What another round of layoffs means for US science

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A four-legged robot touched down on the Moon yesterday, becoming the first commercial spacecraft to ace a lunar landing. The Blue Ghost lander, built by Firefly Aerospace, aims to spend two weeks conducting science experiments provided by NASA. The landing is a win for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme, which contracts aerospace companies to fly scientific instruments to the Moon. Previous attempts have been lost in space, or crashed while attempting to land.

Nature | 4 min read

A US agency head who once called for the government to be “starved in order to dismantle it” is spearheading a second tsunami of layoffs at federal agencies. The layoffs ordered by Russell Vought, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, will affect agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency. At the same time, Trump’s Republican allies in Congress are working to pass major cuts to the federal budget that could wipe out entire scientific programmes and divisions. “We’ve already eviscerated the next generation of scientists” with a previous round of firings that targeted people on probation, says one NIH scientist. “Now they want to send us back to the Dark Ages by stopping science in its tracks completely.”

Nature | 7 min read

The European Union says it will scale up its presence in Ukraine’s struggling research sector, building on the almost €59 million (US$62 million) in funding that Ukrainian research has so far received through Horizon Europe. Scientists hope that these moves will drive much-needed reforms in Ukraine’s research-funding system and breathe new life into its struggling innovation sector. All this is taking place in the midst of Russian attacks that are displacing and harming scientists, and destroying scientific infrastructure.

Nature Index | 8 min read

Highlights from the research

Researchers ‘toad-napped’ 62 cane toads (Rhinella marina) on the island of O‘ahu in Hawaii to investigate how the creatures find their way home across long distances. Some toads were given olfactory-disrupting zinc sulfate, blocking their sense of smell; others had their magnetic-homing abilities temporarily scrambled by magnets glued to their heads — but neither intervention alone affected their homing success. Thirty-four of the toads found their way home, and they had more neural activity in brain regions associated with navigation than toads that didn’t get there.

Reference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B paper or read the Nature Research Highlight (1 min read, Nature paywall)

Small doses of the yellow-fever vaccine shield adults from the viral disease as effectively as the standard dose, suggests a clinical trial in Kenya and Uganda. The standard protective dose is almost 14,000 units, but even 500 units raises antibody levels sufficiently to do the job. That’s good news for places that need more of the difficult-to-manufacture vaccine.

Reference: The New England Journal of Medicine paper or read the Nature Research Highlight (1 min read, Nature paywall)

Features & opinion

Gone are the days of using artificial intelligence (AI) just to summarize a research paper. Now, students are finding new and imaginative ways to integrate AI into their learning. PhD applicant Adriana Ivich used generative-AI chatbot ChatGPT to create simulations of people on her interview committee, using their real-world biographies and publications. Others are using such tools to generate podcasts and visualizations to bone up on new concepts, and even improve their work-life balance, by asking the chatbot to create work schedules with time for extra-curricular activities built in.

Nature | 8 min read

The brain of a man who died nearly 2000 years ago was turned to glass by extreme conditions during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius — the only known example of such a transformation in animal tissue. Researchers concluded that an ash cloud well over 500 ^oC melted the man’s brain and then quickly dissipated, which allowed the liquid to cool into glass. The transformation has even preserved imprints of nerve cells that can be seen under a microscope.

Nature | 2 min video

On Friday, Leif Penguinson was exploring the Hellroaring Creek trail in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Did you find the penguin? When you’re ready, here’s the answer.

Thanks for reading,

Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing

With contributions by Jacob Smith

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