Volume 545 Issue 7654, 18 May 2017

The nation needs to end the long-running battle between regulators, lawmakers and industry.

The Department of Energy needs to prioritize the clean-up of nuclear waste.

If we don’t act soon to preserve past records, invaluable knowledge will be lost, warns Elizabeth Griffin.

The week in science: 12–18 May 2017.

Rural and struggling areas have benefited from funding that is now at risk.

Researchers and manufacturers face possible jail time — or execution — for fraudulent submissions to nation's drug agency.

Famous bell-shaped pots associated with group of immigrants who may have displaced Neolithic farmers.

Desperate farmers hope scientists can beat pathogen that is wrecking the US orange harvest.

DNA sequences from 100-year-old tumour samples could bolster childhood cancer research.

Large timber buildings are getting safer, stronger and taller. They may also offer a way to slow down global warming.

Independent professionals advance science in ways faculty-run labs cannot, and such positions keep talented people in research, argues Steven Hyman.

Roger Launius on a valentine to the astronauts behind Apollo 8 and Earthrise.

Abigail A. Sewell examines a physician's study of how deprivation shortens lifespan.

Hari Osofsky draws lessons from the story of a pioneering environmental lawyer and his firm.

Nobel prizewinner who trapped electrons and demonstrated quantum jumps.

It emerges that tumour cells can give rise to non-dividing cells that form part of the supporting microenvironment known as the niche. These niche cells secrete proteins that drive tumour growth and progression. See Letters p.355 & p.360

Systems of quantum objects can be characterized by the correlations between the objects. A technique that precisely measures even the most delicate of these correlations allows models of quantum systems to be tested. See Letter p.323

Ageing and many diseases are partly driven by the accumulation of damaged cells that no longer divide. It emerges that these senescent cells can be eradicated in mice using a drug that interferes with the activity of the protein FOXO4.

A classic paper in 1967 reported key advances in climate modelling that enabled a convincing quantification of the global-warming effects of carbon dioxide — laying foundations for the models that underpin climate research today.

The chances of solving a problem that involves coordination between people are increased by introducing robotic players that sometimes make mistakes. This finding has implications for real-world coordination problems. See Letter p.370

The authors use computational modelling and a set of chemically synthesized compounds to define the physicochemical properties required for small-molecule accumulation in Gram-negative bacteria.

Lipopolysaccharide derived from gut bacteria can accelerate the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations by activating TLR4 on endothelial cells, and polymorphisms that increase expression of the genes encoding TLR4 or its co-receptor CD14 are associated with higher CCM lesion burden in humans.

In response to nitrate, Ca²⁺-sensor protein kinases (CPKs) act as master regulators to coordinate downstream signalling responses that are essential for shoot growth and root establishment in Arabidopsis.

The identification of the positions and patterns of amino acids that form the selectivity determinants for the entire human G-protein and G-protein-coupled receptor signalling system.

Experimental measurements of higher-order correlation functions in many-body systems provide insight into a non-trivial quantum field theory and how it can be implemented in a cold-atom quantum simulation.

The cell flow and defects within the alignment pattern of cultured mouse neural progenitor cells are described.

Modelling of two modes of continental crust formation suggests that before plate tectonics began operating, the Archean early Earth’s tectonic regime was governed by intrusive magmatism.

Earthquake rupture experiments and mathematical modelling reveal the existence of a torquing mechanism of thrust fault ruptures near the free surface that causes them to dynamically unclamp, open and slip large distances.

The Drosophila rhodopsin Rh7 works with cryptochrome to mediate circadian light entrainment by pacemaker neurons.

A complete larval zebrafish brain is examined and its myelinated axons reconstructed using serial-section electron microscopy, revealing remarkable symmetry and providing a valuable resource.

Preventing netrin secretion from floor-plate cells at the midline does not disrupt axonal guidance; commissural axons develop normally and the data suggest that netrin may influence axons locally by promoting growth cone adhesion.

A subset of Kras and p53 mutant cancer cells acts as a Wnt-producing niche for another cancer cell subset, and porcupine inhibition disrupts Wnt secretion in this niche, thereby suppressing proliferative potential and leading to therapeutic benefit.

In a mouse model of small-cell lung cancer and in human tumours, activation of the Notch pathway can lead to a cell fate switch of neuroendocrine cells to less proliferative non-neuroendocrine cells, generating intratumoural heterogeneity.

Ubiquitination of the GβL subunit, a component of both mTORC1 and mTORC2, acts as a regulatory switching mechanism to balance levels of mTORC1 and mTORC2; the failure of this mechanism in some cancers leads to elevated mTORC2 formation and tumorigenesis.

A networked colour coordination game, with humans interacting with autonomous software bots, shows that bots acting with small levels of random noise and being placed centrally in the network improves not only human–bot interactions but also human–human interactions at distant nodes.

Taking time off from work is crucial for avoiding stress and depression, and their potential consequences.

Mutual respect, guidance and support are key to a fruitful relationship with trainees, says W. Larry Kenney.

Out for a duck.

Drawing on the latest research, companies are developing more-effective therapies.

Improvements in image capture and viewing experience.

Innovators are finding better ways to produce, store and use energy, on Earth and beyond.

Scientists commercializing technologies that enable sturdier and more-sustainable structures.

Advances in materials and techniques are restoring damaged body parts to full function.

Single-cell genomic sequencing is poised to revolutionize fields from cancer to immunology.

Shenzhen has emerged as a haven for biotechnology and cutting-edge hardware.

Welcome to Melbourne, where science is fuelled by a better class of coffee.

Organometallic chemist Victoria Blair moved from Scotland to work as a postdoc at Monash University in May 2011.

McCluskey returned in 1997 as chair of microbiology and immunology at the University of Melbourne, and became deputy vice-chancellor (research) in 2011.