  New and non-trivial properties of off-shell instantons in loop quantum
cosmology show that dynamical signature change naturally cures recently
observed problems in the semiclassical path integral of quantum gravity. If
left unsolved, these problems would doom any theory of smooth initial
conditions of the universe. The no-boundary proposal, as a specific example of
such a theory, is rescued by loops, presenting a rare instance of a fruitful
confluence of different approaches to quantum cosmology.
