Nature Briefing

Hello Nature readers,
Today we learn that the biggest fossil-fuel-producing countries plan to drill more than ever, despite their promises. Plus, we explore treatments for dengue and enjoy a rollicking folk history of fundamental physics.

Parkinson’s implant helps man to walk

“I would fall five to six times per day,” says architect and former mayor Marc Gauthier, reflecting on his life before receiving a highly experimental implant that delivers electrical stimulation to his spinal cord. Gauthier has advanced Parkinson’s disease, and the technology enables him to walk fluidly — something no other therapy can do. Researchers say larger studies are needed to assess whether the device will work for others with the disease.

Nature | 4 min read
Reference: Nature Medicine paper

‘AI detector’ has unprecedented accuracy

Software tailored to chemistry papers can spot text written by ChatGPT better than existing artificial intelligence (AI) detectors can. Researchers trained the tool on the introductory sections of papers — written by people — in chemistry journals. Then they used ChatGPT to write introductions in the same style, prompting it with papers’ titles or abstracts. Their detector spotted the AI-generated text with 98–100% accuracy. By contrast, a text-classifier tool produced by OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, was able to spot AI-written introductions with an accuracy of around 10–55%. “Most of the field of text analysis wants a really general detector that will work on anything,” says chemist Heather Desaire, who contributed to the research. “We were really going after accuracy”.

Nature | 3 min read
Reference: Cell Reports Physical Science paper

How can we halt dengue?

Scientists warn that several approaches are needed to tackle the rise of dengue, a mosquito-borne disease that was once confined to the tropics but is now spreading to new locations around the world. At the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Chicago last month, researchers shared the latest results of their efforts to develop vaccines, antiviral medications and mosquito-control methods to curb the disease. “Effective dengue control is going to require multi-layered efforts,” says immunologist Adam Waickman.

Nature | 4 min read

Fossil-fuel giants foresee record drilling

The world’s biggest fossil-fuel producers have plans that will bust our carbon budget more than twice over, finds a peer-reviewed research report. Countries including the United States, Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia anticipate producing in 2030 more than double the amount of fossil fuels than what would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 ℃. This is despite their commitments to net-zero emissions, and the fact that demand for coal, oil and gas is expected to peak and start to decline in that period. “Despite their climate promises, governments plan on ploughing yet more money into a dirty, dying industry,” says climate and energy analyst Neil Grant, who contributed to the report. “On top of economic insanity, it is a climate disaster of our own making.”

The Guardian | 6 min read
Reference: United Nations Environment Programme Production Gap report

Bracing for brain-reading technology

Prototype brain–computer interfaces have helped paralysed people to speak in their own voices, type at unprecedented speeds and walk smoothly. And companies are working on wearable brain-reading products that aim to help users to control their mental state or to interact with computers. Beyond the hype, researchers are well-aware of the risks: from the spectre of big-brother brain surveillance to the commodification of “the sanctuary of our identity”. “The brain is not just another organ of the body; it is the organ that generates the human mind,” says neuroscientist Rafael Yuste. “You cannot just go in and start banking and selling brain data.”

Nature | 11 min read

‘Brazen’ science paved way for the Higgs

A new book about breakthroughs in fundamental physics is a rollicking folk history, driven by strong characters — who often had a complete disregard for health and safety, writes reviewer and particle physicist Tara Shears. Authors Robert Cahn and Chris Quigg are uniquely qualified to give readers a tour of what feels like their hometown, writes Shears — as leaders in their field, they witnessed many of the more recent discoveries they describe.

Nature | 7 min read

‘We are whirlpools of meaning’

Just as the prolific science writer Philip Ball was publishing a book on the latest understanding of biology, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. “To my surprise, I found solace in what writing How Life Works had led me to conclude about the nature of life itself,” he writes. “It is our remarkable good fortune to inhabit such a creative, generative universe, able for a time to spin up little centers of organization that awaken to their own existence … Life is the spinning itself, while it lasts.”

Nautilus | 13 min read