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Researchers are one step closer to starting an experiment aimed at reflecting some of the sun's rays back into space.Credit: Bob Abraham/Getty

Plans to test a geoengineering project that blocks sunlight are a step closer to reality. Harvard University has created an external advisory panel to examine the potential ethical, environmental and geopolitical impacts of a project developed by its researchers, called the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx). The project would involve releasing calcium carbonate particles from a steerable balloon some 20 kilometres above the southwestern United States.

Nature | 2 min read

Read more: First sun-dimming experiment will test a way to cool Earth (11 min read, from November)

The United Kingdom joined Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and six others in recording its highest-ever temperature during a continent-wide heatwave on 25 July. That makes 11 countries so far this year that have smashed heat records, reports New Scientist (no countries have recorded their coldest-ever temperatures this year). Climate scientists have estimated that the climate crisis made the intense European heatwave at least five times more likely than without global warming, so even these extreme records might not stand for long.

New Scientist | 3 min read

FEATURES & OPINION

Rob Summers has a complete spinal injury that doctors said would prevent him from walking.Credit: Luke Sharrett for Nature

Electrical stimulation has promised huge gains for people with spinal-cord injuries. Now comes the hard part — getting beyond those first steps. For former athlete Rob Summers, the intense therapy that has given him the ability to take a few steps is just as worthwhile for the hidden benefits, from improvements in bladder control to the feel of a new pair of socks. “I can feel the softness,” he says. “It’s crazy the little things that I find joy in.”

Nature | 19 min read

Researchers often find themselves coding algorithms in one programming language, only to have to rewrite them in a faster one. An up-and-coming language called Julia could be the answer.

Nature | 7 min read

The outbreak of the Zika virus in 2015 caused a surge in research on the virus — and the desperate need for a systematic review of the evidence. But, by the time the first such review was published eight months later, it was already out of date — another 1,400 relevant papers had been published. Scientists including epidemiologist Nicola Low, who led the Zika review, describe how a constantly updated “living systematic review” can get on top of fast-moving fields.

Nature Index | 5 min read