This meta-analysis of 42 studies finds that learning progress has slowed during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, particularly among children from low socio-economic backgrounds and in poorer countries. Reported learning deficits were larger in maths than in reading.

During the Last Ice Age, Neanderthals used a small cave in the Iberian Peninsula to accumulate the crania of large ungulates (bison, aurochs, red deer and rhinoceroses), some associated with small hearths. This seems to have been a symbolic practice.

The authors use large-scale data on urban productivity, innovation and social connectivity, as well as extensive mathematical modelling, and show that power-law urban scaling laws arise out of urban inequalities.

Leveraging multiple datasets (surveys, web search trends and mobility), Huang et al. document how anti-Chinese rhetoric led to blame sentiment and consumer discrimination against Asian American businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors introduce a deep learning framework to reproduce sequences of response times and use it to provide evidence for a stability–flexibility trade-off underlying task-switching costs.

Lockdowns may help control disease, but also come with potential costs. Domestic violence complaints in India increased in districts with the strictest lockdown rules, and remained higher 1 year later, even after restrictions were loosened.

Racism is still rife in predominantly white universities. These will not be safe for Black students until the collective mindset of white campuses changes, argues Walter P. Suza.

The freedom to research and publish without fear of state retribution is one that many academics take as a given. Unfortunately, this basic freedom is not universal.

Two publications have called for the redefinition of statistical significance as 0.005, or justification of the alpha. We argue that these papers expose a vicious cycle: scientists do not adopt recommendations because they are not standard, and they are not standard because few scientists adopt them. We call on journals and preregistration platforms to mandate alpha-level statements.

In Iran, women and men protest day and night for women, life and liberty. The moment has come for the international academic community to take action to remove the obstacles faced by Iran’s scholarly community, and join the call for equality, democracy and human rights.