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Producing valuable hydrocarbons electrochemically from carbon monoxide (CO) is an energy-efficient pathway, but reliance on costly pure CO as a feedstock limits its economic viability. This article shows that abundant CO-rich syngas can be directly used to synthesize ethylene.

Chlorine electrosynthesis from seawater is limited by poor selectivity and stability under industrial-scale conditions. Here atomic-step-enriched ultrafine high-entropy alloy nanowires enable highly efficient chlorine evolution at 10 kA m⁻² for over 5,500 h through dynamic Pt–O active sites, reducing electricity consumption and feedstock costs for next-generation chlor-alkali processes.

Strong paramagnetism is generated in hydrogels rich in carbon–oxygen double bonds simply by coupling with diamagnetic Ca cations. These paramagnetic hydrogels are applied as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents and magnetic drug carriers.

Electrochemical CO reduction to multi-carbon products offers a carbon-negative approach to produce chemicals, but the intricate reaction pathways lead to a broad spectrum of products. Now it has been shown that alkali cations alter the mechanistic pathways that govern the reaction selectivity involved in the formation of hydrocarbons versus oxygenates.

The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

Fracto-mechanoluminescence is the emission of light from fracturing solids. Here, the authors show that this emission in Mn halides arises from elastic stiffness, electromechanical coupling, and trap states that activate Mn²⁺ d−d transitions.

Authors utilise a metabolomics approach to identify microbial-derived metabolites that synergistically inhibit urease activity in Proteus mirabilis, a cause of urease-induced kidney stones. They reveal that two metabolites prevented urinary catheter encrustation and improved antimicrobial efficacy against catheter biofilm.

Adaptive microwave surfaces can dynamically adjust their electromagnetic transmission to meet specific needs, being potentially useful in reconfigurable communication systems. Here, the authors use temperature induced break and reconstruction of hydrogen bonds to drive the orientational motion and charge mobility of an ionic liquid in a polymer leading to the controllable modulation of dielectric properties at microwave frequencies.

The lowest-frequency gravitational wave background may be shaped by supermassive black hole binaries that scatter nearby stars or dark matter. In this case, the NANOGrav 15-year dataset favours dense galactic centres with 10⁶ solar masses per cubic parsec.

Symmetry breaking is key to numerous notable effects, for instance, the emergence of a Rashba interaction at interfaces between two materials. Here, Zhang, Ding, and coauthors succeed in breaking in-plane mirror symmetries via crystallographic engineering, and observe a giant non-linear Hall effect and current induced magnetization at room temperature.

This study demonstrates that suppressing interfacial molecular aggregation enables highly efficient and scalable perovskite solar cells. The approach delivers over 26% power conversion efficiency, supports large-area modules, and improves operational stability.

A new species of pantylid microsaur from the Late Carboniferous of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, has teeth with dental occlusion consistent with herbivory, indicating an early transition to this condition among terrestrial tetrapods.

Iron–sulfur minerals play critical roles in regulating nitrogen cycling under anoxic conditions. This study shows that pyrrhotite with abundant iron vacancies promotes electron transfer and microbial nitrate reduction to dinitrogen.

The current unbalance between the performance of n-type and p-type 2D transistors limits their applications for next-generation electronics. Here, the authors report the realization of high-performance 2D MoTe₂ p-type transistors by depositing metallic tellurium contacts via thermal evaporation.

This study identifies status dystonicus as a distinct brain state characterized by excessive beta-band activity with implications for the diagnosis and treatment of this poorly known neurological emergency

Alkene-terminated silicon carbide surfaces are proposed as a room-temperature divacancy spin qubit quantum sensor suitable for bioimaging and nanoscale nuclear spin sensing.

Acetyl-CoA synthetases have been proposed as targets for development of new antimicrobial drugs. Here, Jezewski et al. identify isoxazole-based compounds with activity against the pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, and describe their mechanism of action as inhibitors of fungal acetyl-CoA synthetases.

Spintronics requires materials in which most of the spins at the Fermi edge are aligned with each other at room temperatures. Jourdan et al. observe such a spin polarization of 93% in Co₂MnSi—a Heusler alloy amenable to many spintronic applications; evidence of the material’s half-metallicity.

Relative economic benefits of achieving temperature targets have not properly accounted for damages at higher temperatures. Here the authors integrate dynamic cost-benefit analysis with a damage-cost curve and show that the Paris Climate Agreement constitutes the economically optimal policy pathway for the future.

A single-cell epigenomic atlas of human immune cells highlights cell-type-specific features associated with genetic or environmental exposures.

An Fe^III/V redox mechanism in Li₄FeSbO₆ on delithiation without Fe^IV or oxygen formation with resistance to aging, high operating potential and low voltage hysteresis is demonstrated, with implications for Fe-based high-voltage applications.

The origin of the nematic state in the kagome metal CsTi₃Bi₅ remains unclear. Here, using polarization-dependent angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio based field theoretical methods, the authors propose a d-wave nematic order driven by electronic correlations via an orbital-selective mechanism.

Catalyst design is typically tailored to individual reactions because universal descriptors connecting molecular structure to ideal active-site configurations are lacking. Here, the authors reveal a reactant-dependent volcano trend in Pt-catalyzed cycloalkane dehydrogenation, dictated by the Pt–Pt coordination number.

All-solid-state batteries face significant performance challenges with conventional anodes under high currents. Here, the authors design an In₀.₃₈Sn₀.₃₃Bi₀.₂₉ alloy anode that forms a robust mixed ionic–electronic network, enabling high-rate capability and durable solid-state cells.

Here the authors perform longitudinal sampling of lymphoid organs along with fate mapping and matched single-cell RNA sequencing and TCR sequencing to define the developmental dynamics of follicular regulatory T (T_FR) cells. They find that T_FR cells undergo clonal expansion and progressive differentiation in a process that requires follicular helper T cells.

Dendrobium is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids. Here, the authors conduct comparative genome analysis for 24 chromosome-level genome assemblies and genome skimming sequencing data for 204 species in this genus, and reveal genomic variation, biosynthesis and evolutionary adaptation in Dendrobium orchids.

This study shows that oxygen-vacancy planar defects greatly enhance polarization in (Bi, Na)TiO₃-based thin films via local flexoelectric effects, enabling strong performance and thermal stability for low-power electronic applications.

Nitrate contamination in water poses environmental and health risks. Here, authors design alkylated polyaniline polymers that selectively capture nitrate over chloride, improving removal efficiency and reducing costs in wastewater treatment.

Automated organic synthesis is often limited to making simple molecules, requiring a small number of synthetic steps, because of the complexity and variety of organic molecules. Now, a robotic platform has been instructed to build complex structures, such as the core fragment of (+)-kalkitoxin, in a stereochemically controlled and iterative manner.

We examine the historical development and underlying principles of foundation models realized in language and vision, and propose how physics-infused machine learning interaction potentials could dramatically transform at scale to create transformative foundation models for chemistry and materials science.

Tuning of metal atom coordination in dual atom catalysts remains challenging. Here, axial dual Fe-Co atoms are incorporated into a COF and N-doped graphene, as bifunctional oxygen catalyst. The axial Fe-Co orbital coupling optimizes orbital energy levels enhancing its electrocatalytic performance.

Vinyl acetate is an important polymer building block, but the mechanisms governing its catalytic production are not well understood. This study shows that dynamic palladium-acetate clusters determine catalyst efficiency and selectivity in vinyl acetate synthesis.

Exploring the heterogeneity in impacts and outcomes of using solar geoengineering to counteract global warming is important. Here the authors found that solar geoengineering that reduces temperature below present-day would grow GDP by accelerating economic development in tropics, but projections for global GDP-per-capita by the end of the century are highly dispersed and model dependent.

Liu et al. report the design of organic cation to selectively enhance in-plane distortion for localizing excitons and suppress out-of-plane and intra-octahedral distortions for minimizing the formation of self-trapped excitons, enabling 2D perovskites with fast X-ray scintillation response (0.62 ns) and high light yield (19,700 photons MeV⁻¹).

The single uranium conversion path hinders electrochemical extraction of uranium. This work constructs a dual-path electrochemical extraction system to efficiently extract uranium from wastewater.

The authors use multi-slice ptychography to reconstruct depth-resolved phase contrast images of a non-superconducting infinite-layer nickelate superlattice, 8NdNiO₂/2SrTiO₃. The results highlight the presence of disordered residual oxygen and suggest the formation of local domains with varying degrees of oxygenation.

Moiré structures often exhibit long-range order. Here, the authors use scanning tunneling microscopy to identify an incommensurate moiré structure with a short-range-ordered charge density modulation.

This manuscript integrates molecular dynamics with first-principles calculations to determine practical processing parameters for H-capturing (including metastable) precipitates in Al alloys, reducing embrittlement by 78%.

In this work, an exotic nuclear decay in one dimension is simulated using IonQ trapped-ion quantum computers. The coherent evolution of many decay channels is classically hard and quantum simulation of these processes may impact future searches for new physics.

Monolayer amorphous carbon (a-C) has attracted attention due to its structural and electronic properties, but its synthesis has so far required the use of metal substrates. Here, the authors report the Te-assisted growth of large-scale 2D a-C patterns on various insulating substrates, confirming their insulating properties in quantum tunnelling devices.

The residual methylammonium cation from additives compromises the operational stability of formamidinium lead iodide-based solar cells under thermal/light stress. Here, authors introduce MASCN to enhance film formation in ethyl acetate antisolvent and achieve efficiency of 26.1% for stable devices.

Industrial-level electrochemical two-electron oxygen reduction reaction is promising for H₂O₂ production but lacks efficient catalysts. Here, the authors design a heterostructure catalyst for efficient H₂O₂ electrosynthesis at ampere-level current densities.

Conventional ammonia synthesis is energy intensive. Here the authors explore the mechanism of light-driven ammonia synthesis through in situ spectroscopy and modelling, and demonstrate that certain AuRu plasmonic alloys are promising catalysts for this potentially more sustainable process.

Here the authors report NiGa₂O_4–x(OH)_y for light-driven CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol. The surface Lewis acid–base pairs and -OH groups act as conduits for H^- /H⁺ transport to active sites, enhancing photocatalytic methanol production.