The Best Articles in Nature
The most useful articles and videos in Nature from around the web—beginners to advanced—curated by thought leaders and our community. We focus on timeless pieces and update the list whenever we discover new, must-read articles or videos—make sure to bookmark and revisit this page.
Top 5 Nature Articles
At a glance: these are the articles that have been most read, shared, and saved in Nature by Refind users in 2023.
Videos
Watch a video to get a quick overview.
The ‘alpha male’ myth, debunked
Primatologist Frans de Waal inadvertently popularized the term ‘alpha male.’ Now, he’s debunking common stereotypes to explain what an ‘alpha male’ really is...
What is life? | Nobel Prize-winner Paul Nurse
Nobel Prize-winning scientist Paul Nurse defines the 5 core principles of life.Subscribe to Big Think on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvQECJukT...
4.5 Billion Years in 1 Hour
Learn more about how complex life evolved with our new, elaborately detailed Timeline of Evolution Poster. Available only on the kurzgesagt shop here: https:...
How to ...?
How to Protect Species and Save the Planet—at Once
A major new report calls on humanity to tackle the biodiversity and climate crises simultaneously. Here's what that might look like.
«HUMANITY IS STRUGGLING to contain two compounding crises: skyrocketing global temperatures and plummeting biodiversity. But people tend to tackle each problem on its own»
Trending
These links are currently making the rounds in Nature on Refind.
Invisible Landscapes
This essay is a companion piece to an episode of Radiolab, titled The Interstitium. You don’t need to have heard it for this essay to make sense, but
Learning few-shot imitation as cultural transmission
The modelling of human-like behaviours is one of the challenges in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Inspired by experimental studies of cultural evolution, the authors propose a reinforcement…
The Chimp-Pig Hypothesis
My great-great-grandmother wasn't a chimp (she was a pig)
Are we ready to study consciousness in crabs and the like?
Consciousness science should move past a focus on complex mammalian brains to study the behaviour of ‘simpler’ animals
You Won’t Survive As Human Capital
You and I operate as human capital: an input in the process of social reproduction, rather than its master or even its goal. Much of our life from childhood onward is dedicated to proving our value…
Short Articles
Short on time? Check out these useful short articles in Nature—all under 10 minutes.
Scientists bioengineer plants to have an animal-like immune system
Evolution is in a perpetual cycle of churning out new pathogens. Luckily for us humans and many other animals, we have a very advanced immune system — known as the adaptive immune system — that allows…
How Roads Have Transformed the Natural World
A brief history of road ecology, the scientific discipline that is helping us understand our impact on the environment and how to diminish it
Scientists will unleash an army of crabs to help save Florida’s dying reef
Not all heroes wear capes. Some are crabs.
400-Million-Year-Old Fossil Upends Our Understanding of Fibonacci Spirals in Nature
If your eyes have ever been drawn to the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem, the texture of a pineapple, or the scales of a pinecone, then you have unknowingly witnessed brilliant examples of…
Last Summer Pearls
Michael Malay on the disappearances of freshwater pearl mussels from Scottish rivers and the Gaelic-speaking travellers and mussel-fishers
Long Articles
These are some of the most-read long-form articles in Nature.
In Defense of the Rat
Rats are less pestilent and more lovable than we think. Can we learn to live with them?
In a Fierce Desert, Microbe ‘Crusts’ Show How Life Tamed the Land
Extreme microorganisms carpeting the Atacama Desert in Chile illuminate how life might have first taken hold on Earth’s surface.
‘We are just getting started’: the plastic-eating bacteria that could change the world
The long read: When a microbe was found munching on a plastic bottle in a rubbish dump, it promised a recycling revolution. Now scientists are attempting to turbocharge those powers in a bid to solve…
«that for the host of seemingly intractable problems we are working on, microbes may have already begun to find a solution. All we need to do is look.»
Empire of dust: what the tiniest specks reveal about the world
The long read: Nobody normally gives a second thought to dust, but it is inescapable. And if we pay close attention, we can see the biggest things – time, death and life itself – within these tiny…
America’s Bee Problem Is an Us Problem
You may have heard America’s honeybees are dying. But what does that mean for the people on the front lines—and what could it mean for what ends up on your plate?
Thought Leaders
We monitor hundreds of thought leaders, influencers, and newsletters in Nature, including:
National Geographic
Since its inception nearly 130 years ago, the core purpose of National Geographic has been to further the knowledge and awareness of our world.
grist
We're a nonprofit news org dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Get our journalism in your inbox: https://grist.org/subscribe/

George Monbiot
The corpse at every wedding, the bride at every funeral.
nature
Research, News, and Commentary from Nature, the international journal of science. For daily science news, get Nature Briefing: http://go.nature.com/naturebriefing
Guardian Environment
News and comment on the world's most important environmental stories
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