Plus the best of the best science journalism this year so far
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Nature Briefing

Hello Nature readers,
Today we discover the best of the best science journalism: these are the stories that have won awards for Nature this year. Plus, we hand-pick the five must-read science books of the season.
Colourful swirling branches reveal connections between thousands of papers.

A network of science: 150 years of Nature

In November, the multidisciplinary scope of Nature was revealed by an analysis of more than 88,000 papers Nature has published since 1900, and their co-citations in other articles. Let us fly you through a 3D network of Nature’s archive in this spectacular 5-minute video. (Or, explore the interactive graphic.)

Dig deeper into what scientists learnt from analysing tens of millions of scientific articles for this project. (10 min read)

Nature | 5 min video
This video won two Webbys from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. It won for best NetArt and was the People’s Voice Winner in its category.

The hard numbers on climate change

The world is reckoning with some troubling numbers that will ultimately determine whether it will be possible to avoid the rapidly approaching climate meltdown. Nature documents the scale of the challenge in an infographic-packed feature that explores energy use, carbon dioxide pollution and issues of climate justice.

Nature | 8 min read
Reporter Jeff Tollefson, editor Rich Monastersky and designer Jasiek Krzysztofiak won an Award of Excellence from the Society of News for this data-driven analysis from September.
Total CO<sub>2</sub> emissions by country have increased from almost 2 billion tonnes in 1900 to almost 37 billion tonnes in 2018.
Although China is now the largest producer of CO<sub>2</sub>, it is responsible for just 13% of emissions over time, and is far from the top of per-capita emissions.

History of the Universe in the blink of an eye

The history of our Universe is written in the skies. Radio astronomers can detect ancient signals from the dawn of time as well as light from our nearest neighbours. Separating out these layers of time and space allows them to reconstruct the evolution of the Universe. Nature Video reveals how 13 billion years of history can be captured in a single moment.

Nature | 4 min video
Producer Noah Baker and his team were shortlisted for the ABSW Innovation of the Year award for this video from last August.
Click to watch the video.

AWARD-WINNING LONG READS

Elizabeth Gibney won the Angela Croome Award from the European Geosciences Union for excellence in Earth, space and planetary science journalism. Catch up with her latest on the United Arab Emirates’ Mars mission, delving into how a small Arab nation built a Mars mission from scratch in six years. (Nature | 13 min read)

And two Nature stories from 2019 won awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists.

  • Amy Maxmen won for her exclusive in which she joined WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the teams of African health workers giving their all to stop Ebola in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their moving stories of success and struggle illuminate the complex challenges of battling one of the most deadly pathogens known to humanity in a place tortured by war. (Nature | 18 min read) Also well worth watching is the video, narrated by Maxmen, telling her first-hand story alongside stunning photographs by John Wessels.
  • David Cyranoski won for a feature on Japan’s stem-cell free-for-all. He went undercover to get honest and frightening answers from clinics hawking unproven therapies, which are sanctioned and promoted at the top echelons of the Japanese government. (Nature | 14 min read)

Nature’s award-winning science podcast

The Nature Podcast won the Publisher’s Podcast Award for the best science podcast of 2020. Find out why with the most recent episode, on the chemical that turns locusts from Jekyll into Hyde. Don’t miss an episode: subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.

Nature Podcast | 32 min listen
Click to listen

Summer books: Five must-reads

Our pick of the best science and science-fiction books to read now (even if it’s winter — I see you, Southern Hemisphere):

  • A history of the metaphors behind brain research faces a dark past and disquieting future in biologist and historian Matthew Cobb’s The Idea of the Brain.
  • After a century of digging, archaeologists are still tantalized by the secrets of the 7,000-year-old city of Megiddo. Explore the archaeology of the place that gave rise to the word ‘Armageddon’ with Eric Cline in Digging Up Armageddon.
  • From tobacco to food and fuels, industries use denial, deceit and doubt to corrupt. Epidemiologist and former safety regulator David Michaels explores the weaponization of uncertainty in his excoriating account of the corporate denial industry, The Triumph of Doubt.
  • Astrophysicist Mario Livio’s Galileo and the Science Deniers places the original Renaissance man and his discoveries in modern scientific and social contexts. In particular, he argues, the charges of heresy that Galileo faced for his scientific claims in the seventeenth century have their counterparts in science deniers’ condemnations today.
  • Historian Frank Snowden’s sweeping history Epidemics and Society charts the impact of infectious diseases from the Black Death to the present. Snowden’s broader thesis is that infectious diseases have shaped social evolution no less powerfully than have wars, revolutions and economic crises.

On Friday, Leif Penguinson pursued some work-life balance in the Fann Mountains in Tajikistan. Did you spot the penguin? When you’re ready — here’s the answer.

I’m currently practicing my Gaelic somewhere beside a loch in Scotland. In the meantime, we have a very special ‘find the penguin’ to keep you busy. This week, Leif Penguinson and four friends are having a socially distanced get-together in Fantasy Canyon, Utah. Can you find all five penguins? The answer will be in your next holiday-style newsletter on Thursday.

We’ll be back to our regular rhythm on Monday 31 August. I look forward to returning to your feedback, sent to briefing@nature.com.

Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing

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