Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here

Firefighting foams often use per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, which don’t break down in the environment. Credit: FORGET Patrick/Alamy

Researchers have developed an easier, cheaper approach to break down a class of long-lasting chemicals called Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). These substances are widely used in products such as firefighting foams, waterproof clothes and nonstick cookware. But they don’t break down under typical environmental conditions, and current disposal methods typically require high pressures and temperatures above 1,000 °C. The approach targets an oxygen-containing chemical group to ultimately break PFASs down into harmless products. “This is the first time I’ve seen a degradation mechanism where I thought, ‘This could actually make a difference,’” says environmental chemist Shira Joudan.

The next generation of COVID-19 vaccines is on its way, but those shots will be looking to take a seat at an already crowded table. Alongside the familiar standards — mRNA and protein vaccines based on the spike protein from the ancestral version of SARS-CoV-2 — will be new options, including mRNA vaccines with spike sequences from both the ancestral virus and Omicron variants. The range of choices, many of which will be available at different times, has left people wondering which vaccines to take, and when. “These are hard questions, and there are no real right answers,” says paediatrician Kathryn Edwards. Nature asked specialists what evidence is on hand to help make the decision.

A huge complex of more than 500 standing stones has been discovered in southern Spain during an archaeological survey of a plot of land earmarked for an avocado plantation. “This is the biggest and most diverse collection of standing stones grouped together in the Iberian peninsula,” says archaeologist José Antonio Linares. The oldest of the megaliths — which include stone circles, mounds and tombs — were probably placed during the sixth or fifth millennium bc .

Science writer Riley Black describes the bittersweet feeling of encountering fossilized remains of dinosaurs and other amazing creatures long since extinct. “The fossil record teaches us to be grateful with what we’ve been given,” she writes. “I am both happy they are here and sad they are gone, unfortunate to have arrived on Earth so late and lucky to be just on time.”

“There is no way in heck I could ever see a butterfly wing. And yet here you made a tactile of a butterfly wing, and I was able to measure the width and length. That was a crazy experience,” says chemist Matthew Guberman-Pfeffer, who is part of a team of researchers that has developed a quick and easy way to 3D print tactile versions of scientific figures and data that can be interpreted by visually impaired scientists. In this Q&A, some of the researchers behind the technology discuss how it could help to make science more inclusive.

The latest short story for Nature’s Futures series deals with a case of interstellar travel gone wrong.

For decades, scientists have debated whether protons have ‘intrinsic charm’, meaning they contain elementary particles known as charm quarks. Now, using machine learning to comb through huge amounts of experimental data, a team has shown evidence that the charm quark can be found within a proton, which could have important ramifications in the search for new physics.

Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.

NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann will be the first Native American woman to travel to space. (Indian Country Today | 9 min read)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02291-w

This week, Leif Penguinson is exploring the snowy scenery and sandy trails of the Oregon Badlands Wilderness. Can you find the penguin?

The answer will be in Monday’s e-mail, all thanks to Briefing photo editor and penguin wrangler Tom Houghton.

This newsletter is always evolving — tell us what you think! Please send your feedback to briefing@nature.com.

Emma Stoye, Senior news editor, Nature

University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

San Francisco, CA, United States

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

You have full access to this article via your institution.

An essential round-up of science news, opinion and analysis, delivered to your inbox every weekday.

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Nature (Nature) ISSN 1476-4687 (online) ISSN 0028-0836 (print)