NATURE BRIEFING

29 October 2026

These warning signs suggest a journal might be engaging in dubious publishing activities. Plus, the brain clears out faulty neurons at birth and whether a giant ‘sunshade’ could cool Earth.

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By the time a baby is born, its brain has lost large numbers of neurons with genetic abnormalities. Credit: Getty

Brain cleans up faulty neurons at birth

Around the time of birth, the developing human brain mysteriously clears out a vast number of mutation-riddled neurons . Researchers found that more than one-quarter of neurons sampled from human fetuses had some kind of chromosomal abnormality, but this percentage plummeted to 6% in the brains of babies who’d just been born.…