Abstract not yet added.

If you want to know where the best leaf peeping will be this year, climate science and weather can provide the answer

New modeling shows that explosive volcanic eruptions on Mars could have repeatedly delivered ice to the equator, pointing to a volcanic origin for the mysterious excess hydrogen in the planet’s shallow equatorial surface.

Join us for a dynamic and thought-provoking webinar exploring how technology and financial inclusion are reshaping the global landscape o...

The smooth surface of the shallow water covering this huge salt flat in Bolivia acts like a giant mirror. Tourists travel to the Salar de Uyuni to see the effect and walk out into the lake. Now scientists have used satellite data and on-the-ground measurements to determine exactly how flat the surface of the water is – but how it stays so smooth is still a mystery. Read the paper: http://spklr.io/63325BKZmX

10 ways that Springer Nature Editors Support Book Authors

Nature’s survey of PhD candidates reveals hard-won wisdom on choosing supervisors, managing mental health and surviving academic culture.

A decades-old technique from network science saw something in the papal conclave that AI missed

Environmental-humanities researcher Jenia Mukherjee uncovers the complex relationship between people, canals and wetlands in Kolkata, India.

A museum exhibit in Australia lets visitors hear music generated by brain cells derived from the blood of a dead composer.

Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) haemorrhagic disease is a major threat for juvenile Asian elephants. This study reports a proof-of-concept trial that evaluates the safety and immunogenicity of a vaccine against EEHV.

Behavioural addictions, characterised by compulsive engagement in rewarding activities despite adverse consequences in the long term, are more heterogeneous and less well-understood than substance addictions, and there is a relative lack of translational research. This study investigates “excessive toy motivation” in domestic dogs as a potential parallel to behavioural addictions in humans. Employing a combination of a behavioural test and an owner questionnaire, we examined whether a subset of highly play-motived dogs meet key behavioural addiction criteria, including craving, salience, lack of self-control, and mood modification. Data from 105 highly play-motivated dogs revealed that 33 subjects exhibited behaviours consistent with addictive-like tendencies, including an excessive fixation on toys, reduced responsiveness to alternative stimuli, and persistent efforts to access toys. Owner-reported behaviours not only corroborated these findings but also demonstrated significant associations with behavioural test scores. Our results highlight parallels between excessive toy motivation in dogs and human behavioural addictions, with dogs as the only non-human species so far that appears to develop addictive-like behaviours spontaneously without artificial induction. This exploratory study provides foundational insights and proposes future research directions that have the potential to significantly deepen our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying behavioural addictions across species.

To mark World Mental Health Day 2025, we are sharing a selection of Springer Nature journal articles, collections, clinical study registrations and blog posts chosen by our publishers.