Nature News

Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02980-w A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.

AI bots are flooding researchers with requests for money and time Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03005-2 Many scientists use artificial intelligence in their work, but agents are increasingly soliciting researchers for collaborations.

Chemists struggle to ditch hazardous solvents — even after decades of ‘green’ efforts Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03023-0 Laboratories are still using dangerous and carbon-intensive liquids much more often than environmentally friendly ones, according to a 40-year survey of patents.

Briefing Chat: Why scientists made papyrus scrolls, then burnt them Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03041-y Nature staff discuss a technique that could help researchers read charred Herculaneum scrolls — plus, a biodegradeable, edible battery.

Nepal’s floods expose issues with climate-disaster funding — firmer policies are needed fast Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03016-z The UN’s climate loss and damage fund needs to consider how to make decisions about finance fairly and quickly, without disadvantaging low-resource nations.

Anthropic’s AI biolab finds ‘CRISPR-like’ DNA in viruses. What’s next? Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03039-6 The detection effort enlisted roughly 950 AI agents that spent more than 21 hours combing through DNA sequence databases.

Why science wouldn’t exist without alchemy, curiosity and great writing: Books in brief Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03032-z Andrew Robinson reviews five of the best science picks.

OpenAI's research chief talks of ‘cultural reset’ after wild few weeks Nature, Published online: 25 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03028-9 Mark Chen discusses how the Hugging Face cybersecurity incident prompted a pivot to safety — and giving AI models a sense of 'taste'.

Bumblebees don’t mind a little plastic in their honeypots Nature, Published online: 24 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02988-2 Insects show off their adaptability by incorporating unfamiliar construction materials to build honey-storage vessels.

AlphaFold 'goes viral': database adds protein complexes of common viruses Nature, Published online: 24 September 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03022-1 AI predictions could help with pandemic preparedness, but they will need experimental confirmation.