UK science advisers: publish evidence behind COVID vaccine changes p.169

Countries that change established coronavirus vaccine schedules must be transparent, both to maintain public trust and so others can benefit from their knowledge.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00045-8

Why a pioneering plan to distribute COVID vaccines equitably must succeed p.170

COVAX is key to both immunizing the world’s poorest people and ending the pandemic.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00044-9

Could new COVID variants undermine vaccines? Labs scramble to find out p.177

Researchers race to determine why lineages identified in Britain and South Africa spread so quickly and whether they’ll compromise vaccines.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00031-0

What the landmark Brexit deal means for science p.179

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00009-y

Will increasing traffic to the Moon contaminate its precious ice? p.180

Scientists seek guidance on exploring frozen caches at the lunar poles responsibly.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03262-9

How can countries stretch COVID vaccine supplies? Scientists are divided over dosing strategies p.182

Researchers worry that efforts to free up limited vaccine doses are driven by desperation rather than data.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00001-6

What the data say about border closures and COVID spread p.185

Models estimate that travel restrictions worked early in the pandemic, but became less effective throughout the year.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03605-6

The secret forces that squeeze and pull life into shape p.186

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00018-x

How COVID unlocked the power of RNA vaccines p.189

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00019-w

Cosmic electromagnetic bomb sheds light on the origins of γ-ray bursts p.199

Celestial eruptions known as giant magnetar flares have been seen in our cosmic backyard, but were so bright they blinded observational instruments. The discovery of a more distant flare finally reveals details of these emissions.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03657-8

Repeat DNA expands our understanding of autism spectrum disorder p.200

A link has been found between repetitive stretches of DNA called tandem repeats and autism spectrum disorder. The discovery might inform approaches to studying tandem repeats in a wide range of other human disorders.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03658-7

AI weighs in on debate about universal facial expressions p.202

An analysis of more than 6 million YouTube videos finds that people around the world make similar facial expressions in similar social contexts. The study brings data science to the debate about the universality of emotion categories.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03509-5

Giant photon avalanches observed in nanoparticles p.204

In some materials, the absorption of a single photon can trigger a chain reaction that produces a large burst of light. The discovery of these photon avalanches in nanostructures opens the way to imaging and sensing applications.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-03659-6

Rapid spectral variability of a giant flare from a magnetar in NGC 253 p.207

Observations of a giant flare associated with the starburst galaxy NGC 253 suggest that the flare is probably associated with relativistic plasma in the magnetic field of a magnetar.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03077-8

A bright γ-ray flare interpreted as a giant magnetar flare in NGC 253 p.211

The γ-ray burst GRB 200415A is probably a giant flare emitted from a magnetar in the nearby starburst galaxy NGC 253.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03076-9

An integrated space-to-ground quantum communication network over 4,600 kilometres p.214

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03093-8

Entangling logical qubits with lattice surgery p.220

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03079-6

Landau quantization and highly mobile fermions in an insulator p.225

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03084-9

Giant nonlinear optical responses from photon-avalanching nanoparticles p.230

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03092-9

Antarctic icebergs reorganize ocean circulation during Pleistocene glacials p.236

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03094-7

Functional adaptive landscapes predict terrestrial capacity at the origin of limbs p.242

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2974-5

Patterns of de novo tandem repeat mutations and their role in autism p.246

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03078-7

Sixteen facial expressions occur in similar contexts worldwide p.251

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-3037-7

Distinct hypothalamic control of same- and opposite-sex mounting behaviour in mice p.258

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2995-0

Reconstitution of the oocyte transcriptional network with transcription factors p.264

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-3027-9

Identification of SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors using lung and colonic organoids p.270

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2901-9

A pooled testing strategy for identifying SARS-CoV-2 at low prevalence p.276

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2885-5

Decoding myofibroblast origins in human kidney fibrosis p.281

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2941-1

ALDH4A1 is an atherosclerosis auto-antigen targeted by protective antibodies p.287

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2993-2

H1 histones control the epigenetic landscape by local chromatin compaction p.293

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-3032-z

Histone H1 loss drives lymphoma by disrupting 3D chromatin architecture p.299

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-3017-y

Structure and function of virion RNA polymerase of a crAss-like phage p.306

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2921-5

Ultrafast structural changes within a photosynthetic reaction centre p.310

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-3000-7