The ability to control the motion of mechanical systems through interaction with light has opened the door to a plethora of applications in fundamental and applied physics. With experiments routinely reaching the quantum regime, the focus has now turned towards creating and exploiting interesting non-classical states of motion and entanglement in optomechanical systems. Quantumness has also shifted

The Andean superpower Tiwanaku developed with the help of a stable source of nutrients, including llama meat.

This fabricated gel doesn’t crack under pressure

Andrew Robinson reviews five of the week’s best science picks.

Eletra de Souza’s research aims to help decrease lethal strikes in Brazil.

The Nobel-winning neuroscientist has been studying connections on an ever-grander scale.

The image viewing and analysis software napari has filled a gap in the programming language’s scientific ecosystem.

Lack of rigour is often blamed on pressure to publish. But ethnographers can find out what truly keeps science from upping its game.

What the science says about the risk that the new coronavirus variant poses to the world, how it is supercharging the COVID vaccine booster debate and why border bans might do more harm than good.

Millions of calls to helplines are helping paint a picture of mental health during the pandemic

The genome project leader reflects on his 12 years at the helm of a juggernaut biomedical agency, and what lies ahead.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1210-1212, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1205-1207, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1286-1286, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1175-1175, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1182-1183, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1181-1182, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1180-1181, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1178-1180, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1176-1177, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1184-1189, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1179-1179, December 2021.

Marom and Rak claim, on the basis of a few mandibular features, that the Nesher Ramla (NR) Homo is a Neanderthal. Their comments lack substance and contribute little to the debate surrounding the evolution of Middle Pleistocene Homo. Limitations and preconceptions in their study prevented them from achieving resolution beyond a dichotomous interpretation of the NR as either a Neanderthal or a modern

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1208-1208, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1209-1209, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1208-1209, December 2021.

Hershkovitz et al. (Reports, 25 June 2021, p. 1424) conclude that the Nesher Ramla (NR) fossils represent a distinctive Homo paleodeme that played a role as a source population for Neanderthals. However, the highly diagnostic features of the Neanderthal mandible—clearly displayed by the NR fossils—are largely overlooked. Our analyses indicate that the NR fossils represent simply a Neanderthal.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1197-1198, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1196-1197, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1199-1199, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1201-1202, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1200-1201, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1211-1212, December 2021.

Science, Volume 374, Issue 6572, Page 1290-1290, December 2021.

The primitive streak, a transient embryonic structure, marks bilateral symmetry in mammalian and avian embryos and helps confer anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral spatial information to early differentiating cells during gastrulation. Its recapitulation in vitro may facilitate derivation of tissues and organs with in vivo–like complexity. Proper understanding of the primitive streak and what it

The discovery of topological order has revised the understanding of quantum matter and provided the theoretical foundation for many quantum error–correcting codes. Realizing topologically ordered states has proven to be challenging in both condensed matter and synthetic quantum systems. We prepared the ground state of the toric code Hamiltonian using an efficient quantum circuit on a superconducting

The Southern Ocean plays an important role in determining atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), yet estimates of air-sea CO2 flux for the region diverge widely. In this study, we constrained Southern Ocean air-sea CO2 exchange by relating fluxes to horizontal and vertical CO2 gradients in atmospheric transport models and applying atmospheric observations of these gradients to estimate fluxes. Aircraft-based

Coherent upconversion of terahertz and mid-infrared signals into visible light opens new horizons for spectroscopy, imaging, and sensing but represents a challenge for conventional nonlinear optics. Here, we used a plasmonic nanocavity hosting a few hundred molecules to demonstrate optomechanical transduction of submicrowatt continuous-wave signals from the mid-infrared (32 terahertz) onto the visible

Coherent interconversion of signals between optical and mechanical domains is enabled by optomechanical interactions. Extreme light-matter coupling produced by confining light to nanoscale mode volumes can then access single mid-infrared (MIR) photon sensitivity. Here, we used the infrared absorption and Raman activity of molecular vibrations in plasmonic nanocavities to demonstrate frequency upconversion

Most plant roots have multiple cortex layers that make up the bulk of the organ and play key roles in physiology, such as flood tolerance and symbiosis. However, little is known about the formation of cortical layers outside of the highly reduced anatomy of Arabidopsis. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to rapidly generate a cell-resolution map of the maize root, revealing an alternative configuration

How cells with DNA replication defects acquire mutations that allow them to escape apoptosis under environmental stress is a long-standing question. Here, we report that an error-prone Okazaki fragment maturation (OFM) pathway is activated at restrictive temperatures in rad27Δ yeast cells. Restrictive temperature stress activated Dun1, facilitating transformation of unprocessed 5′ flaps into 3′ flaps

Quantum spin liquids, exotic phases of matter with topological order, have been a major focus in physics for the past several decades. Such phases feature long-range quantum entanglement that can potentially be exploited to realize robust quantum computation. We used a 219-atom programmable quantum simulator to probe quantum spin liquid states. In our approach, arrays of atoms were placed on the links

For electrons to continuously enter and flow through the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC), they must ultimately land on a terminal electron acceptor (TEA), which is known to be oxygen in mammals. Paradoxically, we find that complex I and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) can still deposit electrons into the ETC when oxygen reduction is impeded. Cells lacking oxygen reduction accumulate

Increased blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and fibrinogen are independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. We identified associations between an Amish-enriched missense variant (p.Asn352Ser) in a functional domain of beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase 1 (B4GALT1) and 13.9 milligrams per deciliter lower LDL-C (P = 4.1 × 10–19) and 29 milligrams per deciliter lower plasma