Volume 607 Issue 7920, 28 July 2022

There have been many initiatives to combat the distorting effect of research assessment exercises. The latest looks like it might work

Social-media impact, university rankings and online-aggregator metrics are broken — better ways to assess researchers are needed.

Ukrainian leader’s name is bestowed on a newfound ancient marine invertebrate.

Mature fireflies lit their lanterns before birds and bats evolved, suggesting that sexual signalling drove this dazzling behaviour.

Magnetically steered microorganisms could be used to ferry drugs deep into solid tumours.

Ice collected near Mount Blanc’s summit shows that cement plants do not account for a rise in thallium levels.

Scientists say that they have identified the first confirmed ‘X-ray quiet’ black hole outside the Milky Way.

Study of 42 nations shows a link between cash-transfer programmes and improvements in rates of HIV infection and mortality.

Adaptability and courting habits are influenced by genes borrowed from a vast variety of non-animal species.

The latest science news, in brief.

Scientists launch studies on the effects of US abortion bans while trying to form closer bonds with the communities most affected.

A group including Native Hawaiians will now manage the mountain Maunakea, where Indigenous rights and astronomy have collided.

With the United Kingdom ever more likely to leave the European Union's science-funding programmes, we look at the alternative.

Gene-therapy test launches pivotal year for precise genome-editing technique known as base editing.

Emissions data for different locations could help researchers to reduce the environmental cost of machine-learning experiments.

Nature talks to the Ukrainian mathematician about her research and how the field is changing.

Ohio State University investigations identified misconduct by two scientists in lab of high-profile cancer researcher Carlo Croce. The university has cleared Croce of misconduct, but disciplined him over management problems.

Global integrated reporting is essential if the planet is to achieve net-zero emissions.

Some scientists earn two PhD degrees to expand their skills, cross fields or create a niche research programme.

Nanophotonic biosensors exploit light’s properties to detect molecular interactions in real time at the point of need.

Andrin Caviezel runs alpine experiments to predict the destructive potential of tumbling rocks

An analysis suggests that ice geometry and flow speeds control how meltwater affects the slipperiness of the bed beneath the Greenland ice sheet. Changes in these conditions could therefore influence future ice-mass loss.

An analysis of fossil specimens of the inner ear helps to refine the timeframe of a key transition in vertebrate evolution — when our mammal-like ancestors began to regulate and maintain a high body temperature.

A cryptographic scheme offers a secure way of exchanging data using a phenomenon called quantum entanglement. The approach relies on special quantum correlations between particles that help to prevent tampering.

Snippets from Nature’s past.

Egg cells need to stay out of harm’s way to keep the next generation healthy and free of unwanted mutations. A mechanism by which eggs avoid the ravages caused by harmful reactive oxygen species has now been discovered.

The current status and future perspectives for quantum simulation are overviewed, and the potential for practical quantum computational advantage is analysed by comparing classical numerical methods with analogue and digital quantum simulators.

A general and efficient approach to evaporatively cool ultracold polar molecules through elastic collisions to create a degenerate quantum gas in three dimensions is demonstrated using microwave shielding.

This study demonstrates the experimental realization of a complete protocol for quantum key distribution using entangled trapped strontium ions with device-independent quantum security guarantees.

A system based on trapped rubidium atoms for generating quantum secure keys between distant users is presented, which could operate in a device-independent fashion.

An alternating stack of a candidate spin liquid and a superconductor shows a spontaneous vortex phase in the superconducting state without magnetism in the normal state. This indicates the presence of  unconventional magnetic ordering independent of the superconductor.

Experiments and theory show that transmission peak degeneracies near exceptional points in an electromechanical accelerometer can be used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the sensor.

Using integrated differential phase contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy, the atomic imaging of single pyridine and thiophene molecules identifies host–guest interactions in zeolite ZSM-5 and their adsorption and desorption behaviours can be studied.

Environmental transmission electron microscopy is used to reveal that mismatch dislocations modulate the interfacial transformation of copper oxide to copper metal in an intermittent manner.

An analysis of basal-friction variability across western Greenland shows melt forcing influences bed strength in opposite ways in northern and southern Greenland, establishing melt has an important role in ice-sheet evolution that is mainly dictated by whether a region is land or marine terminating.

Competition for pollinators weakens plant coexistence by destabilizing interactions between plant species; this is crucial for determining the effects of the decline in pollinators.

The functional morphology of the fluid-filled semicircular ducts of the inner ear is adapted to body temperature and behavioural activity and can be used to investigate the evolution of endothermy.

To measure selection on variants, whole-genome sequencing of approximately 150,000 individuals from the UK Biobank is used to rank sequence variants by their level of depletion.

A vector-based model for flexible navigation in the hippocampus allows animals to optimally navigate to any location in their environment.

High-resolution volumetric calcium imaging was used to create a functional atlas of the Drosophila melanogaster ventral brain and identify how and where metabolic and reproductive states alter processing of food-related sensory stimuli.

Oocytes prevent the production of reactive oxygen species by remodelling the mitochondrial electron transport chain through elimination of complex I, a strategy that enables their long-term viability.

Immune tolerance to food is mediated by CD4⁺ T cells forming subsets of T helper cells lacking the capacity to trigger gut pathology but able to produce regulatory T cells that may suppress it.

The autoinflammatory pathology associated with alteration of the ZBD domain of the RNA-editing enzyme ADAR1 is driven by signalling that is dependent on the nucleotide sensor ZBP1.

ADAR1 prevents Z-RNA-dependent activation of pathogenic type I interferon responses by ZBP1, whose activity may contribute to pathology in type I interferonopathies with ADAR1 mutations.

In addition to its role in suppressing MDA5 and PKR activation, ADAR1 is a negative regulator of ZPB1-mediated apoptosis and necroptosis, providing insights into the pathology of Aicardi–Goutières syndrome.

tDeclining YAP/TAZ mechanotransduction drives ageing by unleashing cGAS–STING signalling, a pillar of innate immunity, so sustaining YAP/TAZ mechanosignalling or inhibiting STING present promising approaches for limiting senescence-associated inflammation and improving healthy ageing.

Endogenous APOBEC3 deaminases generate prevalent mutational signatures in human cancer cells, and APOBEC3A is the main driver of these mutations.

Active super-enhancers are highly and specifically hypermutated in 92% of diffuse large B cell lymphoma samples and display signatures of activation-induced cytidine deaminase activity, leading to the dysregulation of genes encoding B cell developmental regulators and oncogenes.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of human Porcupine in complex with palmitoleoyl-coenzyme A, the inhibitor LGK974 and its peptide substrate suggest a mechanism for Wnt acylation.

The cryo-electron microscopy structure of the filamentous hydrogen-dependent CO₂ reductase (HDCR) enzyme from Thermoanaerobacter kivui, together with enzymatic analysis and in situ cryo-electron tomography, provides insight into the high catalytic activity of HDCR.