Editorials in 2016

Germany’s decision to slow the expansion of green-energy production is a reasonable move.

Hominin fossils discovered near the site of the ‘hobbit’ Homo floresiensis provide yet more evidence that the human lineage is more diverse than was ever imagined.

Our fascination with telescopes and the worlds they reveal spreads beyond science into culture.

Just as the dark-coloured pepper moth disappears from northern England, researchers are finally getting to the bottom of how it gained its colour.

The United States is overhauling its chemicals law; now it must tackle carbon emissions.

Geneticists and historians need to work together on using DNA to explore the past.

A survey of Nature readers revealed a high level of concern about the problem of irreproducible results. Researchers, funders and journals need to work together to make research more reliable.

Overtime pay for postdoctoral scientists is welcome — but could mean fewer positions.

Although the evidence suggests that the Olympic Games are safe to proceed, the global health community must not let the Zika virus fade from the research agenda until the threat is wiped out.

Governments need to tighten regulation if the sharing of clinical-trial data is to succeed.

Revisiting the past can help to inform ideas of the present.

Scientists should unite over electronic-cigarette regulation, or big tobacco will step in.

The safe use of medicines during breastfeeding is not an easy topic to study, but new parents deserve better information on the risks and benefits.

A European plan to commercialize quantum technologies needs a bold goal.

Humans’ exceptional ability to burn through calories fuels our evolution.

The final stages of a dispute over an ancient Native American skeleton signal the need for clearer oversight of such human remains.

China is vigorously promoting nuclear energy, but its pursuit of reprocessing is misguided.

The United Nations has chosen to keep the war on drugs going — but it can’t win.

The US vice-president’s cancer project is winning hearts and minds.

Concerns over AI are not simply fear-mongering. Progress in the field will affect society profoundly, and it is important to make sure that the changes benefit everyone.