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Exploration companies in nearly 30 countries are drilling to locate natural hydrogen gas trapped in underground rock formations, betting it could serve as a carbon-free energy source. Venture capitalists have poured almost $500 million into this search since 2023, with firms like UK-based H2Au already drilling test wells in Kansas.
The European Union has overturned its previous strict restrictions on cultivating gene-edited crops, no longer classifying them under the same rules as traditional GMOs. The change allows CRISPR-edited plants, which involve only small DNA changes rather than foreign-species insertions, to be grown more freely, potentially alongside conventional crops. A plant geneticist argues this shift could reshape European agriculture, though he warns the new rules still contain flaws that may limit their benefits.
A Nature editorial argues that the US National Institutes of Health should not adopt simplistic bibliometric measures, such as citation counts or journal impact factors, to judge the value of research it funds. It warns that basing funding or hiring decisions on these numbers risks distorting scientific priorities and rewarding easily counted output over genuinely important work.
The IPCC announced in March it is developing AI systems to assist with literature reviews and processing reviewer comments for its climate assessments. A commentary in Nature warns these tools could influence which studies are surfaced, how evidence is clustered, and what signals reach report authors, long before any text is drafted.
A flash flood caused by a glacial collapse tore through Nepal's Bhotekoshi valley on August 26, killing more than 1,000 people with many still missing. Satellites captured the collapse and are now aiding recovery efforts, confirming that monitoring technology exists and works.
The US National Science Foundation will issue its fewest new grants in four decades after withholding roughly $1 billion for the White House's Grand Research Challenges initiative and pulling back recommendations for over 150 peer-reviewed proposals. Meanwhile, the National Natural Science Foundation of China is increasing its prestigious early-career grants by 50% this year, moving in the opposite direction as Washington retreats from research investment.
The authors published a correction to their paper on erythropoietin receptor's role on cDC1 cells in immune tolerance, fixing several duplicated or mislabeled data points across multiple figures and their source data files. Errors included copy-paste duplications in Figures 2e, 3i and 5k, mislabeled units and protein names in extended data, an incorrect sample size in a figure legend, and a mislabeled cell population in Figure 5i. The authors state none of these corrections change the study's interpretation or conclusions.
An executive coach writing for Entrepreneur says accomplished leaders often lose out on jobs not because of weak qualifications but because they interview the same way they lead. One key example cited is executives deflecting credit to their teams using 'we' language, which leaves interviewers unable to gauge individual impact.
Apple confirmed that its foldable iPhone Duo won't support the Apple Pencil at launch with iOS 27.1, with compatibility instead arriving via a software update expected around November. Only the Apple Pencil USB-C model will work with the device, meaning owners of the Apple Pencil 2 or Pencil Pro will need to buy a new $79 stylus. Unlike iPads, the iPhone Duo lacks magnets for wireless charging, so the Pencil must be paired and charged via a USB-C cable.
Crypto firms building stablecoin payment systems are introducing dispute-resolution and reversal mechanisms similar to chargebacks used in traditional banking. This marks a shift from the original crypto ethos of irreversible, permissionless transactions toward systems that rely on third-party intermediaries to resolve fraud and errors.
Dutch startup Euclyd raised a 200-million-euro ($231 million) Series A round, with Samsung, Somerset Capital Partners, EQT's Scaleup Europe Fund and Innovation Industries co-leading the investment. Founded in 2024, Euclyd is building an AI chip system with a different architecture from Nvidia's GPUs, aimed specifically at inference workloads, covering both processor and memory design.
Reviewers compared the Galaxy S24 against three newly released mid-range rivals—Google's Pixel 10a, Nothing's Phone 4a Pro, and Samsung's own Galaxy A37 5G—all priced near $450-$500. Each offers a distinct edge, from the Pixel's long software support and camera software to the Nothing phone's larger screen and periscope zoom, to the A37's battery life and display quality within Samsung's own lineup.