Nature Briefing

"Co-operation-rather than competition-is the engine of life."

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 03 July 2026, 2304 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencemonitor.blogspot.com).

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Hello Nature readers, Today we look at what’s really happening with trust in science, learn that trial treatments are being tested for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola and explore how co-operation — rather than competition — is the engine of life.

Trust in science (Illustration: David Parkins ) How to build trust in trying times Science can improve people’s lives and extend human knowledge — if there is strong public support behind it. Yet there is widespread concern that this trust is eroding. This Nature special edition brings together the evidence and expert opinion. Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising story (16 min read) Beyond the FAIR guidelines: how scientists are building on a foundation of trustworthy scientific information. (12 min read) Scientists should recognize their own political biases, says Wellcome’s Mark Henderson. (8 min read) Six ways to put the public at the heart of science and policy, by a group of attendees at a recent workshop on the topic. (15 min read) “The idea that science is experiencing a trust crisis is simplistic shorthand for more complex problems”, argues a Nature editorial. (8 min read) Read the full collection

News

China boosts early-career grants The Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the country’s main funder of fundamental research, intends to increase its number of prestigious grants for early-career scientists by 50% — welcome news for early-career scientists, who face intense competition. “In many Chinese universities, early-career academics must win a grant under the NSFC’s Young Scientists Fund to find a job, get a promotion or secure tenure,” says bioinformatician Tong Xinzhao. Nature | 5 min read

Ebola trial kicks off in the DRC Researchers have launched the first clinical trial to test treatments for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola circulating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The trial will initially test two drugs — an antibody cocktail called MPB-134 and the injectable antiviral drug remdesivir — with the potential to add a third later on. A second trial to test another antiviral called obeldesivir — an oral counterpart to remdesivir — might also kick off in the next few weeks as researchers race to contain what is already one of the worst-ever Ebola outbreaks. Science | 5 min read

Features & opinion

Are dark matter and dark energy one thing? The Universe is a dark place: around 70% of it seems to be dark energy, a mysterious force that seems to drive accelerating expansion; and dark matter, an invisible ‘something’ that holds galaxies together. These two enigmas were thought to have little in common except their names. Now some theorists are asking if they might be linked though a ‘dark dimension’ — one of the six or seven ‘extra’ dimensions posited by string theory. This idea could account for evidence from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) that the strength of dark energy has gone up and down over time. Quanta | 11 min read

Futures: science fiction from Nature An alien visitor learns that if it works, you don’t throw it away in RS-232 and other forms of grief. Nature | 6 min read

Podcast: How co-operation built the world Togetherness, a new book by science journalist Rowan Hooper, argues that collaboration in nature has often been overlooked in favour of competition, and that organisms working together have played a vital role in making the world the way it is. “There's a great example of the bobtail squid,” Hooper tells the Nature Podcast. “This is a very cute little squid that grows very intimately with these specialized bacteria that it sequesters from the ocean around it. It literally wouldn't grow the same without these bacteria.” Nature Podcast | 31 min listen Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Music, or use the RSS feed.

Quote of the day “A society that loses science loses the future.” Palaeontologist Neil Shubin, the new leader of the US National Academy of Sciences, says that his job is to help ensure that the country retains a thriving science and technology base. (Nature | 9 min read)

Today, Leif Penguinson is exploring Hegyestű, a one-time basalt volcano in Balaton-Felvidéki National Park, Hungary. 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. Thanks for reading, Flora Graham, chief editor, Nature Briefing With contributions by Jacob Smith

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