PNAS Nexus

This view is taken from a Mars Express flyover video of Flaugergues Crater on Mars. It shows the final scenes of the video, which culminates with a bird’s-eye view of the 240-km-wide crater itself. CREDIT: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

The extremophile bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is tough enough to handle the extreme pressures it would experience during ejection from Mars as a result of massive asteroid impacts powerful enough to send life flying through space. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/Ut2H50YrmEI

PNAS – Thank you to our extraordinary reviewers & guest editors!

Thank you to the reviewers & guest editors who supported Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences & PNAS Nexus in 2025!

PNAS Reviewers: https://ow.ly/l1RY50YrpkK
Guest Editors: https://ow.ly/meaK50YrplI
PNAS Nexus Reviewers: https://ow.ly/5Srm50Yrpm5
Guest Editors: https://ow.ly/BkwC50YrplV

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and PNAS Nexus publish high-impact, peer-reviewed research on emerging technologies, systems design, and sustainable development.
🔗 Explore the SDG 9 Research Collection: https://ow.ly/zOwl50YqGzg

#SDG9 #Innovation #Infrastructure #PNAS #PNASNexus

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine logo. Academia Brasileira de Ciencias logo. Connections to sustain science in Latin America Symposium 2026. August 25-27, 2026. São Paulo, Brazil. Session Topics (Bulleted List): Artificial Intelligence in the Life Sciences, Oceans, Biomedicine & Omics, The Amazon & Sustainability, and Resilience in Extreme Events. Apply by April 15, 2026. QR code.

Apply now: Connections to Sustain Science in Latin America Symposium 2026 in São Paulo (Aug 25–27).

For early/mid-career researchers across the Americas. Travel fully funded.

Apply by Apr 15: https://ow.ly/OB6A50Yqbf7

#NASEMCapacity #LatinAmerica #LAConnections

General strike participants leaving shipyards, Seattle, February 1919. This image of workers was taken at the Skinner & Eddy Corporation shipyard located between Dearborn Street and Connecticut Street (now Royal Brougham Way). The nitrate photo shows signs of deterioration on some light parts of the image.

AI-generated summaries of history led to more liberal opinions compared to Wikipedia, while summaries by chatbots prompted to use a conservative framing produced more conservative opinions—but primarily among conservative readers. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/1moU50YpOHN

PNAS Nexus – 2026 Issue 2 is now available. Pnasnexus.org

2026 Issue 2 of PNAS Nexus is now available! Discover research on public opinion trends in American society, functionalizing metal nanoclusters in water, fast barcode calling based on k-mer distances, and more. Learn more: https://ow.ly/Qlfg50YpMfb

For 25 years, Research4Life has helped expand who gets to participate in global research. Today, 12,000+ institutions access 250,000+ trusted resources. Help us celebrate our 25th Anniversary! https://ow.ly/2NvF50YozYO

#R4L25

The coastal isopod Ligia laticarpa, one of two closely related species examined in the study, photographed under laboratory conditions.

Night lights can structure ecosystems, according to a study in Tokyo Bay investigating marine creatures known as isopods. One species thrives in the illuminated night; the other species keeps to the dark parts of the bay. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/HCrN50YoNbX

Experimental setup and protocol. Participants were asked to learn to walk with a robotic leg on a treadmill for 4 days with a total of 12 experimental sessions. The motion of the powered knee joint was autonomously controlled using a finite-state machine IC strategy. On each day, three experimental sessions were performed. Each session included a training block and an evaluation block. In the training block, participants completed six 2-min walking trials.

One of the most-viewed PNAS Nexus articles in the last week is “Projecting the new body: How body image evolves during learning to walk with a wearable robot.” Explore now: https://ow.ly/Yqsy50YoKNA

To submit your own research, visit PNAS Nexus at https://ow.ly/bV1J50YoKNl.

A ribosome synthesizes protein based on mRNA information. The mRNA strand carries genetic code. The ribosome decodes mRNA to form a protein chain. Stock image.

There may be a former parasite in every living cell. The ribosome, an organelle that builds proteins, may have started out as a parasite taking advantage of cells before the host-parasite interaction evolved into a permanent mutualism. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/gnJj50Yo8ic

A group of Dataoga pastoralists walk past a motorcycle parked in a Hadza camp. Image credit: Duncan N.E. Stibbard−Hawkes

Egalitarian vibes among Tanzanian Hadza aren’t about sharing — they’re about taking back! New research shows equality emerges mainly when people correct disadvantage, not just give more.

In Science X / Phys.org: https://ow.ly/Azaa50Yo9F4
In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/y8cg50Yo9xb

Explore peer-reviewed research from the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Collection from PNAS and PNAS Nexus.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and PNAS Nexus publish high-impact, peer-reviewed research on migration, health equity, economic opportunity, and social inclusion.

🔗 Explore the SDG 10 Research Collection: https://ow.ly/yczO50Yn188

#SDG10 #ReducedInequalities #SocialScience

Combined answers to two items about political efficacy from surveys administered by the National Science Foundation.

American’s satisfaction with their own lives hasn’t changed much since the 1970s, but their confidence in the health of the nation has weakened in recent decades, according to gold-standard survey data from the National Science Foundation. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/4zkt50Yn005

A four-week old, male leopard cat, Prionailurus bengalensis chinensis. Anderson, Indiana, USA. CREDIT: Reused with Permission. Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark.

Social media managers take note: Brain scans of people looking at images from National Geographic’s Instagram feed reveal that images of faces and animals closely related to humans are most likely to get people to donate to wildlife charities. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/4OqF50YmZOX

PNAS Nexus – Engineering Collection. Access now at www.pnasnexus.org.

What innovations are shaping the future of engineering design and practice? Explore the PNAS Nexus Engineering Collection, which features peer-reviewed research advancing sustainable solutions across engineering disciplines. Read now: https://ow.ly/9kZl50Yn0oX

A Hadza man walking through the Tanzanian bush, with baobab trees in the background. CREDIT: Duncan Stibbard Hawkes

Experimental games with Hadza participants suggest that the renowned egalitarianism of hunter-gatherers may be maintained by self-motivated demands for a fair share by those with less, rather than intrinsic preferences for equality. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/c0sR50YmvoW

Photo illustration of person searching for the mobile coverage. Stock image.

In situations where individuals can switch between multiple shared resource pools, users switching from one to a random alternative when dissatisfied naturally balances usage across resources such as groundwater, mobile networks, or roads. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/mrIc50YmveB

Explore the latest Advance Articles from PNAS Nexus! Read now at pnasnexus.org.

In this week’s Advanced Articles: We examine scenario-aware control of multi-pathway spread processes; analyze beliefs and sharing intentions of human- and AI-generated fake news; and more. Explore now: https://ow.ly/SAXu50YmwOK

Refusal to respond with mean and 95% confidence intervals.

Chinese chatbots are likely censored by the Chinese government, and will often refuse to answer or provide inaccurate answers to politically charged questions, regardless of whether they are posed in English or Chinese. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/Y7UR50Yl8KA

Mean and 95% CI for the difference between postintervention and preintervention support.

One of the most-viewed PNAS Nexus articles in the last week is “Labeling messages as AI-generated does not reduce their persuasive effects.” Explore the article here: https://ow.ly/Evh750Yl8lu

To submit your own research, visit PNAS Nexus at https://ow.ly/zVSz50Yl8pq.

As non-disabled volunteers learn to walk with a robotic leg over several days of training, the leg becomes incorporated into their sense of self, as evidenced by the increasing certainty with which they identify animations of their own gait. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/ZN8y50Ykf2l

Do AI labels matter? 🤖 A new study finds they don’t significantly change persuasion, perceived accuracy, or sharing—suggesting transparency alone may not curb AI’s influence.

In Science X / Phys.org: https://ow.ly/6Rch50YkfXU

In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/rqcR50YkfM8

Explore peer-reviewed research from the UN Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Collection from PNAS and PNAS Nexus.

How are researchers shaping more resilient and inclusive communities?

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and PNAS Nexus publish high-impact studies on urban planning, housing, infrastructure & disaster resilience: https://ow.ly/WbGB50YiZB0

#SustainableCities #UrbanResearch #SDG11

Winter 2025 – The Bridge publication, featuring the Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering.

The NAE has released a new issue of The Bridge, its quarterly publication. This issue includes articles from participants in the 2025 Grainger Foundation USFOE Symposium, offering insights into bioengineering, computer engineering, energy, and more: https://ow.ly/rvj650YiXl3

A young Asian man uses AI at work. Stock photo.

A survey of over 12,000 US residents finds that certain groups of people are more likely than average to use LLMs: men, younger adults, Asians, those with higher education and incomes, Democrats, and individuals in analytical occupations. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/WOWa50Yj03e

3 Good Health and Wellbeing. SDG Featured Research: Optic neuritis and risk of heart failure and atrial fibrillation: A nationwide cohort study. Jaeryung Kim, Min-Su Kim, et al. Read the article.

🌍 SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being

New PNAS Nexus research links optic neuritis to higher risks of heart failure and atrial fibrillation—highlighting science that advances global health.

Read more: https://ow.ly/mJc750YiYYw

Explore the latest Advance Articles from PNAS Nexus! Read now at pnasnexus.org.

In this week’s Advance Articles: We examine the public health impact of private fitness expansion, explore a cell-free platform for tunable selection of affinity peptides, and more. Explore now: https://ow.ly/G19F50Yi6bU

Mean and 95% confidence intervals for the difference between post-intervention and pre-intervention support.

Labeling AI-generated arguments on topics such as geoengineering or paying college athletes does not make the arguments less persuasive, according to a survey of 1,601 Americans. A good point is apparently a good point, regardless of origin. In PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/KXeE50YhHag

Illustration of bottom-up method of MNC synthesis. (A) Time evolution of electrospray ionization–MS spectra of the reaction solution during the synthesis of [Au25(SR)18]− . (B) CO-mediated transformation of Au25 NCs into Au44 NCs. (C) Water-soluble atomically precise Au25 NCs. Reprinted with permission from Hua et al. (D) Synthesis of water-soluble NHC-protected Au NPs. Reprinted with permission from Salorinne et al.

One of the most-viewed PNAS Nexus articles in the last week is “Functionalizing metal nanoclusters in water: Synthesis, interfacing, and emerging applications.” Explore now: https://ow.ly/uMxF50YhJcf

To submit your own research, visit PNAS Nexus at https://ow.ly/HhLX50YhJce.

A swarm of 2,182 earthquakes at Yellowstone National Park was key for a new finding about microbes. Image credit: Cheryl Ramalho/Getty Images

Earthquakes in Yellowstone generate chemical energy that fuels deep underground microbes—revealing how seismic activity can sustain underground life over time and pointing to similar possibilities on Mars. In:

Scientific American: https://ow.ly/6tOA50Yh6PF

PNAS Nexus: https://ow.ly/hLki50Yh6K8