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Although thought to be the most abundant vertebrates on Earth, little is known about the species of bristlemouths that inhabit the oceans’ twilight zone.Credit: Solvin Zankl/NPL

The vast, wild depths of the ocean’s middle layer face increasing threats from climate change and overfishing. Now, scientists are gearing up to dive into this largely unexplored twilight zone 200 to 1,000 metres deep. This layer is home to a majority of the marine fish biomass and helps to remove an estimated 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year.

Nature | 5 min read

Several nations reported their first infections this week, including Nigeria — the first confirmed case in sub-Saharan Africa. Health authorities and researchers have feared the virus’s spread to African countries including Nigeria, where weak health systems could become quickly overwhelmed by a local outbreak. Brazil also reported a case on Wednesday — the first in South America.

Nature | Continuously updated

Read more: This Nigerian doctor might just prevent the next deadly pandemic (Nature, from 2019)

The biggest cosmic explosion ever detected blew a huge crater in the the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster. Astronomers think the blast originated aeons ago from a supermassive black hole in the cluster. Black holes emit powerful jets of radiation and particles — in this case, it’s thought that such a jet hit something in space that caused the jet to explode outwards. “You could fit 15 Milky Way galaxies in a row into the crater this eruption punched into the cluster’s hot gas,” says astronomer Simona Giacintucci.

The Guardian | 5 min read

Reference: The Astrophysical Journal paper

Features & opinion

Economics and natural-science disciplines are reuniting to solve big societal problems together — and it’s about time, says a Nature editorial. From the finances of public health to the economics of the climate crisis, we need all hands on deck to build a better world. For its part, The World Health Organization is considering appointing a chief economist and Nature will soon appoint an economics editor and says it looks forward to publishing more economics research.

Nature | 4 min read

This week, the brain pathways of egg laying in fruit flies, ancient cave-dwelling cockroaches and preventing fractures in metallic glass.

Nature Podcast | 21 min listen

Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on iTunes, Google Podcasts or Spotify.

Books & culture

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin investigated stellar composition for her PhD research.Credit: Science History Images/Alamy

Public acclaim escaped one of the twentieth century’s most illustrious astronomers, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who used stellar spectra to discover that hydrogen is the main component of stars. A new biography sets her in the firmament, writes reviewer Giuseppina Fabbiano.

Nature | 5 min read

After a century of digging, archaeologists are still tantalized by the secrets of the 7,000-year-old city of Megiddo, the namesake of the modern word ‘armageddon’. A new history of this star of biblical archaeology skilfully mixes archaeology with personalities, culture, science and technology.

Nature | 5 min read

Where I work

Jamie Craggs is a marine biologist and the aquarium curator at the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London, UK.Credit: Phil Barthropp for Nature

Corals spawn for just 15 minutes once per year, after a specific full moon. In a tiny under-stair lab, marine biologist Jamie Craggs is working out how to simulate these conditions to produce test-tube-baby corals. The hope is to someday be able to reseed reefs damaged by climate change. (Nature | 3 min read)