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In the pseudogap state of cuprates, although diamagnetic signals have been detected, a Meissner effect has never been observed. Morenzoni and colleagues probe the local diamagnetic response in the normal state of an underdoped layer showing that a 'barrier' layer exhibits a Meissner effect.

The authors study a Pt/Nb hybrid structure by scanning microscopy and muon spin rotation. They find an anomalous absence of Meissner screening near the Pt/Nb interface due to spin-triplet pair correlations driven by spin-orbit coupling alone with no ferromagnetic layer necessary.

Longitudinal imaging of nerve fibres in mice reveals that reinnervation after nerve injury can lead to neuropathic pain, which is mediated through aberrant patterns of reinnervation in denervated areas by nociceptors.

Lee et al. show that the development of the somatotopic map and the tonotopic map for substrate vibration is shaped by the intrinsic distribution of cutaneous end organs and selective dendritic integration within the brainstem dorsal column nuclei.

Heidenreich et al. show that KCNQ4—a gene encoding a K⁺ channel whose mutation is linked to progressive human deafness—is expressed in a subset of dorsal root ganglion neurons and mechanosensory touch neurons that serve tactile sensation. The authors show that KCNQ4 loss of function in mice causes a specific tactile dysfunction owing to altered touch sensitivity. The study also finds that human subjects with KCNQ4 mutations and progressive deafness are hypersensitive to tactile information and are able to discern minute high-frequency tactile vibrations.

Spin defects in 2D materials offer practical advantages for quantum sensing over their 3D counterparts. Here, the authors demonstrate quantum sensing under high pressure using boron vacancy centers in hBN placed inside a diamond anvil cell and use it to detect both stress gradient inside the pressure chamber and pressure-induced magnetic phase transitions.

The interplay between electronic topology and superconductivity is of great current interest in condensed matter physics. Here, the authors unveil an unconventional two-dimensional superconducting state accompanied by a van Hove singularity in the recently discovered Dirac nodal line semimetal ZrAs₂, which is exclusively confined to the top and bottom surfaces.

Magnetic molecules deposited on a metallic substrate constitute a method to engineer the spin properties of the molecule and has potential application in low-power information storage devices. Here, the authors investigate a superconductor/molecule/normal metal heterostructure and demonstrate spin-ordering and proximity induced superconducting properties at the metallo-molecular interface.

Many autoimmune and genetic causes of sporadic late-onset cerebellar ataxia (SLOCA) can now be identified, but some individuals remain categorized as having idiopathic SLOCA. Wirth and colleagues discuss advanced genomic techniques that might identify additional ‘missing’ SLOCA causes, potential prognostic biomarkers and progress towards effective treatments.

Precise measurements of the superconducting stiffness tensor can give detailed insights into the superconductor-normal phase transition. Kapon et al. introduce the Stiffnessometer approach for sensitive magnetic-field-free measurements and find two transition temperatures in LSCO rings.

Recently superconductivity with T_c of about 80 K was discovered in a bilayer nickelate La₃Ni₂O₇ under high pressure. Here the authors report a density functional theory and random phase approximation study of structural and electronic properties as a function of pressure and discuss the pairing mechanism.

In hepatocellular carcinoma driven by non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, aberrant T cell activation and impaired immune surveillance seem to make hepatocellular carcinoma less responsive to anti-PD1 or anti-PDL1 immunotherapy.

In a mouse model, maternal obesity during pregnancy can lead to fatty liver disease in the offspring, driven by aberrant developmental programming of Kuppfer cells.

Measurements of integer and half-integer transitions of the quantized magnetic flux through a superconducting niobium–iron pnictide ring provide strong evidence to support predictions that the Cooper pairs within iron-based superconductors show an unconventional ‘reversed s-wave symmetry’.

Spin-polarized neutrons are sensitive to magnetic fields, and they can relatively easily penetrate through matter. A new imaging technique uses these two properties for mapping the three-dimensional distribution of magnetic fields inside massive objects.

Actin is critical to the survival of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In this study, Hvorecny and Sladewski et al. show that T. gondii actin forms intrinsically dynamic filaments in vitro due to differences in assembly contacts in the D-loop.

A multi-channel molecular recording technique is applied as a lineage tracer to assemble cell-fate maps from fertilization through gastrulation in the mouse, providing insights into ontogeny in a complex multicellular organism.

Sir Charles Sherrington's work forms the basis of our current understanding of numerous aspects of nervous system physiology. Inspired by the recent rediscovery of a collection of Sherrington's histology slides, Molnár and Brown revisit his lifetime's achievements in neuroscience.

The successful synthesis of highly crystalline Cs₃C₆₀, exhibiting superconductivity up to a record temperature for fullerides of 38 K, demonstrates a powerful synthetic route for investigating the origin of superconductivity in this class of materials.

A high-precision angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study on the superconductor Bi2212 resolves the spectroscopic singularity associated with the superconducting transition temperature, and indicates that the transition is driven by phase fluctuations.

In the superconductor Sr2RuO4, in-plane strain is known to enhance both the superconducting transition temperature Tc and upper critical field Hc2, but the effect of out-of-plane strain has not been studied. Here, the authors find that Hc2 is enhanced under out-of-plane strain, but Tc unexpectedly decreases.

Understanding how biosilica forms is crucial to our knowledge of this important biomaterial. Now, the role of collagen as structuring agent for the metre-long spicules of a primitive glass sponge has been revealed and found to have an unusual peptide motif.

Loss of function mutations of NSD1 occur in blood cancers. Here, the authors report that NSD1 loss blocks erythroid differentiation which leads to an erythroleukemia-like disease in mice by impairing GATA1-induced target gene activation.

Neutrophils can release S100A8/S100A9 as an alarmin via gasdermin D pores. Here, the authors untangle the regulatory mechanisms driving this pathway and show that active repair processes make these pores transient, which can prevent the usual lytic cell death.

Soil microbial diversity and composition is thought to play a major role in elemental cycling. Here, the authors analyse a large dataset of soil microbiome and carbon data from European forests and find that soil fungal community composition is a strong predictor of carbon storage.

The authors summarize the data produced by phase III of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, a resource for better understanding of the human and mouse genomes.

The receptor sortilin has been implicated in pro-apoptotic signaling of proneurotrophins. In this study, the authors uncover another role for sortilin in neurotrophin signaling: it interacts with Trk family receptors to promote their anterograde transport to nerve endings, thereby enhancing neurotrophin-dependent cell survival.

Bacterial DNA from Listeria monocytogenes infection is packaged within extracellular vesicles and induces paracrine cGAS–STING signalling in bystander cells to subvert host responses.

The origin of the charge density wave in vanadium antimonides has been widely debated. Here, the authors report the cooperation of electron-phonon and phonon-phonon coupling for the formation of the charge density wave in CsV₃Sb₅.

The incidence of type 1 diabetes is increasing, potentially implicating non-genetic factors. Here the authors conduct an epigenome-wide association study in disease-discordant twins and find increased DNA methylation variability at genes associated with immune cell metabolism and the cell cycle.