Volume 542 Issue 7641, 16 February 2017

A conservative solution to global warming.

Psychologists find that Internet trolls seem impervious to any efforts to change their behaviour.

As people in other nations watch the UK prepare to sever ties, Herman Goossens urges more scientists to stress what the EU does for them.

The week in science: 10–16 February 2017.

Agency narrows possible targets for the first-ever sample return from the red planet.

Initiative's first grants will fund a medley of wild ideas from top San Francisco Bay Area biologists, engineers and programmers.

Proposed solution to geometry puzzle allows an object’s structure to be determined from limited information.

International team seeks better picture of wind as it moves over rugged terrain.

Coalition of scientists and research agencies argue for a one-stop shop server.

Unstable molecule couldn’t be made through conventional synthesis, so IBM researchers carried out molecular surgery using a microscope tip.

Political upheaval threatens Turkey’s ambitious plans for research and development.

A newly unearthed article by the great politician reveals that he reasoned like a scientist about the likelihood of extraterrestrials, writes Mario Livio.

Ann Finkbeiner scrutinizes a biography of supremely inventive particle physicist Richard Garwin.

Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week's best science picks.

Roger Kneebone explores how lacemakers, glass artists and percussionists are sharing skills with researchers.

A pioneering cancer biologist and Renaissance man.

During the last ice age, huge numbers of icebergs were episodically discharged from an ice sheet that covered North America. Numerical modelling suggests that these events resulted from a conceptually simple feedback cycle. See Letter p.332

The enzyme S6K1 phosphorylates the enzyme glutamyl-prolyl tRNA synthetase to modulate metabolic activity and lifespan, revealing an atypical role for this synthetase as a target of a key metabolic signalling pathway. See Letter p.357

Technological advances have allowed scientists to sequence the complex quinoa genome. This highlights the ongoing expansion of genomics beyond major crops to other plants that have relevance for global food security. See Article p.307

One effect of weight-loss surgery is a change in food preferences. An analysis in rats shows that this is caused by altered nutrient signals in the intestine. These activate the vagus nerve to increase signalling in the brain by the neurotransmitter dopamine.

Oxygen is essential to most life in the ocean. An analysis shows that oxygen levels have declined by 2% in the global ocean over the past five decades, probably causing habitat loss for many fish and invertebrate species. See Letter p.335

An analysis of more than 2,000 species of bird provides insight into how the animals' diverse beak shapes evolved, and points to a single rare event as a trigger for the rapid initial divergence of avian lineages. See Letter p.344

Constructing a reference genome for quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) allows for genetic diversity during the evolution of sub-genomes in quinoa to be characterized and markers that may be used to develop sweet commercial varieties are identified.

The formation of the branched epithelial network of the mouse mammary gland during puberty is driven by a heterogeneous population of stem cells at the terminal end buds of the epithelium.

The cryo-EM structure of the splicing intermediate known as the C* complex from human.

A photovoltage field-effect transistor is demonstrated that is very sensitive to infrared light and has high gain.

A class of colloids is reported in which inorganic solute particles—such as metals and semiconductors—are dispersed in molten inorganic salts.

Heinrich events — episodes of massive iceberg discharge from the Laurentide Ice Sheet into the North Atlantic Ocean — are triggered by the incursion of warm ocean waters destabilizing the calving front.

The oxygen content of the global ocean has decreased by more than two per cent over the past five decades, with large variations found in different ocean basins and at different ocean depths.

Analysis of helium isotope ratios in volcanic hotspot lavas suggests that hotter, more buoyant plumes upwelling from the deep mantle entrain high-³He/⁴He material, unlike cooler, less buoyant plumes, implying the existence of a dense, relatively undisturbed primordial reservoir in the deep mantle.

A study of more than 2,000 bird species shows that diversity in bill shape expands towards extreme morphologies early in avian evolution in a series of major jumps, before switching to a second phase in which bills repeatedly evolve similar shapes by subdividing increasingly tight regions of already occupied niche space.

Surface area expansion from 6–12 months precedes brain overgrowth in high risk infants diagnosed with autism at 24 months and cortical features in the first year predict individual diagnostic outcomes.

Single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization is performed to identify several landmark genes in the liver and their level of expression in single-cell RNA sequencing is used to spatially reconstruct the zonation of all liver genes.

Glutamyl-prolyl tRNA synthetase (EPRS) is a downstream effector of the mTORC1–S6K1 signalling axis and contributes to adiposity and ageing in mice.

Depletion of Smarcb1 activates the Myc network of signalling cascades, increasing protein metabolism and activation of survival pathways allowing highly aggressive Kras-independent pancreatic cancer cells to develop.

Adult neurons from Caenorhabditis elegans can extrude large membrane-surrounded vesicles, known as exophers, containing protein aggregates and dysfunctional organelles that threaten neuronal homeostasis.

Crystal structures of engineered human MFN1 in different stages of GTP hydrolysis provide insights into the GTP-induced conformational changes that promote MFN1 dimerization to bring about mitochondrial fusion.

The cryo-electron microscopy structure of a yeast spliceosome stalled before mature RNA formation provides insight into the mechanism of exon ligation.

Creative writing can enrich scientists' research.

A way to help.

A ticket to ride.