A roundup of weekly science policy and related news.

Government makes deep cuts in research budgets as economy stumbles.

An effort to repeat 100 studies yields sobering results, but many researchers are positive about the process.

Multiple groups reveal that “stutter” mutation kills nerve cells by clogging channels into the nucleus.

California company shows new approach to trapping hot plasma.

New family tree shows that a series of innovations accelerated speciation.

As threats to crayfish mount, researchers push to document the enigmatic crustaceans.

A new theory aims to explain the success of world religions—but testing it remains a challenge.

Scientists struggle to reach across a disciplinary divide to test a new theory about the evolution of religion.

Science and fantasy collide in the newly refurbished Smithsonian Libraries Exhibition Gallery

John Paul Stapp and the biophysical boundaries of the human body

A listing of books received at Science during the week ending 21 August 2015.

Multiple stringent confinement strategies should be used whenever possible

Complex behaviors are engineered from cooperating cell communities [Also see Report by Chen et al.]

Iron catalysis transforms readily available commodity olefins into cyclobutane building blocks under thermal conditions [Also see Report by Hoyt et al.]

Gut microbes influence the balance of regulatory T cell subtypes to control inflammation [Also see Reports by Ohnmacht et al. and Sefik et al.]

Early hominin species were as diverse as other mammals

Super-resolution imaging of fast dynamic processes in living cells is facilitated by improvements to structured illumination microscopy.

A large-scale assessment suggests that experimental reproducibility in psychology leaves a lot to be desired.

Systematic transport measurements in metallic strontium titanate test the temperature dependence of resistivity in a Fermi liquid.

A scanning superconducting quantum interference device can write magnetic domains in a EuS/Bi₂Se₃ heterostructure.

The fluctuating motion of a mechanical system can be squeezed below the zero-point limit.

A nebulator produces solution drops so small that they dry and form amorphous nanoparticles before crystal nuclei can form.

A carefully optimized catalyst offers a general route to four-membered carbon rings. [Also see Perspective by Smith and Baran]

Female túngara frogs can be tricked into choosing less attractive mates.

Faster growth of wings resolves why tropical songbirds have smaller clutch sizes than those from cooler climes.

The wide distribution of plant-root fungal symbionts seems to be driven by recent dispersal rather than ancient tectonics.

Axons follow glycerophospholipids to find their way in the developing spinal cord.

DNA recombination enzymes match DNA strands three base pairs at a time, except during meiosis.

Mutations in titin cause heart disease by disrupting the sarcomere, which normally helps the heart adapt to stress.

Two strains of bacteria are designed to synchronize transcription in culture. [Also see Perspective by Teague and Weiss]

Microbes resident in the gut induce an immunoregulatory population of T cells that promote immune homeostasis. [Also see Perspective by Hegazy and Powrie]

Microbes resident in the gut induce an immunoregulatory population of T cells that promote immune homeostasis. [Also see Perspective by Hegazy and Powrie]

On this week's show: The origin of moralizing gods, replicating 100 psychology experiments, 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.