A roundup of weekly science policy and related news.

Ali Akbar Salehi tells Science how he helped seal the Iran nuclear agreement.

Committee pushes study of ice loss, genomics, and radiation from the beginning of the universe.

Engineered microbes raise hopes for better medicines and concerns about illicit drugs.

New data on undersea mountains support conflicting claims to the North Pole.

Crisis sparks debate about whether to make official contact or leave isolated tribespeople alone.

Scientists are discovering thousands of microbes that help plants survive and thrive. Could these symbionts help farmers as well?

A naturalist turns a reverent eye to the birds of the Scottish highlands

Forging personal connections in the digital age

A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 07 August 2015.

Observations of crustal deformation constrain models of mountain formation [Also see Report by Huang et al.]

Humans and other vertebrates may share a developmental program for vocal learning [Also see Report by Takahashi et al.]

Astrocytes ensure communication between neurons of the same circuit [Also see Report by Martín et al.]

Internal climate variability masks climate-warming trends

Many lives might have been saved if clinical studies of Ebola virus vaccines had been done earlier [Also see Report by Marzi et al.]

Treatments that normalize or even promote blood vessel growth may enhance drug delivery to tumors

An optical waveguide circuit can be flexibly programmed with near-perfect fidelity [Also see Research Article by Carolan et al.]

Deep-water formation in some Arctic seas nearly ceased during the peak of the last glacial period.

A reconfigurable optical circuit provides a platform for a photonically-based quantum computer. [Also see Perspective by Rohde and Dowling]

The antibody response to an HIV-1 vaccine is dominated by preexisting immunity to microbiota.

Superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry is used to observe a magnetic transition in an oxide heterostructure.

A change in the direction of deformation with depth helps explain subduction-driven uplift. [Also see Perspective by Long]

Surface doping with potassium is used to tune black phosphorus from a semiconducting to a graphene-like electronic structure.

Silicon nanowires can be structured to exhibit a polarization-dependent optical response.

Astrocytes are selective when they signal neurons and vice versa. [Also see Perspective by Gittis and Brasier]

Young marmosets, like young humans, use cues from adults as they develop vocalizations. [Also see Perspective by Margoliash and Tchernichovski]

A recombinant vaccine stimulates protective immunity against West African Ebola virus within days. [Also see Perspective by Klenk and Becker]

A nuclease prevents DNA polymerase from swinging to the wrong template while repairing broken DNA.

Fruit flies exposed to parasites plastically increase their production of recombinant progeny.

On this week's show: How baby marmoset monkeys develop their calls 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.