Search

Mixing two different types of grains in a revolving tumbler produces several radial streaks as the grains segregate. Unexpectedly though, after hundreds of revolutions, only one streak remains.

The rapid expansion of agricultural irrigation raises concerns about exacerbating water scarcity, but land–atmosphere interactions are often overlooked. This study isolates irrigation impacts from other drivers using a multi-model framework to reveal that historical irrigation expansion substantially reduces net atmospheric water influx, intensifying drying trends and accelerating terrestrial water storage depletion, urging immediate mitigation strategies.

This study shows that future exposures to moist-heat increase more rapidly than those to dry-heat, and irrigation can further amplify moist-heat-related health risks. Improving irrigation efficiency and cutting emissions are key to reducing water stress and climate impacts.

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.

Climate-intensified supply–demand imbalances may raise hourly costs of wind and solar power systems, but well-designed climate-resilient strategies can provide help.

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.

Acute ischemic stroke impacts men and women differently. Here, the authors show how different lesion patterns in men and women are linked to the extent of stroke severity.

This Review examines how advances in tumour biology, immunogenomics and graft preservation are redefining surgical management of hepatocellular carcinoma. Malik et al. describe the shift from anatomical to biology-informed paradigms to individualize surgical decision-making.

Formalin fixation is commonly used in tissue storage; however, this process has traditionally limited downstream whole genome sequencing usage. Here, the authors identify artefactual signatures in FFPE-derived sequencing data and demonstrate the preservation of clinical utility, thus enabling FFPE whole genome sequencing when required.

A major earthquake 2500 years ago caused one of the largest rivers on Earth to abruptly change its course. A recurrent event would pose the risk of such cascading hazards to the densely populated floodplains of present-day Bangladesh.

BMI1 and CHD7 are chromatin remodelling genes with a role in medulloblastoma pathogenesis. Here, the authors demonstrate that the BMI1^High/CHD7^Low signature mediates metabolic adaptation in G4 MB and predicts response to inositol treatment either alone or in combination with chemotherapy.

Xu and colleagues find that the average trophic level of aquatic food items in the human diet is declining (from 3.42 to 3.18) because of the considerable increase in low-trophic level aquaculture species output relative to that of capture fisheries since 1976. Additionally they find that trade has contributed to increasing the availability and trophic level of aquatic foods in >60% of the world’s countries.

A phase I trial of cerebellar deep brain stimulation to enhance chronic post-stroke motor rehabilitation supports the safety and feasibility of the approach while providing encouraging evidence of motor improvements.

This study examines the tempo and drivers of penguin diversification by combining genomes from all extant and recently extinct penguin lineages, stratigraphic data from fossil penguins and morphological and biogeographic data from all extant and extinct species. Together, these datasets provide new insights into the genetic basis and evolution of adaptations in penguins.

Combinatorial shuffling of peptide sequence modules, post-translational modification and screening with a high-throughput growth inhibition assay results in the identification of lanthipeptide variants with altered antibacterial activities.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

How the leptomeninges establish CNS compartments with different accessibility to immune cells and immune mediators remains unknown. Here, the authors show junctional localization of VE-cadherin in arachnoid and pia mater cells, which allows to visualize potential barrier properties of the leptomeninges in vivo.

SLAC1 is a plant ion channel that controls turgor pressure in the guard cells of plant stomata, thereby regulating the exchange of water vapour and photosynthetic gases in response to environmental signals. Here, the X-ray crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of SLAC1 has been solved, and structure-inspired mutagenesis has been used to analyse the conductance properties of the channel. The findings indicate that selectivity among different anions is largely a function of the energetic cost of ion dehydration.

A 51-minute-orbital-period, fully eclipsing binary system consisting of a star with a comparable temperature to that of the Sun but a 100 times greater density, accreting onto a white dwarf is reported.

A stripped-envelope supernova, SN 2022jli, shows 12.4-day periodic undulations during the declining light curve, and narrow Hα emission is detected in late-time spectra with concordant periodic velocity shifts.

Gigantic jets, lightning discharges originating from tropical thunderstorms that can reach the base of the ionosphere at 90 km altitude, have not been captured using high-speed video cameras before. Here, the first such images are reported, showing a step-wise evolution of gigantic jets during their rising phase.

An integrated high-dimensional measurement of immune age describes a person’s immune status better than chronological age and predicts all-cause mortality.

Knowledge of the near-term rate of change is needed for adaptation. The rate at which climate change is occurring, over 40-year periods, is found to be unprecedented in the past 1,000 years. Regionally, Europe, North America and the Arctic are above the global average.

First-principles calculations predict that half-metallic behaviour can be found in nanometre-scale ribbons of graphene, in practically realistic conditions. The property emerges when homogeneous electric fields are applied across the zigzag-shaped edges of the graphene nanoribbons, and it can be controlled by the external electric fields.

An abrupt mantle compositional boundary exists on the the Gakkel ridge, with basalts from west of the boundary displaying affinities to the 'Dupal' isotopic province, previously observed only in the Southern Hemisphere. It is concluded that the source of the Dupal signature is subcontinental lithospheric mantle that delaminated and became integrated into the convecting Arctic asthenosphere.

Solar power is an important part of the strategy towards using more renewable energy. The development of low-cost photovoltaic nanopillar structures fabricated on thin aluminium substrates will contribute to this effort, as it promises new applications for flexible, mass-produced solar cells.

Dramatic advances in neuroscience are changing and enriching our understanding of brain and behaviour. But reductionist interpretations of these advances can cause great harm.

Integration of GWAS and single-cell transcriptomic data from the entire nervous system systematically identifies cell types underlying brain complex traits and provides insights into the etiology of Parkinson’s disease.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report results of a large genome-wide association study for body mass index. They identify 18 new loci associated with this trait, some of which map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance.

Experiments in a hamster model of COVID-19 and human airway epithelial cells show that the spike N501Y mutation is the major determinant of increased fitness of the B.1.1.7 Alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2.

The burden of mosaic chromosomal alterations in blood-derived DNA, a type of clonal hematopoiesis, is associated with an increased risk for diverse types of infections, including sepsis and pneumonia.

Cognitive function is associated with health and important life outcomes. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide association study for general cognitive function in 300,486 individuals and identify genetic loci that implicate neural and cell developmental pathways in this trait.

Genome-wide analyses identify eight independent loci associated with anorexia nervosa. Genetic correlations implicate both psychiatric and metabolic components in the etiology of this disorder, even after adjusting for the effects of common variants associated with body mass index.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study here shows novel genetic loci to be associated to body fat percentage, and describes cross-phenotype association that further demonstrate a close relationship between adiposity and cardiovascular disease risk.

Lean body mass is a highly heritable trait and is associated with various health conditions. Here, Kiel and colleagues perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for whole body lean body mass and find five novel genetic loci to be significantly associated.

Cecilia Lindgren and colleagues report results of a large-scale genome-wide association study for waist-to-hip ratio, a measure of body fat distribution. They identify 13 new loci associated with this trait, several of which show stronger effects in women than in men.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 181,171 individuals identifying 14 new loci associated with heart rate and test these for association with cardiac conduction, rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. Their experimental studies in Drosophila melanogaster and zebrafish models provide support for a role for 20 candidate genes at 11 of these loci in regulation of heart rate.

Solid-state lithium metal batteries have the potential to meet energy density and safety requirements that current commercial Li-ion batteries cannot. Given their solid-state components, these batteries are subject to — and strongly affected by — external pressure during their manufacturing and operation. This Review examines the relationship between external pressure and electrochemical behaviour in these batteries.

Identifying women at high risk of breast cancer has important implications for screening. Here, the authors demonstrate that polygenic risk scores improve breast cancer risk prediction in the population, in women with mutations in high-risk genes and in women with close relatives with the disease.

As guidelines, therapies and literature on cancer variants expand, the lack of consensus variant interpretations impedes clinical applications. CIViC is a public-domain, crowd-sourced and adaptable knowledgebase of evidence for the clinical interpretation of variants in cancer, designed to reduce barriers to knowledge sharing and alleviate the variant-interpretation bottleneck.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia, which causes lower urinary tract symptoms, is a common diagnosis among ageing men that is associated with many risks factors, including metabolic syndrome. In this Primer, these risk factors are described, as well diagnostic work-up and treatment options.