Hello Nature readers,

Today we read words hidden in Roman scrolls burnt by the ancient eruption of Mount Vesuvius, explore the largest-ever atlas of the human brain and learn how we might melt lunar dust into paving slabs.

Simulated Moon dust is melted into slabs of different shapes that could be fitted together to make a paved surface. (PAVER Consortium)

How to build Moon roads

A beam of concentrated sunlight could melt lunar dust into paving slabs for use in building roads on the Moon. In a laboratory experiment, scientists melted a substance resembling Moon dust with a laser that gives out the same amount of power as an imagined 'sunlight concentrator'. Roads could provide areas for spacecraft to land or move around without churning up fine Moon dust, which can damage instruments.

Nature | 3 min read

Reference: Scientific Reports paper

Largest map of the human brain

More than 3,000 cell types - many of them new to science - have been revealed in the largest-ever atlas of human neurons and other brain cells. One team that contributed to the huge project, which involved hundreds of scientists, sequenced the RNA of more than three million cells. Another uncovered links between certain types of brain cell and neuropsychiatric disorders. "This is only the beginning," says molecular biologist Bing Ren.

Nature | 5 min read

Reference: 21 papers in Science, Science Advances and Science Translational Medicine

First glimpse inside burnt Roman scrolls

A 21-year-old undergraduate student has cracked a method for reading charred, unopenable scrolls from the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum. Luke Farritor trained a machine-learning algorithm on fragments of unrolled scrolls, detecting spots where the ink causes a tiny difference in texture. He then analysed closed scrolls that had been penetrated using X-ray computed tomography scans. The breakthrough could unlock the contents of hundreds of never-before-seen writings that were buried by Mount Vesuvius in October AD 79.

Nature | 7 min read

The first word deciphered is the Greek πορφύρας, meaning 'purple' (either the adjective or used as a noun, as in purple cloth or dye). (Vesuvius Challenge)

Features & opinion

AI drug discovery needs a reality check

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can radically shorten the time it takes for a potential new drug to reach clinical trials - or so pharmaceutical companies say. "The findings need to be published in the peer-reviewed literature and authenticated by researchers unaffiliated with the companies involved," argues a Nature editorial. In particular, this means finding a way to share the results pharmaceutical companies tend to keep secret.

Nature | 5 min read

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Futures: Taking time

A time traveller makes a cameo at a science-fiction writers' get-together in the latest short story for Nature's Futures series.

Nature | 6 min read

Five best science books this week

Andrew Robinson's pick of the top five science books to read this week includes an exploration of imagination's role in science, a "mosaic biography" of Albert Einstein and an important, if depressing, analysis of the world's return to economic nationalism.

Nature | 3 min read

Podcast: Pig organs for monkeys

Kidneys from genetically engineered miniature pigs have been transplanted into monkeys, in one case keeping an animal alive for more than two years. The gene edits helped to prevent the monkeys' immune systems from attacking the organs, although the animals still had to be treated with immunosuppressive drugs. One day, such xenotransplants could overcome the severe shortage of human organs available for transplantation. "A lot of the researchers I talked to are itching to start human trials," reporter Max Kozlov tells the Nature Podcast.

Nature Podcast | 21 min listen

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"When machines inspire a sense of care, they can underline - not undermine - the qualities that make people human."

Fruitful robot–human partnerships - like those between NASA scientists and the Mars rovers - reveal a future in which artificial intelligence extends and complements human qualities, rather than replacing people, argues sociologist Janet Vertesi. (The Conversation | 5 min read)

This week, Leif Penguinson is admiring the impressive roots of a pine tree in Oulanka National Park, Finland. Can you find the penguin?

The answer will be in Monday's e-mail, all thanks to Briefing photo editor and penguin wrangler Tom Houghton.

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