NATURE BRIEFING

19 October 2026

Researchers in New Orleans share lessons from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Plus, budding cryptographers are using AI to crack historical codes and an enzyme that keeps cognition sharp with age.

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Enigma machines were used by the German armed forces to encrypt communications during the Second World War. Credit: Ullstein Bild via Getty

AI helps crack historical encryptions

Amateur cryptographers are taking advantage of the abilities of artificial-intelligence models to help them crack historical coded messages , such as those used by the German armed forces during the Second World War. One aspiring codebreaker used OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra to find a key to an unsolved cipher from 1809, which the model achieved in around six hours.…