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Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Electroreduction of CO is an emerging route to produce multicarbon molecules, but achieving this efficiently in solid-state devices is challenging. Here the authors develop a cation-functionalized layer using polyacrylate in a solid-state electrolyser that produces ethylene stably and efficiently from syngas.

This study detects Chlamydia pneumoniae in human retina and brain, increasing with AD severity. Retinal pathogen load with Aβ₄₂ may predict AD stage. In models, infection drives Aβ deposition and NLRP3 activation, worsening pathology and cognition.

Using cryo-EM, the authors identified 42 MIPs, including outer junction protein CFAP77 and outer dense fibers, in native doublet microtubules of Tetrahymena thermophila. Knockout of CFAP77 reduced ciliary beat frequency and led to outer junction damage.

Here they combine in vivo imaging with proteomics to characterize a protein complex comprised of Ccdc78 and Ccdc33 that acts at the extreme distal tip of 9 + 2 motile cilia to control tip architecture, cilia length, and cilia beating.

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.

Navigational affordances describe our ability to identify routes of egress within scenes. Here, the authors show that this process likely occurs in early dorsal visual cortex and that such navigational affordances can emerge following brief presentation times.

Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

An in-depth analysis of tissue biopsies from patients with multiple myeloma and CAR T cell therapy-associated immune-related adverse events (CirAEs) after treatment with commercial BCMA-targeted CAR T cell therapy shows that CD4⁺ CAR T cells mediate off-tumor toxicities and that high CD4:CD8 ratio at apheresis, robust early CAR T cell expansion, ICANS and ciltacabtagene autoleuce treatment are independently associated with the development of CirAEs.

Data-analysis and modelling positions are already becoming obsolete, but hands-on experimentalists can breathe easy for now.

Electrified CO₂ capture from air could lead to net-negative emissions, yet current methods face high energy costs and sensitivity to oxygen. Here the authors introduce an electrochemical approach using MnO₂ as a stable, redox-active sorbent, achieving CO₂ capture with promising energy consumption and minimal oxygen sensitivity.

To make green investments pay off, policymakers must learn from past mistakes and stop subsidizing polluters, urges Edward B. Barbier.

An exploratory analysis of the phase 3 ECOSPOR III trial shows that a higher dosage of the oral microbiome therapeutic VOWST led to enhanced pharmacokinetics, increased species engraftment and altered microbiome and metabolite profiles, providing mechanistic insights into how it may prevent Clostridioides difficile infection recurrence.

This paper develops the Risk Analysis – Perception framework to analyze a national survey and public health metrics for public perceptions of extreme heat risk in the US, finding substantial misalignments between assessed and perceived risk.

While phytoplankton are well studied and understood at the global scale, floating macroalgae are not. This study presents a comprehensive picture of the global distributions of floating macroalgae and phytoplankton surface scums, both showing expanding trends from 2003 to 2022.

Opinions on climate policy in the United States are politically polarized. Here, survey research shows that opinion polarization on the Green New Deal developed rapidly due to decreasing support among Republicans, which was associated with exposure to conservative media and increasing familiarity with the policy.

Yan et al. use cryo-EM to obtain structures that reveal how DNMT3A2 and DNMT3L cooperate to read histone signals and bind chromatin, illustrating a mechanism that controls DNA methylation and shapes epigenetic regulation.

De novo and inherited dominant variants in genes encoding U4 and U6 small nuclear RNAs are identified in individuals with retinitis pigmentosa. The variants cluster at nucleotide positions distinct from those implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

JWST’s COSMOS-Web survey is used to create an ultra-high-detail dark matter map, revealing hidden filaments, clusters and distant structures. By tracing features out to z = 2, this map shows how dark and luminous matter build the cosmic web across cosmic time.

Membrane ion channels can be responsive to a variety of stimuli such as pressure, temperature, or pH. Here, the authors show that simply shining 365 nm light activates a native potassium channel in rodent pain-sensing neurons, delivering powerful analgesia without drugs or genetic manipulations.

Borsa et al. show that asymmetric T cell division after activation requires autophagy to promote mitochondrial turnover, with T cells inheriting older mitochondria showing decreased degradation, reduced memory potential and altered metabolism.

Short-circuiting during fast charging through lithium dendrite intrusion into electrolytes is a major challenge in solid-state batteries. Here, using thermally annealed 3-nm-thick Ag coatings, lithium penetration into brittle electrolyte Li_6.6La₃Zr_1.6Ta_0.4O₁₂ is inhibited at local current densities of 250 mA cm⁻² due to an increase in surface fracture toughness.

Elevated triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs), long linked to cardiovascular disease, were thought to be harmful mainly in their remnant form. Here, the authors show that intact TRLs, not just their remnants, promote atherosclerosis and vascular inflammation in a mouse model.

Age-related decline of chaperone-mediated autophagy blunts the regenerative capacity of muscle stem cells, partly due to impaired glycolytic shift required for normal stem cell expansion.

Large benthic oxygen isotope fluctuations in the Oligocene Southern Ocean primarily represent deep water temperature changes, suggesting the Antarctic ice sheet volume was relatively stable, according to a clumped isotope record.

ATP release through large-pore channels is essential for cell communication. Here, the authors reveal how structural flexibility in the PANX1 pore enables selective passage of molecules like ATP and identify mefloquine as a positive modulator acting through a newly identified binding site.

Climate change can alter when and how animals grow, breed, and migrate, but it is unclear whether this allows populations to persist. This global study shows that shifts in seasonal timing are key to helping vertebrate species maintain population growth under global warming.

An ultrasmall particle adjuvant therapy reprogrammes the tumour microenvironment of a resistant melanoma to a pro-inflammatory state, enhances antitumour immunity and synergizes with immune checkpoint inhibitors to prolong survival in murine models.

The authors study epitaxial thin films of the pyrochlore-sublattice compound LiTi2O4 by RIXS and ARPES. They observe cooperation between strong electron correlations and strong electron-phonon coupling, giving rise to a mobile polaronic ground state in which charge motion and lattice distortions are coupled.

In a prospective study enrolling 1,222 patients from 22 emergency departments, a device using a machine-learning-based signature of blood mRNAs demonstrated clinically acceptable performance to diagnose bacterial and viral infections and to predict the all-cause need for critical care interventions within 7 days, with benchmark to established biomarkers and risk scores.

This Review discusses recent advances in our understanding of how gasdermins are activated by distinct signalling pathways and summarizes recent findings from host-adapted bacterial pathogens contrasted with environmental bacteria.

Insects are declining in many regions. Here the authors show that arthropod biomass losses in Jena Experiment and Biodiversity Exploratories time series are driven more by species loss than by species identity and abundance declines, and are mitigated by high plant diversity and low land-use intensity.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

The emerging global competition for green innovation, markets and investments might boost prosperity without improving environmental sustainability.

Gram-negative bacteria use a multiprotein complex, LptB₂FGC, to transport lipopolysaccharides (LPS) to the outer membrane. Here, Fiorentino et al. present cryo-EM structures of the complex from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, revealing species-specific features and providing insights into LPS transport mechanisms.

Some transcription factors can organize into different structural states, from small nanoscale clusters to macrophases. Here authors show that NHA9 undergoes differential conformational expansion across these states and exhibits micelle-like organization with non-fixed stoichiometry.

Actuators based on DNA–inorganic hybrid crystals reversibly change shape, which can be programmed by the length and composition of the DNA polymer, and induce cascaded reactions of compartmentalized enzymes in response to external stimuli.

Scourzic et al. show that germinal centre B cells display an enhanced ability to reprogram to induced pluripotent stem cells compared to mature B cells. This ability indicates their higher plasticity level and is T follicular helper cell-dependent.

Many premalignant colorectal polyps in familial adenomatous polyposis arise polyclonally rather than from a single mutated cell, showing diverse early evolutionary trajectories that frequently occur without clonal APC or KRAS driver events.

Proton-exchange membrane water electrolysers rely on iridium to catalyse their anodic reaction, and while ruthenium is a less costly alternative due to its similar activity, it is not as stable. Now, a hierarchical machine-learning catalyst discovery workflow, termed mixed acceleration, is put forward to predict catalyst synthesis, activity and stability, and identify promising RuO_x-based water oxidation catalysts.

China and South Korea have invested heavily in environmental stimulus projects. Other G20 countries need to deliver on their sustainability promises to save both the planet and the economy, says Edward Barbier.

Cellular Z-RNAs generated during active virus infections are bona fide ZBP1 ligands, and position ZBP1-activated cell death as a host response to counter viral disruption of the cellular transcriptional machinery.

Large-effect variants in autism remain elusive. Here, the authors use long-read sequencing to assemble phased genomes for 189 individuals, identifying pathogenic variants in TBL1XR1, MECP2, and SYNGAP1, plus nine candidate structural variants missed by short-read methods.

PD-1 blockade interferes with the selective expansion and maintenance of high-affinity TCR stem-like clones that have a critical role in effective checkpoint blockade therapy.

In mice, DHPS supports the maturation, maintenance and function of tissue-resident macrophages via the polyamine–hypusine axis, with implications for macrophage-targeting therapies.