Delaying COP26 is not a reason to delay climate action p.7

Coronavirus has delayed climate talks by a year. But the planet doesn’t have extra time, so action on global warming cannot be postponed.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01621-0

SpaceX’s astronaut launch is a boost for the International Space Station p.8

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01620-1

Return to the lab: scientists face shiftwork, masks and distancing as coronavirus lockdowns ease p.15

As scientists around the world return to work, they’re encountering new safety rules and awkward restrictions — and sometimes writing the protocols themselves.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01587-z

What a US exit from the WHO means for COVID-19 and global health p.17

As President Trump terminates the US relationship with the agency, experts foresee incoherence, inefficiency and a resurgence of deadly diseases.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01586-0

Safety fears over drug hyped to treat the coronavirus spark global confusion p.18

A study that suggested using hydroxychloroquine — a malaria drug — to treat people with COVID-19 could be dangerous has slowed clinical trials, but the study itself has also been questioned.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01599-9

How countries are using genomics to help avoid a second coronavirus wave p.19

Scientists in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and other places are using sequence data to track new infections as lockdowns ease.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01573-5

Survival of the littlest: the long-term impacts of being born extremely early p.20

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01517-z

How DNA and RNA subunits might have formed to make the first genetic alphabet p.33

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01566-4

Gut microbes tune inflammation and lifespan in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis p.34

There is growing evidence that gut microbes can influence disease. Analysis of a mouse model of the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis offers insight into how gut bacteria might contribute to this illness.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01335-3

Neuroimaging results altered by varying analysis pipelines p.36

Seventy laboratories that analysed the same neuroimaging data each produced different results. This finding highlights the potential consequences of a lack of standardized pipelines for processing complex data.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01282-z

Light turned into exotic Laughlin matter p.37

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01567-3

Parkinson’s disease grafts benefit from well-timed growth factor p.39

Grafts of stem-cell-derived precursors of dopamine neurons could be used to treat Parkinson’s disease, but this approach has limitations. Injecting a growth factor three weeks after transplantation can overcome some of these limits.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01486-3

Observation of Laughlin states made of light p.41

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2318-5

Controlling free electrons with optical whispering-gallery modes p.46

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2320-y

Coherent interaction between free electrons and a photonic cavity p.50

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2321-x

Design of robust superhydrophobic surfaces p.55

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2331-8

Selective prebiotic formation of RNA pyrimidine and DNA purine nucleosides p.60

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2330-9

Displaced cratonic mantle concentrates deep carbon during continental rifting p.67

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2328-3

Repositioning of the global epicentre of non-optimal cholesterol p.73

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2338-1

The nature of Neanderthal introgression revealed by 27,566 Icelandic genomes p.78

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2225-9

Variability in the analysis of a single neuroimaging dataset by many teams p.84

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2314-9

C9orf72 suppresses systemic and neural inflammation induced by gut bacteria p.89

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2288-7

Landscape and function of multiple mutations within individual oncogenes p.95

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2175-2

Phase and context shape the function of composite oncogenic mutations p.100

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2315-8

Anti-PfGARP activates programmed cell death of parasites and reduces severe malaria p.104

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2220-1

Mouse models of neutropenia reveal progenitor-stage-specific defects p.109

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2227-7

LEM2 phase separation promotes ESCRT-mediated nuclear envelope reformation p.115

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2232-x

Convergent genes shape budding yeast pericentromeres p.119

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2244-6

Multilayered mechanisms ensure that short chromosomes recombine in meiosis p.124

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2248-2

Structure and mechanism of the mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uniporter holocomplex p.129

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2309-6