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Owing to electron localization, two-dimensional materials are not expected to be metallic at low temperatures, but a field-induced quantum metal phase emerges in NbSe₂, whose behaviour is consistent with the Bose-metal model.

An important parameter in spintronics is the spin-diffusion length: the length over which the travelling electron spin keeps its orientation. Here, the authors show control over this length in quantum wells using a gate voltage, which also allows for an elegant measurement of the spin-orbit terms.

Quantum electrodynamics predicts a rare process in which light is scattered by light. The ATLAS Collaboration reports signs of this elusive effect in the collisions of ultra-relativistic lead ions.

Mechanistic insights into a photocatalyst with an intramolecular junction and two different active sites could inspire further exploration of ‘intramolecular heterojunctions’ as the basis of selective and stable photocatalysts for C–H activation and C–C coupling.

The measurement of the total cross-section of proton–proton collisions is of fundamental importance for particle physics. Here, the first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton–proton collisions at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

The extra states sometimes observed in graphene’s quantum Hall characteristics have been presumed to be the result of broken SU(4) symmetry. Magnetotransport measurements of high-quality graphene in a tilted magnetic field finally prove this is indeed the case.

The authors show that the pluripotency factor NANOG interacts with TET1 and TET2 methylcytosine hydroxylases, and that the hydroxylation of 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine enhances the efficiency of somatic cell reprogramming in a NANOG-dependent manner.

Confining plasma and managing disruptions in tokamak devices is a challenge. Here the authors demonstrate a method predicting and possibly preventing disruptions and macroscopic instabilities in tokamak plasma using data from JET.

Genome-wide association and multitrait analyses for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) using 9,365 cases and 946,368 controls provide insights into the mechanisms underlying DCM and myocardial resilience

Molecular orientation, which critically influences the properties of organic materials, could until now only be characterized if the sample exhibited sufficient crystallinity. Resonant scattering of polarized soft X-rays by aromatic carbon bonds has now been used to probe non-crystalline ordering and molecular orientation in thin films with a resolution down to 20 nm.

Tuning of neurons in higher visual cortices is less diverse than in primary visual cortex (V1), but the mechanisms underlying this specialization are unknown. In this paper, Glickfeld and colleagues used two-photon imaging in awake mice to measure the visual responses of boutons from V1 projection neurons in the higher visual areas and found that bouton tunings matched the preference of their target areas. These findings suggest that inter-areal visual stimulus feature segregation occurs via the target-specific routing of visual information as it ascends the cortical hierarchy.

Transferring graphene onto hexagonal boron nitride enables high-mobility multiterminal quantum Hall devices to be built. This makes it possible to study graphene's unique fractional quantum Hall behaviour more easily and more directly than previously.

Moiré superlattices arising in bilayer graphene coupled to hexagonal boron nitride provide a periodic potential modulation on a length scale ideally suited to studying the fractal features of the Hofstadter energy spectrum in large magnetic fields.

Experimental study of the interactions between intense X-rays and solid matter illustrate the generation of a solid-density plasma governed by electron–ion collisions; these results should inform future high-intensity X-ray experiments involving dense samples, such as X-ray diffractive imaging of biological samples, material science investigations, and the study of matter in extreme conditions.

Crystals with mechanical responses are of interest, but often only one or two dynamic motions can be achieved with one crystal. Here, the authors report a combination of dynamic movements in naturally twisted optical waveguiding microcrystals.

The electrons in a plasma can further ionize the ions when the two collide. Vinko et al. now study this ultrafast process in an unconventional plasma with a density similar to that of a solid, and show that the rate is several times higher than that predicted by standard theoretical models.

Triggering and sustaining fusion reactions — with the goal of overall energy production — in a tokamak plasma requires efficient heating. Radio-frequency heating of a three-ion plasma is now experimentally shown to be a potentially viable technique.

Calcium signalling in glial cells couples neuronal activity to regional changes in cerebral blood flow, but the polarity of its effect on the diameter of neighbouring arterioles has remained controversial. This paper reveals that when the glycolytic state of the brain is enhanced by lower tissue oxygenation, glia-mediated vasoconstrictions convert to vasodilations.

A large collection of new modENCODE and ENCODE genome-wide chromatin data sets from cell lines and developmental stages in worm, fly and human are analysed; this reveals many conserved features of chromatin organization among the three organisms, as well as notable differences in the composition and locations of repressive chromatin.

Andreev reflection occurs at the interface of a metal and a superconductor when an incident electron in the metal gets ‘reflected’ as a hole travelling on the same path. Replace the metal with graphene and specular reflection may instead take place.

Graphene devices supported on single-crystal hexagonal boron nitride substrates show an enhanced mobility and carrier homogeneity, as well as reduced roughness, intrinsic doping and chemical reactivity, compared with traditional SiO₂ substrates.

Experiments at the Joint European Torus tokamak show improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of highly energetic ions and Alfvénic instabilities in the plasma.

Understanding neuronal integration comes a step closer to reality with the development of a crystal-based, beam-steering microscope for uncaging neurotransmitters, which will permit experimental interrogation of the spatiotemporal interactions between the thousands of synapses a neuron receives.

Combined analysis of proton-proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN by the CMS and LHCb collaborations leads to the observation of the extremely rare decay of the strange B meson into muons; the result is compatible with the standard model of particle physics, and does not show any signs of new physics, such as supersymmetry.

The accurate determination of quark mixing parameters is essential for the understanding of the Standard Model. The LHCb collaboration now reports the coupling strength of the b quark to the u quark through the measurement of a baryonic decay mode.

CP violation has deep implications for particle physics and cosmology. Previously observed only in meson decays, signs of CP violation have now been spotted in baryon decays by analysing the proton–proton collision data from the LHCb detector.

The astronomical event GW170817, detected in gravitational and electromagnetic waves, is used to determine the expansion rate of the Universe, which is consistent with and independent of existing measurements.

Power exhaust is one of the biggest challenges stopping fusion energy. This article shows experimental evidence for strategically shaping the power exhaust region as a solution to this challenge, utilising physics understanding to strike a balance between engineering complexity and power exhaust benefits, consistent with reduced models and simulations.