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The yielding transition in concentrated colloidal suspensions and emulsions lacks a universal description. A unified state diagram is now shown to underlie yielding for these materials, analogous to the van der Waals phase diagram for non-ideal gases.

Kosterlitz–Thouless–Halperin–Nelson–Young (KTHNY) theory describes the melting of an ordered two-dimensional phase to a disordered phase, via a quasi-ordered ‘hexatic’ phase. Magnetic skyrmions, as a phase of two-dimensional quasi-particles may be expected to exhibit a KTHNY melting process, however, observing such a phase transition is difficult. Herein, Meisenheimer et al study the formation of magnetic skyrmions in (Fe_0.5Co_0.5)₅GeTe₂, and, via physical confinement at device scale, succeed in obtaining an ordered skrymion phase.

Common polygenic variation at chromosome 16p and rare recurrent deletions of 16p11.2 influencing autism risk are associated with reduced expression of genes throughout the 16p region, suggesting functional convergence of rare and common variant effects.

Entanglement was observed in top–antitop quark events by the ATLAS experiment produced at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN using a proton–proton collision dataset with a centre-of-mass energy of √s  = 13 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 140 fb⁻¹.

Ageing increases the risk of many diseases. Here the authors compare blood cell transcriptomes of over 14,000 individuals and identify a set of about 1,500 genes that are differently expressed with age, shedding light on transcriptional programs linked to the ageing process and age-associated diseases.

Somatic hypermutation (SHM) introduces mutations in the variable region of immunoglobulin genes, to generate high-affinity B-cell antigen receptors. But, as discussed in this Review, how SHM is targeted to immunoglobulin genes is a subject of intense research and debate.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association analyses identify new risk loci for Parkinson’s disease, and fine-mapping and co-localization analyses implicate candidate genes whose expression is associated with disease susceptibility.

Time of reproduction may be altered as the climate changes. For seabirds, it is shown that there has not been an adjustment in timing as the climate changes and the sea surface warms. This lack of plasticity could result in a mismatch with food resources.

The relationship between new greenspaces and gentrification is an important one for urbanization. Here the authors show a positive relationship for at least one decade between greening in the 1990s–2000s and gentrification that occurred between 2000–2016 in 17 of 28 studied cities in North America and Europe.

Subsets of ILC3s upregulate the immunoregulatory checkpoint molecule CTLA-4 after stimulation in a microbiota-dependent manner, and advances to support CTLA-4⁺ ILC3s may represent a treatment opportunity in IL-23-driven chronic inflammation.

KSRP is involved in mRNA instability, a role that is repressed upon AKT kinase–mediated phosphorylation, which promotes 14-3-3 interaction. This modification site is now shown to be exposed upon AKT phosphorylation through unfolding of the KH1 domain of KSRP, an event that allows 14-3-3 interaction, which in turn affects nuclear cytoplasmic partitioning.

Dendrites from the same neuron avoid each other through a mechanism involving cell surface proteins that trigger mutual repulsion. Here the authors show that the soluble axon guidance cue Netrin (UNC-6) drives sister dendrite self-avoidance in the PVD nociceptive neuron in C. elegans.

Tumour progression is promoted by the generation of an immunosuppressive macroenvironment. Here, the authors demonstrate that the Inhibitor of Differentiation 1 promotes the switch from dendritic cell differentiation towards myeloid-derived suppressor cell expansion during tumour progression.

The Cancer Genome Atlas consortium reports on their genome-wide characterization of somatic alterations in colorectal cancer; in addition to revealing a remarkably consistent pattern of genomic alteration, with 24 genes being significantly mutated, the study identifies new targets for therapeutic intervention and suggests an important role for MYC-directed transcriptional activation and repression.

Edge-localized plasma modes in a tokamak can damage its innermost wall. Simulations now show that fast ions can modify the spatio-temporal structure of these modes. These effects need to be considered in the optimization of control techniques.

Brain morphogenesis is an important process contributing to higher-order cognition, however our knowledge about its biological basis is largely incomplete. Here, authors analyzed 118 neuroanatomical parameters in 1,566 mutant mouse lines to identify 198 genes whose disruptions yield neuroanatomical phenotypes

Two doses of the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 boost antibody responses and functions in phase 1/2 trial participants.

ACKR3 is a critical regulator of platelet-mediated thrombosis and organ injury following ischemia/reperfusion. Platelet ACKR3 surface expression is independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

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.

Polar skyrmions are particle-like objects consisted of swirling electric dipoles that hold promise for next generation nanodevices. Here, the authors explore the strain-induced transition from skyrmions to merons using electron imaging methods.

Transmission spectroscopy observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show the detection of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the gas giant exoplanet WASP-39b.

This study explores the scientific potential of crowdsourced observations during volcanic eruptions, using the 2021 Fagradalsfjall (Iceland) and Cumbre Vieja (Canary Islands) events as case studies.

Na⁺ controls the function of the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation system and hypoxic redox signalling through an unexpected interaction with phospholipids.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) disease causes degeneration of the liver, affects about 25% of people globally, and has no approved treatment. Here, the authors show that the therapeutic siRNA-driven silencing of MCJ in the liver is an effective and safe treatment for NAFLD in multiple mouse models.

Carreras-Sureda et al. uncover a non-canonical role for IRE1α as a scaffold that stabilizes InsP₃Rs at MAMs to control calcium uptake, fine-tunes ER–mitochondrial communication and regulates energy metabolism via AMPK.

Inversions are a little-studied type of genomic variation that could contribute to phenotypic traits. Here the authors characterize 45 common polymorphic inversions in human populations and investigate their evolutionary and functional impact.

A free-standing top contact design reduces the thermomechanical stress in microthermoelectric coolers, resulting in improved reliability and cooling stability.

Using the spin precession of Bose-condensed ⁸⁷Rb atoms as a clock, direct measurements are made of the time required for Rb atoms to quantum tunnel through a classically impenetrable barrier.

The imaging of tumour-draining lymph nodes is important for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, Thorek et al. report a nanoparticle that allows for the combined imaging of deep-tissue lymph nodes by positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in cancer-bearing mice.

Promoter capture Hi-C maps in human pancreatic islets identify more than 1,300 three-dimensional regulatory hubs, linking diabetes-associated enhancers to their target genes. Genetic variation in hubs impacts insulin secretion heritability.

Electron affinity (EA) is a key parameter in determining the chemical behavior of the elements, but challenging to measure for unstable atoms. Here the authors succeed in measuring the EA of astatine, the heaviest naturally occurring halogen, and compare it with predictions from relativistic calculations.

Live-cell single-molecule imaging reveals a single population of processive septal peptidoglycan synthases moving asynchronously with FtsZ that drive Bacillus subtilis cell constriction in a manner partially dependent upon FtsZ treadmilling.

Salman, Garzón Ramos and Birattari report a strategy to automatically design stigmergy-based collective behaviours for robot swarms. This approach is demonstrated through simulations and real-robot experiments, encompassing a diverse range of four distinct tasks.

Multiple myeloma, a malignancy of plasma cells, remains incurable and is poorly understood. Using next-generation sequencing of several multiple myeloma genomes reveals that this disease involves mutations of genes involved in protein translation, histone methylation and blood coagulation. The study suggests that BRAF inhibitors should be evaluated in multiple myeloma clinical trials.

The protein KSRP binds to precursors of let-7 miRNA and promotes their processing to the mature form. The molecular basis for KSRP's specificity for pre-let-7 is now examined by using NMR spectroscopy and biochemistry, which reveals that the third KH domain of KSRP recognizes a G-rich sequence in the pre-let-7 terminal loop in a noncanonical manner.

The FUSE regulatory system, consisting of FBP binding the FUSE DNA element and recruiting the FIR repressor, acts as a transcriptional on/off switch that promotes a peak of c-myc expression over the course of a cell cycle. FIR recruitment and its interaction with FBP is now examined, providing a basis for precise c-myc transcriptional regulation.

Alkali-metal-rich compositions (for example, Li[Li_xM_1–x]O₂) are promising battery cathode materials that exhibit oxygen redox, which provides additional charge capacity. It is thought to occur in compounds containing alkali ions in the transition metal layers and featuring Li⁺–O(2p)–Li⁺ interactions; however, now it is observed in Na_2/3[Mg_0.28Mn_0.72]O₂, in which Mg²⁺ ions are present in the transition metal layer.

Proferroptotic activity of 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase is shown along with an unexpected prosurvival function of its substrate, 7-dehydrocholesterol, indicating a cell-intrinsic mechanism that could be used by cancer cells to protect phospholipids from oxidative damage and escape ferroptosis.

Proteomic analysis of cerebrospinal fluid from individuals with autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease reveals how this complex and chronic disease evolves over many decades.

In this Consensus Statement, an international group of experts and patient representatives validates and endorses the transition from the term ‘Sjögren syndrome’ to ‘Sjögren disease’, and issue several additional recommendations regarding the nomenclature of this disorder.

Neurodesk is a platform for analyzing human neuroimaging data, which provides numerous tools in a containerized form, thereby ensuring reproducibility and portability.