Science · 16 July 2026 · From issue 08

Drying of the Aral Sea reshapes the anthropogenic carbon inventory of Central Asia

The dried up Aral Sea has released 204 million tons of carbon since 1960.

Rafael Marcé, Daniel Diaz de-Quijano et al.

Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 20 July 2026. Read the source

The plain-language reading of this paper is in the full issue, for subscribers.

Read the full issue

Get it free, every two days

Five papers free every issue, about 15 emails a month. No spam. Leave in one click.

Also in issue 08 15 papers

A protein called ASB2 stops liver immune cells from storing extra fat, keeping them alive to fight tumors.
Nature Communications
Lowering one signal in cleanup cells reversed several signs of aging in mice.
Science
Drinking water after stress turns on a brain reward pathway that calms anxiety in mice.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Desert dust pollution has risen sharply in Europe, especially in the south, and is linked to more deaths.
Nature
In a model, healthier diets by 2050 would cut global farm value by 1.6 trillion dollars.
Nature
Delaying brain support cell growth in young mice led to depression-like behavior in adulthood.
Nature Communications
HIV medicines during pregnancy blocked rat hearts from fully recovering after birth.
Nature Communications
A faster, chemical way to build cancer vaccine RNA worked as well as the slow standard method.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A brain scan AI trained on real hospital data beat top general AI systems at reading scans.
Nature Medicine
Very few predator species evolved teeth that could both slice and crush well.
Science
Cells use natural glue molecules made from purines to control their own purine production.
Nature
Genes tied to school success predict thinking skills more strongly as children grow older.
Nature Human Behaviour
Early complex life kept steadily splitting into new types through a 600 million year gap with almost no fossils.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A new targeted drug shrank tumors in many patients with an aggressive, spreading eye cancer.
Nature Medicine