The world’s plan to make humanity sustainable is failing. Science can do more to save it p.647

There is no planet B, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are heading for the rocks. Researchers around the world must do their bit to change that.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01989-9

More carrot, less stick: how to make research assessments fairer p.648

Research-assessment exercises are often misused to judge researchers or cut their funding — changes to the United Kingdom’s scheme are a promising start.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01990-2

Most advanced synthetic human embryos yet spark controversy p.653

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01992-0

How psychedelic drugs achieve their potent health benefits p.654

Mouse studies suggest that drugs from LSD to ecstasy renew the brain’s flexibility — but some scientists are sceptical.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01920-2

Prized dinosaur fossil returned to Brazil after controversy p.655

The one-of-a-kind specimen will be housed at a museum in Santana do Cariri, near where it was found.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01969-z

Could endometriosis be caused by bacteria? Study offers fresh clues p.656

Link to bacterial infection suggests a potential way to treat the painful disorder.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01956-4

IBM quantum computer passes calculation milestone p.656

‘Benchmark’ experiment suggests quantum computers could have useful real-world applications within two years.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01965-3

Concussion guidance for sport sidesteps link to brain disease — critics are baffled p.657

The statement’s authors say the connection between repeated head injuries and the condition CTE is based on insufficiently rigorous data.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01964-4

Laos cave fossils prompt rethink of human migration map p.658

A skull fragment and shin bone suggest that early modern humans might have passed through southeast Asia earlier than thought.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01903-3

Mum’s microbes might boost brain development of c-section babies p.659

Vaginal seeding is safe and seems to benefit infants delivered by the surgery — but larger trials are needed.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01972-4

Have a high-pitched voice? It might be in your genes p.660

Survey of nearly 13,000 Icelanders pinpoints for the first time a genetic variant that shapes whether a person’s voice sounds high.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01901-5

Lost world p.662

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01932-y

Timing is key for behavioural benefits of psychedelics p.677

Juvenile mice find social experiences more rewarding than do adults. The discovery that psychedelics can re-engage the social neural circuits for varying durations in adults points to a possible therapeutic mechanism for these drugs.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01869-2

Infancy of sterol biosynthesis hints at extinct eukaryotic species p.678

A newly discovered fossil record of steroid molecules, spanning 1.64 billion years, points to ancient organisms in the eukaryotic domain being capable of only early steps in the synthesis of sterol molecules.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01816-1

Clocks synchronized at the quantum limit p.680

Time signals have been transmitted across 300 kilometres with an accuracy and precision limited only by the quantum nature of photons. The feat promises to revolutionize high-precision science using satellites.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01937-7

Ultraviolet light shapes the evolution of precancerous cells p.681

Much remains to be discovered about how premalignant cells become cancer cells. An analysis of the development of a type of human leukaemia implicates ultraviolet light in triggering a rare form of cancer.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01815-2

Rarely used strained molecules step up for organic synthesis p.683

Energy released from molecules under strain can promote difficult chemical reactions. A practical method has been developed that uses an overlooked, highly strained compound to rapidly construct complex organic products.

doi: 10.1038/d41586-023-01935-9

A second wave of topological phenomena in photonics and acoustics p.687

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06163-9

Physiology and diseases of tissue-resident macrophages p.698

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06002-x

Spatial variations in aromatic hydrocarbon emission in a dust-rich galaxy p.708

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-05998-6

A metal-poor star with abundances from a pair-instability supernova p.712

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06028-1

Density-wave ordering in a unitary Fermi gas with photon-mediated interactions p.716

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06018-3

Quantum-limited optical time transfer for future geosynchronous links p.721

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06032-5

High-brightness scalable continuous-wave single-mode photonic-crystal laser p.727

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06059-8

Entropic repulsion of cholesterol-containing layers counteracts bioadhesion p.733

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06033-4

Cartilage-like protein hydrogels engineered via entanglement p.740

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06037-0

Strain-promoted reactions of 1,2,3-cyclohexatriene and its derivatives p.748

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06075-8

Increasingly negative tropical water–interannual CO₂ growth rate coupling p.755

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06056-x

Major southern San Andreas earthquakes modulated by lake-filling events p.761

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06058-9

Lost world of complex life and the late rise of the eukaryotic crown p.767

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06170-w

Polygenic scoring accuracy varies across the genetic ancestry continuum p.774

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06079-4

The illusion of moral decline p.782

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06137-x

Psychedelics reopen the social reward learning critical period p.790

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06204-3

A tripartite rheostat controls self-regulated host plant resistance to insects p.799

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06197-z

Signalling by senescent melanocytes hyperactivates hair growth p.808

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06172-8

Dedicated macrophages organize and maintain the enteric nervous system p.818

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06200-7

In situ tumour arrays reveal early environmental control of cancer immunity p.827

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06132-2

Ultraviolet radiation shapes dendritic cell leukaemia transformation in the skin p.834

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06156-8

Engineered tRNAs suppress nonsense mutations in cells and in vivo p.842

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06133-1

A cytosolic surveillance mechanism activates the mitochondrial UPR p.849

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06142-0

Genome expansion by a CRISPR trimmer-integrase p.855

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06178-2

Structural basis for FGF hormone signalling p.862

doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06155-9