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The Einstein Probe has discovered a fast X-ray transient, EP240414a, associated with a broad-lined type Ic supernova. Its unusually soft spectrum and weak jet add to the diversity of stellar deaths and suggest a previously unknown Wolf–Rayet star explosion mechanism.

Photonic circuits often require separate components to manipulate light with orthogonal polarization, but this increases the chip size. Here, the authors create a polarization-dependent beam-splitter that uses dielectric loaded plasmonic waveguides to handle both polarizations in the same component.

The death of massive stars has traditionally been discovered by explosive events in the gamma-ray band. Liu et al. show that the sensitive wide-field monitor on board Einstein Probe can reveal a weak soft-X-ray signal much earlier than gamma rays.

A comprehensive phylogeny and taxonomy for the medically and ecologically important genus Artemisia remain unavailable. Here, the authors combine genomic data with morphological analyses to reconstruct the most comprehensive phylogeny and taxonomy of global Artemisia.

A short-duration gamma-ray burst was detected along with a double neutron start merger gravitational wave by LIGO-Virgo on August 17th 2017. Here, the authors show that the fluence and spectral peak energy of this event fall into the lower portion of the distribution of known short-duration gamma-ray bursts.

By utilizing a microstructured optical waveguide around a microsphere, an optical anlogue of the effects of gravity on the motion of light rays is demonstrated. Both far-field gravitational-lensing effects and the critical phenomenon that occurs close to the photon sphere of astrophysical objects under hydrostatic equilibrium are experimentally demonstrated.

Fossils of Cretaceous birds with feathers are rare and known mostly from China. Here, the authors show an enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil with a fully articulated skeleton and rachis-dominated tail feathers, which has implications for our understanding of feather evolution.

The genetic basis of atopic dermatitis is not fully understood. Here, the authors find 91 genetic loci associated with atopic dermatitis in a GWAS of >1million individuals, which highlight the importance of systemic immune regulation.

Chiral interaction of molecular ensembles with confined light fields is elusive. Here, the authors report collective chiroptical effects through coupling of exciton and charge-transfer mixed molecular assemblies with plasmonic nanoparticles.

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.

Space debris laser ranging is a technique to measure distances to defunct satellites or rocket bodies in orbits around Earth which was only possible within a few hours around twilight. Here, the authors show the first space debris laser ranging results during daylight while correcting inaccurate predictions using a real-time target detection software.

The searchlight hypothesis proposes that the thalamic reticular nucleus regulates thalamic relay activity through focal attentional modulation. Here the authors show that the receptive field sizes of reticular neurons are small enough to provide localized feedback onto thalamic neurons in the visual pathway.

Optical amplifiers based on erbium ions typically require high pump power densities to produce gain. Now, an organic optical amplifier material composed of erbium ions and a zinc-based organic chromophore is demonstrated to reach population inversion using low-power visible light.

Similarities in cancers can be studied to interrogate their etiology. Here, the authors use genome-wide association study summary statistics from six cancer types based on 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, showing that solid tumours arising from different tissues share a degree of common germline genetic basis.

Quantum electrodynamics predicts a rare process in which light is scattered by light. The ATLAS Collaboration reports signs of this elusive effect in the collisions of ultra-relativistic lead ions.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms—SNPs—have been identified for prostate cancer but whether these SNPs alter the expression of genes is largely unknown. In this study, the authors search for genes located within 2 Mb of the SNPs and identify SNPs that influence gene expression, so called expression quantitative trait loci.

Forest carbon source and sink processes may have contrasting climatic sensitivities. This analysis on 177 coniferous forest sites shows that carbon fluxes and wood formation are coupled but not fully synchronous at intra-annual scales, with peaks in cambial activity preceding those in photosynthesis and respiration.

Strategies to systematically tune CO₂ electroreduction to multicarbon products are of high interests. Here the authors report electron withdrawing functional group alters the reaction pathway towards C₂₊ products by adjusting the oxidation state of surface copper.

This study analyses radio observations of the jet in galaxy M87, from which the existence of a spinning black hole that induces Lense–Thirring precession of a misaligned accretion disk is inferred.

Nona Sotoodehnia and colleagues report a meta-analysis of 14 genome-wide association studies for QRS interval, an electrocardiogram measurement of cardiac ventricular conduction. They identify 22 loci associated with QRS duration.

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.

The Cancer Genome Atlas presents an integrative genome-wide analysis of genetic alterations in 279 head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs), which are classified by human papillomavirus (HPV) status; alterations in EGFR, FGFR, PIK3CA and cyclin-dependent kinases are shown to represent candidate targets for therapeutic intervention in most HNSCCs.

Cellular phenotypic heterogeneity is a key determinant of biological functions and is challenging to identify. A deep learning method that recognizes specific nuclear signatures is discussed, which can identify cellular heterogeneity and differentiate between various cell states using a small amount of super-resolution microscopy data.

Differential gene expression experiments yield quantitative insight into biological activity and may be important in disease classification and treatment. Here, the authors analyse external spike-in RNA controls to provide a standard method to assess and compare experiment performance.

Silane coupling agents retard early hydration when incorporated into fresh cement paste. Here the authors show how silane coupling agents hinder calcium dissolution of tricalcium silicate from ab initio metadynamics simulations and hydration experiments.

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a rare genetic disorder that is associated with a higher risk of skin cancer. Here, the authors analyse the genomes of skin cancers from patients across five different XP groups, revealing genetic and molecular factors related to the mutational profile and UV-related mutagenesis in XP.

A wealth of gene expression data is publicly available, yet is little use without additional human curation. Ma’ayan and colleagues report a crowdsourcing project involving over 70 participants to annotate and analyse thousands of human disease-related gene expression datasets.

Topological boundary modes within charge-ordered states have not yet been observed experimentally. Now an in-gap boundary mode, stemming solely from the charge order, is visualized in the topological material Ta₂Se₈I.

To address the question of whether a recurrent tumour is genetically similar to the tumour at diagnosis, the evolution of medulloblastoma has been studied in both an in vivo mouse model of clinical tumour therapy as well as in humans with recurrent disease; targeted tumour therapies are usually based on targets present in the tumour at diagnosis but the results from this study indicate that post-treatment recurring tumours (compared with the tumour at diagnosis) have undergone substantial clonal divergence of the initial dominant tumour clone.

Isolated Rh³⁺ sites are stabilized inside the MFI zeolite channels with phosphorous which is added during zeolite synthesis in the form of a phosphonium zeolite template. This Rh³⁺ shows high activity in the low-temperature ethylene hydroformylation.

Drying force-induced deformation complicates the characterization of the 3D structure of colloidal assemblies. Here, the authors develop a liquid electron tomography method for unravelling the 3D structures of small colloidal assemblies under native conditions.

A very uncommon detached binary system with a 20.5-min orbital period has been discovered to harbour a carbon–oxygen white dwarf star and a low-mass subdwarf B star with a seven-Earth radius that traces the theoretical limit of binary evolution predicted 20 years ago.

East Asia contains “relict” plant species that persist under narrow climatic conditions after once having wider distributions. Here, using distribution records coupled with ecological niche models, the authors identify long-term stable refugia possessing past, current and future climatic suitability favoring ancient plant lineages.

GM-CSF is involved in control over M. tuberculosis infection. Here the authors show that GM-CSF reduces type 1 interferon driven neutrophil recruitment, NETosis and bacterial growth in the lungs of infected mice, and provide evidence that this NETosis occurs in infected humans who are not responsive to antibiotic therapy.

External ecological interactions and intrinsic biological parameters affect evolutionary pathways and animal diversity. Here, the authors use ruminant inner ear morphology to investigate patterns of diversity through 33 million years, finding clade-dependent climate and paleogeographic trends.

The Cancer Genome Atlas consortium reports on their genome-wide characterization of somatic alterations in colorectal cancer; in addition to revealing a remarkably consistent pattern of genomic alteration, with 24 genes being significantly mutated, the study identifies new targets for therapeutic intervention and suggests an important role for MYC-directed transcriptional activation and repression.

Comprehensive analyses of 178 lung squamous cell carcinomas by The Cancer Genome Atlas project show that the tumour type is characterized by complex genomic alterations, with statistically recurrent mutations in 11 genes, including TP53 in nearly all samples; a potential therapeutic target is identified in most of the samples studied.

This paper reports integrative molecular analyses of urothelial bladder carcinoma at the DNA, RNA, and protein levels performed as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas project; recurrent mutations were found in 32 genes, including those involved in cell-cycle regulation, chromatin regulation and kinase signalling pathways; chromatin regulatory genes were more frequently mutated in urothelial carcinoma than in any other common cancer studied so far.

The evolutionary history of pigs in Africa is unclear. Here, the authors examine 67 whole genomes, finding incomplete speciation between bushpigs and red river hogs as well as evidence suggesting that humans brought bushpigs to Madagascar 1000-5000 years ago.

Crop rotation helps preventing pathogen infestations compared to monocultures, which may be partly due to root-associated microbes. Here, the authors show that rhizosphere microbiomes in monocultures are less able to suppress fungal pathogens compared to crop rotations, and that inoculating certain microbes can mitigate it.

Soil fungi play essential roles in ecosystems worldwide. Here, the authors sequence and analyze 235 soil samples collected from across the globe, and identify dominant fungal taxa and their associated environmental attributes.

Understanding the behavior and structural transformation of metal species under reaction conditions is instrumental for developing more efficient and stable catalysts. Here, the authors reveal the evolution and stabilization of subnanometric Pt species confined in MCM-22 zeolite using in situ transmission electron microscopy.