Climate benefit and ecological cost trade-offs for ocean iron fertilization

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10795-yA process-rich global biogeochemical model is used to determine the trade-offs between carbon dioxide removal efficiency and ecosystem impacts in ten ocean ocean bio…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10795-y

A process-rich global biogeochemical model is used to determine the trade-offs between carbon dioxide removal efficiency and ecosystem impacts in ten ocean ocean biomes following ocean iron fertilization.

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.

Photocatalytic water splitting by 2D polymer with out-of-plane carrier flow

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10866-0A strategy using polymeric carbon nitride crystals induces out-of-plane carrier migration by means of internal electric fields applied on facet-selective nanofilms p…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10866-0

A strategy using polymeric carbon nitride crystals induces out-of-plane carrier migration by means of internal electric fields applied on facet-selective nanofilms placed on polymer photocatalysts, increasing the apparent quantum efficiency for overall water splitting.

In situ structures of plant photosystem supercomplexes

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10847-3The cryo‑EM structure of the Oryza sativa photosystem II–light harvesting complex II supercomplex in its native membrane reveals the intact plant photosystem archite…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10847-3

The cryo‑EM structure of the Oryza sativa photosystem II–light harvesting complex II supercomplex in its native membrane reveals the intact plant photosystem architecture, retaining physiologically relevant proteins and lipids that are otherwise lost during purification.

Intestinal stem cells count to eight divisions to maintain cell ratios

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02128-wIn the fly gut, stem cells keep the balance of cell types by undergoing eight rounds of cell division to form absorptive cells, then one round to form secretory cells.

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02128-w

In the fly gut, stem cells keep the balance of cell types by undergoing eight rounds of cell division to form absorptive cells, then one round to form secretory cells.

Octahedral-coordinated Co<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> for water electrolysis in acid

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10851-7A new trigonal-phase Co3O4 manufactured using a vacuum-mediated molten-alkali mechanochemical method is described, demonstrating edge-shared octahedral coordination …

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10851-7

A new trigonal-phase Co3O4 manufactured using a vacuum-mediated molten-alkali mechanochemical method is described, demonstrating edge-shared octahedral coordination and achieving lower overpotential than spinel-type Co3O4 in the acidic oxygen evolution reaction, with reduced dissolution of cobalt.

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.

Earliest siphuncle-bearing cephalopod from the early Cambrian

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10868-yEarly Cambrian Eoceras shaanxiense gen. et sp. nov. preserves septa and a segmented tube resembling a primordial siphuncle, extending cephalopod origins and revealin…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10868-y

Early Cambrian Eoceras shaanxiense gen. et sp. nov. preserves septa and a segmented tube resembling a primordial siphuncle, extending cephalopod origins and revealing early assembly of chambered shells used for buoyancy regulation.

Plasmonic metamaterial time crystal

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10825-9A plasmonic metamaterial driven at terahertz frequencies achieves strong, ultrafast temporal modulation and shows a transition to the photonic time crystal regime wi…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10825-9

A plasmonic metamaterial driven at terahertz frequencies achieves strong, ultrafast temporal modulation and shows a transition to the photonic time crystal regime with reduced plasmonic losses.

In situ structure of the poxvirus portal complex

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10856-2Cryo-electron tomography uncovers the structure of a conserved hexameric ‘portal complex’ that spans the core wall in vaccinia virus, and shows how it is associated …

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10856-2

Cryo-electron tomography uncovers the structure of a conserved hexameric ‘portal complex’ that spans the core wall in vaccinia virus, and shows how it is associated with viral functions such as assembly, mRNA release and genome uncoating.