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An operational satellite-based monitoring system using NASA/USGS and ESA imagery enables rapid tracking of global land change, with the area of conversion due to direct human action and fire equaling the size of California in 2023.

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.

A new version of nanorate DNA sequencing, with an error rate lower than five errors per billion base pairs and compatible with whole-exome and targeted capture, enables epidemiological-scale studies of somatic mutation and selection and the generation of high-resolution selection maps across coding and non-coding sites for many genes.

Mulholland et al. identify progenitor exhausted T cells, expressing intermediate levels of PD-1 (PD-1^int), as a prominent source of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the murine atherosclerotic aorta and potential cellular targets driving checkpoint inhibition-elicited pro-atherosclerotic immune responses. They further demonstrate elevated levels of circulating PD-1-expressing T cells in individuals with subclinical cardiovascular disease.

Yamazoe et al. show that B cell-derived autoantibodies contribute to the development of atrial fibrillation, suggesting that targeting the humoral immune response may represent a viable therapeutic approach.

Phaeocystales are ecologically significant nanoplankton whose evolutionary history and functional diversity remain incompletely characterized. Here, the authors integrate genomic and transcriptomic data to reveal their lineage diversification, metabolic plasticity, and adaptation to polar and temperate regimes.

Here, the authors use detailed temporal nutrition intake data captured through real-time food logging via a smartphone app and gut microbiota profiles from ~1,000 participants of a digital cohort on personalized nutrition to associate dietary regularity and quality with gut microbiome diversity.

The Southern Ocean seasonal ice zone can be divided into 3 dynamical regimes based on the magnitude and sign of the mean submesoscale vertical heat flux using instrumented seal data.

Interactions between qubits and defect-related two-level systems in superconducting qubit devices are a major source of noise fluctuations that hinder error-mitigation performance. Here, the authors experimentally show that modulating this interaction can reduce noise fluctuation and improve error mitigation performance.

Cell state plasticity of neuroblastoma cells is linked to therapy resistance. Here, the authors develop a transcriptomic and epigenetic map of indisulam (RBM39 degrader) resistant neuroblastoma, demonstrating bidirectional cell state switching accompanied by increased NK cell activity, which they therapeutically enhance by the addition of an anti-GD2 antibody.

Gut bacteria digest dietary fiber and release molecules as energy for the host. Here, Yu et al. find that the ability of certain gut bacteria to digest different fibers influences host consumption of food containing these fibers.

Head motion is an artifact in structural and functional MRI signals, and some traits or groups are more strongly correlated with motion than others. Here the authors describe a method to attribute a motion impact score to specific trait-functional connectivity relationships.

HTLV-1 type-C causes more severe disease than type-A, but the underlying reason is unclear. Here the authors show in a macaque model how type-C orf-I affects lung pathogenesis and the immune response to HTLV-1, providing a model to test viral targets for disease prevention.

Transposable elements are genetic parasites that have colonised genomes and they express as parts of coding and noncoding RNAs. Here, the authors explore how they are expressed in transcripts in normal human development, and how they alter transcript dynamics.

In a randomized, placebo-controlled, stepwise dose-escalation phase 1 trial evaluating a conjugate vaccine against both typhoid and invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella infections, the vaccine was found to be safe and immunogenic in healthy adults.

Researchers reveal widespread, newly formed seafloor seeps along Antarctica’s Ross Sea coast. Methane-rich flows alter local ecosystems and may influence warming. The drivers remain unknown, warranting coordinated study.

In a phase 3 trial for Huntington’s disease, pridopidine did not meet its primary endpoints but was safe and favored in some prespecified subgroup analyses.

This work reveals how a regulatory domain in O-GlcNAc hydrolase (OGA) shapes enzyme flexibility and activity, uncovering mechanisms that help maintain O-GlcNAc balance in cells.

Structural and functional characterization of the β-barrel assembly machinery complex in Bacteroidota reveals a distinct, seven-component complex with a large extracellular domain that may enable β-barrel–surface lipoprotein complex assembly.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

PBK is a mitotic kinase implicated in cancer. This study reveals how PBK evicts key C2H2-zinc finger transcription factors such as Ikaros, Aiolos and CTCF from DNA as cells divide, regulating mitotic chromatin accessibility and chromosome compaction.

It has been proposed that phonons propagating through a material can be used for quantum computing, in a similar manner to photons. Now, several of the quantum gates and measurements needed for this approach have been demonstrated.

The full potential of tunable perovskite nanocrystals is limited by complex synthesis space. Here, authors developed a self-driving lab that autonomously discovers and produces optimal scalable nanocrystals for next-generation photonic technologies.

Here, the authors present fossilized neural traits from the lower Cambrian euarthropod Jianfengia multisegmentalis, including structured eyestalks and compound eyes, that resolve multiple phylogenetic relationships within Euarthropoda.

The cortex fuels essential physiological processes with glucose-derived carbon, while gliomas fuel their aggressiveness by rerouting glucose carbon pathways and scavenging alternative carbon sources such as environmental amino acids, providing a potential therapeutic target.

The functional organization of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) for guiding eye movements has remained unknown. Here, the authors use functional ultrasound neuroimaging to reveal small, tuned clusters in PPC that reliably encode where we look over months to years.

Sensor failures and limited resolution challenge many complex systems. Here, authors develop a multimodal AI method to generate super-resolution of a sensor using other available sensors in the system, revealing hidden dynamics in fusion plasmas and enabling cost-effective, high-resolution diagnostics.

The authors show that alternative splicing is an important layer of macrophage response to environmental stimuli. Genetic determinants of this response, often targeting low-usage splicing events, are linked to several immune-mediated diseases.

Basal cells, rather than neuroendocrine cells, have been identified as the probable origin of small cell lung cancer and other neuroendocrine–tuft cancers, explaining neuroendocrine–tuft heterogeneity and offering new perspectives for targeting lineage plasticity.

Nutrient-induced soil carbon gains in grasslands can persist for decades after fertilization stops as long as the soil remains untilled, according to a multidecadal field experiment on retired agricultural fields with sandy soils.

A study in Drosophila has identified a neural circuit that selectively suppress movement-encoding proprioceptors during self-generated movements such as walking and grooming.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

Al-Hilal, Chrysovergi et al. identify a role for durotaxis in lung fibrosis and metastatic pancreatic cancer, mediated by the FAK–paxillin mechanosensor complex, and demonstrate therapeutic targeting of this pathway using the small molecule JP-153.

Analysis of samples from the asteroid Ryugu provide evidence of late fluid flow in a carbonaceous asteroid, indicating that such bodies may have retained two to three times more water than previously thought.

2023 CX1 is the only L-chondrite-like asteroid analysed from space to ground. It catastrophically fragmented in the atmosphere, depositing 98% of its energy in one burst—an unusual, high-risk fragmentation mode with implications for planetary defence.

The majority of human genes can produce multiple isoforms, but studying their functional relevance requires tools to target specific isoforms. Here, the authors develop a CRISPR-based exon-exon junction-targeting strategy to achieve isoform-specific RNA knockdown.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Lousdal et al. investigate the changes in polygenic scores for schizophrenia, depression, autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder using data from a Danish population-based case–cohort study that includes individuals born between 1981 and 2008.

The Perseverance rover detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons preserved within sulfates in the fan and floor of Jezero crater on Mars, offering new insights into past habitability and the preservation of organic matter on Mars.

An understanding of the molecular mechanisms promoting the generation of immunoregulatory and tumour-promoting monocytes and macrophages is key to breaking the cycle of tumour myelopoiesis and developing more effective myeloid-targeting therapies.

This work introduces a pedigree-derived benchmark for single-nucleotide variants, indels, structural variants and tandem repeats, offering a variant map to validate sequencing workflows or to support the development and evaluation of new variant callers.

Long-acting injectable drugs for viral suppression of HIV are not yet available in African settings. Here, the authors present a mathematical modelling and cost effectiveness study of a long-acting drug combination in adults living with HIV in East, Central, Southern and West Africa.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Using experimental and modelling evidence, this study reveals that small coral populations face fertilization failure due to Allee effects. The findings identify critical population thresholds needed to maintain reproductive success.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

Nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization is an effective pathway to increase soil carbon sequestration through microbial necromass accumulation and plant-derived carbon inputs, as shown by a 180-year soil fertilization experiment, ¹⁴C labelling, metagenomics and metabolomics.