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Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

Creative experiences such as dance, music, drawing, and strategy video games might preserve brain health. The authors show that regular practice or short training in these activities is linked to brains that look younger and work more efficiently.

Adrenocortical carcinomas (ACC) are aggressive and often resistant to therapy. Here, the authors provide a single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of ACCs and normal adrenal glands, finding ecotypes in steroid and microenvironment cells that are associated with clinical outcomes.

The social exposome—lifelong social and economic adversity—can shape brain health and dementia risk. Here, the authors show that an adverse social exposome is linked to poorer clinical, cognitive, and brain changes in Latin American older adults.

BindCraft, an open-source, automated pipeline for de novo protein binder design with experimental success rates of 10–100%, leverages AlphaFold2 weights to generate binders with nanomolar affinity without the need for high-throughput screening.

Small cell lung cancer cells form functional synapses with glutamatergic neurons, receiving synaptic transmissions and deriving a proliferative advantage from these interactions.

The quark structure of the f₀(980) hadron is still unknown after 50 years of its discovery. Here, the CMS Collaboration reports a measurement of the elliptic flow of the f₀(980) state in proton-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV, providing strong evidence that the state is an ordinary meson.

Managing power exhaust in fusion reactors is a key challenge, especially in compact designs for cost-effective commercial energy. This study shows how alternative divertor configurations improve exhaust control, enhance stability, absorb transients and enable independent plasma regulation.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

A comparison of alpha diversity (number of plant species) and dark diversity (species that are currently absent from a site despite being ecologically suitable) demonstrates the negative effects of regional-scale anthropogenic activity on plant diversity.

Species’ traits and environmental conditions determine the abundance of tree species across the globe. Here, the authors find that dominant tree species are taller and have softer wood compared to rare species and that these trait differences are more strongly associated with temperature than water availability.

Embryonal tumour with multilayered rosettes (ETMR) is a rare and aggressive paediatric brain tumour. Here, the authors analyse intratumour heterogeneity and the tumour microenvironment in ETMR using single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, in vitro cultures, and a 3D forebrain organoid model, finding important aspects – such as the communication with pericytes – for ETMR development and response to therapy.

Primary angle-closure glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness. Here, the authors identify rare deleterious variants in UBOX5 as risk factors and implicate BIP ubiquitination as a potential disease mechanism.

A survey across 90 societies reveals that variation and change in everyday norms are explained by a single value dimension: the priority societies place on individualizing versus binding moral concerns.

HistoPlexer, a deep learning model, generates multiplexed protein expression maps from H&E images, capturing tumour–immune cell interactions. It outperforms baselines, enhances immune subtyping and survival prediction and offers a cost-effective tool for precision oncology.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Saccadic eye movements sample the visual world, but the retinal motion they entail goes unnoticed. This study shows that lawful saccade kinematics predict motion visibility, omitting saccade-like motion while preserving sensitivity to high speed.

A strategy for protecting redox-active ortho-quinones, which show promise as anticancer agents but suffer from redox-cycling behaviour and systemic toxicity, has been developed. The ortho-quinones are derivatized to redox-inactive para-aminobenzyl ketols. Upon amine deprotection, an acid-promoted, self-immolative C–C bond-cleaving 1,6-elimination releases the redox-active hydroquinone. The strategy also enables conjugation to a carrier for targeted delivery of ortho-quinone species.

Using multi-ancestry genome-wide association study and fine-mapping, 298 loci and 36 credible genes are identified in the aetiology of bipolar disorder.

This Perspective article discusses the stratification of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the context of current guidelines, biomarkers and emerging and future developments of targeted treatment. The authors aim to highlight how these novel developments can enhance the stratification of patients with knee OA to improve patient outcomes.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

Using screening data on intrinsic capacity (IC) from real-world implementation in primary care of the WHO ICOPE program, de Souto Barreto and Lu et al. developed clinically friendly IC scores and centile values to monitor functional health during aging.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Large genome-wide meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) from 94,437 individuals identifies new LOAD risk loci and implicates Aβ formation, tau protein binding, immune response and lipid metabolism.

Transcription factors shape cell identity, but mapping their genomic targets remains challenging. Here the authors present DynaTag, a modified CUT&Tag method for profiling TF occupancy in bulk and single cells, and apply it to assess changes in TF activity in SCLC tumours following chemotherapy.

The mechanism of macrophage cytotoxicity against cancer cells requires further illustration. By employing CRISPR screening in CAR-macrophage and cancer cell co-culture system, the authors identify depletion of ATG9A on cancer cells sensitizes them to macrophage-mediated killing, which can be synergic with CSF1R inhibition in cancer treatment.

Inventory data from more than 1 million trees across African, Amazonian and Southeast Asian tropical forests suggests that, despite their high diversity, just 1,053 species, representing a consistent ~2.2% of tropical tree species in each region, constitute half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees.

Spatially resolved JWST spectroscopy of a massive, quiescent galaxy at a redshift of ~4 reveals that it formed its stars and quenched rapidly, despite being surrounded by an abundant gas reservoir and gravitationally bound to a star-bursting companion.

Geospatial estimates of the prevalence of anemia in women of reproductive age across 82 low-income and middle-income countries reveals considerable heterogeneity and inequality at national and subnational levels, with few countries on track to meet the WHO Global Nutrition Targets by 2030.

Green hydrogen production via water electrolysis requires a low-cost solution to provide efficient catalysts. Here, the authors report an industrially scalable method for synthesizing NiFe layered double hydroxide at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, enhancing alkaline electrolysis.

Data from a variety of sources—including satellite, climate and soil data, as well as field-collected information on plant traits—are pooled and analysed to map the functional diversity of tropical forest canopies globally.

Glycans are structurally complex biomolecules and very challenging to analyse. Here the authors show atomically resolved imaging of β-cyclodextrins with non-contact atomic force microscopy, revealing the structure of individual glycans with atomic detail.

The differentiation of naive CD4 T cells into T-helper-cell subsets is thought to be influenced by factors in the T-cell environment. Martin et al.reveal that cell intrinsic differences also determine lineage commitment and show that cells with the highest avidity for self are most likely to become induced regulatory T cells.

In the Tumor Profiler proof-of-concept observational study, a multiomics approach for profiling tumors from patients with melanoma was feasible, returning data within 4 weeks and informing treatment recommendations in 75% of cases.

Springtails are omnipresent soil arthropods, vital for ecosystems. In the first global assessment of springtails, this study shows a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, with distinct temperature-related patterns for diversity and metabolism that suggest climate change may restructure the functioning of soil biodiversity.

Fine-scale geospatial mapping of overweight and wasting (two components of the double burden of malnutrition) in 105 LMICs shows that overweight has increased from 5.2% in 2000 to 6.0% in children under 5 in 2017. Although overall wasting decreased over the same period, most countries are not on track to meet the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Wood density is an important plant trait. Data from 1.1 million forest inventory plots and 10,703 tree species show a latitudinal gradient in wood density, with temperature and soil moisture explaining variation at the global scale and disturbance also having a role at the local level.

TGF-β promotes the differentiation of T_H-17 and regulatory T cells. Stockinger and colleagues show that TGF-β also directs differentiation of a unique interleukin 9–producing T cell subset.

A demonstration of the ability to transmit spin currents over distances of more than one hundred micrometres with an efficiency of up to 75% in graphene grown epitaxially on silicon carbide improves the prospects of graphene-based spintronic devices.

Citizen science taps the efforts of non-experts. Here, authors describe Drugit, an extension of the crowdsourcing game Foldit, and its use in designing a non-peptide binder of Von Hippel Lindau E3 ligase for use with proteolysis targeting chimeras.

Combined high-throughput protein engineering with machine learning to curate libraries of CRISPR genome-editing enzymes with distinct genome targeting properties is described.

Here the authors show that a Gamma-based subunit vaccine induces broadly neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron, induces cellular immune responses, and protects mice from infection with Omicron BA.5 SARS-CoV-2.

A high-resolution, global atlas of mortality of children under five years of age between 2000 and 2017 highlights subnational geographical inequalities in the distribution, rates and absolute counts of child deaths by age.

Ilievski et al. examine differences and similarities in the various ways human and AI systems generalize. The insights are important for effectively supporting alignment in human–AI teams.