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Antarctic ice volume expansion in the middle Miocene coincides with Southern Ocean cooling, according to biomarker and clumped isotope temperature records from south of Tasmania.

If neutrinos are their own antiparticles, neutrinoless double-β decay of ⁷⁶Ge should occur; a new lower-limit half-life of 5 × 10²⁵ years for this process has now been determined under background-free conditions.

The functional morphology of the fluid-filled semicircular ducts of the inner ear is adapted to body temperature and behavioural activity and can be used to investigate the evolution of endothermy.

Charge–density–wave correlations, quantum oscillations and Fermi-liquid charge transport are at the centre of a heated debate in cuprate superconductivity. Using resonant X-ray scattering, Tabis et al. investigate the charge order and its link to the electronic transport properties in HgBa₂CuO_4+δ.

Hybridization-type band gaps are known to persist in phononic crystals, but their fabrication remains challenging for all-solid hypersonic composites. Here, the authors utilize the elastic anisotropy at the interface of polymer-tethered colloidal particles to control phonon propagation in GHz regime.

The measurement of the total cross-section of proton–proton collisions is of fundamental importance for particle physics. Here, the first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton–proton collisions at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

Scheiermann and colleagues show that circadian clocks control the infiltration of dendritic cells into skin lymphatics in mice and humans, with a peak migration to the lymph nodes during the rest phase.

Previously documented record values of the fusion triple product in the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X are shown to be evidence for reduced neoclassical energy transport in this optimized device.

Nano-environmental probes and advance imaging microscopy provide deep insight into protein phase separation and the interaction of condensates with membranes, revealing that wetting by condensates can modulate membrane lipid packing and hydration.

Zeziulia et al. identify the proton-activated Cl⁻ channel ASOR/TMEM206 as necessary for shrinkage of macropinosomes, which is needed for downstream sorting events.

Ten years after the discovery of the Higgs boson, the ATLAS  experiment at CERN probes its kinematic properties with a significantly larger dataset from 2015–2018 and provides further insights on its interaction with other known particles.

Combination of epidemiology, preclinical models and ultradeep DNA profiling of clinical cohorts unpicks the inflammatory mechanism by which air pollution promotes lung cancer

Relationships between biodiversity and phosphorus cycling and the underlying processes are complex. Here the authors analyse a biodiversity manipulation experiment and an agricultural management gradient to show how plant and mycorrhizal fungal diversity promote phosphorus exploitation.

Increasing compositional uniqueness of the gut microbiome, and corresponding changes in microbial metabolites in the blood, are identified as a signature of healthy ageing in humans.

While the development of weakly coordinating anions received much attention, the progress on weakly coordinating and inert solvents almost stagnated. Here the authors report that strategic F-substitution of fluorobenzene solvents strongly increases the redox potentials of Ag⁺ and NO⁺ salts and tolerates high potentials of perfluorinated radical cations.

The size and spatial distribution of pits on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, which are active and probably created by a sinkhole process, imply that large heterogeneities exist in the physical, structural or compositional properties of the first few hundred metres below the current cometary surface.

Many proteins exist in various proteoforms but detecting these variants by bottom-up proteomics remains difficult. Here, the authors present a computational approach based on peptide correlation analysis to identify and characterize proteoforms from bottom-up proteomics data.

Iron is shown to have a central role in senescence, both by triggering senescence and through its accumulation in senescent cells, which is driving the senescence-associated secretory phenotype and, in turn, promotes fibrogenesis.

The ability of a species to adapt to climate change depends on its genetic diversity. Here, based on the geographic distribution of genetic variants associated with drought resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana, the authors predict the future genetic maladaptation of Central European populations.

Bischof and colleagues report that AP-1 bookmarks prospective senescence enhancers for future activation to achieve a timely execution of the senescence programme.

The heterogeneity of androgen receptor (AR) gene alterations across metastases in prostate cancer remains unresolved. Here, the authors characterise AR genomic complexity across spatially separated lethal metastases from 10 prostate cancer patients and investigate how AR alterations evolve.

Some viral proteins involved in interaction with the host cell surface adopt a very rigid and stable triple–β-helix fold. In order to attain this complex fold, these proteins contain an intramolecular chaperone domain that is auto-cleaved after assembly. Now structural work on two such chaperone domains indicates how they can promote correct folding of the β-helices.

Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is a rare pediatric bone cancer typically involving the EWSR1-FLI1 fusion. Here the authors perform a genome-wide association study and report three new EWS risk loci that reside near GGAA repeat sequences, and identify candidate genes (RREB1 and KIZ) from eQTL analysis.

The key regulator of lysosomal biogenesis, Tfeb, is shown to directly induce Irg1 transcription and mitochondrial itaconate production to restrain bacterial growth in macrophages.

Combining the kinase inhibitor sorafenib with allogeneic stem cell transplantation boosts immune responses against a subtype of acute myelogenous leukemia, suggesting potential clinical benefit.

Lee and Schmitt discuss how the classical view of senescence as a static, terminally differentiated state has changed to that of a dynamic, reversible condition with diverse roles in tumour biology.

Bondareva and Rodríguez-Aguilera et al. use scRNA-seq to analyze transcriptomes of 375,000 endothelial cells from seven organs in male mice at various stages of obesity to identify organ-specific vulnerabilities.

In lung adenocarcinoma, antibodies against endogenous retroviruses promote anti-tumour activity, and expression of endogenous retroviruses can predict outcomes of immunotherapy.

Sprenger et al. find that cytosolic pyrimidine levels regulate the release of mitochondrial DNA and activation of cGAS–STING.

Analysis of time-series abundance trends from more than a thousand local populations across Europe reveals a consistent impact of temperature on terrestrial communities, but variable impacts on freshwater and marine realms.

The existence and properties of tetraquark states with two heavy quarks and two light antiquarks have been widely debated. Here, the authors use a unitarized model to study the properties of an exotic narrow state compatible with a doubly charmed tetraquark.

Oligodendrocyte differentiation is known to depend on transcription factors Sox10, Nkx2.2, and Olig2. Here, the authors show that Nfat/calcineurin signaling contributes to oligodendrocyte differentiation by relieving mutual repression of Nkx2.2 and Olig2.

A new strategy is presented to accurately profile the activity of human genes in endocytosis by combining genome-wide RNAi, automated high-resolution confocal microscopy and quantitative multi-parametric image analysis. Several novel components of endocytosis and endosome trafficking were uncovered; a systems analysis further revealed that the cell regulates the number, size and concentration of cargo within endosomes.

Wigger, Barovic and Brunner et al. perform a multidimensional analysis of islets from metabolically characterized patients who had undergone pancreatectomy, observing remarkable heterogeneity between samples from individuals with type 2 diabetes, thus arguing against models of linear beta-cell dedifferentiation in diabetes.

Acute loss of CTCF disproportionately affects the transcription of genes that display promoter-proximal CTCF binding and are dependent on long-distance enhancers.

A 6° poleward shift of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Indian Ocean during deglaciations could have enhanced ocean degassing of carbon dioxide, according to biomarker-based reconstructions of meridional sea surface temperature gradients.

While the beneficial versus detrimental implications of the senescence-associated secretome remain an issue of debate, time-resolved analyses of its composition, regulatory mechanisms and functional consequences have been largely missing. The dynamic activity of NOTCH is now shown to direct two distinct senescence phenotypes, by first promoting a pro-senescent TGF-β1-dependent secretome, followed by a second wave of pro-inflammatory, senescence-clearing cytokines.