Volume 550 Issue 7676, 19 October 2017

As automation changes employment, researchers should gather the evidence to help map the implications.

Flowers have evolved an ingenious way to attract pollinators.

Brian C. Martinson imagines how rationing the number of publications a scientist could put out might improve the scientific literature.

The week in science: 13–19 October 2017.

Stellar collision confirms theoretical predictions about the periodic table.

Concern mounts over budget cuts and other changes that undermine basic science.

The agency's plan to reverse limits on greenhouse-gas emissions is likely to draw legal challenges.

Metrologists are poised to change how scientists measure the Universe.

Therapy that targets disease-causing mutations could become the first of its kind approved for use in the United States.

Digital technologies are upending the workforce. The right research can tell us how.

Three ways that the digital revolution is reshaping workforces around the world.

Global comparisons of previous social and economic upheavals suggest that what is to come depends on where you are now, argues Robert C. Allen.

As artificial intelligence puts many out of work, we must forge new economic, social and educational systems, argues Yuval Noah Harari.

Ian Goldin calls on scientists to help society to weather the disruptive transformations afoot.

Andrew Robinson enjoys a volume rounding up research on the complex at Giza, Egypt.

Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.

James Poskett applauds a show celebrating discovery on the subcontinent, from zero to the boson.

An artificial-intelligence program called AlphaGo Zero has mastered the game of Go without any human data or guidance. A computer scientist and two members of the American Go Association discuss the implications. See Article p.354

Tumour cells can develop intrinsic adaptations that make them less susceptible to chemotherapy. It emerges that extrinsic bacterial action can also enable tumour cells to escape the effects of drug treatment.

A technique that combines machine learning and quantum computing has been used to identify the particles known as Higgs bosons. The method could find applications in many areas of science. See Letter p.375

A pro-inflammatory response, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, can affect development, ageing and cancer. It emerges that one trigger for this response is the presence of DNA in the cytoplasm. See Letter p.402

Repair of broken DNA is vital for genome stability and to prevent the development of cancer. Research shows how the tumour-suppressor protein BRCA1 promotes a DNA-repair pathway called homologous recombination. See Article p.360

Rett syndrome is a brain disorder caused by disrupted forms of the protein MECP2, but how MECP2 loss affects the brain is unknown. A mouse study now implicates key domains of the protein and offers therapeutic insights. See Letter p.398

The history and future potential of DNA sequencing, including the development of the underlying technologies and the expansion of its areas of application, are reviewed.

Starting from zero knowledge and without human data, AlphaGo Zero was able to teach itself to play Go and to develop novel strategies that provide new insights into the oldest of games.

The tumour suppressor complex BRCA1–BARD1, which facilitates the generation of a single-stranded DNA template during homologous recombination, also binds to the recombinase RAD51 and enhances its function.

Two structures of human transient receptor potential mucolipin 1 (TRPML1), in the closed and agonist-bound open states, have been resolved by electron cryo-microscopy.

The magnetic moment of the antiproton is measured at the parts-per-billion level, improving on previous measurements by a factor of about 350.

A machine learning algorithm implemented on a quantum annealer—a D-Wave machine with 1,098 superconducting qubits—is used to identify Higgs-boson decays from background standard-model processes.

Cations are used to control the interlayer spacing of graphene oxide membranes, enabling efficient and selective sieving of hydrated cations.

A blend of two organic molecules excited by a simple LED light source can release the stored excitation energy slowly as ‘long persistent luminescence’ over periods of up to an hour.

Interactions with male and female intruders activated overlapping neuronal populations in the ventromedial hypothalamus of inexperienced adult male mice, and these ensembles gradually separated as the mice acquired social and sexual experience with conspecifics.

Cultures of expanded potential stem cells can be established from individual eight-cell blastomeres, and by direct conversion of mouse embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells, highlighting the feasibility of establishing expanded potential stem cells for other mammalian species.

Analysis of the minimal functional unit for MeCP2 protein shows that its function is to recruit the NCoR/SMRT co-repressor complex to methylated sites on chromatin, which may have use in designing strategies for gene therapy of Rett syndrome.

Cytoplasmic chromatin activates the innate immunity cytosolic DNA-sensing cGAS–STING pathway, leading both to short-term inflammation to restrain activated oncogenes and to chronic inflammation that associates with tissue destruction and cancer.

A new engineered version of SpCas9, called HypaCas9, displays enhanced accuracy of editing without significant loss of efficiency at the desired target.

A cryo-electron microscopy structure shows that the mucolipin domain of the lysosomal calcium channel TRPML3 binds phosphatidylinositol-3,5-bisphosphate and gates the channel.

The structure of mouse transient receptor potential mucolipin 1 (TRPML1), a cation channel located within endosomal and lysosomal membranes, is resolved using single-particle electron cryo-microscopy.

Will the future of research rely on independent workers who perform short-term jobs? Labour researchers and freelance scientists share their views.

Escape is not an option.

For years, researchers missed the most common genetic cause of ALS. Now they're on an accelerated track to treat it.

Research ranging in scale from cells to populations is rapidly closing in on what goes awry in the body in 'non-familial' ALS, and what environmental factors might contribute.

Let's start describing ALS on the basis of its cause, not on whether someone obtained a relevant family history, says Ammar Al-Chalabi.

In 2014, millions of people doused themselves in icy water to raise money for ALS. Was it worth it?

Machine learning might identify patients earlier, predict their outcomes better, and assign them more efficiently to appropriate clinical trials.

The disease remains incurable but there are signs of hope on the horizon.

Richard Bedlack explains how an open mind led him to some unusual places and unexpected lessons

Cities are magnets for people, resources and infrastructure — essential components for the generation of new ideas. We present here other factors that make for an ideal knowledge city. The elements might seem obvious, but there's no magic formula for how to combine them. Data analysis by Aaron Ballagh, data visualization by Daniel Ormella.

For centuries a hub of ideas and trade, London is embracing ambitious developments to boost research and local connections, despite the uncertainty caused by Brexit.

New York's expensive office and lab spaces have deterred innovative life science firms, but with growing support for start-ups, the scene is changing.

Most of the world's research and entrepreneurship is concentrated in a few megacities.

A focus on basic research is shifting scientific resources from Seoul to South Korea's central city.

Barcelona lures scientists while Madrid is bound by bureaucracy.

China's political and economic centres, Beijing and Shanghai, connect on a scientific level.

Buoyed by government support, Shenzhen emulates Guangzhou's academic excellence.

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality available free online at natureindex.com.