Hello Nature readers,
Today we learn that artificial intelligence-designed proteins could block snake venom, uncover a Celtic tribe centred around women and consider what a second Trump presidency means for science.

AI protein tool designs antivenom

Researchers have used artificial intelligence (AI) to develop proteins that can block the deadly effects of snake venom. They used a protein-design program called RFdiffusion to design ‘mini-binder’ proteins that attach to key regions of venom toxins to neutralize them. Mice injected with what would be a lethal dose of the venom all survived when given these mini-binders 15 minutes later. “This is probably the coolest experimental result I’ve had in my career so far,” says biochemist Susana Vázquez Torres.

War ramps ups calls for defence research

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has bolstered European efforts to increase university involvement in military research. The German government is pushing institutions to overturn policies that restrict research to peaceful purposes. And the European Commission is proposing ways to boost dual-use research with both civilian and military applications. But these attempts are also receiving pushback, including from many academics.

Meta system translates speech to speech

The tech giant Meta, which runs Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, has unveiled a machine-learning system that can translate speech in 101 languages into words spoken by a voice synthesizer in any of 36 target languages. Trained on around half-a-million hours of audio matched with the corresponding text, the system translates speech to speech in only a few seconds without the need to translate it into text first. Meta researchers say they fine-tuned the system to limit the occurrence of gender bias and ‘added toxicity’, cases where a translation includes offensive terms that don’t reflect the original language.

Celtic tribes were centred around women

Celtic communities in Britain were ‘matriolocal’ — women stayed with their families and their husbands came to them — according to genetic analysis. Investigations of 55 individuals found in an Iron Age burial site in the south of England associated with the Durotriges tribe showed that two-thirds of them shared mitochondrial DNA. This form of DNA is passed only through mothers — a sign that they all descended from the same female ancestor. Matriolocality doesn’t necessarily equate to women’s empowerment, but the findings could explain why archaeologists often find Celtic women buried with goods such as jewellery and combs, while men weren’t afforded the same luxuries for the afterlife.

What Trump 2.0 means for science

As Donald Trump prepares to take office for his second term as president of the United States, Nature explores which areas of science and research are likely to win or lose under his administration.

• Sectors seen as ‘industries of the future’ or key to the US–China rivalry — such as AI, quantum information science, tech manufacturing, communications and biotechnology — are expected to get strong support.
• Space exploration is another likely winner, as space billionaires such as Elon Musk, Trump’s advisor and financial supporter, advocate for human space flight.
• For the climate and environment, scientists are bracing for the worst. Trump is expected to pull the United States out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement for a second time and slash pollution regulations that he says hurt the economy. Plans to downsize the government are likely to hit the Environmental Protection Agency particularly hard. But Trump administration plans to scale back investment in the green economy could falter, because money is already flowing to Republican-led states.
• Many researchers are concerned over potential changes in public-health policy, personified by Trump’s nominee for head of the country’s sprawling healthcare and research department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr He has no relevant qualifications, has promoted misinformation about vaccines and shows little interest in battling infectious diseases. On the plus side, researchers hope that opportunities might stem from Kennedy’s focus on chronic diseases and the health risks of ultra-processed foods. There might also be upsides to Republican lawmakers’ appetite for restructuring the National Institutes of Health — a “crown jewel” of biomedical research that some scientists think could nevertheless benefit from reform.

Long-lost whales carry mark of the hunted

After World War II, US general Douglas MacArthur sent retrofitted Japanese military vessels to Antarctica to hunt whales, with the aim of finding cheap meat for Japan and oil for the West. The whalers killed more than 2,300 blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin (Balaenoptera physalus) whales, saving samples of their baleen for scientists. After more than 60 years languishing in the Smithsonian collection, the baleen has been painstakingly documented by researchers to reveal how whales had adapted to a wartime lapse in hunting. By analysing the residue of hormones in the baleen, scientists were able to pinpoint a spike in stress that occurred at the same time whaling resumed. The finding could help us to understand how whales are responding to the modern-day explosion of human activity in their environment.

Expansion microscopy turns 10

It “was kind of magical”, says genomicist Fei Chen, recalling the first time he saw expansion microscopy (ExM) in action. The technique, which involves swelling cells and tissues 100-fold by attaching them to a slowly-expanding chemical scaffold, has offered researchers an unprecedented window into nanoscale biological systems. Ten years on, ExM is still unlocking insights. Researchers are turning their attention to its untapped potential in diagnosing diseases from Parkinson’s to nephrotic syndrome. “Expansion microscopy could do so much more that people don’t even know yet,” says biophysicist Xiaoyu Shi.