Nature contents: 26 July 2018

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Volume 559 Issue 7715   This Week       Editorial         Pay people to fight malaria Recognition for inspirational women in science Open data offer risks and rewards for conservation     When your sequencing results matter, don't sell yourself short.   Only PacBio° long-read sequencing provides complete and accurate views of all types of genomic variation, revealing SNPs/SNVs, structural variants, mobile elements, haplotypes, and fully intact genes. Discover more  World View         Preprints could promote confusion and distortion Tom Sheldon Research Highlights         This issue's Research Highlights Selections from the scientific literature. Seven Days         Fruit-fly brain, the real Lorax and new geological ages

News in Focus   News         Ecologists try to speed up evolution to save Australian marsupial from toxic toads April Reese Death-defying NASA mission will make humanity’s closest approach to the Sun Alexandra Witze Philippines sweetens deal for scientists who return home Andrew Silver Dutch publishing giant cuts off researchers in Germany and Sweden Holly Else Big Bang telescope finale marks end of an era in cosmology Davide Castelvecchi Features         How to defuse malaria’s ticking time bomb Amy Maxmen

Multimedia       Nature Podcast 26 July 2018 This week, automata through the ages, problems with pet DNA tests, and a conservation conundrum.

Comment   Comment         Ten years left to redesign lithium-ion batteries Kostiantyn Turcheniuk, Dmitry Bondarev, Vinod Singhal et al. Pet genomics medicine runs wild Lisa Moses, Steve Niemi, Elinor Karlsson Books and Arts         Ancient dreams of intelligent machines: 3,000 years of robots Stephen Cave, Kanta Dihal The souls of deserts, a gathering of visionary biologists, and an inside view on exoplanets: Books in brief Barbara Kiser Correspondence         The United States will lose money if it charges for Earth observation data Barbara J. Ryan Modelling the trajectory of disease outbreaks works Caitlin M. Rivers, Samuel V. Scarpino From literature search to vaccine candidate without a lab Reza Forough, Mohammad Mian, Anthony Klobas et al. Don’t ignore health-care impacts of Internet shutdowns Okwen Mbah, Miriam Nkangu, Zak Rogoff

Technology   Technology Feature         The hackers teaching old DNA sequencers new tricks Jeffrey M. Perkel

Careers   Features         How to deliver sound science in resource-poor regions Josie Glausiusz

Futures   Surrogate Griffin Ayaz Tyree

Research   NEW ONLINE         Differential tuning of excitation and inhibition shapes direction selectivity in ferret visual cortex Inhibition to the null direction of motion has a critical role in the direction selectivity of neurons in ferret primary visual cortex. Daniel E. Wilson, Benjamin Scholl, David Fitzpatrick Drug candidate and target for leishmaniasis Better treatments are needed for the neglected tropical disease leishmaniasis. The development of a compound that tackles the disease in mice, and the identification of the protein it targets, offer a way forward. Carolina M. C. Catta-Preta, Jeremy C. Mottram Hurricane-induced selection on the morphology of an island lizard Two populations of Anolis lizards that survived Hurricanes Irma and Maria had larger toepads, longer forelimbs and shorter hindlimbs relative to the pre-hurricane populations, which suggests hurricane-induced natural selection. Colin M. Donihue, Anthony Herrel, Anne-Claire Fabre et al. Room-temperature electrical control of exciton flux in a van der Waals heterostructure Heterobilayer excitonic devices consisting of two different van der Waals materials, in which excitons are shared between the layers, exhibit electrically controlled switching actions at room temperature. Dmitrii Unuchek, Alberto Ciarrocchi, Ahmet Avsar et al. A lymphatic waste-disposal system implicated in Alzheimer’s disease The discovery that a set of lymphatic vessels interacts with blood vessels to remove toxic waste products from the brain has implications for cognition, ageing and disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Melanie D. Sweeney, Berislav V. Zlokovic 53BP1 cooperation with the REV7–shieldin complex underpins DNA structure-specific NHEJ The specificity of 53BP1 and its co-factors for particular DNA substrates during non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) derives from REV7–shieldin, a four-subunit DNA-binding complex that is required for REV7-dependent NHEJ but not for REV7-dependent DNA interstrand cross-link repair. Hind Ghezraoui, Catarina Oliveira, Jordan R. Becker et al. Functional aspects of meningeal lymphatics in ageing and Alzheimer’s disease Meningeal lymphatic dysfunction promotes amyloid-β deposition in the meninges and worsens brain amyloid-β pathology, acting as an aggravating factor in Alzheimer’s disease and in age-associated cognitive decline; improving meningeal lymphatic function could help to prevent or delay age-associated neurological diseases. Sandro Da Mesquita, Antoine Louveau, Andrea Vaccari et al. Ecosystem restructuring along the Great Barrier Reef following mass coral bleaching Fish and invertebrate communities transformed across the span of the Great Barrier Reef following the 2016 bleaching event due to a decline in coral-feeding fishes resulting from coral loss, and because of different regional responses of key trophic groups to the direct effect of temperature. Rick D. Stuart-Smith, Christopher J. Brown, Daniela M. Ceccarelli et al. Accumulation of 8,9-unsaturated sterols drives oligodendrocyte formation and remyelination Many small molecules that stimulate oligodendrocyte formation act not through their canonical pathways but by inhibiting enzymes within the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and thereby inducing the accumulation of 8,9-unsaturated sterols. Zita Hubler, Dharmaraja Allimuthu, Ilya Bederman et al. Coherent spin–photon coupling using a resonant exchange qubit Coherent coupling between a three-electron spin qubit and single photons in a microwave resonator is demonstrated, which, unlike previous demonstrations, does not require ferromagnetic components near the qubit. A. J. Landig, J. V. Koski, P. Scarlino et al. New mitochondrial DNA synthesis enables NLRP3 inflammasome activation New mitochondrial DNA synthesis links the priming and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Zhenyu Zhong, Shuang Liang, Elsa Sanchez-Lopez et al. Mitochondrial double-stranded RNA triggers antiviral signalling in humans Mitochondrial double-stranded RNA can induce an interferon response if released into the cytoplasm, but self-recognition is prevented by SUV3 helicase and PNPase exoribonuclease. Ashish Dhir, Somdutta Dhir, Lukasz S. Borowski et al. Newly made mitochondrial DNA drives inflammation Activation of the inflammasome protein complex in immune cells is a key step that triggers an innate immune response. It emerges that the synthesis and oxidation of mitochondrial DNA drives this activation step. Michael P. Murphy Cyclin-dependent kinase 12 is a drug target for visceral leishmaniasis A series of compounds are discovered for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis, and cdc2-related kinase 12 (CRK12) is identified as the probable primary drug target. Susan Wyllie, Michael Thomas, Stephen Patterson et al. Automethylation-induced conformational switch in Clr4 (Suv39h) maintains epigenetic stability Nahid Iglesias, Mark A. Currie, Gloria Jih et al. Developing neurons are innately inclined to learn on the job How genetic and environmental factors contribute to the generation of various subtypes of inhibitory neurons called interneurons in the brain is unclear. A study in mice provides new insight into this process. Christian Mayer, Gord Fishell Ferroelectric switching of a two-dimensional metal Two- and three-layer WTe2 exhibits spontaneous out-of-plane electric polarization that can be switched electrically at room temperature and is sufficiently robust for use in applications with other two-dimensional materials. Zaiyao Fei, Wenjin Zhao, Tauno A. Palomaki et al.   News & Views         An early hominin arrival in Asia John Kappelman   Quantum optics without photons Alejandro González Tudela, J. Ignacio Cirac   Viruses cooperate to defeat bacteria Aude Bernheim, Rotem Sorek   Histidine metabolism boosts cancer therapy Christian Frezza Neural circuit evolved to process pheromone differently in two species of fruit fly Nicolas Gompel, Benjamin Prud’homme From the archive Ancient ice sheet had a growth spurt Pippa Whitehouse Insight         Tropics Anna Armstrong, I-han Chou, Juliane Mossinger et al. Reviews         Challenges and opportunities in controlling mosquito-borne infections Neil M. Ferguson Challenges and recent progress in drug discovery for tropical diseases Manu De Rycker, Beatriz Baragaña, Suzanne L. Duce et al. Acting on non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income tropical countries Majid Ezzati, Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, James E. Bennett et al. The future of hyperdiverse tropical ecosystems The immense biodiversity of tropical ecosystems is threatened by multiple interacting local and global stressors that can only be addressed by the concerted efforts of grassroots organizations, researchers, national governments and the international community. Jos Barlow, Filipe França, Toby A. Gardner et al. The tropical forest carbon cycle and climate change Tropical forests currently make a neutral contribution to the global carbon cycle, but they are likely to become a carbon source in the near future. Edward T. A. Mitchard El Niño–Southern Oscillation complexity Our current understanding of the spatio-temporal complexity of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon is reviewed and a unifying framework that identifies the key factors for this complexity is proposed. Axel Timmermann, Soon-Il An, Jong-Seong Kug et al. Machine learning for molecular and materials science Recent progress in machine learning in the chemical sciences and future directions in this field are discussed. Keith T. Butler, Daniel W. Davies, Hugh Cartwright et al. Articles         Niobium tungsten oxides for high-rate lithium-ion energy storage Micrometre-sized particles of two niobium tungsten oxides have high volumetric capacities and rate performances, enabled by very high lithium-ion diffusion coefficients. Kent J. Griffith, Kamila M. Wiaderek, Giannantonio Cibin et al. Evolution of a central neural circuit underlies Drosophila mate preferences A female Drosophila melanogaster pheromone is recognized by males from both the same and a closely related species through conserved peripheral sensory neurons; the signal is then differentially propagated to promote conspecific and suppress interspecies courtship. Laura F. Seeholzer, Max Seppo, David L. Stern et al. Cryo-EM structure of a fungal mitochondrial calcium uniporter A cryo-electron microscopy structure of fungal mitochondrial calcium uniporter shows that the channel is tetrameric and sheds light on channel assembly and function. Nam X. Nguyen, Jean-Paul Armache, Changkeun Lee et al. X-ray and cryo-EM structures of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter X-ray and cryo-electron microscopy structures of fungal mitochondrial calcium uniporter proteins reveal a tetrameric architecture and shed light on the function of the channel. Chao Fan, Minrui Fan, Benjamin J. Orlando et al. Cryo-EM structures of fungal and metazoan mitochondrial calcium uniporters Structures of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter from fungal and metazoan organisms reveal a tetrameric architecture and shed light on the function of the channel. Rozbeh Baradaran, Chongyuan Wang, Andrew Francis Siliciano et al. Letters         The formation of solar-neighbourhood stars in two generations separated by 5 billion years The two episodes of star formation predicted by the ‘cold flow’ theory of galactic gas accretion also explain the observed bimodality in the chemical-abundance distribution of solar-neighbourhood stars. Masafumi Noguchi Spontaneous emission of matter waves from a tunable open quantum system An open quantum system containing ultracold rubidium atoms trapped in an optical lattice undergoes spontaneous emission of matter waves into free space. Ludwig Krinner, Michael Stewart, Arturo Pazmiño et al. Complex silica composite nanomaterials templated with DNA origami DNA origami is used as a template to produce complex geometric shapes of nanoscale silica hybrid materials. Xiaoguo Liu, Fei Zhang, Xinxin Jing et al. Atmosphere–soil carbon transfer as a function of soil depth This study of whole-soil carbon dynamics finds that, of the atmospheric carbon that is incorporated into the topmost metre of soil over 50 years, just 19 per cent reaches the subsoil, in a manner that depends on land use and aridity. Jérôme Balesdent, Isabelle Basile-Doelsch, Joël Chadoeuf et al. Rapid glaciation and a two-step sea level plunge into the Last Glacial Maximum Details of the drops in sea level associated with glaciation during the Last Glacial Maximum are revealed using a coral proxy from the Great Barrier Reef. Yusuke Yokoyama, Tezer M. Esat, William G. Thompson et al. Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago An Early Pleistocene artefact assemblage from the Chinese Loess Plateau indicates that hominins had left Africa by at least 2.1 million years ago, and occupied the Loess Plateau repeatedly for a long time. Zhaoyu Zhu, Robin Dennell, Weiwen Huang et al. Triple oxygen isotope evidence for limited mid-Proterozoic primary productivity Triple oxygen isotope measurements of 1.4-billion-year-old sedimentary sulfates reveal a unique mid-Proterozoic atmosphere and demonstrate that gross primary productivity in the mid-Proterozoic was between 6% and 41% of pre-anthropogenic levels. Peter W. Crockford, Justin A. Hayles, Huiming Bao et al. The outer membrane is an essential load-bearing element in Gram-negative bacteria The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is shown to be at least as stiff as the cell wall, and this property enables it to protect cells from mechanical pertubations. Enrique R. Rojas, Gabriel Billings, Pascal D. Odermatt et al. Single-cell mapping of the thymic stroma identifies IL-25-producing tuft epithelial cells A comprehensive characterization of the thymic stroma identifies a tuft-cell-like thymic epithelial cell population that is critical for shaping the immune niche in the thymus. Chamutal Bornstein, Shir Nevo, Amir Giladi et al. Thymic tuft cells promote an IL-4-enriched medulla and shape thymocyte development A comprehensive analysis of the thymic medulla identifies a tuft-cell-like thymic epithelial cell population that is necessary for shaping thymic function. Corey N. Miller, Irina Proekt, Jakob von Moltke et al. Histidine catabolism is a major determinant of methotrexate sensitivity Histidine metabolism influences the sensitivity of cancer cells to methotrexate, with mice bearing leukaemia xenografts showing increased response to the drug upon histidine supplementation. Naama Kanarek, Heather R. Keys, Jason R. Cantor et al. Glucose-regulated phosphorylation of TET2 by AMPK reveals a pathway linking diabetes to cancer Modulation of DNA 5-hydroxymethylcytosine by glucose reveals an AMPK–TET2–5hmC axis that links diabetes to cancer. Di Wu, Di Hu, Hao Chen et al.

Amendments & Corrections   Author Correction: EWS–FLI1 increases transcription to cause R-loops and block BRCA1 repair in Ewing sarcoma Aparna Gorthi, July Carolina Romero, Eva Loranc et al. Author Correction: Comprehensive molecular profiling of lung adenocarcinoma The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network Author Correction: Discovery of stimulation-responsive immune enhancers with CRISPR activation Dimitre R. Simeonov, Benjamin G. Gowen, Mandy Boontanrart et al.

Collections   Nature Outlook         Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. For decades, researchers have sought a treatment to no avail, and our understanding of the condition is now being questioned. Insight          Tropics The tropics are home to a dizzying array of species, store vast quantities of carbon, drive year-to-year climate variability, and will soon be home to half the world’s population. This Insight gathers together Reviews that explore some of the most important scientific and societal challenges posed by the tropics, and some of the solutions being devised.         naturejobs.com Science jobs of the week       Post-doctoral fellow     University of Hawaii, College of Pharmacy            Research Assistant (Fixed Term)     University of Cambridge            Research Fellow     National University of Singapore, Department of Pharmacy            Post-Doctoral Fellow     University of Maryland School of Medicine          No matter what your career stage, student, postdoc or senior scientist, you will find articles on naturejobs.com to help guide you in your science career. Keep up-to-date with the latest sector trends, vote in our reader poll and sign-up to receive the monthly Naturejobs newsletter.             natureevents directory featured events         World Cancer Conference     06.08.18 Amsterdam, Netherlands         Natureevents Directory is the premier resource for scientists looking for the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia. Featured across Nature Publishing Group journals and centrally at natureevents.com it is an essential reference guide to scientific events worldwide.         Your email address is in the Nature mailing list. You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. You can change or discontinue your e-mail alerts at any time, by modifying your preferences on your nature.com account at: www.nature.com/nams/svc/myaccount (You will need to log in to be recognised as a nature.com registrant).       For further technical assistance, please contact our registration department at registration@nature.com For print subscription enquiries, please contact our subscription department at subscriptions@nature.com For other enquiries, please contact feedback@nature.com Nature Research | One New York Plaza, Suite 4500 | New York | NY 10004-1562 | USA Nature Research's offices: Principal offices: London - New York - Tokyo Worldwide offices: Basingstoke - Beijing - Boston - Buenos Aires - Delhi - Heidelberg - Hong Kong - Madrid - Melbourne - Munich - Paris - San Francisco - Seoul - Shanghai - Washington DC - Sydney Macmillan Publishers Limited is a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 785998 and whose registered office is located at The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW. © 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.