Nature Communications · 31 July 2026 · From issue 15

People decide by checking if their current choice is still good enough, not by comparing all options.

Meriam Zid, Veldon-James Laurie et al., Foraging models explain human exploration in uncertain tasks, Nature Communications.

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Also in issue 15 15 papers

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Parents pay 60% more for teen AI tools when they think peers already use them.
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Air and river heatwaves now strike together nearly three times more often than in the 1980s.
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In lab tests, redesigned fungus-fighting drugs worked better and harmed cells less.
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Giant African herbivores declined mainly because new species stopped forming, not from faster dying out.
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In lab experiments, a cell pump held its fuel molecule for about 300 milliseconds, longer than expected.
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In mice, boosting one brain cell type stopped seizures and fixed social problems together.
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In simulations, a new method predicted magnetic metal behavior more accurately than older models.
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In yeast, a modified energy sensor kept aging cells fit instead of declining.
eLife
Two neighboring supernova remnants, not a mystery object, produce a puzzling burst of gamma rays.
The Astrophysical Journal
In lab whiteflies, one cell protein controls both insecticide resistance and egg production.
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In mice and rats, helper proteins limit how much a stretched muscle grows longer.
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Blocking antibodies in myasthenia gravis patients raised the risk of severe COVID pneumonia up to 12 times.
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