<h2>00:48 How the 18th-Century 'Great Fear’ spread across rural France</h2>In the late 1700s, rural France was beset with rapidly spreading rumours of aristocratic plots to suppress revolutionary ideas. But how, and why, these rumours were able to spread so quickly has puzzled historians. Now, using modern epidemiological modelling, a team suggests that a combination of high wheat prices, income and literacy level drove this period of French history known as the Great Fear.Research Article:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09392-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Zapperi et al.</a><h2>12:40 Research Highlights</h2>An unorthodox explanation for dark energy — plus, and how a tiny marsupial predator overcame near extinction.Research Highlight:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02720-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Does dark energy spawn from black holes? Could be a bright idea</a>Research Highlight:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02586-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tiny Australian predator defies drought to recover from near-extinction</a><h2>15:13 The quantum interpretation quiz</h2>Physicists differ widely in their interpretations of quantum mechanics, and so do&nbsp;Nature&nbsp;readers, according to our&nbsp;Cosmo-inspired quiz. The quantum world is notoriously difficult to explain, with interpretations of the mathematical foundations ranging from the epistemic, which only describes information, to the realist, where equations map onto the real world. The quiz suggests that many readers prefer the realist, even if that is difficult to mesh with the physics itself.Feature:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02342-y" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Physicists disagree wildly on what quantum mechanics says about reality, Nature survey show</a><a href="https://www.nature.com/briefing/signup" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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