COVID is amplifying the inadequacy of research-evaluation processes p.7

Systems for assessing scientists’ work must properly account for a lost year of research – especially for female researchers.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00527-9

The UN Environment Programme needs new powers p.8

Fifty years after its creation, the agency’s member states must agree to be held accountable for their green promises.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00528-8

Fuel for world’s largest fusion reactor ITER is set for test run p.15

Nuclear fusion experiments with deuterium and tritium at the Joint European Torus are a crucial dress rehearsal for the mega-experiment.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00408-1

Why COVID vaccines are so difficult to compare p.16

Despite the widespread roll-out of several vaccines, it could be months before they can be ranked.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00409-0

Can COVID spread from frozen wildlife? Scientists probe pandemic origins p.18

Studies from China suggest that the coronavirus can be transmitted on frozen surfaces — but scientists say that’s unlikely to be how the pandemic started.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00495-0

Contact-tracing apps help reduce COVID infections, data suggest p.19

Evaluations find apps are useful, but would benefit from better integration into health-care systems.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00451-y

How Europe’s €100-billion science fund will shape 7 years of research p.20

As Horizon Europe issues its first call for grants, Nature reviews some big changes — from open science to goal-oriented ‘missions’.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00496-z

Robo-writers: the rise and risks of language-generating AI p.22

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00530-0

The search for animals harbouring coronavirus — and why it matters p.26

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00531-z

Soft robot reaches the deepest part of the ocean p.35

A self-powered robot inspired by a fish can survive the extreme pressures at the bottom of the ocean’s deepest trench, thanks to its soft body and distributed electronic system — and might enable exploration of the uncharted ocean.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00489-y

Active membrane rupture spurs a range of cell deaths p.36

Rupture of the plasma membrane in different forms of cell death was long thought to be a passive process. The finding that it is an active one, mediated by a specific membrane protein, reveals an unexpected feature shared by dying cells.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00297-4

Some antibodies can dampen antiviral defences in people with severe COVID p.37

Defects in the immune defences induced by the protein interferon are associated with some severe cases of COVID-19. An analysis of patients’ blood samples sheds light on how antibodies might contribute to these defects.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00352-0

Dynamics of RNA–protein interactions studied in living cells p.39

An understanding of how quickly biomolecules bind and dissociate in cells is crucial for developing quantitative models of biology, but measurements of these kinetics were possible only using purified proteins in vitro — until now.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00236-3

Photonic chip brings optical quantum computers a step closer p.40

A programmable photonic circuit has been developed that can execute various quantum algorithms and is potentially highly scalable. This device could pave the way for large-scale quantum computers based on photonic hardware.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00488-z

Promises and prospects of two-dimensional transistors p.43

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03339-z

Quantum circuits with many photons on a programmable nanophotonic chip p.54

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03202-1

Van der Waals heterostructure polaritons with moiré-induced nonlinearity p.61

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03228-5

Self-powered soft robot in the Mariana Trench p.66

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03153-z

Ligand-engineered bandgap stability in mixed-halide perovskite LEDs p.72

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03217-8

Human alteration of global surface water storage variability p.78

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03262-3

Stress-induced amorphization triggers deformation in the lithospheric mantle p.82

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03238-3

Dire wolves were the last of an ancient New World canid lineage p.87

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03082-x

Genetic mechanisms of critical illness in COVID-19 p.92

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03065-y

Structural and developmental principles of neuropil assembly in C. elegans p.99

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03169-5

A multi-scale brain map derived from whole-brain volumetric reconstructions p.105

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03284-x

Structure and function of a neocortical synapse p.111

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03134-2

Chaperone-mediated autophagy sustains haematopoietic stem-cell function p.117

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03129-z

Global absence and targeting of protective immune states in severe COVID-19 p.124

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03234-7

NINJ1 mediates plasma membrane rupture during lytic cell death p.131

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03218-7

Chromothripsis drives the evolution of gene amplification in cancer p.137

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03064-z

Wetting regulates autophagy of phase-separated compartments and the cytosol p.142

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2992-3

Systematic analysis of binding of transcription factors to noncoding variants p.147

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03211-0

The kinetic landscape of an RNA-binding protein in cells p.152

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03222-x

Structure and inhibition mechanism of the human citrate transporter NaCT p.157

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03230-x