Volume 548 Issue 7667, 17 August 2017

Funding trouble at flagship research centre reflects a broader malaise in the country’s scientific priorities that must be addressed.

The Middle East is freezing out Qatar. A science academy could help — and would set an important precedent for the region, says Ehsan Masood.

The week in science: 11–17 August 2017.

Effort backed by the state’s flagship universities comes as US President Donald Trump shrugs off global warming.

Hub aims to make industrial-scale high-resolution brain mapping a standard tool for neuroscience

Disruptive weather pattern in 2014–2016 spurred tropical forests to pump out 3 billion tonnes of carbon.

Protesters demand respect for research — but some scientists were told to stay away.

Science panel says institutions need to do more to prevent and mitigate damage to research equipment and animals.

Multi-lab efforts point the way to shoring up the reliability of field studies.

Fertility centres are making a massive push to increase preimplantation genetic diagnosis in a bid to eradicate certain diseases.

A rural revival is needed to counter urbanization across the globe, say Yansui Liu and Yuheng Li.

Roger Bilham savours two rich accounts of seismicity across the continent.

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

Temperature variability in the North Atlantic Ocean is the result of many competing physical processes, but the relative roles of these processes is a source of contention. Here, scientists present two perspectives on the debate.

Information about taste sensations, such as bitter or sweet, is relayed from the mouse tongue to the brain through taste-specific pathways. It emerges that semaphorin proteins guide the wiring of these pathways. See Letter p.330

Sequences of the DNA and RNA of 500 human cancers that have spread from their primary site in the body take us a step closer to the convergence of basic science and patient benefit. See Article p.297

The dynamic motion of gas in the outer atmosphere of a red supergiant star has been mapped, providing clues to the mysterious mechanism that causes massive stars to lose mass through stellar winds. See Letter p.310

Live imaging shows that healthy skin cells surround and expel neighbours that have cancer-promoting mutations, revealing that tissues can recognize and eliminate mutant cells to prevent tumour initiation. See Letter p.334

Maiopatagium, a haramiyid from the Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation (around 160 million years ago) of China was specialised for gliding with a patagium (wing membrane) and a fused wishbone, reminiscent of that of birds.

Clinical exome and transcriptome sequencing of 500 adult patients with metastatic solid tumours of diverse lineage and biopsy site, as part of the Michigan Oncology Sequencing (MI-ONCOSEQ) Program.

The majority of ‘jellyfish’ galaxies, characterized by long ‘tentacles’ of gas, also have active nuclei, indicating that gas is being fed to the central supermassive black hole by ram pressure.

Mapping the velocity of the gas at the surface and in the atmosphere of the nearby red supergiant star Antares reveals vigorous motion of several huge gas clumps in an extended atmosphere, which cannot be fully explained by convection.

Electronic nematicity is observed in a heavy-fermion superconductor, CeRhIn₅, suggesting a close link between unconventional superconductivity and the appearance of nematicity.

A relaxation oscillator incorporating nanoscale niobium dioxide memristors that exhibit both a current- and a temperature-controlled negative differential resistance produces chaotic dynamics that aid biomimetic computing.

Morphological analysis of teeth found at Lida Ajer shows that these belong to Homo sapiens, indicating that modern humans were in Sumatra between 73,000 and 63,000 years ago.

The fossil of a gliding mammal from the Tiaojishan Formation of China displays many unique features of its ears, teeth and tooth-replacement pattern, illustrating the great diversity of stem mammals living in the Jurassic period.

Taste-receptor cells use distinct semaphorins to guide wiring of the peripheral taste system; targeted ectopic expression of SEMA3A or SEMA7A leads to bitter neurons responding to sweet tastes or sweet neurons responding to bitter tastes.

Intravital imaging reveals unanticipated plasticity of adult skin epithelium in mice when faced with mutational or non-mutational insults, and elucidates the dynamic cellular behaviours used for its return to a homeostatic state.

The authors assess the role of N⁶-methyladenosine in T cell development and function, and show that RNA methylation controls T cell homeostasis by regulating IL-7-mediated STAT5 activation.

Long noncoding RNAs are investigated using a CRISPR–Cas9 activation screen and shown to confer BRAF inhibitor resistance on melanoma cells through various local mechanisms.

TUT4 and TUT7 mediate 3′ uridylation of mRNA transcripts, preferentially those with short poly(A) tails; in the absence of TUT4 and TUT7, oocytes cannot mature and female mice are infertile.

The structure of yeast Hrd1 in complex with Hrd3 shows that Hrd1 forms an aqueous cavity with a lateral seal within the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, shedding light on how misfolded proteins are transported out of the endoplasmic reticulum.

Determination of the crystal structure of the zebrafish LPA₆ receptor shows that the lipid ligand binds to an unusual ligand-binding pocket in the receptor that is laterally accessible through the membrane.

Political concerns and visa access are swaying students deciding where to pursue a degree.

A molecular biologist uses his investigative skills to support detectives.

Mind how you go.