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Global Climate Strike, London, UK - 24 May 2019

Young climate activists around the world are planning to protest on 20 September.Credit: James Veysey/Shutterstock

Why we’re listening to climate kids

Youth climate activists are making an unprecedented impact because they are seen by adults as immune to conflicts of interest — and they remind us that our descendants will reap what we sow, say communications experts. Young climate protestors are also speaking to an audience that is increasingly receptive to their message: surveys show that adults have been growing increasingly concerned about the environment for years.

Nature | 6 min read

Neutron star is a whisper away from being a black hole

The most-massive neutron star ever observed might be the most massive one we’ll ever see, because it’s close to the upper limit for such a star. The ultra-dense star packs more than twice the mass of our own Sun into a 30-kilometre diameter, all spinning at the breathless speed of 347 times a second. Its mass is very close to the 2.16 solar masses that theory tells us is the upper limit before a neutron star collapses into a black hole.

Bad Astronomy blog | 9 min read

Reference: arXiv preprint

Fewer children are dying before the age of 5

The world’s population has increased by more than one billion people since 2000, but the number of children who die before the age of 5 has been cut almost in half. In 2000, almost 69 children in 1,000 died before that age — by 2017, that rate had been cut to 39 in 1,000. However, the inequality between nations remains enormous. “More children die every single day in Chad than die in Finland in an entire year,” notes a report from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The New York Times | 6 min read

Reference: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers 2019 report

COVERING CLIMATE NOW

This week, Nature joins more than 250 of the world’s media organizations in a week of intensive reporting called Covering Climate Now. The collaboration intends to focus attention on the need for urgent climate action. So you’ll see more than the usual number of climate-change stories in the Briefing this week, although not exclusively.

To read more about why we are uniting with colleagues and competitors around the world this week to highlight the issue of climate change, read the Nature editorial.

FEATURES & OPINION

Why I welcome a climate emergency

“I’ve been waiting for a ‘full-on climate crisis’ for 30 years,” writes environmentalist Paul Gilding, a former head of Greenpeace. “I can’t welcome the destructive burning of the Amazon, the melting of the ice caps or the devastating impacts already affecting many people around the globe,” he says. “But I see their role in motivating greater action.” Gilding points to the peaceful aspects of the large-scale mobilization that took place in the United Kingdom in response to the Second World War as a model for what’s possible.

Nature | 5 min read

Climate scientists face the cost of flying

It’s a bitter irony: the field of climate-change adaptation tends to involve a lot of air travel. The effects of climate change are being felt most painfully in the global south, yet much of the expertise needed to solve them resides in the Northern Hemisphere. Climate-adaptation researcher David Williams takes a hard look at how researchers in the field can do their best to cut the Gordian knot.

Nature | 5 min read

Why female soccer stars are donating their brains

A group of the world’s greatest female soccer players have pledged their brains to science. Some, like US World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe, are at the peak of their powers. Others have faced pain, depression and suicidal thoughts following brain injuries acquired on the field. They have entrusted their neural matter to neuropathologist Ann McKee, who was lead author on a pioneering 2017 study showing the prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in professional American-football players. Brain trauma among sportswomen is “a major unaddressed issue”, McKee says. “I think they are even less likely to come forward than a man because they don't want to be marginalized.”

Bleacher Report | 17 min read

CORRESPONDENCE: YOUR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Botswana’s elephants need local expertsForeign conservationists and animal-welfare groups have condemned Botswana’s decision to lift its wildlife hunting ban, but local communities welcome it as a means to protect lives and livelihoods. The controversy shows that the country needs more local experts who understand the real story, say three researchers working in the region.

Study what makes games addictiveGames are unregulated products designed to capture users’ attention and promote endless play — and game designers are getting better than ever at making their products hard to put down. Clinical psychologist Daniel King and colleagues call for more independent research into innovations, such as machine learning and in-game purchasing, that can contribute to addictive and harmful gaming.

Correspondence is printed every week in Nature. For more info on writing one yourself, please see the guidance on nature.com. (Your feedback on this newsletter is always welcome at briefing@nature.com, but won’t be considered for publication in Nature.)

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The device had all the hallmarks of sugar-daddy science: It looked amazing, and nothing added up.”

Crop scientist Sarah Taber saw the downside of philanthropy-funded research when she applied for a job working on a farm-in-a-box at the MIT Media Lab. (The Atlantic)