Volume 598 Issue 7882, 28 October 2021

The coronavirus crisis has halted decades of progress on TB. But the speed of COVID vaccines shows there can still be hope for advances against neglected diseases.

Simple, regular checks could squelch some pernicious practices by unscrupulous publishers and preserve your digital presence.

By tinkering with the structure of wood fibres, scientists have boosted the material’s flexibility and strength.

Antibody levels drop sharply six months after mRNA jabs, but remain stable well after receipt of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine.

Lithium-ion batteries that incorporate a recycled material outperform those made with a commercial version.

Pterosaurs, which soared overhead while dinosaurs stomped the land, had muscles that provided an aerodynamic profile.

Common bacteria make a compound not found in nature after being kitted out with an artificial enzyme.

A promising alternative to the CRISPR system works better when scientists shut down the target cell’s DNA repair systems.

The emissions profile measured on Earth does not match that of any known type of space body.

The latest science news, in brief.

The Mexican government has accused 31 scientists and officials of organized crime and money laundering — allegations that they deny and that many claim are politically motivated.

But decades-long mystery of how long the particles live persists.

Genetic analysis shows that the ancestors of all modern horses lived in the Western Eurasian steppes more than 4,000 years ago.

Poll shows that 80% of respondents are more concerned in the run-up to the COP26 climate meeting than they were ahead of the Paris conference 6 years ago.

Companies are updating vaccines and testing them on people to prepare for whatever comes next in the pandemic.

Developmental geneticist Maria Leptin hopes to keep the European Research Council true to its founding mission.

The mystery of COVID’s origins has reignited a contentious debate about potentially risky studies and the fuzzy terminology that describes them.

Cutting-edge microscopy techniques are allowing researchers to spy on the innards of cells in all their crowded glory.

How a win in the Supreme Court challenged a linchpin of the genetic-testing industry.

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the week’s best science picks.

To thwart publishing rackets that undermine scholars and scholarly publishing, legitimate journals should show their workings.

Four junior researchers with disabilities describe their career experiences to date, and how colleagues can act as allies.

Insight is more important than vision in theoretical physics, says Sofia Qvarfort.

An inventory of the world’s solar-panel installations has been produced with the help of machine learning, revealing many more than had previously been recorded. The results will inform efforts to meet global targets for solar-energy use.

Release of opioid peptide in the brain leads food-deprived mice to eat more sugar than do mice that are well fed. This opioid signalling mechanism fine-tunes the reward value of food according to the animal’s state.

Key nutrients that are needed by immune cells are scarce in tumours. Engineered cancer-invading bacteria can recycle tumour waste into metabolic fuel to boost anticancer immune responses in mice.

A device that generates exotic fluids of particles at equilibrium conditions and high temperatures could have applications ranging from low-loss electrical cables to memory storage.

Nature’s pages feature musings about the value of studying wetlands, and a report of the excavation of an ancient city in Sicily.

Neurons that express a specific molecular marker are activated by ‘electroacupuncture’ stimulation. They can then mediate the treatment’s anti-inflammatory effects in a mouse model of the inflammatory condition sepsis.

A framework is proposed to start a dialogue on the criteria for assessing claims and supporting evidence for life beyond Earth.

The C/O ratio of the transiting hot Jupiter WASP-77Ab is measured here and found to be approximately solar, though the (C+O)/H ratio is subsolar.

So far only signatures of excitonic insulators have been reported, but here direct thermodynamic evidence is provided for a strongly correlated excitonic insulating state in transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductor double layers.

By coordinating copper ions with the oxygen-containing groups of cellulose nanofibrils, the molecular spacing in the nanofibrils is increased, allowing fast transport of lithium ions and offering hopes for solid-state batteries.

A streamlined synthesis of β-arylethylamines using two distinct copper catalysts is reported, and an azide anion is proposed to both react to form the product and facilitate catalyst regeneration.

A global inventory of utility-scale solar photovoltaic generating units, produced by combining remote sensing imagery with machine learning, has identified 68,661 facilities — an increase of over 400% on previously available asset-level data —  the majority of which were sited on cropland.

Mapping of the global potential of atmospheric water harvesting using solar energy shows that it could provide safely managed drinking water for a billion people worldwide based on climate suitability.

A record of flow-speed variations from an ocean core shows that a key component of Indian Ocean circulation rapidly accelerated 2.1 million years ago, coincident with intensification of Pacific Walker circulation.

Global inverse modelling of plant water acquisition depth and isotope-based plant water use estimates demonstrate globally prevalent use of precipitation from distant sources, and that water-stressed ecosystems are well suited to using past and remote precipitation.

Analysis of ancient proteins suggests that Early Bronze Age dairying and horse domestication catalysed eastern Yamnaya migrations.

Analysis of 273 ancient horse genomes reveals that modern domestic horses originated in the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region.

Neuroanatomical findings demonstrate why electroactupuncture at only specific acupoints can drive the vagal–adrenal axis and treat inflammation in mice.

Studies in mice show that µ-opioid peptide receptor regulation of reward consumption in mice acts through a specific dorsal raphe to nucleus accumbens projection and requires enkephalin-producing neurons.

Monitoring of western chimpanzee populations in Guinea-Bissau and Côte d’Ivoire reveals the presence of rare and different genotypes of Mycobacterium leprae, suggesting greater circulation in wild animals than previously thought.

The functional role of intestinal secretory IgA for host–microbiota interactions is investigated, showing that intestinal bacterial exposure leads to selection of diverse plasma cells that secrete antigen-specific IgA, which predominantly targets bacterial membranes.

Injection of engineered bacteria that convert ammonia to l-arginine into tumours enhance the anti-tumour response in a mouse model and synergize with anti-PD-L1 treatment to clear tumours.

Structure of human nuclear pore complex in its cellular environment reveals a substantially dilated central channel and shows that its nucleoplasmic and cytoplasmic rings restrict channel dimensions and create membrane asymmetry at the inner ring.

The structure of the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus in complex with LDLRAD3 provides insights into the structural basis of alphavirus–receptor interactions.

The cryo-electron microscopy structure of domain 1 of the LDLRAD3 receptor in complex with virus-like particles of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) provides insights into the assembly and entry of VEEV and other alphaviruses.

KDM5B recruits SETDB1 to repress endogenous retroelements such as MMVL30, suppressing anti-tumour immunity, and the depletion of KDM5B induces a robust adaptive immune response and enhances the response to immune checkpoint blockade.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the luteinizing hormone–choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR), in complex with G_s and in various states of activation, reveal a distinct mechanism of receptor activation, with implications for drug discovery.