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A firefighter walks through thick smoke illuminated by fire engine lights and embers

Smoke swirls around a firefighter helping to tackle the Kincade wildfire burning in northern California.Credit: Stephen Lam/REUTERS

Wildfires disrupt California universities

The University of California, Berkeley, and the neighbouring Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were among the institutions in California that temporarily closed their doors this week because of wildfires. Blazes whipped up by hurricane-force winds have prompted mass evacuations and the second precautionary power cut in a month. Researchers say that things have gone more smoothly this time, compared with the chaos triggered by planned power outages in early October.

Nature | 3 min read

Geneticists recoil from ‘gay gene’ app

Scientists and genetic counsellors are not happy about a controversial app that offers to interpret the results of a person’s consumer DNA test to gauge their level of attraction to others of the same sex. The app is loosely based on the findings of a massive study on the genetics of same-sex sexual behaviour — even though the analysis concluded that a person’s genes cannot predict their sexuality. The geneticists behind the research say that the app misrepresents their work, and genetic counsellors point out that it is an example of how facile DNA-analysis tools have the potential to cause anxiety, unnecessary medical expenses and stigmatization.

Nature | 7 min read

Reference: Science paper

More people at risk of rising seas

The most detailed maps yet of coastal topography vastly increase estimates of the number of people whose homes are threatened by rising seas. Under worst-case climate-change scenarios, up to 630 million people will face flooding at least once a year by 2100 — three times as many as previously thought. Researchers used neural networks to reduce the errors in satellite data from NASA, which can falsely identify built-up areas and forests as higher ground.

New Scientist | 4 min read

Reference: Nature Communications paper

Features & opinion

A tigress leads her three cubs through a hole in a fence to feed.

A tiger and her cubs leave India’s Bandhavgarh National Park in search of prey, which is scarce inside the reserve.Credit: Steve Winter/National Geographic

India’s tiger renaissance isn’t what it seems

The iconic Indian tiger seems to be a major conservation success story: the government announced in July that the number of wild tigers (Panthera tigris) in the country had doubled from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,967 today. But many scientists are sceptical of the data, and a lack of trust between independent researchers and their government counterparts isn’t helping.

Nature | 15 min read

Psychiatry, pseudopatients and fake data

Fifty years ago, an experiment that purposely sent healthy people to mental hospitals had far-reaching and much-needed effects on psychiatric care. But when journalist Susannah Cahalan set out to tell the story of social psychologist David Rosenhan and his volunteers, she was left doubting that much of it really happened.

Nature | 5 min read

Beware Brexit promises for science

The British government has been talking up its plans for more funding for research following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. But the promises rely on the health of the country’s economy — and Brexit looks likely to put that at risk, argues a Nature Editorial. Analysts predict that income per capita could be between 2.3% and 7% lower after the split.

Nature | 4 min read

Correspondence: your letters to Nature

We’re trying, says Nobel committee

“We share your concerns about the shortage of women and of scientists from outside Europe and North America among Nobel laureates,” write Nobel committee leaders Göran Hansson and Gunnar von Heijne. They are trying to tackle the issue, but it’s a symptom of a bigger problem, they say.

Will your code still run in ten years?

Do you dare to run the code from your past research? That’s the challenge set by Konrad Hinsen and Nicolas Rougier, editors-in-chief of ReScience C. They are inviting researchers to test code reproducibility by trying to rerun their own code created for scientific papers published more than ten years ago.

To protect ‘free will’, we must define it

Chile could soon become the first country to incorporate ‘neurorights’ into its constitution, including the right to free will. That means we need a consensual, minimal definition of the thorny concept, writes psychologist José Muñoz.

Correspondence is published 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 climate movement does not need any more awards. What we need is for our politicians and the people in power start to listen to the current, best available science.”

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has turned down an award from the Nordic Council, asking the countries from her home region to look to their carbon footprints first. (Instagram)