What Artemis II’s astronauts will look for on the Moon’s far side Mission scientists spoke to Nature about the geological features they’re most excited for the crew to observe.

This Monday, 6 April, if all goes to plan, astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission will fly around the Moon’s far side. Nature talked to mission scientists about the geological features they're excited to see.

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The Moon belongs to all of us — not just countries that can afford to reach it As humanity blasts off into a new space race, we need a model of exploration that emphasizes stewardship of other worlds, not exploitation.

As humanity blasts off into a new space race, we need a model of exploration that emphasizes stewardship of other worlds, not exploitation, says Moriba Jah
go.nature.com/4m42cVL

How procrastination can rob you of career fulfilment in science Putting off an important task in a long to-do list might be because you fear failure. Or maybe it is success that scares you?

Latest from the Nature Careers Podcast 🔊 How procrastination can rob you of career fulfilment in science

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Substantial aircraft contrail formation at low soot emission levels - Nature In-flight observations show that the use of lean-burn combustion succeeds in reducing soot emissions from aircraft—yet contrail ice crystals still form and nucleate on volatile particles.

Nature research paper: Substantial aircraft contrail formation at low soot emission levels

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Massive budget cuts for US science proposed again by Trump administration Budget proposal would also curb federal payments for scientific publishing.

For the second year in a row, US President Donald Trump has proposed significant cuts to the budgets of major US science agencies.

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Why some cancer-fighting immune cells lose their strength inside tumours Mitochondria are key to powering the immune defenders called dendritic cells.

Certain immune cells lose their vigour inside tumours because their mitochondria become debilitated, according to a study in mice.

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Breakthrough computer chip tech could help meet ‘monumental demand’ driven by AI Innovative tool for producing computer chips uses giant, nearly perfect mirrors to make tiny transistors and circuits.

A powerful light source bigger than a London double-decker bus has set a record: it can create structures on a silicon wafer that are just 8 nanometres wide. The devices will be used to create the next generation of chips.

go.nature.com/4vaGAeq

Regular physical activity in midlife cuts risk of early death Study of more than 11,000 women found that only a few hours of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week had a strong effect.

Middle-aged women who are physically active on a regular basis can slash their risk of dying early in half, according to a study of more than 11,000 women in Australia

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Evidence of the pair-instability gap from black-hole masses - Nature LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA’s fourth Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog shows evidence of a clear pair-instability gap in the distribution of binary black-hole secondary masses but is absent in the larger primary masses.

Nature research paper: Evidence of the pair-instability gap from black-hole masses

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Mix-and-match synthesis of 3D small molecules Chemistry that forms an omnipresent type of carbon–carbon bond enables the modular synthesis of 3D organic molecules — a boon for drug discovery and materials design.

Chemistry that forms an omnipresent type of carbon–carbon bond enables the modular synthesis of 3D organic molecules — a boon for drug discovery and materials design

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Electric dipole moment drives the dynamics of the TNFR1 complex I signalosome - Nature Long-range interactions mediated by protein electric dipole moments have a role in driving the assembly and disassembly of super-signalling complex I for promoting NF-κB signalling.

Nature research paper: Electric dipole moment drives the dynamics of the TNFR1 complex I signalosome

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‘Treasure trove’ of antiviral proteins could inspire powerful molecular tools Two research teams mined genomic data from bacteria to create databases containing thousands of antiviral defence proteins that could inspire powerful biotechnologies.

Bacteria have been fighting off viruses using a huge arsenal of molecular weaponry that scientists did not know about — until now. Researchers have identified proteins that could lead to virus-fighting drugs and technologies.

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General scales unlock AI evaluation with explanatory and predictive power - Nature A fully automated methodology based on rubrics capturing a broad range of cognitive and intellectual demands is illustrated using LLMs and tasks, demonstrating a new way to evaluate the capabilities of AI systems and anticipate their performance.

Nature research paper: General scales unlock AI evaluation with explanatory and predictive power

go.nature.com/4telRF0

Artemis II is go: humans head to the Moon after half-century absence Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 02 April 2026

Nature Podcast 🔊 Artemis II is go: humans head to the Moon after half-century absence
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Moiré engineering of Cooper-pair density modulation states - Nature Researchers created a moiré superlattice in Sb2Te3/FeTe bilayers, producing spatially modulated superconducting gaps directly imaged with Josephson scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, tunable by replacing Sb2Te3 with Bi2Te3.

Nature research paper: Moiré engineering of Cooper-pair density modulation states
go.nature.com/41M1weh

‘It’s a real shock’: quantum-computing breakthroughs pose imminent risks to cybersecurity Two analyses suggest that quantum computers could crack ubiquitous security keys and cryptocurrencies before the decade is over.

The world could be caught off guard by quantum hackers before the end of this decade — much sooner than previously expected
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China is planning to land people on the Moon — and might beat the United States to it China wants to send several astronauts to the lunar surface by 2030 and build a permanent base there.

China wants to send several astronauts to the lunar surface by 2030 and build a permanent base there

go.nature.com/4m79AzP

A µ-opioid receptor superagonist analgesic with minimal adverse effects - Nature N-desethyl-fluornitrazene is a µ-opioid receptor agonist derived from nitazenes that has supramaximal intrinsic efficacy that produces analgesia with minimal adverse effects in rodent models.

Nature research paper: A µ-opioid receptor superagonist analgesic with minimal adverse effects

go.nature.com/41G1EvT

Dopaminergic mechanisms of dynamical social specialization - Nature Longitudinal tracking of mice reveals that stable, specialized social roles emerge spontaneously within groups during a foraging task, with dopaminergic activity in the ventral tegmental area driving sex-divergent patterns of specialization.

Nature research paper: Dopaminergic mechanisms of dynamical social specialization

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These scientists chased a jet to learn more about ‘lean-burn’ contrails Hear the biggest stories from the world of science | 01 April 2026

Latest from the Nature Podcast 🔊 These scientists chased a jet to learn more about ‘lean-burn’ contrails

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These advanced solar cells have an antique source: old bullets Lead recycled from centuries-old ammunition provides raw materials for perovskite solar cells.

A two-step process transforms hazardous lead waste into a useful material for solar panels

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Developmental organization of sensory and sympathetic ganglia - Nature Findings suggest that neural crest fate bias predominantly emerges within the neural tube, and that only a minor subset of delaminated progenitors retain multipotency to generate both sensory and sympathetic derivatives.

Nature research paper: Developmental organization of sensory and sympathetic ganglia
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Pincer movement: fossil pushes origins of chelicerate arthropods back to the Cambrian period Spiders and scorpions belong to a group called chelicerates, which are arthropods with pincers at the front of their head. Fossil evidence reveals how this group evolved.

Spiders and scorpions belong to a group called chelicerates, which are arthropods with pincers at the front of their head. Fossil evidence reveals how this group evolved

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Is social media addictive? Why a formal diagnosis is still out of reach Limited methods and a lack of guidance around diagnostic criteria mean that many scientists are reluctant to use the term addiction.

Limited methods and a lack of guidance around diagnostic criteria mean that many scientists are reluctant to use the term addiction when describing social media

go.nature.com/4m5aE79

More self-reflection in research can lead to better science A package of papers looking at the social and behavioural sciences shows the value of researchers collaborating to further the cause of reproducible, replicable and robust findings.

A package of papers looking at the social and behavioural sciences shows the value of researchers collaborating to further the cause of reproducible, replicable and robust findings

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Why science has a credibility problem — and how to address it Psychologist Brian Nosek’s latest work indicates that many results in the social sciences don’t stand up to immediate scrutiny. But that’s the beginning of a conversation, not the end, he explains to Nature.

Psychologist Brian Nosek’s latest work indicates that many results in the social sciences don’t stand up to immediate scrutiny. But that’s the beginning of a conversation, not the end
go.nature.com/4v3QiiP

Gene regulatory landscape dissected by single-cell four-omics sequencing - Nature Combining single-cell parallel profiling of genome conformation, histone modifications, chromatin accessibility and gene expression reveals dynamics and intranuclear spatial clustering of epigenome profiles, enabling sophisticated analysis of the regulatory landscape across cell types and tissues.

Nature research paper: Gene regulatory landscape dissected by single-cell four-omics sequencing

go.nature.com/47zZukY

Lift off! Artemis II mission sends humans to the Moon — opening a new era of exploration The astronauts will fly by the far side of the Moon in the coming days, taking in views never seen by the human eye.

The #ArtemisII crew has launched on their way to the Moon. Read what they'll do next and what is up with NASA's Moon base plans:

www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪🔭

Lift off! Artemis II mission sends humans to the Moon — opening a new era of exploration The astronauts will fly by the far side of the Moon in the coming days, taking in views never seen by the human eye.

“Humanity’s next great voyage begins”

Four astronauts are on their way to the Moon and, if everything goes to plan, they will travel farther from Earth than any human has before
go.nature.com/418rR6i

Artemis II mission is about to fly humans to the Moon — here’s the science they’ll do Set to lift off this week, the NASA flight will take astronauts around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

"We're going for our families, we're going for humanity"

Artemis II has launched. Follow us for coverage throughout the 10-day mission
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