ScienceGeist

Brexit or no Brexit, scientists across the continent have an obligation to keep standing up for ideals such as integrity, trust and cooperation, writes the European Union's former director-general of research, Robert-Jan Smits.

Academy will be managed by nationalist government in unprecedented move.

Spin in health news stories reporting studies of pharmacologic treatments affects patients’/caregivers’ interpretation.

For years, scientists have declared P values of less than 0.05 to be "statistically significant." Now statisticians are saying the cutoff needs to go.

scite is a platform that allows anyone to see if a scientific report has been supported or contradicted by subsequent work. Its aim is to make it easier to tell what is fact and what is not.

The effort wouldn't have succeeded without Katie Bouman, who developed a crucial algorithm and helped devise imaging methods.

Network of eight radio telescopes around the world records revolutionary image.

Mars emits methane, a European orbiter has confirmed. But scientists can't say yet whether the source is geological or biological.

Looking beyond a much used and abused measure would make science harder, but better.

In creating a new innovation council, the European Commission is experimenting not just in policy but also in management.

We are inspired that our children, spurred on by the noble actions of Greta Thunberg and other striking students, are making their voices heard, say 224 academics

The body's microbial community may influence the brain and behavior, perhaps even playing a role in dementia, autism and other disorders.

As the chase for new elements slows, scientists focus on deepening their understanding of the superheavy ones they already know.

In 2014, microbiologists began a study that they hope will continue long after they're dead.

The author argues that the two biggest forces driving change in the scholarly communication landscape are consolidation and regulation. By consolidation, he means that there’s a now constant cycle of mergers and acquisitions, reducing the number of independent players in the market. By regulation, we’re talking about the increasing number of rules and the compliance burden being put on researchers.

DNA tests can have a placebo effect.

Scientific prizes confer credibility to persons, ideas, and disciplines, provide financial incentives, and promote community-building celebrations. The article examines the growth dynamics and interlocking relationships found in the worldwide scientific prize network. 

This year taught us more about distant planets and our own world, about the ways we're influencing our environment and the ways we're changing ourselves.

What research caught the public imagination in 2018? Check out our annual list of papers with the most attention.

 If science is growing exponentially, then the major technological advancements and upheavals of the past 200 years are only the tip of the iceberg.

The OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2018 is the twelfth edition in a series that biennially reviews key trends in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in OECD countries and a number of major partner economies. 

Some scientists are taking it upon themselves to go beyond their core research areas to study where the scientific system can go wrong.

Nature explores the most-cited research of all time.