Daily briefing: A thrilling hint of dark matter discovery

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A single data point from a dark-matter detector in the United States could be the first discovery of the elusive particle we call dark matter. The LUX-ZEPLIN experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota contains 10 tonnes of liquid xenon. It seeks evidence of a candidate particle called a WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle) by looking for flashes created when such a particle collides with the nucleus of just one xenon atom. If the finding can be backed up with more data, it could mean that the material that seems to make up most of the mass of the Universe has finally been discovered.

Nature | 5 min read

Reference: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory preprint (not peer reviewed)

The United Nations Environment Programme has released a report acknowledging that the world will fail to meet the Paris climate agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 ℃ above the preindustrial average, with warming of at least 1.8 ℃ expected this century. “All of our pathways forward are overshoot pathways,” said climate scientist and co-author Debra Roberts. However, the report suggests that, with a huge expansion of CO₂ removal efforts, it might still be possible to return to below 1.5 ℃ by the end of the century. And every fraction of a degree counts. “The lower the peak warming reached, the lower the risks,” says the report.

Nature | 6 min read

Reference: Limiting Overshoot report

Researchers have created more than 44,000 variants of the well-studied bacteriophage virus ΦX174 to determine the effects of mutations at nearly every single one of its DNA letters and amino acids. Most mutations were detrimental to the virus’s survival, but a handful boosted its fitness, often for reasons that were unclear. Cutting-edge AI models trained to identify harmful mutations struggled to predict the consequences of each change, which underscores the need for more high-quality experimental data to power these models, the team says.

Nature | 5 min read

Reference: bioRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed)

In June, the Indian government launched the Prime Minister Research Chair (PMRC) Scheme, an initiative to entice Indian researchers who have moved abroad to return. The programme offers 120 researchers up to 50 million rupees (roughly US$520,000) in research grants, with extra stipends and allowances, for five years to work at an institution in India. The scheme could benefit theoretical physicists, but the grants aren’t sufficient to cover expensive equipment and infrastructure required for experimental research, say scientists. Nor does it lay out a path once the initial fellowship ends.

Nature | 5 min read

Features & opinion

The widespread use of generative artificial intelligence across all facets of society appears to be stripping writing and imagery of individuality, say researchers who are studying the phenomenon. Evidence already suggests that this increased uniformity can influence how we make decisions and the opinions we hold, which could begin to homogenize human culture and cognition, they warn. This AI sameness might not upend society, but in a worst-case scenario, it could make people collectively less adaptable, says computer scientist Zhivar Sourati.

Nature | 10 min read

Fraudsters are messing with our honey, replacing some or even all of the sweet treat with low-cost sugar syrups: a 2023 European Commission report found that 46% of 300 lab-tested samples showed signs of being adulterated. But chemically analyzing real honey is tricky because it’s sticky, acidic and wonderfully, naturally complex. “It’s got hundreds, if not thousands, of different trace compounds in there,” says honey expert David Hoyland. To make matters worse, not everyone agrees with what should legally be called ‘honey’.

Chemistry World | 15 min read

The emergence of long COVID, the chronic health condition caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has prompted an uptick in interest in other post-acute infection syndromes. Over the past six years, thousands of studies have delved into the underlying mechanisms of long COVID and related conditions, backed in part by hefty investments from the US and German governments. Overall funding is still meagre, but some researchers are hopeful that the field is approaching a tipping point, one that “could be transformative for medicine more widely”, says infectious-disease clinician Michael Peluso.

Nature | 11 min read

Today I’m celebrating the reproductive success of New Zealand’s kākāpōs (Strigops habroptilus). The gorgeously goofy flightless parrots have had a record breeding season this year in response to a bumper crop of berries from the rimu tree (Dacrydium cupressinum). Kākāpō mating is triggered by an abundant rimu ‘mast’ year, and this is the first since 2022. “The last time the population is thought to have exceeded 300 birds may have been as long as 75 years ago,” says conservationist Deidre Vercoe.

Their good news also gives me another chance to highlight the kākāpō closest to my heart, and those of many Briefing readers: Steve (voiced by comedian Rhys Darby).

I’d love to hear your good news, and any feedback on this newsletter. Your e-mails are always welcome at [email protected].

Thanks for reading,

Flora Graham, chief editor, Nature Briefing

With contributions by Jacob Smith

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