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Hybrid metal halide semiconductors typically rely on chiral A-site ammonium cations for chiral induction in the lattice. Now it has been shown that chirality in low-dimensional achiral metal halide semiconductors can be induced by non-ammonium, non-A-site chiral molecules through remote stereocontrol of the inorganic framework.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are used for RNA formulation to achieve the delivery of vaccines and other therapies, however, their transfection efficiency is often low. Existing analytical techniques are limited in their molecular characterisation of LNPs, so here the authors develop molecular depth profiling using cryogenic OrbiTrap secondary ion mass spectrometry to reveal the relative depths of lipids, RNA components and lipid orientation at the surface of LNPs.

Dark melanin pigment was detected in the fossilized skin of three distantly related marine reptiles (a leatherback turtle, mosasaur and ichthyosaur); benefits of thermoregulation and/or crypsis may have contributed to this melanisation, which therefore has implications for our understanding of how these animals may have lived.

TopBP1 plays a critical role in mitigating replication stress in cancer cells by recruiting the nuclease scaffold SLX4 to underreplicated DNA during mitosis, thereby promoting MiDAS and genome stability.

A lunar meteorite sample called Northwest Africa 2995 probably originated from the South Pole–Aitken basin on the Moon’s farside. Minerals in the meteorite date basin formation to 4.32–4.33 billion years ago.

Bacterial attachment on implanted medical devices depends on surface topography. Here, the authors screen combinatorially generated shapes embossed into polymers to investigate topographical control of bacterial responses to surfaces.

Serpentinization of mantle rocks occurs in a variety of tectonic settings, but the controls on the rates of serpentinization are poorly constrained. Here, the authors developed anin situexperimental method to show that the rate of serpentinization is strongly controlled by the salinity of the reacting fluid.

Controlling crystal growth alignment in wide bandgap low-dimensional perovskites has been a persistent challenge. Here, authors induce vertical crystal growth through the addition of chlorine to precursor solution, giving rise to a record power conversion efficiency of 9.4% for 2 eV bandgap devices.

Cancer cells have altered lipid metabolism. Here the authors show that DAXX promotes lipogenesis and tumorigenesis through interaction with SREBP1/2.

The power conversion efficiency of wide-bandgap pure-sulfide kesterite is low. Wang et al. propose annealing in a hydrogen-containing atmosphere and report the underlying mechanism that enables a certified efficiency of 11.4%.

Soft tissue from vertebrate fossils has previously been documented, but only in exceptionally preserved specimens. Here, Bertazzo et al. describe structures consistent with collagen fibres and red blood cells from eight Cretaceous dinosaur bones, none of which are exceptionally preserved.

While our brain is primarily composed of lipids, their functions have largely remained unexplored. Here, authors show that specific lipids can be linked to the structural organization and functional hierarchy of the human and macaque brain.

Titanium dioxide nanowires are used as photoanodes in photoelectrochemical water splitting. Here Zheng et al. demonstrate that doping these nanowires with tungsten and carbon atom pairs considerably enhances their performance.

In lithium-metal batteries, it is vital to quantify electrolyte side reactions occurring at the metal anode surface. Here, the authors introduce an electrochemical technique, using a series of small-step lithium deposition followed by open circuit voltage analysis, to accurately measure these reactions.

Exsolved metal nanoparticles are widely believed to exhibit an exceptional robustness against coarsening. Here, the authors demonstrate that the coarsening behavior depends on the surface defect chemistry of the respective oxide support as well as the oxophilicity of the exsolved metal.

SnSe has a very high thermoelectric figure of merit ZT, but uncommonly polycrystalline samples have higher lattice thermal conductivity than single crystals. Here, by controlling Sn reagent purity and removing SnO_x impurities, a lower thermal conductivity is achieved, enabling ZT of 3.1 at 783 K.

Extraterrestrial sources may have provided prebiotic phosphorus to the early Earth. Here, the authors investigate the potential of phosphine-doped astrochemical analog ices to form phosphorus oxoacids as precursors to more complex prebiotic compounds.

Metal halide perovskites have wide tunability in both material and device structure. Here Zhao et al. fabricate heterojunctions of colloidal perovskite quantum dots with different composition using layer-by-layer deposition and demonstrate improved photovoltaic performance with enhanced photocarrier harvesting.

Quartz-rich clasts in Martian meteorite NWA 7533 indicate the presence of granitic rocks on early Mars that formed via hydrothermal activity and impact melting, according to petrologic and in situ geochemical analyses.

High performance CdTe thin film solar cells typically require a chloride activation treatment. Here, Majoret al. show that the main effect of the most effective chloride-based treatments is chloride accumulation at grain boundaries and that it results in improved open circuit voltages.

The introduction of 3TPYMB, an n-type molecule into inverted perovskite solar cells, enables a power conversion efficiency of 25.6%, with devices maintaining up to 98% of the initial efficiency after 1,800 h of operation.

Manufacturing high-performing solid electrolytes at low processing temperature requires improved techniques. Here Jennifer Rupp and colleagues report a ceramic processing strategy, using Li₃N multilayers as a lithium reservoir for the formation of lithium–garnet films, significantly reducing the operating temperature while maintaining the ionic conductivity.

Flexible CdTe solar cells on metal foil substrates are promising for low-cost roll-to-roll fabrication, but their efficiency is usually low because of their inverted structure. By controlling the doping of the CdTe layer with copper, Kranz et al. show that efficiencies up to 13.6% can be obtained.

Determining the degradation pathways in lead halide perovskites is key to its development as a viable solar technology. Aristidouet al. identify iodide vacancies as the preferred sites in mediating the photo-induced formation of superoxide species from intercalated oxygen.

The insoluble organic matter in primitive carbonaceous chondrites has a systematic large enrichment in deuterium and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this. Here, the authors demonstrate that irradiation from the protosun could quantitatively explain the deuteration.

Many complex oxides already have rich functional behavior but oxide heterostructures can exhibit new emergent properties. Yi et al. show that LSMO/SIO superlattices have a reversible electric-field-controlled structural phase transition that is not present in the constituent materials.

Retaining high performance of perovskite solar cells over large areas is a challenge. Yang et al. use a thermotropic liquid crystal with high diffusivity that does not co-crystallize with the perovskite, suppressing defect formation and enabling large-area solar modules with improved stability and efficiency.

Extracellular electron uptake (EEU) is the ability of microbes to take up electrons from solid-phase conductive substances such as metal oxides. Here, Guzman et al. show that electrons enter the photosynthetic electron transport chain and are used for CO₂ fixation during EEU in a phototrophic bacterium.

The geodynamic evolution of mountain ranges can be reconstructed using the pressure recorded by minerals in metamorphic rocks, under the key assumption that rock pressure is lithostatic. Here, the authors challenge the lithostatic pressure paradigm by showing that there can be significant outcrop-scale pressure gradients due to compression- and reaction-induced stress.

Chemical imaging and spectroscopy have previously been used to identify eumelanin residue in fossils and infer dark coloration. Here, Manning and colleagues develop an approach to identify pheomelanin (red pigment) residues and ascertain their distribution in fossils.

Mixing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with halide salts enable low-temperature melting and processable MOF-derived glasses with tunable properties and enhanced structural versatility.

Teflon is a carbon based polymer that cannot be intrinsically ferromagnetic. This study shows that room temperature ferromagnetism can be induced in Teflon tape by applying mechanical stress such as stretching or cutting, which gives rise to dangling carbon bonds.

On-surface, ultra-high vacuum conditions enable two-dimensional polymerizations to be precisely studied—often with submolecular resolution—but these syntheses are typically thermally activated, which can lead to high defect densities and relatively small domain sizes. Now, a self-assembled monolayer of a three-bladed fantrip monomer on alkane-passivated graphite has been covalently crosslinked into a mesoscale-ordered two-dimensional polymer by [4+4] photocycloaddition.

Understanding the chemistry of perovskite precursor solutions enables improved film optoelectronic properties, allowing the fabrication of multijunction solar cells achieving power conversion efficiencies beyond the radiative limit of single-junction cells.

Passivating contacts hold promise for silicon solar cells yet the simultaneous optimization of conductivity, defect passivation and optical transparency remains challenging. Now Köhler et al. devise a passivating contact based on a double layer of nanocrystalline silicon carbide that overcomes these trade-offs.

Over the past few years, it has become clear that the Moon’s surface is not entirely dry. The direct identification of hydroxyl in glasses produced in lunar soils by the impact of micrometeorites supports the idea that water was delivered to the lunar surface by the solar wind.

Improving the manufacturability of perovskite solar cells is key to their deployment. Zheng et al. report a one-step deposition of the hole-selective and absorber layers that addresses wettability issues and simplifies the fabrication process.

Authors measure plasma proteins in a cohort of hospitalised patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected infection, revealing six discrete host response clusters that were driven by pathogen exposure and organ dysfunction, and had distinct clinical characteristics, hospital courses, and responses to treatment.

We find that 2D–3D perovskitoid passivation applied to perovskite solar cells impedes cation migration and decreases carrier recombination at the interface, providing enhanced operating stability at elevated temperatures and increased power conversion efficiencies.

These authors report the concentrations of hydrogen, chlorine and sulphur in the mineral apatite from a lunar basalt, and show that the concentrations are indistinguishable from apatites in common terrestrial igneous rocks. They conclude that both metamorphic and igneous models of apatite formation suggest a volatile inventory for at least some lunar materials that is similar to comparable materials within the Earth.