Nuclear technology’s role in the world’s energy supply is shrinking p.177

Anniversaries of the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters highlight the challenges of relying on nuclear power to cut net carbon emissions to zero.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00615-w

Growing support for valuing ecosystems will help conserve the planet p.178

The idea that ecosystems have monetary value now has global support — and creates a route to protecting Earth’s endangered regions.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00616-9

Scientists want virtual meetings to stay after the COVID pandemic p.185

A Nature poll shows that a year of online research conferences has brought big benefits, but blending them with in-person meetings in future will be a challenge.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00513-1

Major physics society won’t meet in cities with racist policing record p.187

The American Physical Society’s new criteria for conference venues seem to be unique among scientific societies.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00492-3

Where did COVID come from? Five mysteries that remain p.188

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00502-4

Which are the best pandemic policies? Data trackers are trying to judge p.189

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00590-2

Multitude of coronavirus variants found in the US — but the threat is unclear p.190

Ramped-up sequencing efforts are helping to identify mutations that might boost transmission or help a virus evade immune responses.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00564-4

Taiwan fines researcher for allegedly managing projects on Chinese mainland p.192

The contested allegations highlight how political tensions could be affecting research.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00524-y

Pregnancy and COVID: what the data say p.193

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00578-y

A bird’s migration decoded p.203

Technological advances offer new ways to investigate the contribution that changing climate and genes have made in shaping past migrations by peregrine falcons. Can this help to predict the fate of future migrations?

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00510-4

Cancer aided by greasy traitors p.204

Cancer can evade destruction by the immune system if aided by immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. These cells depend on a lipid-production pathway in the tumour environment, a vulnerability that might be used to target them.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00421-4

Giant ice cube hints at the existence of cosmic antineutrinos p.206

Evidence of a rare neutrino-interaction process called the Glashow resonance has been observed by a detector buried deep in the Antarctic ice — opening up a way to probe neutrino formation in astrophysical sources.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00486-1

Million-year-old DNA provides a glimpse of mammoth evolution p.208

DNA has been retrieved from mammoth specimens that are more than one million years old. Comparing the genomes of these animals and their descendants provides insights into the changes that occurred as one species evolved into another.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00348-w

Ultra-weak gravitational field detected p.209

An experiment shows that Newton’s law of gravity holds even for two masses as small as about 90 milligrams. The findings take us a step nearer to measuring gravitational fields that are so weak that they could enter the quantum regime.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-021-00591-1

Improving reporting standards for polygenic scores in risk prediction studies p.211

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03243-6

Detection of a particle shower at the Glashow resonance with IceCube p.220

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03256-1

Measurement of gravitational coupling between millimetre-sized masses p.225

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03250-7

Experimental quantum speed-up in reinforcement learning agents p.229

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03242-7

Towards real-time photorealistic 3D holography with deep neural networks p.234

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03152-0

Large-area display textiles integrated with functional systems p.240

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03295-8

Thermal-expansion offset for high-performance fuel cell cathodes p.246

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03264-1

Propagation of large earthquakes as self-healing pulses or mild cracks p.252

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03248-1

Climate-driven flyway changes and memory-based long-distance migration p.259

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03265-0

Million-year-old DNA sheds light on the genomic history of mammoths p.265

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03224-9

Activation and disruption of a neural mechanism for novel choice in monkeys p.270

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03115-5

STING controls nociception via type I interferon signalling in sensory neurons p.275

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03151-1

Macrophages provide a transient muscle stem cell niche via NAMPT secretion p.281

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03199-7

The TOR–EIN2 axis mediates nuclear signalling to modulate plant growth p.288

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03310-y

Loss of furin cleavage site attenuates SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis p.293

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03237-4

AIM2 in regulatory T cells restrains autoimmune diseases p.300

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03231-w

Lipid signalling enforces functional specialization of Treg cells in tumours p.306

Identification of a metabolic checkpoint involving lipid signalling that is specific to regulatory T cells (Treg cells) in the tumour microenvironment raises the possibility of targeting this checkpoint for treatment of cancer.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03235-6

m6A RNA methylation regulates the fate of endogenous retroviruses p.312

A CRISPR screen in mouse embryonic stem cells shows that transcripts derived from endogenous retroviruses are destabilized by m6A RNA methylation.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-03135-1

METTL3 regulates heterochromatin in mouse embryonic stem cells p.317

Binding of METTL3 to chromatin is enriched over IAP family endogenous retroviral elements in mouse embryonic stem cells, helping to ensure the integrity of heterochromatin at these elements.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03210-1

The RNA m6A reader YTHDC1 silences retrotransposons and guards ES cell identity p.322

N6-methyladenosine RNA and its reader YTHDC1 serve as a bridge to silencing retrotransposons through the RNA derived from these retrotransposons in mouse ES cells.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03313-9

Glutamate transporters have a chloride channel with two hydrophobic gates p.327

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03240-9