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Arrays of element antennas in radio interferometry enable the study of celestial objects with angular resolutions comparable with, or surpassing, optical imaging at wavelengths thousands of times shorter. In this Primer, Asaki et al. describe aperture synthesis, the basic instrumental components and data calibration.

Spectrally and spatially resolved ALMA observations of water vapour in the inner regions of the famous planet-forming disk around HL Tauri pave the way towards an observational characterization of planet formation at the water snowline.

Direct detection of gas phase water from the disk of V883 Ori indicates that disks directly inherit water from the star-forming cloud that becomes incorporated into large icy bodies without notable chemical alteration.

Lyman-alpha emission is one of the observational probes for the high-redshift universe. Here, the authors show several Lyman-alpha emitting companion galaxies around the hot dust-obscured galaxy W0410-091 suggesting that the galaxy evolves in a very dense environment.

Two serendipitously detected dust-obscured galaxies are reported at z = 6.7 and 7.4, with estimates that such galaxies provide an additional 10–25% contribution to the total star formation rate density at z > 6.

Coherent radio emission with a long (nearly 6.5 h) period has been detected from both magnetic poles of a rotating compact object, offering insights into the evolution and emission mechanism of compact radio transients.

A multi-frequency observing campaign of the γ-ray burst GRB 190114C reveals a broadband double-peaked spectral energy distribution, and the teraelectronvolt emission could be attributed to inverse Compton scattering.

By modelling the radio, optical, UV and X-ray data of the unusually bright cosmological explosion AT 2022cmc, Pasham et al. argue for the presence of a highly collimated jet moving at ≳99.99% the speed of light.

Errors during spermiogenesis frequently result in male infertility, though the genetics underlying infertility are not well understood. Here they identify mutations in CEP112 that disrupt its ability to form phase-separated condensates and regulate translation of key fertility-related genes, thereby resulting in infertility.

Male mice lacking piRNAs from a conserved locus on chromosome 6 (pi6) produce sperm with defects in capacitation and egg fertilization. pi6 piRNAs repress mRNAs required for sperm function.

The death of massive stars has traditionally been discovered by explosive events in the gamma-ray band. Liu et al. show that the sensitive wide-field monitor on board Einstein Probe can reveal a weak soft-X-ray signal much earlier than gamma rays.

14,000 year old DNA reveals the evolutionary dynamics and adaptations of South American vultures.

Observations of optical flares from AT2022tsd (the ‘Tasmanian Devil’) show that they have durations on the timescale of minutes, occur over a period of months, are highly energetic, are probably nonthermal and have supernova luminosities.

Non-human primates, especially the rhesus macaque, provide a good preclinical model for research into male fertility, owing to their physiological and genetic similarities to humans. In this article, the authors examine the value and limitations of using non-human primates in studies to improve understanding of spermatogenesis, reproductive endocrinology and innovations in assisted reproductive technologies.

A possible kilonova associated with a nearby, long-duration gamma-ray burst suggests that gamma-ray bursts with long and complex light curves can be spawned from the merger of two compact objects, contrary to the established gamma-ray burst paradigm.

The observed electromagnetic emission from GW170817 suggests that a ‘cocoon’ of mildly relativistic material was released as a jet transferred its energy to the neutron-rich dynamical ejecta from the merger.

The emission of singly ionized carbon is used to identify two galaxies with redshifts of nearly 7—corresponding to the Universe’s first billion years—and with velocity structures suggestive of rotation.

Observations from a multiwavelength campaign of a low-mass X-ray binary, Swift J1858.6–0814, shows that accreting neutron stars have the same kind of pulsing behaviour as accreting black holes.

The detection of methanol—a molecule that primarily forms on the cold, icy surfaces of dust grains—in a warm protoplanetary disk is an indication that complex organic molecules are inherited from the interstellar medium and transported intact to planet-forming regions.

Seventeen molecular clouds are identified in a Milky Way progenitor at z = 1.036, with higher masses, surface densities and supersonic turbulence than present-day analogues. Their properties reflect the hostile ambient interstellar conditions prevalent in distant galaxies and suggest they formed by fragmentation of a turbulent galactic gas disk.

Only one repeating fast radio burst has been localized, to an irregular dwarf galaxy; now another is found to come from a star-forming region of a nearby spiral galaxy.

A rapidly growing black hole in a very active phase has been observed with JWST ~1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. Bright in X-rays, it is accreting at a rate 4,000% in excess of the Eddington limit, offering insights into early black hole growth.

Dust-emission observations of the young (<500,000 years old) protostar IRS 63 show evidence of rings and gaps in its disk, a prerequisite of planet formation.

The authors suggest that a probable Keplerian disk is feeding an optically revealed massive young stellar object in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Some theories predict that fundamental constants may depend on time, position or the local density of matter. Truppe et al.compare new precise frequency measurements of microwave transitions in cold CH with Milky Way data, placing a new limit on variation in the fine structure constant.

The Tachykinin 2 (Tac2) pathway in the central amygdala is sufficient and necessary for modulating fear memory consolidation. The authors show that silencing Tac2 neurons in the amygdala of male mice reduces fear expression, while fear expression in female mice is increased when manipulations are made during proestrus.

Natural products have historically made a major contribution to pharmacotherapy, but also present challenges for drug discovery, such as technical barriers to screening, isolation, characterization and optimization. This Review discusses recent technological developments — including improved analytical tools, genome mining and engineering strategies, and microbial culturing advances — that are enabling a revitalization of natural product-based drug discovery.

Sustainable synthesis of valuable organic compounds like lactams relies on efficient catalysts. Here, the authors report a bimetallic silver–rhenium catalyst that selectively converts cyclic imides to lactams with high efficiency, with close silver–rhenium contact being key to its performance.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Observations of a giant flare associated with the starburst galaxy NGC 253 suggest that the flare is probably associated with relativistic plasma in the magnetic field of a magnetar.

CEP128 is a centrosomal protein important for the organization of centriolar microtubules. Here, the authors show that a CEP128 variant observed in human male siblings causes reduced sperm counts and morphologically abnormal sperm when modeled in mice, suggesting a role for CEP128 in male fertility.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Radio observations show a bipolar bubble structure of size 140 parsecs by 430 parsecs both above and below the Galactic Centre.

Phage engineered with tail fibers and CRISPR–Cas reduce Escherichia coli load in animals.

Morphological changes in catalyst structure are known to occur during electrocatalysis, and understanding such changes is important to gain insight into the catalytic process. Now, in the case of iridium oxide, these surface changes are probed in atomic-scale detail during the oxygen evolution reaction, and correlated with activity and stability.

A type Ia supernova shows the presence of helium-rich circumstellar material, as demonstrated by its spectral features, infrared emission and a radio counterpart, that probably originates from a single-degenerate system in which a white dwarf accretes material from a helium donor star.

How has the genome duplication impacted the diversification of sexual characteristics in the teleost lineage? This study shows that androgen receptor ohnologs in medaka appear to have diverged in their roles for regulating morphological and behavioural sexual characteristics after loss from an ancestral role in spermatogenesis.

Simultaneous polarimetry measurements in the optical and radio bands for the afterglow emission of GRB 191221B provide insights into particle acceleration and total energy budget of gamma-ray bursts.

Phosphorus (P) limitation is pervasive in tropical forests. Here the authors analyse the dependence of photosynthesis on leaf N and P in tropical forests, and show that incorporating leaf P constraints in a terrestrial biosphere model enhances its predictive power.

The PACAP-PAC1R neuropeptide system regulates neuroendocrine stress responses. Here the authors demonstrate a role for PACAP-PAC1R in ventromedial hypothalamus in modulating fear extinction.

Batch-to-batch reproducibility of device performances is crucial for perovskite photovoltaics moving towards industrialization. Here, the authors show that commercial as-received C₆₀ source materials may coalesce during repeated thermal evaporation processes, jeopardizing such reproducibility.

The importance of optimizing the contact between catalyst particles, hydrogen and plastic melt in polyolefin chemical recycling has been overlooked, leading to suboptimal performance. The authors develop a criterion based on the dimensionless power number to optimize catalyst effectiveness. Stirring conditions can now be selected to treat commercial-grade polyethylene and polypropylene.

Continuous-flow biocatalysis with immobilized enzymes is a sustainable route for chemical synthesis, but inadequate biocatalytic efficiency caused by non-productive enzyme immobilization or enzyme-carrier mismatches presents a challenge for its application. Here, the authors report an approach for the fabrication of a high-performance enzymatic continuous-flow reactor via integrating scalable isoporous block copolymer membranes as carriers with an oriented one-step enzyme immobilization via a genetically fused material binding peptide.

Efficient electroreduction of acetylene to ethylene is crucial for industrial applications. Here, the authors reported fluorine modified copper for direct conversion of acetylene to polymer-grade ethylene in one single-pass with industrial-current-density.