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The authors use a long-term evolve-and-resequence experiment in the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum to identify the genetic basis for variation in development time, finding that a deletion upstream of the enzyme Cyp18a1 is a main target of selection, and this allele accelerates development but trades off with fecundity.

Mercury isotope signatures in groundwater, soil gas, solid peat, and atmosphere suggest that dark abiotic reduction of peat soil Hg^II to volatile Hg⁰ does not play a significant role in mobilizing Hg during peat mass loss

In the quasibiennial oscillation, the prevailing wind direction in the tropical stratosphere switches between easterly and westerly and back with a period of about two years; now an analysis of a suite of radiosonde wind data reveals that the amplitude of this oscillation has weakened over the past six decades, most probably as a result of increased tropical upwelling in the lower stratosphere.

The nucleus-like compartment formed in bacteria during infection by jumbo phage 201phi2-1 is composed of the bacteriophage protein chimallin, which can self-assemble into closed compartments in vitro.

The East Antarctic ice sheet is considered to be largely insensitive to temperature changes in the Southern Ocean. Marine sediment records indicate the East Antarctic ice sheet repeatedly retreated by several hundred kilometres during intervals of Pliocene warmth.

The response to infectious and inflammatory challenges differs among people but the reasons for this are poorly understood. Here the authors explore the impact of variables such as age, sex, and the capacity for controlling inflammation and maintaining immunocompetence, linking this capacity to favourable health outcomes and lifespan.

m⁶A RNA post-transcriptional modification changes RNA hybridization kinetics. Here the authors show that the methylamino group can adopt syn-conformation pairing with uridine with a mismatch-like conformation in RNA duplex. They also develop a quantitative model that predicts how m6A affects the kinetics of hybridization.

Three years of observations with the ExoMars TGO Atmospheric Chemistry Suite have clarified the mechanism of atmospheric water loss from Mars, and particularly the fraction of deuterium compared with hydrogen. Analysis of several isotopologues of water in the mid-atmosphere of Mars shows that atomic H and D are produced at perihelion in relative amounts controlled by photolysis. These atoms are able to escape from the atmosphere.

The authors have previously demonstrated the neutralising capacity of their nanoparticle vaccine, as well as showing protection of non-human primates from SARS-CoV-2 WA-1 infection. In this work, they investigate the ability of their vaccine candidate to neutralise SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, and protect animals from other sarbecoviruses.

The Southern Ocean represents a substantial carbon sink and heavily influences global carbon fluxes. This Review describes how an expanding suite of observations are providing increasing insight into the contribution of biota and plankton to the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean.

The exposure to both air pollution and cigarette smoke can trigger asthma. Wastewater surveillance was used to demonstrate the possibility of distinguishing between these two factors.

Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy is a severe disease, characterized by interstitial fibrosis in the left ventricle of the heart. Here authors show that the E3 ubiquitin ligase WWP2 plays a pathogenic role in heart fibrosis via regulating a distinct monocyte population that initiates the process.

Atomic force microscopy indentation measurements of cells cultured on soft substrates may result in an underestimation of cell stiffness. A model has now been developed that takes this soft substrate effect into account, revealing that cortical cell stiffness is largely independent of substrate mechanics.

Nonlinear transitions in permafrost carbon feedback and surface albedo feedback have largely been excluded from climate policy studies. Here the authors modelled the dynamics of the two nonlinear feedbacks and the associated uncertainty, and found an important contribution to warming which leads to additional economic losses from climate change.

Immunization of macaques with nanoparticle-conjugated receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 adjuvanted with 3M-052 and alum results in cross-neutralizing antibodies against bat coronaviruses, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 variants, and may provide a platform for developing pan-coronavirus vaccines.

Oxygen isotopic measurements from the Ryugu returned sample suggest that primitive hydrated carbonaceous chondrites are an important source of early water and other volatiles to Earth, despite being underrepresented in our meteorite collection due to their preferential destruction during atmospheric entry.

Possible effects of weather conditions on COVID-19 transmission are debated. Here, the authors analyse data from early in the pandemic and show that although temperature and humidity had small effects on transmission, they were far out-weighed by the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions.

Combining multiparticle levitation with cavity control enables cavity-mediated interaction between levitated nanoparticles, whose strength can be tailored via optical detuning and position of the two particles.

Segal and colleagues identify a neuroprotective immature-like neutrophil subset that participates in dectin-1-dependent axon repair and regeneration in the central nervous system.

Non-classical crystallization may proceed through formation of intermediate phases, but it is not known whether these are linked to the final crystallization. Here, using an atomic force microscope at 90 bar, brucite carbonation is directly observed, with an amorphous intermediate acting as the seed for crystalline nesquehonite.

The independent control of substrate stiffness and tethering of extracellular matrix to substrates for mechanical signalling investigations remains challenging. Here the authors present StemBond hydrogels, with stable ECM tethering that can be varied independently of stiffness, and use these to modulate the function of mouse and human pluripotent stem cells.

Contrasting theories exist regarding how Norway spruce recolonized Fennoscandia after the last glaciation. Here, the authors provide evidences from sedimentary ancient DNA and modern population genomics to support that Norway spruce was present in southern Fennoscandia shortly after deglaciation and the early Holocene migration from the east.

Agrobacterium infection can cause defense responses in many plants, which leads to transformation recalcitrance. Here, the authors express type III secretion system in Agrobacterium to deliver effector proteins into plant cells to suppress host defense responses and thus enhance transformation in some plant species.

For archival pathogens, like pH1N1 Influenza A virus the causative agent of 1918/19 pandemic, only few whole genome sequences exist. Here, Patrono et al. provide one complete and two partial genomes from Germany and find variation in two sites in the nucleoprotein gene in pandemic samples compared to pre-pandemic samples, that are associated with resistance to host antiviral response, pointing at a possible viral adaptation to humans.

During pyroptosis, gasdermin D (GSDMD) forms plasma membrane pores that initiate cell lysis. Here, the authors develop optogenetically activatable human GSDMD to assess GSDMD pore behavior and show that they are dynamic and can close, which can be a pyroptosis regulatory mechanism.

Day-night cycles in the biochemical composition of phytoplankton remain poorly understood. Here, Becker et al. use lipidomic and transcriptomic data from the North Pacific subtropical gyre to describe a daily cycle of production and consumption of energy-rich lipids by eukaryotic phytoplankton.

Physical mapping of DNA can be used to detect structural variants and for whole-genome haplotype assembly. Here, the authors use CRISPR-Cas9 and high-speed atomic force microscopy to ‘nanomap’ single molecules of DNA.

When exiting pluripotency but before irreversibly committing, embryonic stem cells pass through at least one transition state. It is now shown that in this metastable state the nuclei of the cells is auxetic, that is, when stretched their cross-section expands, and when compressed their cross-section contracts, and that this is in part a consequence from global chromatin de-condensation.

The Vertebrate Genome Project has used an optimized pipeline to generate high-quality genome assemblies for sixteen species (representing all major vertebrate classes), which have led to new biological insights.

Liquid electrolytes in batteries are considered to be macroscopically homogeneous ionic transport media despite having a complex chemical composition and atomistic solvation structures. A micelle-like structure in a localized high-concentration electrolyte for which the solvent acts as a surfactant is reported.

Barrier islands and backbarrier saltmarshes are particularly threatened by sea level rise. Here, the authors show how reduction in intertidal areas create negative feedback, shifting transport of coarse sediment through the inlet from net export to net import.

Global observations from mangroves and saltmarshes unravel hidden carbon pathways. Inorganic carbon outwelling is revealed to dominate carbon budgets, impact coastal pH, and enhance the climate mitigation potential of blue carbon ecosystems.

Tropospheric ozone contributes significantly to human-induced greenhouse warming. Calculations from satellite measurements of spectral radiance suggest that ozone in the upper troposphere caused an average reduction in clear-sky outgoing long-wave radiation over the oceans of 0.48±0.14 W m⁻² for the year 2006 between 45^∘ S and 45^∘ N.

MEMS-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are often limited in speed by mechanical resonances. Here the authors report a programmable architecture for PICs which uses mechanical eigenmodes for synchronized, resonantly enhanced optical modulation.

CRISPR–Cas9 knockout screens in chemotherapy-treated acute myeloid leukemia cells help map the drug-dependent genetic basis of fitness trade-offs (antagonistic pleiotropy) for the design of evolutionary traps that target drug resistance in cancer.