Nature Communications · 14 August 2026 · From issue 21

Ocean plastic grows a distinct community of ancient microbes not found in nearby seawater.

Changchao Li, Yijing Wang et al., Unraveling the coastal marine plastisphere archaeome, Nature Communications.

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Also in issue 21 14 papers

In animals, fat bubbles carried genetic instructions across the brain's protective barrier into brain cells.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In mouse cells, two different viruses build very different stress granules during infection.
PLOS Biology
Mountain plant shifts toward warmth match regional warming, but not at individual plot level.
Nature Ecology & Evolution
In lab-grown human fetal brain tissue, an immune signal sped up brain growth and caused early folding.
Nature Neuroscience
In computer models, a brain-like rule helped robot swarms agree faster, even with biased robots.
Nature Communications
In a computer model, glycerol crosses a human cell tunnel very slowly, taking microseconds to pass through.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In zebrafish, a mitochondria-protecting drug raised survival and eased liver damage from a rare genetic disease.
Science Advances
A rare particle breakdown was spotted for the first time, matching physics theory predictions.
Physical Review Letters
Young black hole systems almost never produce detectable gamma rays, a sky search shows.
The Astrophysical Journal
Fertility treatment raised stroke related risk by 44% but not other heart disease risks.
PLOS Medicine
In lab tests, two added chemicals let lithium batteries survive thousands of fast charge cycles.
Nature Communications
A common science claim of "no difference" often just means the test was not sensitive enough.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In human cells, a protein called CDT1 helps stalled DNA copying machines safely reverse course.
Science Advances