Viewpoint

Efficient and targeted delivery of nucleic acids is critical for realizing the full therapeutic potential of gene editing, vaccines and RNA-based drugs, and emerging delivery platforms offer innovative solutions through their diverse architectures, tunable properties and distinct biological interactions. In this Viewpoint, researchers working across different delivery platforms — including lipid nanoparticles, synthetic polymers, peptide amphiphiles, coacervate microdroplets, DNA nanostructures and extracellular vesicles — discuss the most promising directions and the main challenges in shaping the future of nucleic acid delivery.

More than 40 years after the discovery of the quantum Hall effect, the investigation of new variants of this phenomenon and of the exotic physics they represent is still a lively research topic. In this Viewpoint, five scientists involved in the very recent discovery of a new type of Hall effect — the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect — discuss their results and their implications.

Current interest in furthering space exploration is undoubtedly relevant to materials science research. However, as we stand on the brink of a revolution, it is imperative to establish robust frameworks to foster sustainable growth. In this Viewpoint, experts in space policy, environmental stewardship and ethics reflect on issues from space debris management to international collaboration and exploitation of extraterrestrial resources.

Incorporating in the curriculum active learning and project-based teaching, assuming minimal prior knowledge and emphasizing the real-world relevance of the covered topics result in better learning outcomes and help engage a more diverse group of students. In this Viewpoint, five educators who have been involved in reimagining undergraduate teaching in materials science and engineering share their insights and perspective.

Deaf scientists who use American Sign Language need to be able to communicate specialized concepts with ease. In this Viewpoint, four deaf scientists — a quantum physicist, a marine ecologist, an immunologist and an organic chemist — discuss their experiences in developing scientific lexicons and the resulting shift in their science communication.

Exascale computers — supercomputers that can perform 10¹⁸ floating point operations per second — started coming online in 2022: in the United States, Frontier launched as the first public exascale supercomputer and Aurora is due to open soon; OceanLight and Tianhe-3 are operational in China; and JUPITER is due to launch in 2023 in Europe. Supercomputers offer unprecedented opportunities for modelling complex materials. In this Viewpoint, five researchers working on different types of materials discuss the most promising directions in computational materials science.

Solution-processable semiconductors based on small molecules, polymers or halide perovskites combine sustainable manufacturing with exceptional optoelectronic properties that can be chemically tailored to achieve flexible and highly efficient optoelectronic and photonic devices. A new exciting research direction is the study of the influence of chirality on light–matter interactions in these soft materials and its exploitation for the simultaneous control of charge, spin and light. In this Viewpoint, researchers working on different types of chiral semiconductors discuss the most interesting directions in this rapidly expanding field.

Materials for extreme environments can help to protect people, structures and the planet. Extreme temperatures in aeroplane engines, hypervelocity micrometeoroid impacts on satellites, high-speed machining of ceramics and strong radiation doses in nuclear reactors are just some examples of extreme conditions that materials need to withstand. In this Viewpoint, experts working on materials for different types of extreme environments discuss the most exciting advances, opportunities and bottlenecks in their fields.

Scientific visibility is key to an academic career and rooted in the traditional academic cycle of training, (informal) connections, support, publications, citations, recognition and funding — a cycle from which under-represented groups are often excluded. In this Viewpoint, five scientists discuss experiences and thoughts about disparities in scientific visibility and provide action points.

Moiré systems formed by 2D atomic layers have widely tunable electrical and optical properties and host exotic, strongly correlated and topological phenomena, including superconductivity, correlated insulator states and orbital magnetism. In this Viewpoint, researchers studying different aspects of moiré materials discuss the most exciting directions in this rapidly expanding field.