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How the brain supports speaking and listening during conversation of its natural form remains poorly understood. Here, by combining intracranial EEG recordings with Natural Language Processing, the authors show broadly distributed frontotemporal neural signals that encode context-dependent linguistic information during both speaking and listening..

As quantum simulations advance, improving classical methods for modelling quantum systems remains crucial as they provide key benchmarks for quantum simulators. Here the authors present a scalable tensor-network algorithm for simulating open quantum systems, addressing key limitations of existing approaches.

Soft electrostatic actuators are crucial for advancing robotic systems that require adaptability and safety in unstructured environments. This study introduces ultralight soft electrostatic actuators utilizing solid-liquid-gas architectures, achieving significant improvements in power-to-weight ratio and actuation speed, exemplified by a 60% increase in jump height in a jumping robot compared to traditional designs.

Self-oscillators are critical in various natural and engineered systems, as they enable complex collective behaviors through interactions among individual units. This study demonstrates that populations of Quincke colloids-self-oscillators whose back-and-forth motion defines both a phase and a nematic oscillation axis-can achieve a form of collective order, termed synchronematic order, characterized by hydrodynamic interactions that synchronize their oscillation phases and align their orientations.

Using a random regression model, the study shows there are varying genetic profiles that act on BMI from infancy to adolescence. Change in BMI across childhood is genetically correlated with several adult cardiometabolic traits.

Continuous monoculture of banana can result in proliferation of parasitic nematodes. Here the authors show that in the long term, soil can become suppressive to disease and this is associated with enrichment of free-living nematodes and Bacillus bacteria.

Initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) during primary HIV-1 infection (PHI) may influence long-term viral persistence, yet its enduring effects remain unclear. Here, Pasternak and colleagues demonstrate that temporary ART started early in infection reduces HIV-1 proviral diversity and monocyte activation, and sustains lower levels of viral persistence markers, suggesting a lasting suppressive impact on the HIV-1 reservoir.

Expression of agouti signalling protein in neurons in the medial preoptic area is increased by group housing and negatively associated with care, and overexpression of Agouti reduces care and enhances infanticide in previously tolerant mice.

Cationic amino acids are essential to protein synthesis and cellular signaling. Here, authors determine the structure of the cationic amino acid transporter 1 and determined how it is co-opted as a receptor for leukemia-causing animal viruses.

Pangenomic and epidemiological analyses reveal a genetic shift in U.S. Salmonella Hadar populations during 2019–20, driven by expansion of a lineage carrying a prophage-like element that likely arose in commercial poultry and spread to backyard flocks.

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.

The famous nebula Barnard 68 has been used as a giant cosmic-ray detector: cosmic-ray-excited vibrational H₂ emission has been observed by JWST, giving a direct measurement of the CR ionization rate.

Chlorine electrosynthesis from seawater is limited by poor selectivity and stability under industrial-scale conditions. Here atomic-step-enriched ultrafine high-entropy alloy nanowires enable highly efficient chlorine evolution at 10 kA m⁻² for over 5,500 h through dynamic Pt–O active sites, reducing electricity consumption and feedstock costs for next-generation chlor-alkali processes.

Analysis of the somatic and transcriptomic profile of 123 acral melanoma samples from Mexican patients helps understand tumour origins and prognosis, and highlights the importance of including samples from diverse ancestries in cancer genomics studies.

In patients with acute heart failure, personalized dosing of a diuretic led to treatment intensification in the majority of patients and improved natriuresis, but had no effects on time to all-cause mortality or heart failure rehospitalization.

In schistosomiasis-endemic regions, the cyclical nature of infection and treatment complicates understanding of host immune responses. Repeated controlled human Schistosoma mansoni infection, designed to reflect the reinfection cycles common in endemic areas, shows that repeated exposure induces mixed worm-specific CD4⁺ T cell responses similar to those seen in endemic infection.

Variation in responses to bacterial and viral stimuli between Batwa rainforest hunter-gatherers and Bakiga agriculturalists from Uganda suggests population-level divergence under natural selection, with hunter-gatherers disproportionately showing signatures of positive selection.

The authors show that plasma AT(N) biomarkers can distinguish Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration in diverse Latin American populations. Using machine learning and integrating neuroimaging, significant diagnostic accuracy was achieved, enhancing clinical assessments of these conditions in Latin America.

Superconducting-qubit quantum annealers have served as platforms for simulating condensed-matter phenomena. Sathe et al. use a quantum annealer to probe critical phenomena in classical magnets by reliably sampling thermal distributions, revealing universal signatures of phase transitions without classical slowdowns.

The analysis of the energy spectrum of 36 million tritium β-decay electrons recorded in 259 measurement days within the last 40 eV below the endpoint challenges the Neutrino-4 claim.

Therapies combining chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown limited efficacy in patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Here the authors report the results of a pilot phase 1 trial of neoadjuvant modified Folfirinox plus nivolumab in borderline-resectable PDAC, including safety, efficacy and immunological correlates.

Quantum simulations of the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics faces hard challenges, such as having to prepare mixed states and enforcing the non-Abelian gauge symmetry constraints. Here, the authors show how to solve the two above problems in a trapped-ion device using motional ancillae and charge-singlet measurements.

The authors propose wave-mixing cathodoluminescence, where laser-electron wave mixing in a nonlinear optical cavity upconverts low-frequency molecular resonances into visible photons, enabling nanoscale fingerprinting with visible light sources and detectors.

Affinity-proteomics platforms often yield poorly correlated measurements. Here, the authors show that protein-altering variants drive a portion of inter-platform inconsistency and that accounting for genetic variants can improve concordance of protein measures and phenotypic associations across ancestries.

MsbA mediates the transport of lipopolysaccharide across the inner membrane. Here, the authors show specific MsbA-lipid interactions can tune the selectivity for binding ATP over ADP and present five structures of MsbA with one bound to lipid.

Effective axion fields emerge in a variety of condensed matter and photonic structures. Here, the authors predict a distinct dual axion response arising in metamaterials and, potentially, some condensed matter systems and captured by electrodynamics with magnetic charge.

Acute depletion of NIPBL reveals a class of chromatin loops that are independent of NIPBL for their maintenance but not their establishment and that NIPBL is necessary for the expression of lineage-defining genes.

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.

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.

Phylodynamic modelling shows how the changing antibiotic landscape and genetic determinants of resistance shape real-world gonococcal dynamics. Experiments validated that determinants with identical resistance phenotype differed in impact on fitness.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 58 independent risk loci for major anxiety disorders among individuals of European ancestry and implicates GABAergic signaling as a potential mechanism underlying genetic risk for these disorders.

In this study, the authors uncover how diverse inhibitory interneurons in the amygdala flexibly contribute to fear and safety learning, revealing a key role for inhibition in emotional memory and adaptive circuit plasticity.

Differential isoform usage is identified with high statistical power from spatial transcriptomics data.

The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

Huang, Rigau and colleagues observe major changes in how DNA is organized in early germ cells before they start developing into sperm or eggs. These results show that germline removes structural ‘memory’ of DNA folding to start fresh for the next generation.

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.

Population-level analyses and in vitro experiments show that a specific genetic variant of cyclin D3 inhibits the growth of the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum in erythrocytes, and suggest that its high frequency in Sardinia was driven by past endemic malaria.

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing autologous mRNA-engineered BCMA-targeting CAR T cell therapy versus placebo in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis, a significantly higher percentage of patients exhibited a reduction in disease activity in the treatment arm than in the placebo arm.

Plasmodium vivax is responsible for most malaria cases outside Africa and drug resistance is a concern. The authors use genomic approaches to identify a deletion near the MDR1 gene that affects its expression and is associated with lower mefloquine susceptibility.

Spacetime fluctuations have been predicted by a plethora of semiclassical and quantum models of gravity. Here, the authors discuss how characteristic signatures of classes of such spacetime fluctuations can be identified in laser interferometers.

In a randomized controlled trial that included 97 participants, 69% patients with Crohn’s disease (CD) allocated to a fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) achieved clinical response, and over 60% reached remission, outperforming the control group. The FMD also reduced markers of intestinal inflammation, suggesting this dietary intervention could serve as adjunctive treatment for CD.

Active galactic nuclei are surrounded by a dusty and molecular disk that fuels supermassive black holes and connects them to their host galaxies. Here, the authors show with JWST interferometric observations that most of the dust in the Circinus galaxies lies in a compact disk, while only a tiny fraction traces hot outflowing material.

A newly published report reviews the techniques available for evaluating national performance in basic research and applies these techniques to solid state physics and genetics.

Genetically encoded sensors are generally optimized to function during exponential growth rather than stationary phase, which limits their potential value for metabolic engineering and bioproduction. Here, authors engineer a stationary phase green light sensor and use pulsatile light to optimize production of industrially relevant small molecules.

Prenatal Zika virus (ZIKV) exposure can lead to a spectrum of developmental issues, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here the authors show that prenatal ZIKV exposure in macaques disrupts neurodevelopment, causing prolonged maternal attachment and visual deficits at 3 months that normalize by 12 months, independent of sensory function.