx) and throat bones (hyoids). It fills a gap in our …

Nature, Published online: 07 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03069-0

A fossil of an early ancestor of mammals from the Jurassic period reveals a mammal-like throat passage (pharynx) and throat bones (hyoids). It fills a gap in our knowledge about throat features in the animals from which modern mammals evolved their ability to swallow as adults and suckle milk as babies.