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Analysis of a global dataset reveals spatiotemporal patterns of marine plankton and their biogeographical responses during climatic and environmental changes across the Cenozoic era.

Wrinkling of cell nuclei is associated with disease. During development, the nucleus behaves like a sheet of paper and the wrinkling amplitude can be manipulated without changing its pattern.

Here the authors use mRNA display to discover peptide inhibitors of BamA, an essential factor that catalyzes the membrane insertion of bacterial outer membrane proteins. They show that three peptides are antibacterial and inhibit BamA activity by a unique mechanism.

Argonaute proteins are key effectors in the microRNA pathway. Here, the authors show that the conserved peptidase DPF-3 regulates Argonautes in C. elegans, and that loss of dpf-3 restores function and fitness in animals lacking the microRNA Argonaute ALG-1.

Which combination of current genome sequencing and assembly approaches results in high-quality, complete diploid genome assemblies is determined.

Twisted 2D magnets provide a rich playground for potential spintronic device architectures. Here, the authors use tunneling magnetoresistance measurements to investigate the collective spin states of twisted double bilayer CrI₃ in various configurations, providing evidence of non-volatile spin textures.

Acetylcholine (ACh) release in the central nervous system is thought to be unitary and mediated non-synaptically in volume transmission. Here, Takács and colleagues show cholinergic terminals juxtapose GABAergic synapses anatomically and functionally, and GABA and ACh molecules are co-transmitted.

Understanding oscillation phenomena in catalysis is a long-standing challenge. Here the authors report a temporally and spatially resolved operando analysis of CO oxidation over Rh/Al₂O₃, revealing the interplay of Boudouard reaction and carbon combustion in generating the oscillations.

Structural disorder in materials is challenging to characterise. Here, the authors use multivariate analysis of atomic pair distribution functions to study structural collapse and melting of metal–organic frameworks, revealing powerful mechanistic and kinetic insight.

Engineering a coupling between magnetic molecules and conducting materials at room temperature could help the development of spintronic devices. Loh et al. show that the spin state of QDTP molecules deposited on graphene and MoS₂ couples to their electronic structure, affecting magnetotransport.

The record-low Antarctic sea-ice decline in 2023 substantially altered Southern Ocean–atmosphere interaction leading to unprecedented wintertime turbulent ocean heat loss to the atmosphere, enhanced storminess and increased dense water formation.

Hard carbons are considered the most suitable negative electrode materials for Na-ion batteries. Here, authors use electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the spin nature of mechanochemically-modified hard carbons to predict their charge storage mechanism for sodium-ion batteries.

A combination of detailed photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and numerical simulations reveal the presence of so-called Dirac node arcs in the electronic structure of PtSn₄.

Biologics are delivered by a pill that pricks the stomach wall.

Lactic acidosis is a metabolic state that occurs in injured tissues. Here the authors show that macrophages, in order to remain functional in acidosis, reduce their mitochondrial mass by mitophagy and rely on autophagy for survival, with mitochondrial integrity retained using acetoacetate as alternative fuel.

Deep neural networks are a powerful tool for predicting protein function, but identifying the specific parts of a protein sequence that are relevant to its functions remains a challenge. An occlusion-based sensitivity technique helps interpret these deep neural networks, and can guide protein engineering by locating functionally relevant protein positions.

Blood takes a roller-coaster ride through the heart. Did this breathless journey offer vertebrates an evolutionary short cut, asks David Adam?

The electrical properties of nanostructured networks are often dominated by junctions between the particles. Here, Gabett et al. develop transport models and utilise impedance spectroscopy to quantify the factors limiting conduction in these systems.

Always fancied being a racing driver? Watch where you're going and you might get there, says David Adam.

A family of multi-qubit Rydberg quantum gates is developed and used to generate Schrödinger cat states in an optical clock, allowing improvement in frequency measurement precision by taking advantage of entanglement.

Contractile forces are key to sorting the embryonic inner cell mass from the extraembryonic trophectoderm. Here they show that Lamin-A links changes in mechanical forces to cell fate specification, enabling Yap-Cdx2 signaling in outer, but not inner cells.

Mg-based batteries possess potential advantages over their lithium counterparts; however, the use of reversible oxidation-resistant, carbonate-based electrolytes has been hindered because of their undesirable electrochemical reduction reactions. Now, by engineering a Mg²⁺-conductive artificial interphase on a Mg electrode surface, which prevents such reactivity, highly reversible Mg deposition/stripping in carbonate-based electrolytes has been demonstrated.

A subset of antigen-presenting cells of myeloid origin that require PRDM16 and RORγt regulates T cell function to enable immune tolerance of food and commensal gut microorganisms.

Fe-exchanged zeolite catalysts are known for their ability to remediate NO_x and N₂O emissions, but their reactivity in mixed streams of NO and N₂O remains unclear. Now a suite of operando spectroscopies reveals the active Fe species involved in the process and their synergistic effect during the simultaneous conversion of these pollutants.

Adam Rome assesses a study of two scientists who have polarized attitudes to sustainability since the 1960s.

The authors have developed a custom-designed near-field probe to study the formation and emission characteristics of plexcitons arising from the interaction between surface plasmons in Au nanotrenches and excitons in monolayer WSe₂.

Analyses of 475 ancient horse genomes show modern horses emerged around 2200 bce, coinciding with sudden expansion across Eurasia, refuting the narrative of large horse herds accompanying earlier migrations of steppe peoples across Europe.

Natural killer T (NKT) cells include type I that express semi-invariant T cell receptor (TCR), and type II that cover a broader repertoire. Here the authors describe the crystal structure of a type II NKT TCR complexed with CD1d/antigen to propose that type II NKT TCRs may adapt multiple CD1d docking modes to maximise antigen recognition efficacy.

Urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UCAR) is associated with various clinical outcomes such as kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. Here, the authors report genome-wide meta-analysis in over 500,000 individuals and find 68 UACR loci, followed by statistical fine-mapping, gene prioritization and experimental validation in flies.

The APOBEC mutation signature contributes to a significant percentage of human cancers. Here the authors via biochemical and computational analyses shed light on how DNA primary sequence and secondary structure jointly influence A3A substrate optimality.

The first heartbeat of a zebrafish was captured, and development of cardiac excitability and conduction around this singular event were analysed, showing how development of single-cell properties produces a transition from quiescence to coordinated beating.

On-surface synthesis enables highly reactive structures to be produced under vacuum, but they need to be passivated to be incorporated into practical devices. Here, the facile protection of air-sensitive chiral graphene nanoribbons has been shown, by either hydrogenation or synthesis of an oxidized form. The chemically stable forms can subsequently be deprotected.

The goal of the 1000 Genomes Project is to provide in-depth information on variation in human genome sequences. In the pilot phase reported here, different strategies for genome-wide sequencing, using high-throughput sequencing platforms, were developed and compared. The resulting data set includes more than 95% of the currently accessible variants found in any individual, and can be used to inform association and functional studies.

The power of pangenomic graphs to improve genetic mapping is still unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate its value in identification of genetic variants associated with disease resistance traits in melon using PanPipes, a pangenome construction and low-coverage genotype-by-sequencing pipeline.

Although amorphous calcium carbonate represents an important biomineralization precursor, its structure has been difficult to understand. Now, amorphous calcium carbonate’s structure is shown to arise from the different bridging modes available to the calcium ions. This effective multi-well potential that drives calcium arrangements creates a geometric incompatibility between preferred Ca–Ca distances and frustrates crystallization.

How cortical areas interact via feedforward and feedback signaling remains unclear. Here, the authors recorded from V1 and V2/V4 in macaque visual cortex and found that feedforward and feedback interactions vary with stimulus drive and involve different neuronal population activity patterns.

An automatic framework, SNOPS, is developed for configuring a spiking network model to reproduce neuronal recordings. It is used to discover previously unknown limitations of spiking network models, thereby guiding model development.

Reporter gene expression history in cells is recorded with engineered fluorescent protein fibers.

Porous materials such as snow can collapse under compression, forming anticracks. The authors show that anticrack fracture modes vary with loading direction and find a mechanism that suggests that cracks grow more easily under compression than under shear, advancing stability models for porous materials.

Leak-wave metasurface antennas tailor non-local resonances leveraging judiciously broken spatial symmetries in their design to generate arbitrarily shaped near-field and far-field patterns.

The authors report a simple strategy to enable ultrahigh-Q guided-mode resonances by introducing a patterned perturbation layer on top of a multilayer-waveguide system. Such high-Q resonances are experimentally demonstrated with measured Q-factors up to 2.4 × 10⁵.

The first known phosphorus-rich deposits formed 2 billion years ago, but their origins are unclear. Geochemical and palaeontological analyses of 2-billion-year-old deposits from northwest Russia suggest that the presence of sulphur-oxidizing bacteria and a sharp oxic–anoxic transition in the sediments allowed for phosphorus accumulation in this setting.