Volume 543 Issue 7646, 23 March 2017

Trump’s pick for the US regulatory agency will bring experience and a clear vision — as well as ties to industry.

New Zealand parrots provide the latest support for a popular theory of crowd behaviour.

Carlos Moedas sees a bold future for the European Research Council and more projects that copy its approach.

The week in science: 17–23 March 2017.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institutes of Health are big losers — but planetary science at NASA stands to gain.

Immersive experience set to become accessible to all.

President’s impeachment creates opportunity to shift how nation supports basic research.

The indigenous people — known for their click languages — are the first in Africa to draft guidelines for researchers.

Yves Meyer wins the Abel Prize for role in theory with data applications from digital cinema to pinpointing gravitational waves.

Astronomers hope to grab the first images of an event horizon — the point of no return.

An investigation finds that dozens of academic titles offered 'Dr Fraud' — a sham, unqualified scientist — a place on their editorial board. Katarzyna Pisanski and colleagues report.

A global network of cap-and-trade systems would deliver greater complexity and fewer emissions cuts, warns Jessica F. Green.

Anna M. Michalak on the taming and invasion of Earth's largest fresh-water system.

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

Nurin Veis tours a show on theories of creativity, curated by a quartet of scientists.

Inventor of the Science Citation Index.

The standard dinosaur evolutionary tree has two key branches: the 'bird-hipped' Ornithischia and the 'reptile-hipped' Saurischia. A revised tree challenges many ideas about the relationships between dinosaur groups. See Article p.501

Genome sequencing of Mycobacterium abscessus strains that infect the lungs suggests a possible shift in the bacterium's mode of infection from environmental acquisition to human transmission. This finding has clinical implications.

The vibrational excitations of nanostructures have been mapped using state-of-the-art electron microscopy. The results improve our understanding of these excitations, which will aid the design of nanostructures. See Letter p.529

A study showing the effects of land-use quality on the productivity of bumblebee colonies highlights the importance of resource availability across space and time in promoting survival over generations. See Letter p.547

Antiretroviral therapy can keep HIV at bay, but a few cells remain infected, so the disease cannot be cured. The discovery of a protein that marks out these infected cells will facilitate crucial studies of this latent viral reservoir. See Letter p.564

Analysis of a wide range of dinosaurs and dinosauromorphs recovers a sister-taxon relationship between Ornithischia and Theropoda, calling for the redefinition of all the major clades within Dinosauria and the revival of the clade Ornithoscelida.

Increasing expression of the autism-associated gene Ube3a, either alone or in combination with seizures, not only impairs sociability in mice but also reduces expression of the synaptic organizer Cbln1 in the ventral tegmental area, thus weakening glutamatergic transmission.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, a genetic network that controls the phosphate stress response also influences the structure of the root microbiome community, even under non-stress phosphate conditions.

A technique called genome architecture mapping (GAM) involves sequencing DNA from a large number of thin nuclear cryosections to develop a map of genome organization without the limitations of existing 3C-based methods.

Simultaneous precise measurement of the non-commuting observables spin angle and spin amplitude is achieved by directing the error due to quantum measurement back-action into an unmeasured spin component.

Spatial mapping of optical and acoustic, bulk and surface vibrational modes in magnesium oxide nanocubes is demonstrated using a single electron probe.

Finite-element models are used to identify a material geometry that achieves the theoretical bounds on isotropic elastic stiffness—a combination closed-cell cubic and octet foam.

A method is described for selectively activating remote C–H bonds in heterocycles by using a catalytic template that binds by reversible coordination instead of a covalent linkage, removing the need for specific functional groups on which to attach the template.

The authors report single-crystal elasticity data on (Al,Fe)-bearing bridgmanite and show that its elastic behaviour is markedly different from that of the MgSiO₃ endmember.

Analysis of three wild-caught bumblebee species shows that family lineage survival and persistence is significantly increased between successive colony cycle stages with the proportion of high-value foraging habitat near the natal colony.

Genomic analyses of KRAB-containing zinc-finger proteins and the transposable elements to which they bind show that a co-evolutionary arms race was not the only driver of their evolution.

Here, marine phytoplankton are shown to diversify their migratory strategy in response to turbulent cues through a rapid change in shape, thus challenging a fundamental paradigm in oceanography that phytoplankton are passively at the mercy of ocean turbulence.

Early administration of broadly neutralizing antibodies in a macaque SHIV infection model is associated with very low levels of persistent viraemia, which leads to the establishment of T-cell immunity and resultant long-term infection control.

CD32a expression is induced on the surface of HIV-1-infected quiescent CD4 T cells, and could thus be used as a biomarker to facilitate future study of how the virus persists in cellular reservoirs in infected hosts.

The vertebrate-conserved and germline-specific RNA-binding protein DND1 recruits the CCR4–NOT deadenylase complex to destabilize its mRNA targets and is required for the maintenance of germline stem cells.

Methylation at the 6 position of adenosine (m⁶A) in RNA is rapidly and transiently induced at DNA damage sites in response to ultraviolet irradiation.

Conflicts of interest can send a researcher's reputation crashing — but resolving them needn't be as burdensome as it seems.

Saving pygmy blue whales in Sri Lanka's shipping lanes.

The concept of computers that harness the laws of quantum mechanics has transformed our thinking about how information can be processed. Now the environment exists to make prototype devices a reality.

The promises of quantum computation are unique — and so are the challenges. Progress in physics, mathematics, computer science and engineering have brought quantum computers to a point where they start to challenge their classical counterparts. By Andreas Trabesinger; illustration by Visual Science.

Japan's stagnated research output corresponds with a deteriorating situation for young researchers

Nobel laureate Yoshinori Ohsumi's persistent study of baker's yeast spawned an exciting new field, and proves the value of supporting scientists in pursuit of their passion

'Abenomic' plans to make Japan's universities compete for private funding lie at the heart of reforms to kickstart a struggling sector

Japan's efforts to encourage innovation and an international outlook face significant obstacles

South Africa's University of the Western Cape has exceeded expectations

There is much talk about the need for excellence, but is it really what science needs, asks Adrian Barnett

It's time for the academic community to convert words into workplace practice and policy, writes Tim Wess

Female researchers cite their own work less than men. If citations are the currency of science, women are being short-changed

A description of the terminology and methodology used in this supplement, and a guide to the functionality available free online at natureindex.com