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Bennu comprises components of intra- and extra-Solar System origins. The parent bodies of Bennu, Ryugu and CI chondrites likely formed from a shared but heterogeneous reservoir in the outer parts of the solar protoplanetary disk.

Human gut bacteria bioaccumulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as forever chemicals, in intracellular aggregates. Colonization of gnotobiotic mice with bioaccumulating bacteria increases faecal PFAS excretion.

Cancer genetics has benefited from the advent of next generation sequencing, yet a comparison of sequencing and analysis techniques is lacking. Here, the authors sequence a normal-tumour pair and perform data analysis at multiple institutes and highlight some of the pitfalls associated with the different methods.

Doping CdTe solar cells with group V elements could overcome the limitations in voltage output and device stability of copper doping, yet implementation remains challenging. Now, Li et al. have devised an ex situ doping approach that is based on group V chloride solutions and low-temperature annealing.

There is growing evidence for the presence of continental fragments within the young oceanic basins, but this is still based on limited geological data. Here, the authors use zircon isotope geochronology to demonstrate the presence of Archaean continental crust beneath the young hotspot volcanoes of Mauritius.

The crucial interaction between reactive elements and water vapour during the oxide scale growth of alumina-forming alloys is revealed, providing insights to improve corrosion resistance of high-temperature alloys.

Indonesian cattle are unique due to their history of admixture involving both zebu and banteng. Here, Wang et al. identify ~3.5 million novel introgressed SNP variants and provide a genomic map of banteng introgression within and across many cattle breeds, each with unique introgression histories.

The authors report three palaeomagnetic poles from the North China craton and document a large round-trip true polar wander oscillation during 155−141 Ma that may have affected biotic evolution in East Asia and global extinction and endemism.

Samples from the asteroid (101955) Bennu, returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission, include sodium-bearing phosphates and sodium-rich carbonates, sulfates, chlorides and fluorides formed during evaporation of a late-stage brine.

Adding excess m-Li₂ZrF₆ (monoclinic) nanoparticles to a commercial LiPF₆-containing carbonate electrolyte forms a stable interphase rich in t-Li₂ZrF₆ (trigonal), enhancing Li-ion transfer, suppressing dendrite growth and considerably improving the cycling stability of high-rate lithium metal batteries.

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.

The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) is considered to have occurred at 2.33–2.32 Ga based on the last occurrence of MIF-S in South Africa. Here, based on sulphur isotope analysis of samples from Western Australia, the authors show preservation of MIF-S beyond 2.31 Ga and call for a re-evaluation of GOE timing.

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.

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.

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.

Trace amounts of water dissolved in minerals play an important role in global tectonics through changing the density, viscosity and melting behaviour of the Earth’s mantle. Here, the authors identify the presence of molecular hydrogen in nominally anhydrous ecolgite minerals from the Kaapvaal and Siberian cratons, indicating that the storage capacity of H in the mantle may have been underestimated.

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.

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.

Quasi-2D halide perovskites are attracting increasing attention for light-emitting devices. Here, the authors demonstrated efficient and stable quasi-2D perovskite LEDs enabled by suppressed phase disproportionation with newly designed organic ligands.

The parent bodies of many chondritic meteorites experienced aqueous alteration, the chronology of which helps constrain their histories. Here, the authors synthesize a fayalite standard and report reliable ages of secondary fayalite, from which model accretion ages are determined and the place of accretion is inferred.

Here, the authors synthesize a variety of ultra-thin III–V single crystals, ranging from ultra-narrow to wide bandgap semiconductors, through enhancing the interfacial interaction between the III–V crystals and the growth substrates.

Eukaryotic topoisomerase 1 (TOP1) regulates DNA topology to ensure efficient DNA replication and transcription. Here, the authors reveal insights into the molecular resolution of topoisomerase 1-DNA adducts by TEX264, p97 and SPRTN.

The throughput of the in vivo screening of hydrogels for antifibrotic properties can be increased by tagging the biomaterials with cells and reading their genotype via next-generation sequencing.

The emerging kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ solar cell offers a potential low-cost, non-toxic, materially abundant platform for next-generation photovoltaics, yet its efficiency has been mired below 10%. Yan et al. now use post-heat treatment of the heterojunction to show device efficiencies that surpass 10%.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes (TADF-OLEDs) rely on high triplet energy interlayers to confine excitons, which results in reduced performance. Here, the authors report high-performance blue TADF-OLEDs with below bandgap electroluminescence.

The use of flexible polymer substrates not only reduces weight and fabrication costs of solar cells, but their bendability also enables new applications. A careful design of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ solar cells grown on polymer substrates now solves earlier fabrication issues, leading to conversion efficiencies matching those grown on rigid substrates.

The asteroid Ryugu experienced aqueous alteration under changing temperature and redox conditions, according to an isotopic analysis of secondary calcite and dolomite grains in samples from Ryugu obtained by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft.

Dysfunction of SUMO or Rad60 causes overlapping phenotypes that include genomic instability. Now, a nonsubstrate interaction between SUMO-like domain 2 (SLD2) of Rad60 and the SUMO-conjugating enzyme Ubc9 is shown to suppress aberrant replication-associated homologous recombination. Thus, SUMO mimicry provides critical regulation in the SUMO pathway.

Long-term durability is crucial for heavy-duty usage of lithium ion batteries; however, electrode failure mechanisms are still unknown. Here, the authors reveal the fracture mechanisms of single crystal silicon electrodes over extended cycling, and show how electrolyte additives can heal electrode cracks.

Compared with their rigid counterparts, thin-film solar cells grown on flexible substrates usually display lower power-conversion efficiencies. Now, the application of a post-deposition alkaline treatment that modifies the chemical composition of the surfaces of Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ thin films reduces optical losses in these flexible photovoltaic architectures. Furthermore, efficiencies comparable to solar cells based on polycrystalline silicon are achieved.