A roundup of weekly science policy and related news.

Deep-drilling ExoMars mission will probe long-buried clay formation for signs of life.

Studies suggest key role for perineuronal networks of proteins and sugars in long-term memory.

Fresh data reveal titanosaur growth stages, from egg to adult.

Twenty-year household surveillance project aims to gather data first, produce hypotheses later.

Cash-strapped Russian expedition curtails drilling plans as it sets out for the southern continent.

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan wants member countries to put their money where their mouths are.

Did a biblical-scale flood-or the rise of the Andes-give the Amazon its amazing biodiversity?

A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 23 October 2015.

Transition from description to causality and engineering

Geophysical imaging provides a clearer picture of how rock turns into soil [Also see Report by St. Clair et al.]

Disorder can have dramatic effects on quantum transitions [Also see Report by Xing et al.]

GABA is both transmitter and morphogen, stimulating neuronal branching in the brain [Also see Report by Chen and Kriegstein]

Systemic spread of a virus starts with multiple modes of transmission in the lymph node [Also see Report by Sewald et al.]

Laboratory experiments provide precise quantitative predictions of peer effects in the field [Also see Report by Herbst and Mas]

Engineered chimeric antigen receptors show promise

A fossil of an ape ancestor helps to explain gibbon evolution [Also see Report by Alba et al.]

A developmental biologist uncovered the structure and evolution of gene regulatory networks

An efficient, high-capacity, safe Li-air battery system is realized.

Early small-bodied apes may have contributed more to the evolution of the hominoid lineage than previously thought. [Also see Perspective by Benefit and McCrossin]

The structure of a complete telomerase complex reveals two previously unknown subunits and the path of the RNA.

Geophysical survey data and stress modeling connect surface topography to Earth's critical zone. [Also see Perspective by Anderson]

Microwave impedance microscopy is used to visualize conducting magnetic domain walls in the insulating phase of Nd₂Ir₂O₇.

Systematic transport measurements at low temperatures and in magnetic fields indicate the divergence of the dynamical critical exponent. [Also see Perspective by Markovic]

Lab experiments and real-world observations are in agreement that people work harder when they work together. [Also see Perspective by Charness and Fehr]

Neuropeptide Y-expressing inhibitory neurons selectively gate mechanical itch sensations, but not chemical itch.

A circuit built early in brain development uses a conditionally excitatory neurotransmitter to guide cortex development. [Also see Perspective by Spitzer]

Gut bacteria help the host by promoting tolerance to infection and limiting physiological damage.

Local macrophages and a subclass of B cells promote retroviral spread in lymph nodes. [Also see Perspective by Hope]

Oncogenes encoded by DNA tumor viruses subvert antiviral immunity.

On this week's show: Where the Amazon Bason's stunning biodoversity comes from and a roundup of daily news stories.

A weekly roundup of information on newly offered instrumentation, apparatus, and laboratory materials of potential interest to researchers.