Perspectives

The authors summarize the history of the ENCODE Project, the achievements of ENCODE 1 and ENCODE 2, and how the new data generated and analysed in ENCODE 3 complement the previous phases.

The antibody-dependent enhancement of disease is reviewed, with an emphasis on implications for the prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The authors review the advantages and future prospects of neuromorphic computing, a multidisciplinary engineering concept for energy-efficient artificial intelligence with brain-inspired functionality.

This Perspective examines the global production ecosystem through the lenses of connectivity, diversity and feedback, and proposes measures that will increase its stability and sustainability.

The authors discuss the potential for sex and gender analysis to foster scientific discovery, improve experimental efficiency and enable social equality.

Ten pathways for the utilization of carbon dioxide are reviewed, considering their potential scale, economics and barriers to implementation.

HuBMAP supports technology development, data acquisition, and spatial analyses to generate comprehensive molecular and cellular three-dimensional tissue maps.

A method of tracking changes in estimates of the remaining carbon budget over time should help to reconcile differences between these estimates and clarify their usefulness for setting emission reduction targets.

This Perspective discusses the challenges associated with the prediction of chemical synthesis, in particular the reaction conditions required for organic transformations, and the role of machine-learning approaches in the prediction process.

Over ten years, the Human Microbiome Project has provided resources for studying the microbiome and its relationship to disease; this Perspective summarizes the key achievements and findings of the project and its relationship to the broader field.

Three years of investigation by a multi-disciplinary team into claims of ‘cold fusion’ found no evidence that the phenomenon exists, but identified a parameter space potentially worthy of further exploration.

Recent advances and future directions in the use of van der Waals integration beyond two-dimensional materials are reviewed.

Complex Earth system challenges can be addressed by incorporating spatial and temporal context into machine learning, especially via deep learning, and further by combining with physical models into hybrid models.

This Perspective discusses developments in LED-based solid-state lighting for physiological and agricultural applications, and the anticipated benefits in terms of health and productivity.

The phenomenon of ultralow friction between sliding incommensurate crystal surfaces—structural superlubricity—is examined, and the challenges and opportunities involved in its extension to the macroscale are assessed.

China has addressed widespread rural poverty and environmental degradation head-on via unprecedented investment in sixteen large-scale sustainability programmes.

The future of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean by 2070 is described under two scenarios, one in which action is taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and one in which no action is taken.

The results of efforts to limit global mean warming to below 1.5 °C may include many possible future world climates.

Insights into windows of opportunity that will have strong positive impacts on the trajectories of health, education, social and economic success of adolescents are reviewed.