The Swift observatory was designed to observe the brilliant explosions called gamma ray bursts (artist's illustration) but branched out to study black holes, supernovae and comets.Credit: NASA/Science Photo Library Having spent almost 22 years in orbit, NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has been slowly losing altitude over time, but now it must fully succumb to its doom. In July, a spacecraft blasted off on a mission to boost Swift out of danger. But the rescue mission began to spin uncontrollably before reaching its target. Eventually Swift drifted so low that it could not lock onto its astronomical targets, and last week, NASA shut off science operations ahead of its impending skyfall. Astronomers are mourning the spacecraft, which has had a glittering career observing everything from black holes to gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the Universe. 'We're all definitely very sad. There's definitely grief,' says Caryl Gronwall, Swift's science operations team lead at The Pennsylvania State University in University Park. Swift's end of operations has been especially 'dramatic and tragic,' adds Hannah Earnshaw, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Some researchers predict Swift will re-enter Earth's atmosphere on 2 November. The majority of the observatory will burn up, likely leaving a small amount of debris to crash into the ocean....

Leaders seeking to turn AI's promise into business value often overlook employees already experimenting with emerging technologies. These 'digital wayfinders''frequently younger, junior employees but defined by their exploratory approach rather than their age'can reveal new possibilities, challenge established assumptions, and accelerate digital transformation. Indeed, research involving almost 10,000 leaders across 108 countries suggests that organizations making greater progress are more likely to engage these employees. But these employees' tendency to experiment without permission and challenge established thinking candidly can also send promising initiatives off track and alienate leaders. To channel their contributions productively, leaders should build candid, two-way communication; remove unnecessary bureaucracy while establishing clear business and ethical guardrails; and provide 'air cover' through visible sponsorship and support and opportunities to influence consequential decisions....

Science funders and research organizations in Europe are joining forces to expand open-access publishing and make the peer-review process more transparent, with the aim of spurring change in scholarly communication. By early November, the European Commission will roll out an expanded version of its Open Research Europe (ORE) platform, which uses a 'publish, review, curate' model. In this approach, preprints are posted, reviewed openly ' with the identity of the reviewers and their reports made public ' then flagged as 'peer reviewed' on the same platform. Joining the ORE are funders from 11 countries, including the German Research Foundation DFG and the Swiss National Science Foundation, as well as three major research organizations, including the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). More than 2.5 million researchers will now receive full editorial services on the platform at no charge. Since its launch in 2021, ORE has published some 1,500 articles. 'This is a collective effort to build a more transparent, sustainable publishing system that serves the research community and society as a whole,' says Karla Anaya-Carlsson, who chairs the ORE Funders Group and is based in Stockholm....

Dengue is spread when someone is bitten by an infected female Aedes mosquito. The viral disease kills around 40,000 people every year, with up to 400 million infected annually. Bangladesh and Kenya are among the countries battling a deadly outbreak. Although most adults survive their first brush with the disease, people who are exposed to a second, different strain of dengue virus often develop more severe symptoms. This unusual quirk has complicated dengue vaccine development. Now, a human challenge trial that exposed 45 people to a modified mild strain of dengue virus is beginning to reveal the immunological underpinnings of dengue's second wind, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine on 28 October1. Understanding the biology behind dengue's infection pattern could help researchers to develop better vaccines, says study co-author Leah Katzelnick, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. Part of the problem with existing dengue vaccines is that even the immunizations can trigger secondary infections. This issue caused concern in the Philippines when some children contracted severe dengue infections after a major public vaccination effort started there in 2016....