NATURE BRIEFING

21 October 2026

Ultra-rich philanthropists are disrupting biomedical science. Plus, why physicists have kept an antimatter particle caged for months and whether it’s really possible to be swallowed by a whale and survive.

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Illustration: Mr.Nelson design; adapted from Minh Connors/Bloomberg, Michael Kovac/Breakthrough Prize, Sean Gallup, Angela Weiss/AFP (all via Getty)

How tech billionaires are changing funding

With some big AI companies soon to go public on the stock market, the ranks of ultra-rich philanthropists in the United States look set to grow. Compared to government funding agencies, ultra-wealthy research investors tend to support projects that are higher risk and more personally relevant, with fewer strings attached.…