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The scaly-foot snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum) coats its shell and tiny plates on its foot with iron that it takes out of the surrounding seawater.Credit: David Shale/Nature Picture Library

The ocean-floor-dwelling scaly-foot snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum) is the first animal listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of endangered species because of the threat of deep-sea mining. The snail is only found at three hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean, two of which are currently under mining exploration licences. Some researchers hope its Red-List status will dissuade investors from funding mining projects that could harm the species.

Nature | 4 min read

Reference: Nature Ecology & Evolution

A landmark European court ruling means that food-testing laboratories must spot-check freighters and supermarkets for gene-edited food — but how do you detect edits that affect just a few letters of DNA? And even if you could, how would you know that it’s the result of gene editing, rather than a natural mutation? “Some of these alterations are small enough that they are simply indistinguishable from naturally occurring organisms,” says legal analyst Martin Wasmer.

Nature | 4 min read

FEATURES & OPINION

Anaesthetist John Carlisle works in a hospital in Torquay, UK, and in his spare time finds statistical errors in medical research trials.Credit: Emli Bendixen for Nature

Anaesthetist John Carlisle’s hobby is spotting suspect statistics in published papers. His sideline has led to hundreds of papers being retracted and corrected, because of both misconduct and mistakes. And it has helped to end the careers of some large-scale fakers: of the six scientists worldwide with the most retractions, three were brought down using variants of Carlisle’s data analyses.

Nature | 11 min read

Scientists who study the ecosystem that straddles the southern border of the United States say that fieldwork, collaboration and personal safety are under threat — especially for researchers who are (or are perceived to be) Hispanic. Scientists describe being harassed by US law enforcement and armed amateur border guards, being delayed at the US–Mexico border and seeing US visas denied to Mexican collaborators.

Public Radio International | 7 min read or 11 min listen

“Social media provides a 24/7 café that transcends lab walls, country borders, career stages, languages (through Twitter’s in-built translation tools), cultures and backgrounds,” argue three academics who are active on the social network. They explore why they find the platform useful and how to mitigate the downsides.

Nature Reviews Chemistry | 9 min read