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The pachycephalosaurian Zavacephale rinpoche, from the Early Cretaceous of Mongolia, provides crucial insights into the early evolution of dome-headed dinosaurs, including the development of the frontoparietal dome and decoupling of sociosexual and somatic maturity.

Available wheat genomes are annotated by projecting Chinese Spring gene models across the new assemblies. Here, the authors generate de novo gene annotations for the 9 wheat genomes, identify core and dispensable transcriptome, and reveal conservation and divergence of gene expression balance across homoeologous subgenomes.

Massively parallel reporter assay in primary human CD4⁺ T cells and bulk and single-cell CRISPR-interference screens identify candidate causal variants linked to autoimmune disease risk that modulate T cell gene expression and proliferation.

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.

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.

Federated learning (FL) algorithms have emerged as a promising solution to train models for healthcare imaging across institutions while preserving privacy. Here, the authors describe the Federated Tumor Segmentation (FeTS) challenge for the decentralised benchmarking of FL algorithms and evaluation of Healthcare AI algorithm generalizability in real-world cancer imaging datasets.

The role of the tumour microenvironment in the response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic melanoma remains poorly understood. Here, single cell profiling of metastatic melanoma samples identifies associations of the mature dendritic enriched in immunoregulatory molecules subtype with immunotherapy response.

Despite exhibiting ferroelectric features, SrTiO₃ fails to display long-range polar order at low temperatures due to quantum fluctuations. An ultrafast X-ray diffraction experiment now probes polar dynamics of this material at the nanometre scale.

A synthetic route to GB18, an alkaloid from the bark of hallucinogenic Galbulimima sp., is developed, enabling its identification as an antagonist of κ- and μ-opioid receptors.

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.

Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 provide protection against infection, but the virus has evolved to evade them. Here, the authors characterize a human antibody with incomplete neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 variants and engineer it to enhance potency and expand coverage to all tested variants by increasing conformational flexibility.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Wireless bioresorbable stimulators are promising therapeutic implants that naturally dissolve after use. Here, the authors developed a device that operates for months and enables simultaneous multi-site stimulation, preventing early muscle atrophy and accelerating reinnervation in nerve injury models.

The supercooling parameter, P, was found to be the best indicator of grain morphology of metallic alloys produced with high solidification velocities. This provides guidance for the design of new alloys for use with additive manufacturing.

In an updated report on 70 laboratory-confirmed highly pathogenic avian influenza A H5N1 cases in the USA between March 2024 and May 2025, the absence of human-to-human transmission to date was confirmed, with no known mutations of resistance to neuroaminidase inhibitors.

A study reports whole-genome sequences for 490,640 participants from the UK Biobank and combines these data with phenotypic data to provide new insights into the relationship between human variation and sequence variation.

Here the authors identify the granin hormone SCG2 as a ligand for the inhibitory receptor LILRB4. They show that SCG2 released from tumors can suppress antitumor immune responses via this interaction, indicating possible therapeutic strategies.

Concise routes to 25 naturally occurring picrotoxanes were devised using a virtual library of intermediate analogues triaged by reactivity; this approach can overcome challenges in the use of computers for synthesis design.

Shared inter-brain neural dynamics, reflecting aspects of social interaction including self and other’s behaviours, arise in GABAergic neurons of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex of socially interacting mice, as well as in the neurons of socially interacting artificial intelligence agents.

The tumour-suppressor protein BRCA2 is discovered to have a previously undescribed role in maintaining genomic integrity and the sensitivity of PARP1 inhibitors.

Dissociation of excitons at the donor/acceptor interface in organic solar cells occurs on fast timescales. Here, the authors apply two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to study the electron transfer process in a polymer blend, reporting dynamic maps for the charge-transfer pathways.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

Spatially resolved images of M87 obtained at a wavelength of 3.5 mm in 2018 show a ring-like accretion structure, the inner (outer) edge of which connects the black hole (jet).

Fossils of small dinosaurs are less common than their large-bodied counterparts, but whether this relates to preservational biases remains unclear. Evans et al.describe a new pachycephalosaur and provide the first evidence that small-bodied dinosaur diversity is strongly underestimated.

Literature produced inconsistent findings regarding the links between extreme weather events and climate policy support across regions, populations and events. This global study offers a holistic assessment of these relationships and highlights the role of subjective attribution.

Liu et al. developed a platform to identify transcription factors (TFs) that turn stem cells into desired cell types. They discovered six key TFs that produce microglia efficiently, enhancing cell differentiation methods.

BAX and BAK are pro-apoptotic proteins whose activity is essential for the action of many anti-cancer drugs and to suppress tumorigenesis. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen and identify VDAC2 as a promoter of BAX-mediated apoptosis that is important for an efficient chemotherapeutic response and to suppress tumor formation.

Huang et al. developed E3-substrate tagging by ubiquitin biotinylation (E-STUB), a proximity labeling-based method for direct identification of ubiquitylated substrates for a given E3 ligase, providing a useful tool for substrate discovery of targeted protein degradation and the understanding of E3 ligase function.

The Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues Network aims to create a reference catalogue of somatic mosaicism across different tissues and cells within individuals.

By combining a repository for artificial intelligence models and a supercomputing cluster, an entire month’s worth of advanced LIGO data is analysed in just 7 min, finding all binary black hole mergers previously identified in this dataset and reporting no misclassifications.

Experimental demonstration of quantum speedup that scales with the system size is the goal of near-term quantum computing. Here, the authors demonstrate such scaling advantage for a D-Wave quantum annealer over analogous classical algorithms in simulations of frustrated quantum magnets.

Catenanes can exhibit chirality even when their component rings are achiral. Here an isostructural desymmetrization strategy is developed, demonstrating that two achiral rings, each featuring two mirror planes and a two-fold axis of symmetry, can form a catenane with tuneable mechanical chirality.

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.

Associations between corals and symbiotic microorganisms could be driven by the environment or shared evolutionary history. Here, the authors examine relationships between coral phylogenies and associated microbiomes, finding evidence of phylosymbiosis in microbes from coral skeleton and tissue, but not mucus.

A new scheme for multicolour X-ray free-electron lasers at soft X-ray wavelengths is proposed. The scheme significantly improves two-colour pulse generation and makes possible the first demonstration of three-colour pulse generation.

A trans-ancestry meta-analysis of GWAS of glycemic traits in up to 281,416 individuals identifies 99 novel loci, of which one quarter was found due to the multi-ancestry approach, which also improves fine-mapping of credible variant sets.

Tunable polarization control and a two-colour X-ray pump–X-ray probe operating mode are demonstrated at the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

A consensus cell type atlas for the fly brain provides both an intellectual framework and open-source toolchains for brain-scale comparative connectomics.

Urban populations ebb and flow as the pulse of human mobility reshapes the cityscape. This paper shows a spatiotemporal scaling laws revealing hidden patterns in these dynamic shifts, linking them to the urban fabric’s structure, density, and functionality.

Using viral capsid architectures as template for design, higher triangulation number nanocages that require symmetry breaking offer potential advances in targeted delivery and antigen-displaying vaccines.

Using genome-wide meta-analyses of clinical measures of depression and biobank data, the authors investigate symptom-specific genetic associations between depression and subsequent risk for Alzheimer’s disease, finding an absence of a putative genetic overlap between disorders.

What is the state of trust in scientists around the world? To answer this question, the authors surveyed 71,922 respondents in 68 countries and found that trust in scientists is moderately high.

Efficient production of MSC secretome for therapeutic applications remains a challenging task. Here, the authors present an approach whereby an acoustofluidic mechanobiological environment can form reproducible 3D MSC aggregates, allowing for secretome production with high efficiency.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

Analyses of strain-resolved metagenomics with isolate sequencing data of skin samples from residents at nursing homes suggest that skin is a reservoir for Candida auris and other multidrug-resistant bacterial species.