From massive open online courses (MOOCs) that are delivered to tens of thousands around the globe to adaptive digital tools that can improve outcomes by providing tailored learning experiences as well as mapping a student’s individual progress at every juncture, technology is transforming the 21st century student. Through feature articles and commentaries from experts in the field, this special collaboration between the editors of Scientific AmericanandNatureprobes the revolution underway in education and what it means for learning and research.

While survival rates for some types of leukaemia have improved dramatically, this family of blood cancers remains a potentially fatal disease. Research in epigenetics, immunotherapy, and cell transplants offers hope. And leukaemia is proving a testing ground for the theory of cancer stem cells — leading to knowledge that could advance cancer research overall.

One hundred years after Niels Bohr published his model of the atom, a special issue of Natureexplores its legacy — and how much there is still to learn about atomic structure. This special includes articles on the history of Bohr's discovery; on the enigmatic nature of the electron; on the theoretical limits on atomic and nuclear size; and on how physicists are stretching, stripping and contorting atoms to new and bizarre limits.

Rapid economic growth in China has led to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution. This June Beijing hosts the 9th International Carbon Dioxide Conference, which aims to improve our understanding of the global carbon cycle and its perturbations by anthropogenic activities and climate. In this context Naturepresents a selection of research with significant contributions from scientists based in China together with comment and news articles that discuss environmental science in China.

Researchers are defining the various functions of sleep, from how we learn to the regulation of metabolism and immunity. Insufficient sleep, a growing problem in modern society, can knock our biological clocks out of kilter, sometimes leading to chronic disease and neurodegeneration. New ways to treat troubled sleeping are being developed, and better sleep practice can help people with mood disorders.

Rapid economic growth in China has led to high levels of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution. This June Beijing hosts the 9th International Carbon Dioxide Conference, which aims to improve our understanding of the global carbon cycle and its perturbations by anthropogenic activities and climate. In this context Naturepresents a selection of research with significant contributions from scientists based in China together with comment and news articles that discuss environmental science in China.

Chronic pain is estimated to affect over one-quarter of the world's population, and presents a considerable therapeutic challenge. This Nature Collection brings together articles from Nature,Nature Medicine,Nature Neuroscience,Nature Reviews NeurologyandNature Reviews Neurosciencethat highlight recent advances towards understanding the risk factors and mechanisms that underlie chronic pain, and developing effective, non-addictive treatments for this highly prevalent condition.

No research paper can ever be considered to be the final word, and the replication and corroboration of research results is key to the scientific process. In studying complex entities, especially animals and human beings, the complexity of the system and of the techniques can all too easily lead to results that seem robust in the lab, and valid to editors and referees of journals, but which do not stand the test of further studies. Naturehas published a series of articles about the worrying extent to which research results have been found wanting in this respect. The editors ofNatureand theNaturelife sciences research journals have also taken substantive steps to put our own houses in order, in improving the transparency and robustness of what we publish. Journals, research laboratories and institutions and funders all have an interest in tackling issues of irreproducibility. We hope that the articles contained in this collection will help.

After nearly 400 years in the slow-moving world of print, the scientific publishing industry is suddenly being thrust into a fast-paced online world of cloud computing, crowd sourcing and ubiquitous sharing. Long-established practices are being challenged by new ones – most notably, the open-access, author-pays publishing model. In this special issue, Nature takes a close look at the forces now at work in scientific publishing, and how they may play out over the coming decades.

Prized since antiquity for its beauty and stability, gold is becoming a darling of the nanotechnology age. Gold nanoparticles can help pinpoint a tumour — and then carry drugs to it. It also holds promise for making extremely efficient solar cells, among other photonic applications. Nature Outlook: Goldreports on what's driving the twenty-first-century gold rush.

Science remains institutionally sexist. Despite some progress, women scientists are still paid less, promoted less frequently, win fewer grants and are more likely to leave research than similarly qualified men. This special issue of Naturetakes a hard look at the gender gap — from bench to boardroom — and at what is being done to close it.

Heart disease causes almost one in three deaths worldwide. While improved diet and lifestyle changes play huge roles in combating the disease, discoveries about the biochemical and cellular mechanisms involved are bringing forth new treatments - from better drugs to surgical procedures.