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Planar polarity in the Drosophila pupal wing is oriented by tissue stress but the mechanisms underlying this connection remain unclear. Here they show a crucial role for cell flow gradients in promoting planar polarity protein turnover and aligning proximodistal polarity.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

Contrary to expectations from studies of birds, ecological radiation in crown bats is associated with strong trait integration both within and between forelimb and hindlimb.

Analysing wing shapes within and across distantly related dipteran lineages, the authors show that intrapopulation variation reflecting microevolutionary change can predict deep divergence at macroevolutionary timescales spanning 185 million years, and suggest that this pattern can be explained by correlational selection related to allometric scaling.

In this work, authors study a molecular signature in STING protein that is critical for distinguishing activation from inhibition and demonstrates therapeutic potential in correcting STING-related mutations in autoimmune conditions like STING-Associated Vasculopathy with onset in Infancy (SAVI).

How signaling pathways recruit SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes is not known. Here the authors suggest a ubiquitin directed mechanism targeting SWI/SNF for Wnt pathway dependent transcription, important for development and cancer.

Flightless moths use their wings to sniff out an attractive mate, David Adam learns.

The transcription factor Nkx2.5 is essential for heart development. Here, the authors identify a previously unknown expression ___domain for Nkx2.5 in the emu wing and explore its role in diminished wing bud development in the flightless emu, compared with three other birds that have functional wings.

Genetic experiments coupled with genomic analysis reveal the role of the histone demethylase dLsd1 in regulating organ size via the repression of transposable elements’ transcription and mobilization in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster.

Hummingbirds are known to defy the predicted scaling relationships between body and wing size. Here, Skandalis et al. develop a ‘force allometry’ framework to show that, regardless of wing size, hummingbird species have the same wing velocity during flight.

The Hedgehog signalling gradient is established by dynamic signalling filopodia (cytonemes). Here, the authors show that EGF signalling may regulate cytoneme dynamics by maintaining basal plasma membrane levels of the Hedgehog co-receptor Ihog in the wing disc epithelium.

A detailed analysis of fly wing phenotypes reveals a strong positive relationship between variation produced by mutation, standing genetic variation, and evolutionary rate over the past 40 million years.

Natural variation in the courtship song of Drosophila is mapped to the intronic insertion of a retroelement at the slowpoke locus, which encodes an ion channel.

Recent work has suggested that lift and drag may be employed differently in slow, flapping flight compared to classic flight aerodynamics. Here the authors develop a method to measure vertical and horizontal aerodynamic forces simultaneously and use it to quantify lift and drag during slow flight.

The red-shouldered soapberry bug, Jadera haematoloma, is a potential model system for developmental plasticity. Here, the authors show that the reaction norm for wing polyphenism has evolved in a recently derived ecotype and identify insulin signaling as a candidate pathway underlying this adaptive change.

The topographical features of insect wings result in some interesting surface properties, including hydrophobicity and antibacterial activity. Here the authors identify the surface of black silicon as a mimic of dragonfly wings and show that it too possesses antibacterial activity.

Birds have an excellent ability to learn to discriminate harmless insects from those that they mimic on the basis of subtle differences in appearance.

There is a need for accurate models to predict disease dynamics by considering the interactions between environment and vector traits. This study finds that incorporating delayed phenotypic plasticity in mosquito traits significantly enhances the accuracy of dengue risk predictions.

Heavier-than-air insect-scale aerial robots powered by soft artificial muscles can hover and also recover from in-flight collisions, illustrating the potential for developing next-generation agile soft robots.

Activation of nested, but not discrete, neural circuits drives alternative courtship songs in male Drosophila melanogaster, providing further insight into how the nervous system can drive the same motor systems to rapidly switch between different actions.

Every spring, Bogong moths use the starry night sky as a compass to navigate up to 1,000 km towards their alpine migratory goal.

Chromosome-level genome assemblies of nine tetraploid and two diploid wild Oryza species provide insights into genome evolution within the genus Oryza and the potential for crop improvement and neodomestication.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a dangerous human pathogen responsible for mononucleosis and several types of cancers. Here the authors describe a high-resolution atomic structure of the EBV portal, which serves as the entrance and exit pore for the viral genome and is a potential pharmacological target for the development of antivirals.

An automated system to measure aggression and courtship in pairs of interacting Drosophila is presented and should allow large-scale screens of these behaviors in the future.

Wnt receptor levels drive signaling. Here the authors find that precise signaling in the Wnt morphogen gradient relies on Usp46, a deubiquitylase that enhances target cells sensitivity by increasing cell surface levels of the Wnt receptor Arrow/LRP6.

Cytonemes are specialized filopodia-like structures known to be involved in signal transduction. Here they propose a new predictive model for cytoneme guidance in Hedgehog signaling, which is based on Ihog, Dally, and Dlp protein levels.

Genomic evolutionary rates are decomposed to identify the dominant lineages and genes driving rate variation across the phylogeny of birds.

The authors collate literature on the responses of bird assemblages to forest loss and show that locations with a more variable natural environment and a longer history of agricultural land use have bird assemblages that are more tolerant to forest loss.

Gradients of cell recognition molecules wire a sensorimotor interface in Drosophila.

Goel et al. examine why some factually correct news articles are often shared by users who also shared fake news articles on social media.

Measurements of the wings of swifts in a wind tunnel reveal the remarkable changes of in-flight performance afforded by changing wing shape. Swifts can halve sink speed or triple turning rate by choosing the most suitable sweep. Extended wings are superior for slow glides and turns. But swept wings are superior for fast glides and turns, they allow the birds to bear the extreme accelerational loads of fast manoeuvres in the air.

A recently described red-shifted channelrhodopsin permits control of complex behaviors in freely moving adult flies and reveals the functional modulation of courtship behavior by social experience.

The authors reveal the complex interplay of factors influencing climate-related body-size changes in tree swallows. Nest warming increased chick size and success yet adult structural size decreased, and mass of males decreased but females did not, the latter linked to reproduction trade-offs.

Here the authors show that chromosomal instability signatures can predict resistance to anthracycline-, taxane- and platinum-based chemotherapeutics in breast, ovarian and prostate cancer and sarcoma. Validation is performed through emulation of phase 2 and 3 clinical trials using real-world data.