Private weather data should not replace basic research p.5
Earth-monitoring research missions should go on, despite commercial venturesdoi: 10.1038/542005b
Volume 542 Issue 7639
Editorials
Demand decisions based on evidence, not ideology p.5
Psychology can moderate our response to unsavoury actions such as the US ban on immigrants, but we should not let our appetite for dissent diminish.doi: 10.1038/542005a
The time is ripe to reform the World Health Organization p.6
As the public-health agency chooses a new leader, the media and politicians must be more realistic about what it can do.doi: 10.1038/542006a
News
Meet the scientists affected by Trump’s immigration ban p.13
Order barring citizens of seven countries from entering the United States has left many confused and afraid.doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.21389
Gene drives thwarted by emergence of resistant organisms p.15
Until this obstacle is overcome, the technology is unlikely to succeed in the wild.doi: 10.1038/542015a
Astronomers explore uses for AI-generated images p.16
Neural networks produce pictures to train image-recognition programs and scientific software.doi: 10.1038/542016a
Physicists doubt bold report of metallic hydrogen p.17
Many researchers are sceptical of a paper claiming to have compressed hydrogen to a metallic state.doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.21379
Race to provide commercial weather data heats up p.18
A movement to privatize Earth-observing satellites is gaining ground.doi: 10.1038/542018a
World’s foremost institute on death and disease metrics gets massive cash boost p.19
Centre evaluates how public-health spending can improve mortality rates and disease burden, but many countries still do not record how people die.doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.21373
News Features
What it would take to reach the stars p.20
A wild plan is taking shape to visit the nearest planet outside our Solar System. Here’s how we could get to Proxima b.doi: 10.1038/542020a
How heat from the Sun can keep us all cool p.23
As demand for air conditioning climbs, some see a solution in the very thing that makes us sweat: the Sun.doi: 10.1038/542023a
News & Views
Double trouble for tumours p.34
When some cancer cells delete a tumour-suppressor gene, they also delete nearby genes. It emerges that one of these latter genes has a key metabolic role, revealing a therapeutic opportunity that might be relevant for many tumours. See Letter p.119doi: 10.1038/nature21117
Nanoparticle atoms pinpointed p.35
The locations of atoms in a metallic alloy nanoparticle have been determined using a combination of electron microscopy and image simulation, revealing links between the particle's structure and magnetic properties. See Letter p.75doi: 10.1038/542035a
The final frontier in cancer diagnosis p.36
A computer, trained to classify skin cancers using image analysis alone, can now identify certain cancers as successfully as can skin-cancer doctors. What are the implications for the future of medical diagnosis? See Letter p.115doi: 10.1038/nature21492
Vast peatlands found in the Congo Basin p.38
The discovery of what is potentially the world's largest continuous tropical peat complex has great implications for global carbon stocks, land management and scientific investment in central Africa. See Letter p.86doi: 10.1038/542038b
Growth factor rattled out of its cage p.40
The growth factor TGF-ß1 is located inside a protein cage, and is thought to be released by force applied through integrin proteins. A structure of TGF-ß1 in complex with integrin αVß6 sheds light on the uncaging process. See Article p.55doi: 10.1038/nature21119
Making a mountain out of a plateau p.41
A theory proposed in 2015 suggested that relatively flat surfaces in mountain ranges were formed by the reorganization of river networks. A fresh analysis rebuts this idea, reigniting discussion of a long-standing problem in Earth science.doi: 10.1038/542041a
Articles
IL-17 is a neuromodulator of Caenorhabditis elegans sensory responses p.43
Interleukin-17 functions as a neuromodulator in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, acting directly on RMG hub interneurons to alter their response properties and contribution to behaviour.doi: 10.1038/nature20818
The role of fatty acid β-oxidation in lymphangiogenesis p.49
The lymphangiogenic factor PROX1 transcriptionally upregulates CPT1A, a rate-controlling enzyme in fatty acid β-oxidation, and this co-regulates lymphatic endothelial cell differentiation by epigenetic control of lymphatic gene expression, demonstrating a role for metabolism in developmental biology.doi: 10.1038/nature21028
Force interacts with macromolecular structure in activation of TGF-β p.55
Integrin αVβ6 binds the transforming growth factor-β1 precursor (pro-TGF-β1) in an orientation that is biologically relevant for force-dependent release of TGF-β from its latent form.doi: 10.1038/nature21035
Structure of a eukaryotic cyclic-nucleotide-gated channel p.60
The first high-resolution (3.5 Å) structure of a full-length cyclic-nucleotide-gated channel, revealing an unconventional, voltage-insensitive voltage-sensor domain and a unique coupling mechanism between cyclic-nucleotide-binding and pore-opening.doi: 10.1038/nature20819
Letters
Spin–orbit-coupled fermions in an optical lattice clock p.66
Spin–orbit coupling is implemented in an optical lattice clock using a narrow optical transition in fermionic 87Sr atoms, thus mitigating the heating problems of previous experiments with alkali atoms and offering new prospects for future investigations.doi: 10.1038/nature20811
Ultrafast nonthermal photo-magnetic recording in a transparent medium p.71
Ultrafast photo-magnetic recording in transparent films of the dielectric cobalt-substituted garnet has very low heat load and is much faster than existing alternatives.doi: 10.1038/nature20807
Deciphering chemical order/disorder and material properties at the single-atom level p.75
The three-dimensional coordinates of more than 23,000 atoms in an iron-platinum nanoparticle are determined with 22 picometre precision to correlate chemical order/disorder and crystal defects with magnetic properties.doi: 10.1038/nature21042
Molybdenum chloride catalysts for Z-selective olefin metathesis reactions p.80
Substitution of a ligand in molybdenum-based complexes enables typically inert hexafluorobutene to participate in Z-selective olefin cross-metathesis reactions.doi: 10.1038/nature21043
Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex p.86
Field measurements combined with remotely sensed data reveal the Cuvette Centrale in the central Congo Basin to contain the most extensive peatland complex in the tropics, increasing the best estimate of global tropical peatland carbon stocks by approximately one-third.doi: 10.1038/nature21048
Elevation alters ecosystem properties across temperate treelines globally p.91
Examination of the ecosystem properties of treeline ecotones in seven temperate regions of the world shows that the reduction in temperature with increasing elevation does not affect tree leaf nutrient concentrations, but does reduce ground-layer community-weighted plant nitrogen levels, leading to a strong stoichiometric convergence of ground-layer plant community nitrogen to phosphorus ratios across all regions.doi: 10.1038/nature21027
A competitive inhibitory circuit for selection of active and passive fear responses p.96
Competitive circuits in the amygdala of mice drive either freezing or flight behaviour in response to threat, and involve distinct neuronal subtypes.doi: 10.1038/nature21047
Plasmodium malariae and P. ovale genomes provide insights into malaria parasite evolution OPEN p.101
Elucidation of the evolutionary history and interrelatedness of Plasmodium species that infect humans has been hampered by a lack of genetic information for three human-infective species: P. malariae and two P. ovale species (P. o. curtisi and P. o. wallikeri)
doi: 10.1038/nature21038
MATRILINEAL, a sperm-specific phospholipase, triggers maize haploid induction p.105
A frame-shift mutation in MATRILINEAL, a pollen-specific phospholipase, triggers haploid induction in maize, which may be useful in developing improved haploid induction systems for crop breeding.doi: 10.1038/nature20827
Pathologically expanded peripheral T helper cell subset drives B cells in rheumatoid arthritis p.110
The authors identify in patients with rheumatoid arthritis a pathogenic subset of CD4+ T cells that augments B cell responses within inflamed tissues.doi: 10.1038/nature20810
Dermatologist-level classification of skin cancer with deep neural networks p.115
An artificial intelligence trained to classify images of skin lesions as benign lesions or malignant skin cancers achieves the accuracy of board-certified dermatologists.doi: 10.1038/nature21056
Genomic deletion of malic enzyme 2 confers collateral lethality in pancreatic cancer p.119
Depletion of malic enzyme 3 in pancreatic cancer cells that have a deletion of the gene for malic enzyme 2 selectively kills the cells, suggesting that the enzyme might represent a therapeutic target for this subset of cancers.doi: 10.1038/nature21052
