Should Nature endorse political candidates? Yes — when the occasion demands it p.561

Political endorsements might not always win hearts and minds, but when candidates threaten a retreat from reason, science must speak out.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00789-5

Volcanoes on Venus? ‘Striking’ finding hints at modern-day activity p.567

Discovery highlights need for future missions after NASA puts one on hold.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00783-x

Why CRISPR babies are still too risky — embryo studies highlight challenges p.568

While society grapples with the social and ethical implications of heritable genome editing, technical obstacles still abound.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00756-0

What the Silicon Valley Bank collapse means for science start-ups p.569

Bailouts mean customers’ deposits are safe, but the bank’s demise has sparked concern about future investment in small tech companies.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00778-8

China is mobilizing science to spur development — and self-reliance p.570

The National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference have boosted science and technology in the national agenda.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00744-4

Gigantic map of fly brain is a first for a complex animal p.571

Fruit fly ‘connectome’ will help researchers to study how the brain works, and could further understanding of neurological diseases.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00709-7

Biden calls for boosts in science spending to keep US competitive p.572

US president takes aim at China with proposal to invest big in manufacturing and clean energy.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00740-8

Suspected Iran schoolgirl poisonings: what scientists know p.574

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00754-2

Bats live with dozens of nasty viruses — can studying them help stop pandemics? p.576

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00791-x

Huge broad-bean genome could improve yields of an underused crop p.587

A high-quality reference genome has been generated for the broad bean (also known as the faba or fava bean). The sequence could be used to identify ways to increase yield, improve pest resistance and more.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00461-y

Activated immune cells drive neurodegeneration in an Alzheimer’s model p.588

An analysis of mice carrying the protein tau — a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease — reveals that immune cells collaborate to drive tau-mediated neurodegeneration, and that drugs already in use in the clinic can combat this decline.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00600-5

Political endorsements can affect scientific credibility p.590

In 2020, Nature endorsed Joe Biden in the US presidential election. A survey finds that viewing the endorsement did not change people’s views of the candidates, but caused some to lose confidence in Nature and in US scientists generally.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00799-3

A compelling explanation for the enigmatic small object ‘Oumuamua p.591

Seemingly contradictory observations of the first known interstellar object are reconciled in a model that presents a simple and physically realistic framework for understanding the object’s many peculiarities.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00797-5

Synthetic bacterial genome upgraded for viral defence and biocontainment p.592

Bacteria with a synthetic genome were engineered to alter the way that the DNA code instructs cells to make proteins. This ‘language barrier’ serves to isolate the cells genetically, and makes them immune to viral infection.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00702-0

Hazards help autonomous cars to drive safely p.594

Collecting training data by focusing on dangerous scenarios offers an efficient way for artificial intelligence to improve the safety of autonomous vehicles. Augmented reality allows the approach to be tested without risking lives.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-00798-4

Black holes up close p.597

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05768-4

A helium-burning white dwarf binary as a supersoft X-ray source p.605

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05714-4

Acceleration of 1I/‘Oumuamua from radiolytically produced H₂ in H₂O ice p.610

doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05687-w

Quantum-enabled millimetre wave to optical transduction using neutral atoms p.614

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05740-2

Dense reinforcement learning for safety validation of autonomous vehicles p.620

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05732-2

Diode effect in Josephson junctions with a single magnetic atom p.628

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05743-z

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of cannabinoids and menthol from neral p.634

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05747-9

Basin-scale reconstruction of euxinia and Late Devonian mass extinctions p.640

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05716-2

Core origin of seismic velocity anomalies at Earth’s core–mantle boundary p.646

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05713-5

The giant diploid faba genome unlocks variation in a global protein crop p.652

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05791-5

An airway-to-brain sensory pathway mediates influenza-induced sickness p.660

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05796-0

Microglia-mediated T cell infiltration drives neurodegeneration in tauopathy p.668

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05788-0

Blocking NS3–NS4B interaction inhibits dengue virus in non-human primates p.678

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05790-6

Non-viral precision T cell receptor replacement for personalized cell therapy p.687

doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05531-1

Neoantigen-targeted CD8⁺ T cell responses with PD-1 blockade therapy p.697

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05787-1

The dietary sweetener sucralose is a negative modulator of T cell-mediated responses p.705

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05801-6

Spatial mapping of mitochondrial networks and bioenergetics in lung cancer p.712

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05793-3

A swapped genetic code prevents viral infections and gene transfer p.720

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05824-z

The structural basis for HIV-1 Vif antagonism of human APOBEC3G p.728

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05779-1

Autoregulation of GPCR signalling through the third intracellular loop p.734

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05789-z

Structural basis of odorant recognition by a human odorant receptor p.742

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05798-y