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Relativistic electron-positron (pair) plasmas play a fundamental role in the magnetospheres, jets, and winds of black holes and neutron stars, but existing studies have been purely theoretical. Here, the authors open up the exciting possibility to probe relativistic pair-plasmas in the laboratory.

Some materials can display magnetic order despite having spin-singlet ground state on individual magnetic sites. This arises due to exchange interactions mixing excited crystal electric field states. Here, Gao et al study and example of such a system, Ni₂Mo₃O₈, and find that crystal electric field states in both the paramagnetic and antiferromagnetic states exhibit dispersive excitations.

Understanding the mechanism of gas-sorbent interactions at a molecular level is important for the design of improved gas storage materials. Here, the authors study the binding domains of carbon dioxide and acetylene in a tetra-amide functionalized metal-organic framework at crystallographic resolution.

Gaining molecular-level insight into host–guest binding interactions is fundamentally important, but experimentally challenging. Here, Schröder and co-workers study CO₂–host hydrogen bonding interactions in a pair of isostructural redox-active V^III/V^IVMOFs using neutron scattering and diffraction techniques.

The molten structure of plutonium oxide—a component of mixed oxide nuclear fuels—is measured, showing some degree of covalent bonding. Its atomic structure is similar to that of cerium oxide, which could be a non-radioactive structural surrogate.

Solar wind is highly structured yet variable. Close-up observations of the solar atmosphere reveal that the changing connectivity of multiple sources in the solar corona drives the observed complexity and variability in the inner heliosphere.

CD11c⁺T-bet⁺ B cells have been linked with different autoimmune diseases, but targeting these cells has been challenging. Here the authors use an adenosine 2A receptor agonist to deplete these B cells and to inhibit or reverse autoimmune symptoms and pathology in mice.

Lower olefins are mainly produced from fossil resources and the methanol-to-olefins process offers a new sustainable pathway. Here, the authors show a new zeolite containing tantalum and aluminium centres which shows simultaneously high propene selectivity, catalytic activity, and stability for the synthesis of propene.

Antiferromagnets offer faster operation speed and immunity to stray fields, however, readout of the Neel vector is difficult. Here, Bommanaboyena et al present a heterostructure of a ferromagnet and antiferromagnet, combining easy readout with the benefits of antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Exploring astrophysical turbulent effects in laboratory plasma is challenging due to high threshold values of relevant parameters, such as the magnetic Reynolds number. Here the authors demonstrate the turbulent dynamo effect at large magnetic Reynolds numbers in laser-generated magnetized plasma.

Metal–organic framework capture materials could reduce the environmental impact of SO₂ emissions but can have limited stability and poor reversibility. Here, a metal–organic framework with open Cu(ii) sites with fully reversible SO₂ uptake of 17.5 mmol g⁻¹ under ambient conditions is reported.

Methylation levels of specific sites in the genome is correlated with aging. Here the authors develop a human-horse clock which could assist in translating anti-aging interventions from humans to horses and vice versa.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted ecosystem and biodiversity monitoring programs, including marine fisheries surveys. Here the authors combine multiple modelling approaches and data to overcome lost observational effort off the coasts of California in a diversified integrated ecosystem approach.

Structurally pure cubic ice Ic is obtained from the controlled heating of D₂O ice XVII.

Metal ions play essential roles in myriads of biological processes, from catalytic co-factors to supporting protein and nucleic acid structures. Here the authors use long-wavelength X-ray diffraction to locate hundreds of potassium ions taking part in the formation of rRNA tertiary structure, mediating rRNA–protein interactions and supporting ribosomal protein structures and function.

Ionizing radiation may induce irreparable DNA damage leading to cancer. Here, the authors identify a specific signature of mutations arising in patients exposed to ionizing radiation and suggest that radiation-induced tumorigenesis is associated with higher rates of genome-wide deletions and balanced inversions.

Conventional crystallography focuses on structurally-ordered systems, where interesting physics or novel material functions emerge. Here, Overy et al. propose an approach of designing functional materials with strongly correlated disorder, which can couple with phonons to affect lattice dynamics.

Exploring the role of structural defect is essential to understand the exotic quantum spin phenoma in rare earth pyrochlores. Here the authors show oxygen vacancies can stabilise the spin liquid phase and reveal the ferromagnetic ground state when oxygen vacancies are eliminated in Yb₂Ti₂O₇.

Exchange coupling between ferromagnetic and multiferroic materials is a key to magnetoelectric devices but hard to achieve macroscopically. Here, the authors report room–temperature robust and reproducible magnetoelectric switching in Co/BiFeO3 heterostructures with monodomain properties over the entire sample at room temperature.

Production of olefins from biomass-derived γ-valerolactone could lead to sustainable chemical processes, but catalysts suffer from deactivation due to water. Here, a MFI-type zeolite doped with Nb(v) and Al(iii) shows >99% yield at 320 °C and catalyst stability over 180 hours.

Lignin is cheap and abundant, and potentially a major source of aromatic compounds. Here the authors show selective production of arenes via hydrodeoxygenation of lignin over Ru/Nb₂O₅, and mechanistically show the strong influence of the Nb₂O₅support on phenolic bond dissociation energies.

Semipermeable polymeric anion exchange membranes are essential for separation, filtration and energy conversion technologies such as fuel cells. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering is now used to disentangle water, polymer relaxation and OH⁻ diffusional dynamics in a commercially available membrane.

Correlated defects are known to be closely linked to material properties throughout condensed matter research. Here, the authors examine the defects in a canonical metal–organic framework with an array of crystallographic and computational techniques and suggest they are correlated rather than random.

Epigenetic clocks based on DNA methylation levels are estimators of chronological age. Here, the authors perform a GWAS of epigenetic aging rates in blood and find SNP variants in the TERT locus associated with increased intrinsic epigenetic age are also associated with longer telomeres.

The thermodynamic properties of magnetocaloric materials show significant promise for energy-efficient cooling applications. The demonstration that large and reversible magnetocaloric effects can be created by means of strain suggests a new approach for inducing them in other magnetic materials.

Observations at submillimetre and X-ray wavelengths show that rapid star formation was common in the host galaxies of active galactic nuclei when the Universe was 2–6 Gyr old, but that the most vigorous star formation is not observed around powerful black holes, thereby confirming a key prediction of models in which an active galactic nucleus expels the interstellar medium of its host galaxy.

An approach called CREATE enables multiplex genome engineering, protein engineering and mapping of mutations in bacterial and yeast cells.

A quantum spin liquid is an intriguing exotic state of matter involving a magnetic system in which a magnetically ordered ground state at low temperatures is avoided despite strong interactions between magnetic units, due to quantum fluctuations. Experimental evidence for the existence of such a state has become available, but there are many fundamental questions about this novel state. This study uses an advanced magnetic probing technique, called muon spin rotation, to study a molecular layered system that is widely regarded as a prime candidate for quantum spin liquid. A complex magnetic phase diagram for this system is determined and characteristic critical properties of the spin liquid are measured, thereby providing important new insights into this exotic state of matter.

Competing metallophilic and electrostatic interactions between gold and/or silver cyanide chains govern their assembly into different structures. An analogy has now been drawn between these systems and two-dimensional magnets. Supramolecular interactions between the chains have been tuned to mimic different magnetic interactions, leading to the realization of complex states predicted for magnets.

In the typical spin-hall effect, spin-current, charge current, and spin polarisation are all mutually perpendicular, a feature enforced by symmetry. Here, using an anti-ferromagnet with a triangular spin structure, the authors demonstrate a spin-hall effect without a perpendicular spin alignment.

Expression of a single trehalose transgene in maize improves yield in field trials in both well-watered and drought conditions.

Primary biliary cirrhosis is an autoimmune liver disease with poor therapeutic options. Here Cordell et al. a perform meta-analysis of European genome-wide association studies identifying six novel risk loci and a number of potential therapeutic pathways.

Due to their nature antiferromagnets are difficult to probe with conventional magnetometers. The Néel vector of a practically important antiferromagnet, CuMnAs, has now been determined by a femtosecond pump–probe magneto-optical experiment.

Relatively little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the active transport of ions by Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase. A 3.5 Å X-ray structure of this fundamental protein is presented, revealing the two binding sites for potassium.

A neutron scattering study shows that the spin excitations in both pnictide- and copper-oxide-based superconductors have the same four-fold symmetry. If these excitations do indeed mediate the superconductivity, the two families of materials may be more similar than previously thought.

Experimental simulations of galaxy-forming conditions using lasers show that the Biermann battery generates seed magnetic fields, which turbulence can amplify to affect galaxy evolution.

Switching of antiferromagnetic domains by the propagation of domain walls is demonstrated using electrical current-induced torques.

The origin of the large magnetic fields observed in the interior of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A is still unclear. Laboratory experiments of laser-produced shocks provide new insights into the mechanisms of magnetic field amplification.

The extragalactic background light at far-infrared wavelengths comes from optically faint, dusty, star-forming galaxies with star formation rates at the level of a few hundred solar masses per year. These faint submillimetre galaxies are challenging to study individually, but their average properties can be studied using statistics such as the angular power spectrum of the background intensity variations. This study reports excess clustering over the linear prediction at arcminute angular scales in the power spectrum of brightness fluctuations at 250, 350 and 500 micrometres. It is found that submillimetre galaxies are located in dark matter haloes with a minimum mass of log₁₀[M_min/solar mass]=11.5^+0.7_-0.2 at 350° micrometres.