The United Nations must get its new biodiversity targets right p.337

Global goals to reduce biodiversity loss will be revised this year. All eyes are on China, which must ensure the new targets are measurable and meaningful.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00450-5

Will the latest UK Research Excellence Framework turn out to be the last? p.338

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00451-4

China takes centre stage in global biodiversity push p.345

A major United Nations summit could see China push for ambitious targets and spotlights the country's own conservation efforts.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00362-4

More than 80 clinical trials launch to test coronavirus treatments p.347

As HIV drugs, stem cells and traditional Chinese medicines vie for a chance to prove their worth, the World Health Organization attempts to bring order to the search.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00444-3

Scientists fear coronavirus spread in countries least able to contain it p.348

Concerns are rising about the virus’s potential to circulate undetected in Africa and Asia.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00405-w

Popular preprint servers face closure because of money troubles p.349

Repositories like INA-Rxiv and IndiaRxiv boost regional science, but finding cash to run them is proving difficult.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00363-3

The next chapter for African genomics p.350

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00454-1

How to silence an X chromosome p.365

The non-coding RNA Xist has been shown to enlist the SPEN protein to recruit a team of protein complexes — initiating the process that prevents transcription of one of the two X chromosomes found in female mammalian cells.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00207-0

Why surface roughness is similar at different scales p.366

Most surfaces are rough at many length scales. Simulations show that this characteristic originates at the atomic level in metal-based materials when smooth blocks of these materials are compressed.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-019-03952-z

Loss of p53 protein strikes a nerve to aid tumour growth p.367

Tumours often grow entangled among neurons, which makes the cancer difficult to treat. The finding that cancer cells hijack neighbouring neurons to promote tumour growth suggests new therapeutic targets.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00328-6

Fundamental symmetry tested using antihydrogen p.369

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00384-y

30 years of the iron hypothesis of ice ages p.370

In 1990, an oceanographer who had never worked on climate science proposed that ice-age cooling has been amplified by increased concentrations of iron in the sea — and instigated an explosion of research.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00393-x

Transfer of ubiquitin protein caught in the act p.372

A process termed ubiquitination mediates the regulated destruction of cellular proteins, thereby preventing disease or infection. Structural data now reveal how a crucial regulator of ubiquitination enzymes coordinates this process.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00325-9

Investigation of the fine structure of antihydrogen p.375

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2006-5

Measurement of the quantum geometric tensor and of the anomalous Hall drift p.381

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1989-2

Attosecond pulse shaping using a seeded free-electron laser p.386

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2005-6

A droplet-based electricity generator with high instantaneous power density p.392

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1985-6

Closed-loop optimization of fast-charging protocols for batteries with machine learning p.397

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1994-5

Synthesis of rare sugar isomers through site-selective epimerization p.403

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1937-1

Preindustrial ¹⁴CH₄ indicates greater anthropogenic fossil CH₄ emissions p.409

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1991-8

A claustrum in reptiles and its role in slow-wave sleep p.413

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1993-6

ATP13A2 deficiency disrupts lysosomal polyamine export p.419

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1968-7

Clades of huge phages from across Earth’s ecosystems p.425

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2007-4

Giant virus diversity and host interactions through global metagenomics p.432

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1957-x

AQP5 enriches for stem cells and cancer origins in the distal stomach p.437

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1973-x

GDF15 mediates the effects of metformin on body weight and energy balance p.444

doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1911-y

Loss of p53 drives neuron reprogramming in head and neck cancer p.449

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1996-3

SPEN integrates transcriptional and epigenetic control of X-inactivation p.455

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-1974-9

NEDD8 nucleates a multivalent cullin–RING–UBE2D ubiquitin ligation assembly p.461

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2000-y

Insights into the assembly and activation of the microtubule nucleator γ-TuRC p.467

doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1896-6

The structural basis for cohesin–CTCF-anchored loops p.472

doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1910-z