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Western Europe Had Its Hottest June on Record

9 July 2026 at 03:00
An unusually early heat wave smashed records across France, Britain and Spain. Temperatures in some areas are starting to soar again.

© Kin Cheung/Associated Press

Riding a hot train in London on June 24. Average temperatures across Western Europe last month were 3.05 degrees Celsius, or 5.5 degrees Fahrenheit, above the mean from recent decades.

Sizewell B nuclear power plant granted a 20-year life extension

Extension comes as government encourages first nuclear power projects in a generation to meet UK’s growing need for electricity

Britain’s most recently completed nuclear power plant will continue generating electricity until 2055 after the government granted the power plant a 20-year life extension.

Sizewell B in Suffolk was due to shut down within the next decade, but under a deal with the government its lifetime will be extended to 60 years to help meet the UK’s growing demand for low-carbon electricity.

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© Photograph: Chris Radburn/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chris Radburn/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chris Radburn/AFP/Getty Images

‘We won’t give up, we’ll keep fighting’: activists in Colombia vow to resist far-right push for fossil fuels

As the newly elected president, Abelardo de la Espriella, pledges to exploit oil reserves, environmentalists prepare to defend climate progress

It is hard for Yuvelis Morales Blanco to pinpoint when her activism started. Now 25, she recalls getting involved in land rights and environmental issues in Santander, northern Colombia, from a young age. Living near water, she says, has always shaped her connection to nature. “My parents are fishers on the Magdalena, Colombia’s most important river,” says Morales. “For us, the river isn’t just food – it embodies life, identity and culture.”

In April, she received the Goldman environmental prize for her leadership in Puerto Wilches, where she succeeded in halting oil extraction and fracking. Yet, it seems her struggle is only just beginning.

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© Photograph: Iván Valencia/AP

© Photograph: Iván Valencia/AP

© Photograph: Iván Valencia/AP

In vivo feasibility study of humanoid robots in surgery

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10796-x

A systematic evaluation shows that contemporary humanoid robots can perform laparoscopic surgical tasks through teleoperation, highlighting both their promise and key technical challenges before clinical deployment.

Non-genotoxic transplantation and in vivo selection through epitope editing

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10737-8

Epitope editing of KIT enables antibody-based, non-genotoxic conditioning that selectively enriches therapeutic BCL11A-edited haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, supports durable engraftment, preserves clonal diversity and enhances induction of fetal haemoglobin, a therapeutic approach for conditions such as sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia.

Architecture of the 8 MDa Hdr–Vhu–Fwd super-assembly in class I methanogens

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10744-9

The structure of the Hdr–Vhu–Fwd super-assembly reveals a lineage-specific and modular 8 MDa complex with the ability to adapt to diverse anaerobic niches.

Reinforcement learning control of quantum error correction

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10759-2

By integrating reinforcement learning with quantum error correction, a quantum computer continuously self-calibrates during computation, achieving record logical error rates and enhanced resilience to drift.

Ancient feeding-related neuropeptides regulate alloparenting in ants

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10747-6

Pharmacological screening and behavioural assays in ants identify two specific neuropeptides that have key and opposite effects in regulating brood care, and that link nutritional state to age-dependent changes in parenting behaviour.

Anatomy of a seafloor spreading event captured by in situ seismogeodesy

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10785-0

By combining hydroacoustic, direct-path ranging and bottom-pressure measurements, in situ observations of a rifting event at a segment of the Southeast Indian Ridge are reported, providing insight into seafloor spreading events on yearly timescales.

Computational approaches and the future of urban crime research

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10622-4

This Review examines the opportunities and challenges introduced by new datasets and computational techniques in urban crime research, and outlines future directions for leveraging these advances effectively.

Reconfigurable mmWave microchips co-integrating hBN switches on GaN

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10761-8

Radio-frequency switches made from two-dimensional layered hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) were co-integrated on gallium nitride (GaN) microchips to build programmable millimetre-wave (mmWave) monolithic microwave integrated circuits suitable for 6G hardware.

Air-permeable hydrogels through viscoelastic phase separation of aerogels

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10712-3

Viscoelastic phase separation is used to fabricate non-collapsible, air-rich networks in high-water-content hydrogels containing silica aerogel beads, allowing air to permeate through the material and enabling a tenfold increase in oxygen permeability over pristine hydrogels.

Aneuploidy selects for the acquisition of driver genes in breast cancer

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10752-9

Screening of chromosome arm-level aneuploidies uncovers that these alterations select for specific basal-like breast cancer driver genes, including PLGRKT, an oncogene whose tumour-promoting activity is associated with highly stress-resistant mitochondria and enhanced detoxification of reactive oxygen species.

LARES-2 satellite measures frame-dragging effect around the Earth

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10715-0

Using LARES-2, LAGEOS and GRACE satellites, researchers measured Earth’s frame-dragging with unprecedented precision, strongly confirming general relativity, constraining alternative gravity theories, and improving measurements of Earth’s tides.

Diet–microbiome synergy underlies obesity-associated immunotherapy efficacy

Nature, Published online: 08 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10750-x

Diet shapes obesity-associated therapeutic responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors through gut microbial metabolism and host anti-tumour immunity, demonstrated in mouse custom-diet models and human-to-mouse fecal microbiota transplantation experiments.
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