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Size and shape of the brain are, among others, influenced by the dimensions of the skull. Here, the authors report genome-wide association studies for head circumference and intracranial volume in children and adults and the identification of nine common or low-frequency variants associated with these traits.

Carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and plaque are associated with subclinical atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease (CHD). Here, the authors identify and prioritize genetic loci for cIMT and plaque by GWAS and colocalization approaches and further demonstrate genetic correlation with CHD and stroke.

Epilepsies are common brain disorders and are classified based on clinical phenotyping, imaging and genetics. Here, the authors perform genome-wide association studies for 3 broad and 7 subtypes of epilepsy and identify 16 loci - 11 novel - that are further annotated by eQTL and partitioned heritability analyses.

Atmospheric Walker circulation results in a two-way interaction between decadal-scale sea surface temperature variability in the Atlantic and Pacific, according to pacemaker climate modelling experiments.

Structural studies show that conserved residues in Plasmodium vivax reticulocyte-binding protein 2b determine interactions with transferrin receptor 1 that are essential for host invasion, suggesting avenues for designing vaccines that work across P. vivax strains.

Accurately assessing the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity is key to the development of effective and sustainable adaptation strategies. This Perspective discusses the main sources of uncertainty in such impact assessments and proposes strategies for improved crop modelling.

An in vivo transposon screen in a pancreatic cancer model identifies frequent inactivation of Usp9x; deletion of Usp9x cooperates with Kras^G12D to accelerate rapidly pancreatic tumorigenesis in mice, validating their genetic interaction.

A quantum error correction scheme is demonstrated in a system of superconducting qubits, and repeated quantum non-demolition measurements are used to track errors and reduce the failure rate; increasing the system size from five to nine qubits improves the failure rate further.

Personality traits differ across geographical regions, suggesting a role for environmental factors. Wei, Lu, and colleagues show an association between regional ambient temperature and personality in two large studies conducted in China and the United States.

A human embryonic stem cell line expressing a fluorescent reporter of cardiac differentiation is described. The authors use this tool to optimize differentiation methods and to identify cell-surface markers in the cardiac lineage.

Reduced central corneal thickness (CCT) is observed in common eye diseases as well as in rare Mendelian disorders. Here, in a cross-ancestry GWAS, the authors identify 19 novel genetic loci associated with CCT, a subset of which is involved in rare corneal or connective tissue disorders.

Radial-velocity measurements of a Galactic B-type star show a dark companion that seems to be a black hole of about 68 solar masses, in a widely spaced binary system.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a potentially serious liver disease with a substantial burden worldwide. In this Consensus Statement, a global multidisciplinary group of experts develop consensus statements and recommendations addressing a broad range of topics on NAFLD to raise awareness and spur action.

Endometrial cancer is the most common invasive gynaecological cancer in developed countries. Here a meta-analysis identifies an additional nine novel endometrial cancer risk loci and eQTL analysis reveals risk variants associate with reduced expression of negative regulators of oncogenic signal transduction proteins.

The unprecedented increase in the prevalence of obesity has been followed by a rapid rise in bariatric surgery. Bone has been linked with fat metabolism. Thus, if weight loss increases the risk of osteoporosis, understanding the effect bariatric surgery has on bone health is vital. Two recent articles contribute to this area of research.

Low read depth sequencing of whole genomes and high read depth exomes of nearly 10,000 extensively phenotyped individuals are combined to help characterize novel sequence variants, generate a highly accurate imputation reference panel and identify novel alleles associated with lipid-related traits; in addition to describing population structure and providing functional annotation of rare and low-frequency variants the authors use the data to estimate the benefits of sequencing for association studies.

The genome of the grey short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica has been sequenced and analyzed, giving a first peek at a marsupial's genetic code. Of particular interest are the genetics of the immune system, which has been studied as a model for humans, and of the X chromosome for historical reasons.

Douglas Easton and colleagues report results of a large multistage genome-wide association study of breast cancer. The study identifies two new breast cancer risk loci on chromosomes 3p24 and 17q23.2.

The discovery of several Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) with anomalous properties (they are blue-coloured, whereas KBOs of the same type are red, and they are all binaries) gives constraints on formation processes in the outermost region of the Solar System.

Stuart Macregor, Tien Wong and colleagues report meta-analyses that identify 16 new loci associated with central corneal thickness. They also identify two loci associated with risk of developing keratoconus, a common corneal ectasia.

Interleukin 9 secretion contributes to allergic inflammation. Kaplan and colleagues identify the transcription factor PU.1 as being necessary for T_H9 differentiation and as a contributing factor in allergic airway inflammation.

Structural insight into TIR-domain interactions, which are essential for the recruitment of signaling adapters to Toll-like receptors during innate immune responses, demonstrates a conserved interaction mode involved in both TLR and IL-1R signaling.

Analysing data from more than 1,000 sites globally, the authors show that palaeoclimatic legacies explain a greater amount of variation in bacterial community richness and composition than current climate.

The Impact of Genomic Variation on Function Consortium is combining single-cell mapping, genomic perturbations and predictive modelling to investigate relationships between human genomic variation, genome function and phenotypes and will provide an open resource to the community.

Several mechanisms have been put forward to explain tropical Pacific decadal variability, the contributions of which are debated. This Review outlines the different drivers of tropical Pacific decadal variability, summarizing that tropical pycnocline adjustment to wind forcing and Rossby wave activity is likely the dominant mechanism, albeit with uncertainty.

A subnanometre-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structure of the Rh5–CyRPA–Ripr complex of Plasmodium falciparum provides insights into how this ligand interacts with the receptor basigin in erythrocyte hosts.