Transient silencing of hypermutation preserves B cell affinity during clonal bursting
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08687-8
B cell germinal centres achieve a balance between clonal expansion and sequence diversification by suppressing somatic hypermutation during proliferative clonal bursts.Microsatellite-based real-time quantum key distribution
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08739-z
A quantum microsatellite, with a payload weighing only 23 kilograms, in combination with portable ground stations that weigh merely 100 kilograms, is capable of performing space-to-ground real-time quantum key distribution.Matrix-producing neutrophils populate and shield the skin
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08741-5
A population of neutrophils in the skin produces extracellular matrix, providing a defence strategy by reinforcing the barrier properties of the skin and helping to block the entry of pathogens.Optimizing generative AI by backpropagating language model feedback
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08661-4
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems can be optimized using TextGrad, a framework that performs optimization by backpropagating large-language-model-generated feedback; TextGrad enables optimization across diverse tasks, including radiotherapy treatment plans and molecule generation.Ancient peat reveals that sea level surged rapidly twice at the end of the last ice age
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00800-1
An analysis of peat from ancient wetlands provides a reconstruction of how sea level increased millennia ago — and how it might rise again with global warming.Bird brains help scientists to unveil the secrets of speech
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00680-5
Neural recordings from parrots and songbirds reveal the ways in which vocal production is encoded in the brain, highlighting remarkable similarities between how parrots and humans learn to produce sounds.Mini-satellite paves the way for quantum messaging anywhere on Earth
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00581-7
A Chinese team has transmitted quantum-encrypted images a record 12,900 kilometres.Immune cells ‘bandage’ wounds with bacteria-trapping goo
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00796-8
Cells called neutrophils form gooey rings around sites where skin is punctured, study in mice shows.AI could soon tackle projects that take humans weeks
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00831-8
New metric assesses how AI is getting better at completing long tasks — but some researchers are wary of long-term predictions.Mutations that accrue through life set the stage for stomach cancer
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00803-y
Comprehensive maps of mutations in healthy and diseased gastric tissue give clues about how cancer arises and could inform early-detection strategies.Meeting the energy challenge posed by data centres is central to a green future
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00747-3
A ‘datacentric’ approach will allow consumers and producers to make informed decisions that aid the transition to clean power.New antifungal breaks the mould
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00801-0
A bacterium makes a molecule that kills drug-resistant fungi in an unusual way — by targeting various phospholipid molecules in membranes.Trump’s return puts renewables at a crossroads
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00742-8
Clean-energy research might be booming in Asia, but the energy transition has an uncertain future.A textbook assumption about the brain’s most abundant receptors needs to be rewritten
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00806-9
The AMPA group of brain receptors have mostly been assumed to be calcium impermeable and so were not thought to contribute to the calcium-dependent mechanisms underlying learning and memory. Observations of calcium permeability in some AMPA-receptor subtypes now overturn those assumptions about these receptors’ properties and their roles in neuronal communication.Battery researchers strive for standardization
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00745-5
Big data is key for the quality control needed to advance the field.A guide to the Nature Index
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00748-2
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.A practical leap towards secure quantum communication over long distances
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00816-7
A network of quantum satellites that communicate with ground stations could offer a solution to enable a global quantum network. A quantum microsatellite that has been developed and launched can perform space-to-ground quantum communication using portable ground stations.How the US tech industry is shaping the transition to green energy
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00743-7
Major investments to fuel AI’s power demands are not the only way big tech is having an influence.What is the best type of tree to use for forest restoration?
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00802-z
In forest experiments, tree species capable of high rates of photosynthesis grow more slowly than species with lower maximum rates of photosynthesis — with implications for tree-planting projects.Measles is surging in the US: how bad could it get?
Nature, Published online: 19 March 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-00786-w
Researchers flag groups that should get an extra dose of measles vaccine as case numbers continue to rise in Texas and neighbouring states.