2019-07-19

封面上展示的是尼尔·阿姆斯特朗的影子投射在月球表面的情景。这张照片是1969年7月21日由阿姆斯特朗亲自拍摄的，作为阿波罗11号着陆点全景图的一部分，而当时巴兹·奥尔德林正在部署科学仪器。太阳就在阿姆斯特朗的正后方，在他的头盔周围形成了一个明亮的光环。从封面图上可以看到，为了校正畸变，相机光学引入了黑十字。

Neil Armstrong's shadow cast on the surface of the Moon. This image was taken by Armstrong on 21 July 1969, as part of a panorama of the Apollo 11 landing site, while Buzz Aldrin deployed scientific instruments. The Sun was directly behind Armstrong, producing the appearance of a bright halo around his helmet. Black crosses were introduced by the camera optics for distortion calibration.

2019-07-26

海底冰川前缘融化的速度比预期的要快。封面图上展示的是从阿拉斯加东南部的勒孔特冰川崩解下来的冰山的一部分，它就是这一进程引发的诸多后果之一，这个过程会造成质量的损失，破坏冰盖的稳定，并导致海平面上升速度加快。

Submarine melting of ice at the leading edge of glaciers that discharge into the ocean is happening faster than expected. This section of an iceberg calved from LeConte Glacier in southeast Alaska illustrates one of the consequences of this process, which helps drive mass loss, destabilizes ice sheets, and leads to faster rates of sea level rise.

2019-08-02

封面图展示的是在北京的一个实验室里，用基因编辑器CRISPR设计的抵抗一种细菌性疾病的番茄幼苗发芽了。中国在利用CRISPR改善农作物方面走在了世界前列，并且中国的科学家也在制作几种物种的疾病模型，以及用于人体移植的猪器官。但与此同时，对基因编辑器的另一种用途，也就是编辑人类胚胎，却引发了一场国际丑闻。

A tomato seedling engineered with the genome editor CRISPR to resist a bacterial disease sprouts in a Beijing laboratory. China is at the forefront of applying CRISPR to improve crops, and its scientists also are creating disease models in several species, as well as pig organs for transplantation into people. Another use, editing human embryos, triggered an international scandal.

2019-08-09

封面图展示的是位于澳大利亚西部的射电望远镜——澳大利亚平方千米阵列探路器（ASKAP）上方的银河。ASKAP的36个碟形天线（封面图上可以看到5个）共同运作就像一个干涉仪一样，可以精确定位射电源。天文学家利用ASKAP已经确认了一个快速射电暴的宿主星系，这种快速射电暴是一种持续仅1毫秒的闪光射电辐射。

The Milky Way seen above the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), a radio telescope located in Western Australia. ASKAP's 36 dishes (five visible here) work together as an interferometer to precisely locate radio sources. Astronomers using ASKAP have identified the host galaxy of a fast radio burst, a flash of radio emission lasting only a millisecond.