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Artificial intelligence systems are becoming gigawatt-scale, always-on workloads that today’s power systems were not built to carry. Capacity expansion and short-term coordination alone cannot close this gap. Here, we argue that alignment requires a structural perspective: enabling energy and computation systems to interpret each other’s structural organization and evolving constraints.

A natural pathway in rice and in seven other major crop species degrades 57–89% of accumulated methylmercury and releases Hg into the air. The MeHg demethylation within rice mitigates Hg flux into human food webs, diminishing human cognitive damage and generating global economic benefits of US$30.7–84.2 billion.

This study introduces a kinetic decoupling–recoupling strategy to overcome kinetic limitations in plastic recycling. A tandem catalytic reactor, utilizing zeolite catalysts, converts polyethylene into ethylene and propylene with yields of up to 79%, offering a promising pathway toward efficient closed-loop recycling of polyolefins.

The vibrational thermal conductivity of polymer semiconductors is critical to the performance of organic electronic devices, but its mechanisms are not well understood. Here, the authors present a two-channel model to elucidate the vibrational heat transport in semiconducting polymers with extended side chains.

Nitrogen oxides are major air pollutants; capture and abatement technologies exist but they typically involve toxic species or precious-metal catalysts. Now, a metal–organic framework has been shown to store NO₂ dimers selectively, and to separate NO₂ from other gases under wet conditions. Treatment with water in air leads to conversion of NO₂ into HNO₃—an important feedstock for fertilizer production—with full recovery of the host.

Lignin is cheap and abundant, and potentially a major source of aromatic compounds. Here the authors show selective production of arenes via hydrodeoxygenation of lignin over Ru/Nb₂O₅, and mechanistically show the strong influence of the Nb₂O₅support on phenolic bond dissociation energies.

The structure of red phosphorous remains poorly elucidated. Here, the authors report the adsorption and photopolymerization of P₄ encapsulated in a metal-organic framework to obtain a double-helical chain composite comprising of [P₈] units in the porous material.

Benzene is a genotoxic carcinogen with no safe level of exposure. Here, by creating and decorating a structural defect in a metal–organic framework to form MIL-125-Zn, a benzene uptake of 7.63 mmol g^–1 at 1.2 mbar is observed due to binding to Zn(II) sites.

The partial oxidation of CH₄ to CH₃OH is challenging to perform in artificial systems due to ready over-oxidation to CO and CO₂. Here by confining mono-iron hydroxyl sites in a metal–organic framework, photo-oxidation of CH₄ to CH₃OH is achieved with high selectivity and time yield.

The construction of C-C bonds via reductive coupling carbonyl compounds is a huge challenge in organic transformations. Here, the authors develop a highly efficient system for the photoreductive coupling of aldehydes and ketones to the corresponding 1,2-diols under mild conditions.

The development of new methodologies to convert plastics into fuels without relying on noble metal-based catalysts is desirable. Now it is shown that a layered self-pillared zeolite enables the conversion of polyethylene to gasoline with a selectivity of 99% and yields of >80% without the need to use external hydrogen.

Understanding the mechanism of gas-sorbent interactions at a molecular level is important for the design of improved gas storage materials. Here, the authors study the binding domains of carbon dioxide and acetylene in a tetra-amide functionalized metal-organic framework at crystallographic resolution.

Gaining molecular-level insight into host–guest binding interactions is fundamentally important, but experimentally challenging. Here, Schröder and co-workers study CO₂–host hydrogen bonding interactions in a pair of isostructural redox-active V^III/V^IVMOFs using neutron scattering and diffraction techniques.

Guest clusters within confined nanospaces have a significant impact on molecular recognition. Here authors highlight the potential to systematically control gas-cluster rearrangement, leading to tunable sorption and separation behaviour in a MOF.

The development of precious-metal-free catalysts to promote the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals from biomass challenging. Here the authors report a unique core-shell structured Co@CoO catalyst which exhibits excellent performance in the hydrogenolysis of biomass-derived compounds.

Lower olefins are mainly produced from fossil resources and the methanol-to-olefins process offers a new sustainable pathway. Here, the authors show a new zeolite containing tantalum and aluminium centres which shows simultaneously high propene selectivity, catalytic activity, and stability for the synthesis of propene.

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide is a highly attractive strategy for the production of organic products of economic value. Here, the authors report the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to formic acid over a copper-based metal–organic framework decorated electrode at low over-potential.

Incorporating mesopores and active sites into metal-organic framework materials has proven advantageous for their catalytic application, but remains challenging to achieve. Here the authors obtain mesoporous, defect-rich metal-organic frameworks through templated electrosynthesis using ionic liquids as both electrolyte and template.

Production of olefins from biomass-derived γ-valerolactone could lead to sustainable chemical processes, but catalysts suffer from deactivation due to water. Here, a MFI-type zeolite doped with Nb(v) and Al(iii) shows >99% yield at 320 °C and catalyst stability over 180 hours.

Metal–organic framework capture materials could reduce the environmental impact of SO₂ emissions but can have limited stability and poor reversibility. Here, a metal–organic framework with open Cu(ii) sites with fully reversible SO₂ uptake of 17.5 mmol g⁻¹ under ambient conditions is reported.

Separation of xylene isomers is essential for the production of a wide range of materials, but current separation methods are energy intensive. Here the authors report separation of the three xylene isomers at room temperature, via refinement of the pore size in a series of porous MOFs at sub-angstrom precision.

The conversion of renewable lignocellulosic biomass into liquid fuels is attractive but extremely challenging due to the inertness and complexity of lignocellulose. Here, the authors describe the direct hydrodeoxygenation of raw woods into liquid alkanes over a multifunctional Pt/NbOPO₄catalyst.

Gas sorption and separation in porous materials is dependent on the host–guest binding within any given system. Now, the molecular details of cooperative binding between small hydrocarbons and a metal–organic framework, NOTT-300, at multiple sites have been elucidated by complementary scattering and diffraction techniques. This material is also capable of separating C₁ and C₂ hydrocarbons under ambient conditions.

The selective capture of carbon dioxide in porous materials has potential for the storage and purification of fuel gases, but strategies to enhance carbon dioxide–host selectivity are required. A partially interpenetrated metal–organic framework that undergoes dramatic phase transition on desolvation and exhibits temperature-dependent selective hysteretic sorption of carbon dioxide is now reported.

Porous solids are well suited to the capture of environmentally harmful gases, but further understanding of the solid–gas interactions involved is required. Combining dynamic and static characterization with modelling, researchers have now described how a metal–organic framework binds CO₂ and SO₂ selectively through hydroxyl groups — rather than amine ones as typically featured.

Producing ammonia is challenging and requires efficient and selective catalysts to drive the reaction. Here, a series of single-atom catalysts derived from UiO-66 containing structural defects show efficient electrochemical reduction of nitrate to ammonia.

Here, the authors introduce the Intracellular Spatial Transcriptomic Analysis Toolkit (InSTAnT), which allows researchers to study the information encoded in the physical proximity of individual transcripts by detecting persistent subcellular patterns.

Neuronal recordings show that primate superior colliculus encodes learned abstract visual categories. The authors demonstrate that it plays a causal role in categorization behavior, independent of its role in spatial orienting.

Recent genomic efforts have demonstrated that large chunks of DNA differ between individuals in many species. Insertions or deletions of larger blocks cause single-nucleotide changes to their immediate vicinity, and population genetic models should take into account the 'mutator' effect of these insertions or deletions.

Barbosa, Stein et al. show that rather than operating independently, PFC persistent activity and ‘activity-silent’ mechanisms interact dynamically to produce serial effects in working memory, consistent with attractor models with synaptic plasticity.

The genetic basis of collective behaviour is complex. Single-cell transcriptomics of honeybee brains and gene regulatory network analysis showed differences in brain gene regulation and gene regulatory network plasticity between aggressive soldiers and non-aggressive foragers.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have remained difficult to grow as single crystals. Now, amphiphilic amino-acid derivatives that assemble in micelles in aqueous solutions have been shown to promote the growth of a variety of imine-bridged COFs into single crystals, in a step-by-step fashion, within their hydrophobic compartment.

During development, neural progenitors generate a variety of neural types sequentially. Here the authors examine gene expression patterns in Drosophila neural progenitors at single-cell level, and identify a gene regulatory network controlling the sequential generation of different neural types.

Few-layered black phosphorus has been exploited in transistors and other devices, but its poor stability under ambient conditions remains problematic. Here, a UK-Swiss collaboration show that a monolayer-thick supramolecular hydrogen-bonded network can protect a black phosphorus surface for over a month.

Working memory is known to improve through adolescence into adulthood, yet the associated changes in neuronal activity are not well understood. Zhou and colleagues report increased delay period activity correlated with changes in performance on working memory tasks in monkeys as they transition into adulthood.

Metal-organic frameworks with luminescence and chirality are promising for luminescent sensors for chiral molecules. Here, the authors use cation exchange to introduce chirality in multifunctional metal-organic framework systems for rapid enantioselective luminescent sensing.

Porous metal–organic frameworks are promising for hydrogen storage applications, but adsorption capacities have remained too low for practical use. Now, the adsorption behaviour of such a framework has been modulated by exchanging cations within its pores resulting in either kinetic trapping or enhanced hydrogen affinity.

Autoimmune diseases are genetically complex disorders that affect up to 10% of the Western population. Here Li et al. quantify the heritability of a range of autoimmune diseases in the largest paediatric cohort examined to date, illustrating that genetic and non-genetic components variably contribute to the susceptibility of each disease.

A meta-analysis across ten pediatric autoimmune diseases reveals shared genetic architecture and novel susceptibility loci.

GC-biased gene conversion has many implications for evolutionary genetics, but its prevalence is unknown. Here, direct sequencing of tetrads in four species shows large differences in gene-conversion rate but no evidence of overall GC bias.

High and reversible nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) uptake, and low-concentration NO₂ removal from gas mixtures, is observed in a metal–organic framework. The NO₂ is bound within the pores by cooperative supramolecular interactions.