p.569

A look back at 2021 through the Sustainable Development Goals.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03781-z

p.577

As cases spread and countries plan their response, researchers await crucial data on the severity of the disease caused by the coronavirus variant.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03794-8

p.578

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has pledged to revise equity and diversity policies after a review highlighted racial inequality among students and staff.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03755-1

p.579

Researchers are rapidly sequencing the genomes of virus samples worldwide, but shortcomings in the global surveillance system make the task a challenge.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03698-7

p.580

The extraordinary vaccination of more than four billion people, and the lack of access for many others, were major forces this year — while Omicron’s arrival complicated things further.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03686-x

p.584

A helicopter on Mars, human–monkey embryos, volcanic ash and more.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03521-3

p.591

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03621-0

p.607

Standard quantum theory contains square roots of negative numbers. But how essential are these ‘imaginary’ numbers? A way of disproving analogous theories that omit them has been proposed — and confirmed experimentally.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03678-x

p.608

Harnessing immune cells to target tumours is a growing trend. The results of a clinical trial combining such treatment with other standard therapies for gastric cancer have altered medical practice — and more changes are to come.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03458-7

p.610

An optical device designed to control the properties of electron waves inside an electron microscope demonstrates that clever platforms for integrated photonics need not be powered by expensive laser systems.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03767-x

p.611

Research has uncovered factors that underlie the weight gain associated with cessation of smoking. Here, scientists consider the implications of this finding from the perspectives of gut biology and of smoking.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03548-6

p.613

The inclusion of nitrogen atoms stabilizes the zigzag edges of carbon-based nanoribbons, enabling the ribbons to be decoupled from a substrate and providing a probe for their unconventional magnetism.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03768-w

p.614

Increasing the sample size of a survey is often thought to increase the accuracy of the results. However, an analysis of big surveys on the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines shows that larger sample sizes do not protect against bias.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03604-1

p.617

Highlights from News & Views published this year.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-03730-w

p.621

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04101-1

p.625

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04160-4

p.630

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04156-0

p.636

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04151-5

p.641

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04171-1

p.647

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04201-y

p.653

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04197-5

p.659

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04168-w

p.664

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04189-5

p.670

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04153-3

p.675

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04064-3

p.680

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04094-x

p.686

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04125-7

p.690

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04210-x

p.695

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04198-4

p.701

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04120-y

p.707

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04136-4

p.713

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04194-8

p.720

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04137-3

p.727

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04161-3

p.731

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04116-8

p.737

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04208-5

p.743

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04145-3

p.748

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04200-z

p.754

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04214-7

p.759

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04175-x