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Excitons in atomically thin crystals couple strongly with light. Here, the authors observe lattice polaritons in a tunable open optical cavity at room temperature, with an imprinted photonic lattice strongly coupled to excitons in a WS₂ monolayer.

The feasibility of using second-harmonic generation to measure the broken time-reversal symmetry and valley polarization in monolayer WSe₂ is presented, simplifying the process of probing valleys on ultrafast timescales without perturbing the system.

A quantum two-level system can be coherently excited by a phase-locked dichromatic electromagnetic field. This technique can make single-photon generation more efficient as the pump light does not overlap in frequency with the emitted single photons.

Long-distance quantum communication relies on interfacing qubits with telecom-band photons. Here the authors implement a solid-state spin-qubit based on a hole confined in a semiconductor quantum dot emitting photons in the telecom C-band.

Hybrid quantum technologies synergistically combine different types of systems with complementary strengths. Here, the authors show monolithic integration and control of quantum dots and the emitted single photons in a surface acoustic wave-driven GaAs integrated quantum photonic circuit.

A large nuclear spin has been successfully placed in a Schrödinger cat state, a superposition of its two most widely separated spin coherent states. This can be used as an error-correctable qubit.

Molecular-level insight into hydrogen isotope separation processes with triazole-based metal–organic frameworks [Mn(ta)₂] have recently been studied through in situ neutron diffraction and cryogenic thermal desorption spectroscopy. By fine-tuning the ligands of the framework, remarkable separation efficiencies are observed.

High-harmonic generation from the Dirac-like surface state of a topological insulator is separated from bulk contributions and continuously tuned by the carrier-envelope phase of the driving lightwave.

The technological application of ultrafast terahertz magnons in itinerant ferromagnetic nanostructures is currently limited by magnon relaxation due to Landau damping. Here, Qin et al. demonstrate suppressed Landau damping and enhanced magnon lifetimes in ultrathin films of Fe–Pd alloy.

A part-light, part-matter exciton-polariton topological insulator is created in an array of semiconductor microcavities.

The spin texture of a topological insulator is defined by spin-momentum locked Dirac fermions in its non-trivial surface states. Here, Sessi et al. show how the spin texture of Bi₂Te₃may be modified by extremely dilute magnetic adatoms, with magnetic order mediated via the RKKY interaction.

Electron spin in quantum dots are extensively studied as a qubit for quantum information processing. However, the coherence of electron spin is deleteriously influenced by nuclear spin. Quantum-dot holes are a potential alternative. Full control over hole-spin qubits is now achieved using picosecond lasers.

Manganese oxide self-organizes on Ir(100) surfaces to form arrays of one-dimensional chains, providing a model system to study emergent magnetic behaviour. Schmitt et al. demonstrate they host chiral magnetism mediated by Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya-enhanced RKKY interactions.

Metastable states found in superconductors and charge density wave materials are of fundamental interest. Vodeb et al. study the domain wall dynamics in 1T-TaS₂ using scanning tunneling microscopy and a quantum annealer, finding that in both cases the dynamics is driven by spectrally similar noise.

Time-resolved lightwave-driven scanning tunnelling spectroscopy is developed to investigate how the spin–orbit-split energy levels of a selenium vacancy within a WSe₂ monolayer shift under phonon displacement. Ultrafast snapshots of the electronic tunnelling spectra reveal transient energy shifts up to 40 meV.

Mitochondria in skeletal muscle have distinct localization and properties through unclear mechanisms. Here, the authors use complexome profiling and immunoprecipitations to identify PERM1 as a MICOS-MIB complex interactor that also binds ankyrin B, suggesting PERM1 directs the mitochondria to the membrane.

In this large interventional, randomized controlled trial, structured and individualized exercise in patients with metastatic breast cancer led to lower levels of fatigue and improved health-related quality of life.

Similar to atoms in cold gases, exciton–polaritons in semiconductor microcavities can undergo Bose–Einstein condensation. Now, formation of a condensate in an excited orbital state has been observed in such a system, underlining the potential of exciton–polariton condensates to emulate condensed-matter physics.

An amino acid exchange (P209L) in the human co-chaperone BAG3 gives rise to severe childhood restrictive cardiomyopathy. Here the authors describe humanized transgenic mouse models which phenocopy the disease and provide insight into the pathogenic mechanisms.

Quantum communication requires quantum correlations between the information processing units and the information carrying units. Here, the authors use time-bin encoding and frequency downconversion to telecom wavelengths to achieve kilometre-scale spin-photon correlations.

Coexistence of a topological insulator phase and a topological crystalline insulator phase helps to maintain topological properties under a controlled symmetry breaking perturbation. Here, Eschbacket al. report a superlattice of Bi and Bi₂Te₃to be such a dual topological insulator.

The integration of a TMDC monolayer into a high-Q microcavity enables the observation of optical valley Hall effect.

Desmosomes are adhesive junctions that are essential for epithelial barrier function. Here, Kurinna et al. identify a role for the transcription factor Nrf2 in regulating the expression of micro-RNA genes that control the integrity of desmosomes, through modulating the expression of desmocollin-2.

The skin cancer treatment Aldara generates psoriasis-like symptoms in mice, which are thought to be due to stimulation of TLR7 by the active ingredient imiquimod. The authors show that some of these inflammatory effects are independent of both imiquimod and TLR7, implicating an unexpected role for the vehicle.

The enzyme soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) regulates differentiation of brown fat. Here, Hoffman et al.show that a small molecule sGC stimulator increases brown fat activity and browning of white fat, thereby inducing energy expenditure, weight loss and partial protection from diet-induced obesity in mice.

Polaritonics is the physics of strongly coupled light–matter states that studies condensates and superfluids of bosonic quasiparticles in solid-state systems. Coherent flows of exciton–polaritons can be used for classical and quantum information processing, offering advantages of full optical control and read-out.

Koester et al. show that, as hair follicle stem cells age, their ability to activate bivalent genes for self-renewal and differentiation is reduced due to increased niche stiffening and subsequent epigenetic effects.

The basement membrane stiffness is shown to be a more dominant determinant than pore size in regulating cancer cell invasion, metastasis formation and patient survival. This stiffness is now known to be affected by the ratio of netrin-4 to laminin, with more netrin-4 leading to softer basement membranes.

An ultrafast, all-optical spin echo technique is used to increase the decoherence time of a single quantum dot electron spin from nanoseconds to several microseconds. The ratio of decoherence time to gate time exceeds 10⁵, suggesting strong promise for future photonic quantum information processors and repeater networks.

The coherent control of bright excitons in InAs quantum dots is demonstrated by combining heterodyne spectral interferometry with nonlinear multi-wave mixing. The spectro-temporal shape of the coherent emission from InAs quantum dots is manipulated at will.

mTOR regulates cell growth via a protein complex including mTORC1 and mTORC2, but their role in skin morphogenesis is unclear. Here, the authors delete mTORC1 and mTORC2 from the epidermis and see epidermal deficiencies but both mTORCs play distinct roles in skin morphogenesis.

Netrins are secreted guidance factors that promote axon outgrowth and orientation during nervous system development. Here the authors present structural and biological evidence that netrin-4 is not a guidance cue per se, but rather functions to modulate laminin-laminin interactions.

Tachycardia can be prevented by engrafting embryonic cardiomyocytes into mice. A protein resident at 'gap junctions', connexin 43, is also identified as being important for this protection. Expression of this protein in skeletal myoblasts achieves similar levels of protection. These results suggest a new approach to cell-based therapy for cardiac dysfunction.

In non-Hermitian systems, spectral degeneracies can arise that can cause unusual, counter-intuitive effects; here exciton-polaritons—hybrid light–matter particles—within a semiconductor microcavity are found to display non-trivial topological modal structure exclusive to such systems.

Mouse experiments show that ultraviolet radiation can promote tumour metastasis in melanoma by enhancing the expansion of tumour cells on blood vessel surfaces in a process linked to inflammation and requiring neutrophils and the proteins HMGB1 and TLR4.