My Hobby and Interest - Research

 Nature News Science in 2050: the future breakthroughs that will shape our world — and beyond   Nuclear fusion. People on Mars. Artificial general intelligence. These are just some of the advances that could come by the mid-century mark. by David Adam The Roman sage Marcus Aurelius said we should never let the future disturb us. But then he never had a conversation with the futurologist Nick Bostrom about the state of the world in 2050. “There’s a good likelihood that by 2050, all scientific research will be done by superintelligent AI rather than human researchers,” Bostrom said in an e-mail. “Some humans might do science as a hobby, but they wouldn’t be making any useful contributions.” Time to rethink your career options,  Nature  readers! To adapt a cliché about computer models, predictions of the future are usually wrong, but some are interesting. And  Nature  has a long history of seeking stimulation in forecasts, projections and auguries about how re...

 Science Magazine After legal deal, NIH to review grant proposals frozen, denied, or withdrawn because of Trump directives Agreement requires agency to evaluate hundreds of applications “in good faith” using its standard process by Phie Jacobs The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has agreed in lawsuit settlements with potential grantees and state attorneys general to review applications that were frozen, denied, or withdrawn earlier this year because of directives by President Donald Trump’s administration targeting research related to topics such as transgender health and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The agency will evaluate each application “in good faith” using its standard processes, stated a  joint stipulation  filed yesterday with plaintiff scientists and several groups representing them. (There is  a similar settlement with the state attorneys general .) In return, the plaintiffs in both cases agreed to drop their remaining claims. “This agreemen...

 Nature Careers Nine books to help shape your science career in 2026 If you’ve hatched a New Year plan to move abroad, improve your presentations or chase happiness as a 20-something researcher, you’ll find advice aplenty in these books. by Anne Gulland Stop Chasing Happiness Frank Martela  Allen & Unwin (2025) In 2025,  Nature  searched for the  world’s happiest PhD students , anticipating that they might be in Finland. The Nordic nation of long winters and, apparently, the most heavy-metal bands per capita globally is consistently crowned the world’s happiest country,  according to the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, UK . Happiness researcher Frank Martela explores what distinguishes the “land of quiet satisfaction” from others. Martela, based at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, says his fellow Finns “accept life as it is, not making a fuss about what is bad or good” and shunning overt displays of wealth and success. His mantra is...

 Science Magazine Firing of neuroscience institute chief adds to NIH’s leadership vacuum Trump administration declines to renew appointment of Walter Koroshetz, against NIH director’s wishes by Jocelyn Kaiser President Donald Trump’s administration has declined to reappoint Walter Koroshetz as head of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) neuroscience institute—even though the agency’s director had backed his renewal. Koroshetz’s dismissal after 10 years of leading the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has alarmed the biomedical research community and heightened concerns that NIH is becoming politicized. Some outside observers had already been questioning how much control  NIH Director Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya  has over the world’s biggest biomedical funder. And Koroshetz’s departure means 14 of NIH’s 27 institutes and centers now  lack a permanent leader . Koroshetz informed staff and colleagues late Friday that his reappointmen...

 Science Magazine The National Science Foundation just had a big reorganization. Here are five things to know Divisions and rotators disappear as more career staff become supervisors by Jeffrey Mervis Editor’s note:  The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), one of the government’s major research funders, is undergoing major changes under President Donald Trump. This story, the second of a two-part series, examines recent changes to NSF’s structure. The first story focuses on  changes to its process for reviewing grant proposals . Earlier this month, the National Science Foundation (NSF)  announced a major restructuring  that left many scientists wondering what the changes at the $9 billion funding agency will mean. To find out, more than 1500 people logged onto an 18 December office hour hosted by NSF’s biology directorate. The unusually large Zoom audience for a monthly get-together was hoping for clarity on rumors that NSF would no longer be supporting cert...