Volume 570 Issue 7762, 27 June 2019

The hardened soles of those who live barefoot are still sensitive to what’s underneath.

Cuts to science advisory panels for federal agencies will haunt the United States long after the current administration finishes, says Gretchen T. Goldman.

Ultra-efficient light sources provide optical communication signals even at very low power levels.

Simulations in a virtual flume tank suggest that primitive vase-shaped organisms were filter feeders.

Bacteria reduce the effectiveness of a remedy for Parkinson’s disease — and might amplify the drug’s side effects.

If emissions continue to rise, more than half the planet will regularly see monthly temperature records broken.

DNA tags can be used to assemble a diagram of the genetic material inside a cell.

Some plants send dewdrops hurtling off their leaves — and pathogens tag along.

Computer simulations validate common technique for creating an even pancake.

The week in science: 21–27 June 2019.

A report shows that children living with adults who were forcibly separated from their families are more likely to face a host of challenges.

Lasers and quantum calculations help metrologists to update centuries-old mercury methods.

Researchers hope the conclusions of a people’s tribunal will pressure journals to reject papers that might include data from unethical transplants.

Nature's Amy Maxmen reports from the front line of the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At issue is whether growth factors are exempt from export restrictions; a judge will soon decide whether to continue to trial.

Companies say they are close to commercializing cheap perovskite films that could disrupt solar power — but are they too optimistic?

Proteins dating back more than one million years have been extracted from some fossils, and could help to answer some difficult questions about archaic humans.

Researchers must find the particles that are most dangerous to health in each place so policies can reduce levels of those pollutants first, urge Xiangdong Li and colleagues.

Angela Saini’s book indicts a destructive bias in research, writes Robin G. Nelson.

Tim Radford reassesses the independent scientist’s groundbreaking body of writing.

Michael Rowan-Robinson finds an account of NASA’s Spitzer mission gripping but narrowly focused.

A personal take on panning out to see the past both grips and frustrates Jo Marchant.

Scientists are using uncrewed aircraft to map the topography of Guam’s coral reefs.

Ecologists are monitoring biodiversity using DNA shed by wildlife into the environment.

Carrying on with data collection and model creation can be harrowing, but there are rewards in the chance to make a difference.

Tiny flying vehicles require intricate design trade-offs and have previously relied on an external power supply. The sustained flight of an untethered, insect-sized robot represents a major advance.

Some bacteria naturally transfer pieces of their DNA within and between species. Such a piece of DNA has been engineered to act as a molecular ‘Trojan horse’ that unleashes a toxin to selectively kill antibiotic-resistant Vibrio cholerae bacteria.

Atoms of a metal alloy have been tracked as they form crystal nuclei — the first ordered clusters of atoms or molecules produced during crystallization. The findings might help to develop a general nucleation theory.

A module for implementing robust feedback control in synthetic cellular networks has been reported. Its design is first proved mathematically to be universal for all networks, and then implemented in living cells.

Tests of whether a range of gut bacteria can metabolize a diverse group of drugs has revealed that all the microbes metabolized some drugs and that more than half of the drugs were metabolized.

Analysis of forest-management studies finds that forest removal is more likely to increase streamflow in areas with greater water storage between the surface and bedrock, and that forest planting is more likely to decrease streamflow in drier climates.

High-throughput genetic analyses combined with mass spectrometry reveal that the gene products of diverse human gut bacteria affect a wide range of oral drugs, as well as drug metabolism in mice.

The immunogen RC1 facilitates recognition of the V3-glycan patch on the envelope of HIV-1 and elicits specific serological responses in mice and macaques, making it a possible priming immunogen for sequential vaccination strategies in humans.

Analysis of growth dynamics in a dataset from 107 patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) reveals both exponential and logistic patterns of growth, which are associated with differences in genetic attributes and clinical outcomes.

A parametrically driven 30-micrometre-long silicon nanostring oscillator emits stationary path-entangled microwave radiation, squeezing the joint field operators of two thermal modes by 3.4 decibels below the vacuum level.

A machine-learning approach is used to train artificial neural networks to analyse experimental scanning tunnelling microscopy image arrays of quantum materials.

Sustained flight of an insect-sized flapping-wing aerial vehicle weighing just 259 milligrams that does not need to fly tethered to an off-board power supply is demonstrated.

A copper oxide high-temperature superconductor magnet generates a direct-current magnetic field of 45.5 tesla—the highest value reported so far—using a design that enables operation at high current densities.

Atomic electron tomography captures crystal nucleation in four dimensions in FePt nanoparticles, with the observed early-stage nucleation not consistent with classical nucleation theory.

A protocol for the electrochemical reduction of nitrogen to ammonia enables isotope-sensitive quantification of the ammonia produced and the identification and removal of contaminants.

Two-photon calcium imaging of a large population of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area of mice performing a virtual-reality navigation task reveals the organization principles of the dopamine system.

Genetic analyses of ancestrally diverse populations show evidence of heterogeneity across ancestries and provide insights into clinical implications, highlighting the importance of including ancestrally diverse populations to maximize genetic discovery and reduce health disparities.

Comparison of transcriptomes, cell fates and behaviour of three primary cell types from the sponge Amphimedon queenslandica with choanoflagellates and other unicellular holozoans suggests that the first animal cells transitioned between multiple states.

Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis demonstrates that individual human brain organoids generate the cellular diversity of the cerebral cortex with organoid-to-organoid variability that is comparable to that of individual endogenous brains.

Group 3 innate lymphoid cells are recruited to the lung and involved in the immune response to infection with tuberculosis in humans and mice, as a reduction in group 3 innate lymphoid cells in the lung impaired early immune control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mice.

A synthetic gene circuit implementing an integral feedback topology is shown to achieve robust perfect adaptation in living cells--mathematical analysis proves this topology is necessary for adaptation in networks with noisy dynamics.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the yeast 60S ribosomal subunit in complex with Vms1 provides insights into the roles of proteins in the ribosome-associated quality control pathway.