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Combining metabolic theory with global datasets, Li et al. show that root water content is a stronger predictor of root growth traits than the widely considered root nitrogen, better reflecting fast acquisition strategies and leaf–root alignment.

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.

It is shown that an a.c. field exponentially extends the lifetime of a prethermal time crystal realized with nuclear spins in diamond, enabling a narrowband detection of magnetic fields.

ATF6α activation in human and preclinical models of hepatocellular carcinoma is significantly associated with an aggressive tumour phenotype characterized by reduced survival, glycolytic reprogramming and local immunosuppression.

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.

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.

Authors study links between amyloid secondary nucleation and growth defects, demonstrating these sites on Aβ40/Aβ42 fibrils are rare compared to the number of protein molecules. Re-analysis of published data suggests that defects may also drive secondary nucleation generally.

Achieving toroidal magnetic moments in molecular systems is challenging. Now homochiral toroidal magnetic ground states have been realized in propeller-shaped chiral Dy(III)-based single-molecule toroics, enabling toroidal spin states to be detected through magneto-chiral dichroism.

Steatotic liver disease (SLD), which might lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, is on the rise worldwide. This Expert Recommendation draws on lessons learned to tackle viral hepatitis and proposes a framework for SLD screening and testing policies.

Urbanization often leaves cities with fewer iconic species, and not just of animals. This study focusing on urban trees finds that urban trees have homogenized over large geographic differences but diversified over short ones.

Using plasma proteome profiles from over 53,000 UK Biobank participants, Zhang et al. examined proteins associated with suicidal behavior and investigated pathways that could explain the association

The formation of defects in numerous systems is believed to follow universal scaling laws arising from the Kibble–Zurek mechanism. Ulm et al.measure this scaling law for defects created in ion Coulomb crystals, confirming the predicted behaviour for a system of 16 ions.

Mouse models show that lymphoedema caused by impaired lymphatic drainage is ameliorated by removal of cholesterol deposits, which promotes the regeneration of lymphatic vessels.

Three-component Fermi gases represent a versatile platform for quantum simulation, including quantum chromodynamics-like physics, pairing and few-body effects. Here the authors demonstrate control of spin imbalances and an unexpected asymmetric decay due to different three-body losses for each component, and whose microscopic mechanism remains to be understood.

Centennial-scale variations in methane carbon isotope ratios are attributed to changes in pyrogenic and biogenic sources that can be correlated with anthropogenic activities, such as varying levels of biomass burning during the period of the Roman empire and the Han dynasty, and changes in natural climate variability.

Using artificial neural networks applied to human data, Eckstein et al. show that good models of reinforcement learning require memory components that track representations of the past.

Native top-down proteomics reveals epidermal growth factor receptor–estrogen receptor-alpha (EGFR–ER) signaling crosstalk in breast cancer cells and dissociation of nuclear transport factor 2 (NUTF2) dimers to modulate ER signaling and cell growth.

Clock precision is thought to be fundamentally limited by entropy production in out-of-equilibrium systems. A theoretical work now introduces a quantum clock design where precision grows exponentially with dissipation.

Melting ice and associated sea-level change will expose new land in Antarctica. Here the authors quantify this change and combine it with our understanding of known Antarctic mineral occurrences, showing that substantial mineral deposits may become accessible over the next few centuries in Antarctica.

A high-temperature immiscible blend of two dipolar polymers that self-assemble into three-dimensional all-polymer nanocomposites allows markedly enhanced dielectric and energy storage performances over a broad temperature range.

The use of antimicrobial agents can exacerbate the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance genes, which can put public health at risk; evaluating this risk requires proper monitoring. An extensive investigation of Australian wastewater reveals a distinct correlation between the type of antimicrobial used and the socioeconomic status of the population.

A new platform comprising large-scale 2D arrays of quantum dots patterned with sub-nanometre precision, with each quantum dot defined by tens of phosphorus atoms doped into silicon, allows for analogue simulation of quantum materials on arbitrary lattices.

Kinematic measurements of the Perseus galaxy cluster reveal two drivers of gas motions: a small-scale driver in the inner core associated with black-hole feedback and a large-scale driver in the outer core powered by mergers.

Jacquemyn et al. identify key lipid determinants controlling ectosome shedding from neurons. They find that ectosomes are a major route for the intercellular transport of misfolded α-synuclein, with relevance to Parkinson’s disease pathology.

Birds are iconic and valued users of urban parks. An assessment of 935 parks across 186 US cities shows that a range of park features across multiple parks are needed to broadly support avian diversity and that the regional and seasonal effects of tree canopy cover are especially important.

Bright electron bunches power particle physics and photon science. Here, reproducible bunches were generated in a plasma with simultaneous high charge per unit energy and low emittance, advancing a scheme to produce ultra-bright bunches in future.

This study reports a post-assembly, reversible crosslinking strategy that enhances lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-mediated mRNA delivery while preserving efficient intracellular release. The resulting crosslinked LNPs enable improved endosomal escape, sustained in vivo expression and robust immune and antitumor responses across multiple clinically relevant LNP platforms.

JWST imaged three of the gas giants orbiting the star HR 8799 to study their atmospheres. The uniform enrichment of heavy elements, including sulfur, indicates that they formed like Jupiter and Saturn by accreting a lot of icy and rocky solids.

A human spinal cord organoid model can replicate two different types of spinal cord injury and can be used as an in vitro system to evaluate therapeutics and inflammatory reactions to treatments.

A cellular neural network that incorporates transistors and multilevel non-volatile memristor synapses can be used for efficient image and video processing.

The deep learning model STARLING can generate accurate ensembles of intrinsically disordered regions of proteins using only protein sequence as input.

Juno radio occultations precisely redefine Jupiter’s shape, measuring a polar diameter of 66,842 km and an equatorial diameter of 71,488 km, both smaller than long-used values, bringing models of the planet’s interior into better agreement with observations.

Using 63 globally distributed grassland and shrubland sites from the International Drought Experiment, this study identified plant traits linked to drought resistance after 1 year of extreme drought across growth forms, lifespans and climate.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

Taking advantage of the abundant renewable energy sources along seashores, this work describes a three-chamber electrolyser that combines electrolysis and desalination to produce both freshwater and green hydrogen.

Biochemical and structural studies show that the bacterial dGTPase CloA is activated by virally produced dTTP and inhibited by 5′-triphosphothymidyl-3′5′-thymidine produced by its regulatory partner CloB, and thereby balances antiviral defence and immune-mediated toxicity.

Sequencing of marine sediments finds 136 newly identified Heimdallarchaeia and several novel lineages, and indicates that Heimdallarchaeia evolved distinct metabolic capabilities from other Asgardarchaeota, in conditions that may have given rise to early eukaryotes.