US president-elect Joe Biden must quickly restore science to government p.175

The election of Biden and Kamala Harris is a win for facts, research and empathy. Each of these must be deployed to fight the pandemic, combat misinformation, mitigate climate change and rebuild the United States’ global relationships.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03081-y

Scientists relieved as Joe Biden wins tight US presidential election p.183

The new president has the opportunity to reverse four years of anti-science policies — but he has a hard road ahead as he inherits a nation divided.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03158-8

China set to retrieve first Moon rocks in 40 years p.185

Chang’e-5 has just one lunar day to collect lunar material from a previously unexplored region of the Moon’s near side.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03064-z

UAE ramps up space ambitions with Arab world’s first Moon mission p.186

With its orbiter Hope on its way to Mars, the United Arab Emirates has now set its sights on the Moon.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03054-1

Scientists criticize use of unproven COVID drugs in India p.187

Researchers say it is unclear on what basis the drugs were approved for ‘emergency use’.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03105-7

Quantum-computing pioneer warns of complacency over Internet security p.189

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03068-9

Why do COVID death rates seem to be falling? p.190

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03132-4

DNA-binding proteins meet their mismatch p.199

Mismatches are alterations in DNA that prevent the bases on each strand of the double helix from aligning correctly. It emerges that mismatches can bend DNA into favourable conformations for binding by proteins.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-02658-x

Tropical cyclones could last longer after landfall in a warming world p.200

Tropical cyclones weaken after they reach land. But it emerges that for the North Atlantic basin, storms are weakening more slowly as regional sea surface temperatures increase.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03118-2

Caspase-8 protein cuts a brake on immune defences p.201

The enzyme caspase-8 can induce cell death or promote survival and the expression of inflammatory proteins. The discovery of a previously unknown caspase-8 target solves one mystery about immune-defence regulation.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-02994-y

Primordial element production studied beneath a mountain p.203

Experiments conducted deep beneath a mountain have provided the most precise measurements yet of a key nuclear reaction that occurred seconds after the Big Bang — refining our knowledge of the constituents of the Universe.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03117-3

A comparative genomics multitool for scientific discovery and conservation p.240

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2876-6

Bennu’s near-Earth lifetime of 1.75 million years inferred from craters on its boulders p.205

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2846-z

The baryon density of the Universe from an improved rate of deuterium burning p.210

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2878-4

Correlated insulating states at fractional fillings of moiré superlattices p.214

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2868-6

Ultra-sensitive and resilient compliant strain gauges for soft machines p.219

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2892-6

 Anatomy of cage formation in a two-dimensional glass-forming liquid p.225

The onset of rigidity in a two-dimensional colloidal glass-forming system is identified by the formation and merging of locally rigid domains in which particles move in a cooperative manner.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2869-5

Slower decay of landfalling hurricanes in a warming world p.230

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2867-7

Dense and pleiotropic regulatory information in a developmental enhancer p.235

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2816-5

Progressive Cactus is a multiple-genome aligner for the thousand-genome era p.246

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2871-y

Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics p.252

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2873-9

Parallel ascending spinal pathways for affective touch and pain p.258

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2860-1

Hippocampal CA2 sharp-wave ripples reactivate and promote social memory p.264

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2758-y

SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells in healthy donors and patients with COVID-19 p.270

A study of patients with COVID-19 and healthy donors found CD4+ T cells that react to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 and human endemic coronaviruses; however, the effect of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive T cells on clinical outcomes remains to be determined.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2598-9

Integration of innate immune signalling by caspase-8 cleavage of N4BP1 p.275

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2796-5

Cas9 gene therapy for Angelman syndrome traps Ube3a-ATS long non-coding RNA p.281

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2835-2

Chromosome clustering by Ki-67 excludes cytoplasm during nuclear assembly p.285

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2672-3

DNA mismatches reveal conformational penalties in protein–DNA recognition p.291

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2843-2

Equilibrium between nascent and parental MCM proteins protects replicating genomes p.297

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2842-3

RAD51-dependent recruitment of TERRA lncRNA to telomeres through R-loops p.303

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2815-6

Structural basis for RIFIN-mediated activation of LILRB1 in malaria p.309

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2530-3

Structure of the human sodium leak channel NALCN p.313

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2570-8