Want a glowing houseplant? Now you can buy one

What matters in science | 

View this email in your browser Monday 12 February 2024

Hello Nature readers, Today, we gaze at a glowing petunia that is becoming available to US buyers, learn about a climate scientist's win in a landmark defamation case and discover how air pollution makes floral scents less enticing to pollinators.

Genes from a bioluminescent fungus allow the glowing petunia to produce enzymes that can convert caffeic acid (an intermediate in the biosynthesis of lignin) into the light-emitting molecule luciferin and then recycle it back into caffeic acid. (Light Bio)

Glowing plant hits the US market Plant lovers in the United States will soon be able to buy glowing petunias (Petunia hybrida). The US$29 plant, sold by biotech firm Light Bio, contains genes from a bioluminescent mushroom (Neonothopanus nambi). Because this type of petunia is not native to North America and is not considered an invasive species, the chances of the modified genes spreading should be minimal. This is a "groundbreaking event", says plant biologist Diego Orzáez. He suggests that having "something people can touch and bring home" could even help people to be less scared of genetic engineering. Nature | 6 min read

Climatologist wins defamation case High-profile climate scientist Michael Mann was awarded more than US$1 million in a lawsuit against two conservative blog authors. In 2012, they challenged Mann's research and drew parallels to a convicted child molester. The verdict could serve as a warning for those who attack researchers in controversial fields, including climate science and public health. Mann hopes the win "signals the beginning of the end of the open season on scientists by ideologically-motivated bad actors". Nature | 6 min read

Air pollution turns moths off flowers Air pollution makes the scent of a night-blooming plant less enticing to pollinating moths. Researchers discovered that nitrate radicals severely degrade key odour components that attract pollinating insects to the pale evening primrose (Oenothera pallida). Nitrate radicals, which can come from various sources including vehicle emissions, are particularly abundant when there's no sunlight to break them down. Artificial flowers spiked with the pollution-degraded scent received 70% fewer visits from wild hawkmoths than fake flowers with intact odour. Because hawkmoths are some of the primrose's main pollinators this could reduce the plant's fruit production by almost 30%. The New York Times | 4 min read Reference: Science paper

Features & opinion

COVID's preprint bump set to last Many researchers published their first preprint during the COVID-19 pandemic — and most of them would do it again, a survey of some 670 authors revealed. Part of the positive experience was receiving comments from peers, with more than 20% saying they made substantial changes because of that feedback. "By conducting peer review in the open, you integrate many more perspectives than you would by doing it behind closed doors," says open science advocate Jessica Polka. Preprints should become an integral part of the publishing system, suggests scientometrics researcher and survey co-author Narmin Rzayeva. Nature | 5 min read Reference: PeerJ paper

ACCESS NATURE AND 54 OTHER NATURE JOURNALS Nature+ is our most affordable 30-day subscription, giving you online access to a wide range of specialist Nature Portfolio journals, including Nature. Nature+ is for personal use and is suitable for students. Learn more about Nature+ in the Americas, in the UK and internationally.

How roving researchers cover absences Roving researchers can make taking long-term parental or sick leave more viable for scientists. Taking on the role allows scientists to develop expertise in a wide range of techniques, but leaves little time to develop their own research. "Not all scientists want to become group leaders, and the roving-researcher position is ideal for those who want to work in industry," says scientific engagement specialist Cheryl Smythe, who previously founded a roving programme in the United Kingdom. Nature | 9 min read

The problem with big philanthropy "The world needs Bill Gates's money. But it doesn't need Bill Gates," writes Tim Schwab in The Bill Gates Problem. Charitable foundations run by super-rich individuals such as Gates direct vast amounts of money towards solving societal issues — but might aggravate them in the process, Schwab argues. Billionaires tend to focus on a narrow range of technological 'solutions' while neglecting economic redistribution or institutional reform. "Perhaps it is the global forces of appropriation, extraction and accumulation that drive the current hyper-billionaire surge that must be curbed," says science policy researcher and reviewer Andy Stirling. Nature | 7 min read

Quote of the day "Physicists have extraordinary ideas — sort of like magic. But they don't work at the same scale of time as us." Claire Voisin says that mathematicians can take years to provide a rigorous proof for a formula, by which time physicists have already gone off in another direction. Voisin won this year's Crafoord Prize in Mathematics for research inspired by string theory. (Nature | 5 min read)

Last week, Leif Penguinson was braving the sea-swept cliffs of Niarbyl on the Isle of Man, where rocks mingle from the palaeocontinents Gondwana and Laurentia. Did you find the penguin? When you're ready, here's the answer. Thanks for reading, Katrina Krämer, associate editor, Nature Briefing With contributions by Sarah Tomlin

Want more? Update your preferences to sign up to our other free Nature Briefing newsletters: Nature Briefing: Anthropocene — climate change, biodiversity, sustainability and geoengineering Nature Briefing: AI & Robotics — 100% written by humans, of course Nature Briefing: Cancer — a weekly newsletter written with cancer researchers in mind Nature Briefing: Translational Research covers biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma Please visit your preferences page to choose which Nature Briefing newsletters to receive (or to unsubscribe).

Join our community

You received this newsletter because you subscribed with the email address: manojdole1.Lens@blogger.com Please add briefing@nature.com to your address book. Enjoying this newsletter? You can use this form to recommend it to a friend or colleague — thank you! Had enough? To unsubscribe from this Briefing, but keep receiving your other Nature Briefing newsletters, please update your subscription preferences. To stop all Nature Briefing emails forever, click here to remove your personal data from our system. Fancy a bit of a read? View our privacy policy. Forwarded by a friend? Get the Briefing straight to your inbox: subscribe for free. Want to master time management, protect your mental health and brush up on your skills? Sign up for our free short e-mail series for working scientists, Back to the lab. Get more from Nature: Register for free on nature.com to sign up for other newsletters specific to your field and email alerts from Nature Research journals. Would you like to read the Briefing in other languages? Sign up for the weekly round-up e-mail in Arabic, curated and translated by the editors of Nature Arabic Edition. هل تود أن تقرأ هذا الموجز باللغة العربية؟ سَجِّل الآن لتصلك نشرة العلوم الموجزة أسبوعيًّا، التي يختار محتواها ويترجمه فريق محرري "نيتشر الطبعة العربية". Follow Nature Portfolio on WeChat for a weekly round-up post in Chinese, curated and translated by our team in China. 关注Nature Portfolio官方微信订阅号，每周二为您推送Nature Briefing精选中文内容——自然每周简报。 Nature | The Springer Nature Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom Nature Research, part of Springer Nature. © 2024 Springer Nature Limited. All rights reserved.