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Uranus (left) and Neptune (right) as seen by Voyager 2, the only probed to have visited the planets.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech (L) and NASA (R)

An imminent planetary alignment of Neptune, Uranus and Jupiter means now is the right time to plan a trip to the ice giants. The rare celestial arrangement occurs next in the early 2030s; that’s a tight deadline for planetary scientists eager to seize the opportunity to study the least-explored planets in the Solar System. NASA’s Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune, with brief fly-bys in the 1980s.

Nature | 5 min read

Source: NASA

Tech-focused conglomerate Honeywell has announced that it will make a quantum computer available for cloud-based commercial experiments within three months. Honeywell says its machine will be the world’s most powerful, in terms of a benchmark called quantum volume. “This is not a science project,” says Tony Uttley, president of Honeywell’s Quantum Solutions group. “We are doing this to be able to demonstrate true value creation for the organizations we’re working with.”

The Register | 6 min read

Reference: Honeywell preprint

For the first time since the Ebola outbreak was declared in August 2018, there are no active cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The discharge of patient Semida Masika from a hospital in Beni was celebrated by hospital staff who sang, danced and drummed. The DRC has now gone 14 days without any new confirmed cases. The outbreak can be declared over after 42 days — but a single case in the tumultuous region could reignite it, warned the World Health Organization.

Reuters | 2 min read

Features & opinion

Marine ecologist Rachel Ragnhild Carlson worked at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for four years before leaving for graduate studies. “Like a rough break-up or an undercooked meal, my stint at the EPA has taken a while to digest,” says Carlson. “What I’ve come away with, however, is the realization that my time there — even, and especially, under the Trump presidency — has given me powerful skills that frequently serve me well as a PhD student.”

Nature | 5 min read

In this four-part podcast series, researchers explore the stages of writing a top-notch paper. In the third episode, they discuss what comes after publication — getting your paper talked about by journalists, the public, your peers and funders.

Nature | 22 min listen