Comment in 2013

Recycling cannot meet the demand for rare metals used in digital and green technologies, says Andrew Bloodworth. A more holistic approach is needed.

On the anniversary of a landmark piece of US legislation, four experts weigh in on what has worked and what needs to change.

As emerging players jostle old ambitions, Nigel Lockyer calls for the next generation of particle-physics projects to be coordinated on a global scale.

Evidence that long-term health is shaped by the environment in early life calls for prenatal interventions to tackle chronic disease, argue David Barker and colleagues.

Cassidy R. Sugimoto and colleagues present a bibliometric analysis confirming that gender imbalances persist in research output worldwide.

Current theories on the formation of the Moon owe too much to cosmic coincidences, says Robin Canup. She calls for better models and a mission to Venus.

Characterizing nuclear materials deters illicit trafficking and terrorism, but more scientists, techniques and collaborations are needed, says Klaus Mayer.

Two years on from the launch of the US Materials Genome Initiative, five experts highlight how materials scientists still need to work differently.

The push to replicate findings could shelve promising research and unfairly damage the reputations of careful, meticulous scientists, says Mina Bissell.

This list will help non-scientists to interrogate advisers and to grasp the limitations of evidence, say William J. Sutherland, David Spiegelhalter and Mark A. Burgman.

Tackling global problems requires a fresh approach, argues Georgina Mace, as the British Ecological Society celebrates its centenary.

The little-studied parasite Cryptosporidium is a major threat to infants. Boris Striepen calls on microbiologists and funders to give it more attention.

Researchers have generally looked for signs of Alzheimer's disease in the whole brain or at the single-gene level. The biggest clues will come from monitoring collections of neurons, says Kenneth S. Kosik.

A neuroscientist reflects on his experience of studying the circuits that control neural activity while his own brain began slowly failing him.

Countries should work together to understand how the Himalayan thaw will affect hydroelectric energy, says Javaid R. Laghari.

Without drastic action, population growth and urbanization will outpace waste reduction, warn Daniel Hoornweg, Perinaz Bhada-Tata and Chris Kennedy.

Rigorous analyses are needed to establish the benefits of the knowledge economy, says former Irish government science adviser Patrick Cunningham.

Stalled Antarctic field work as a result of the US government shutdown has jeopardized early-career scientists and their projects, says Gretchen E. Hofmann.

Make bibliographic citation data freely available and substantial benefits will flow, says David Shotton, director of the Open Citations Corpus.

The reference is not dead — it is exploding to encompass the full spectrum of research outputs from lines of code to video frames, explains Mark Hahnel.