On 5 May, the World Health Organization lifted its designation of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. The abatement of the pandemic represents an extraordinary scientific achievement. However, COVID-19 remains a threat and its effects will continue to be felt for years.

Victims frequently report immobility during rape and sexual assault, often using the term ‘freezing’. Neuroscientific evidence suggests fear and threat can block cortical neural circuits for action control, leading to involuntary immobility. Defence arguments that blame victims for freezing are thus inappropriate and unjust.

Citizens often vote against the democracies they claim to cherish. Braley et al. find that in the United States, voters’ misperceptions about opposing partisans’ commitment to democracy may unintentionally contribute to this democratic backsliding.

Blair and Weintraub evaluate a military policing programme in Cali, Colombia. They find little to no evidence that the programme reduced crime, improved citizens’ perceptions of safety or mitigated human rights abuses.

Natural disasters affect a region’s human capital as well as its physical capital, reducing both student achievement and educational attainment. These effects are persistent, and when monetized are of a similar magnitude as property damage.

This systematic review examines the evidence on whether and how hormone therapy for transgender people influences psychosocial functioning. Overall, the strongest evidence was found for reductions in depressive symptoms and psychological distress after hormone therapy.

Citizens often vote against the democracies they claim to cherish. Braley et al. find that in the United States, voters’ misperceptions about opposing partisans’ commitment to democracy may unintentionally contribute to this democratic backsliding.

Blair and Weintraub evaluate a military policing programme in Cali, Colombia. They find little to no evidence that the programme reduced crime, improved citizens’ perceptions of safety or mitigated human rights abuses.

In an experiment using publicly available New York City traffic camera feeds, Sands and Dietrich find that pedestrians tend to avoid Black men more than white non-Hispanic men by leaving more space when passing.

The authors use information on 14 traits and create a representative pseudo-sample of the UK Biobank population, showing that participation bias distorts behavioural genome-wide association study and Mendelian randomization findings.

The current science system is unjust — from the systems that determine its membership to its outputs and outcomes. We advocate for contextually responsive, collective action to build a more just science system that demonstrates a relational duty of care to all its participants. To achieve this, we urge the science community to harness the powerful processes of complexity with deliberate intent.

Early-career researchers in Australia report dissatisfaction, bullying and questionable research practices. We discuss how this may contribute to the replication crisis and suggest local and international strategies to improve the industry.

On 5 May, the World Health Organization lifted its designation of COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern. The abatement of the pandemic represents an extraordinary scientific achievement. However, COVID-19 remains a threat and its effects will continue to be felt for years.

Victims frequently report immobility during rape and sexual assault, often using the term ‘freezing’. Neuroscientific evidence suggests fear and threat can block cortical neural circuits for action control, leading to involuntary immobility. Defence arguments that blame victims for freezing are thus inappropriate and unjust.

The metaverse can improve the accessibility of scientific laboratories and meetings, aid in reproducibility efforts and provide new opportunities for experimental design. But researchers and research institutions must plan ahead and be ready to mitigate potential harms.