US proposal for defining gender has no basis in science p.5

A move to classify people on the basis of anatomy or genetics should be abandoned.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07238-8

Brazil’s new president adds to global threat to science p.5

The election of Jair Bolsonaro is bad for research and the environment.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07236-w

Paralysed people walk again after spinal-cord stimulation p.6

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07237-9

Rare genetic sequences illuminate early humans’ history in Africa p.13

Little-studied ethnic groups on the continent are helping researchers to understand the movements of people who lived there tens of thousands of years ago.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07164-9

Europe shows first cards in €1-billion quantum bet p.14

One of the most ambitious EU ‘Flagship’ schemes yet has picked 20 projects, aiming to turn weird physics into useful products.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07216-0

Strict EU ruling on gene-edited crops squeezes science p.15

Researchers are feeling the pinch and demanding exemptions for plant science and agriculture.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07166-7

‘Why didn’t we think to do this earlier?’ Chemists thrilled by speedy atomic structures p.16

Cross-disciplinary thinking was key to realizing the potential of electron diffraction to organic chemistry.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07213-3

Mothballed Mount Everest climate observatory could reopen by early next year p.17

A group that helped create the Nepal Climate Observatory - Pyramid approaches a deal with the Italian funding agency that once bankrolled it.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-06846-8

Mars scientists edge closer to solving methane mystery p.18

The warming power of the Sun could help to explain why the level of gas in the atmosphere changes with the seasons.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07177-4

Happy with a 20% chance of sadness p.20

Researchers are developing wristbands and apps to predict moods — but the technology has pitfalls as well as promise.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07181-8

The world’s strongest MRI machines are pushing human imaging to new limits p.24

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07182-7

Single-cell sequencing paints diverse pictures of the brain p.38

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07027-3

Mechanical quantum systems controlled p.39

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07169-4

Chromatin clues to the trypanosome parasite’s uniform coat p.40

The parasite Trypanosoma brucei causes sleeping sickness. It evades human defences by changing the version of a protein that coats its surface. Analysis of its genome and nuclear structure clarifies this variation process.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07008-6

A ‘don’t eat me’ immune signal protects neuronal connections p.42

During development, some synaptic connections between neurons are removed by immune cells called microglia, and others are retained. The discovery of a ‘don’t eat me’ signal that prevents excess pruning sheds light on this process.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07165-8

Evidence of ancient Milky Way merger p.43

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-07193-4

Absent forebrain replaced by embryonic stem cells p.44

A new technique, in which forebrain-precursor cells are ablated from early-stage mouse embryos and replaced with embryonic stem cells, promises to facilitate our ability to study the central nervous system.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-018-06933-w

Magnetism in two-dimensional van der Waals materials p.47

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0631-z

Measurement-based quantum control of mechanical motion p.53

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0643-8

The Moral Machine experiment p.59

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0637-6

Targeted neurotechnology restores walking in humans with spinal cord injury p.65

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0649-2

Shared and distinct transcriptomic cell types across neocortical areas p.72

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0654-5

Distinct descending motor cortex pathways and their roles in movement p.79

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0642-9

The merger that led to the formation of the Milky Way’s inner stellar halo and thick disk p.85

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0625-x

Security and eavesdropping in terahertz wireless links p.89

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0609-x

Gate-tunable room-temperature ferromagnetism in two-dimensional Fe₃GeTe₂ p.94

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0626-9

Base-free nickel-catalysed decarbonylative Suzuki–Miyaura coupling of acid fluorides p.100

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0628-7

Quantification of ocean heat uptake from changes in atmospheric O₂ and CO₂ composition p.105

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0651-8

Biodiversity increases and decreases ecosystem stability p.109

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0627-8

A cortico-cerebellar loop for motor planning p.113

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0633-x

A mesocortical dopamine circuit enables the cultural transmission of vocal behaviour p.117

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0636-7

Genome organization and DNA accessibility control antigenic variation in trypanosomes p.121

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0619-8

Neural blastocyst complementation enables mouse forebrain organogenesis p.126

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0586-0

Nuclear cGAS suppresses DNA repair and promotes tumorigenesis p.131

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0629-6

Cryo-EM structure of the Ebola virus nucleoprotein–RNA complex at 3.6 Å resolution p.137

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0630-0