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Probabilistic computing has emerged as a powerful route for tackling hard optimization. Here, authors show p-computers co-designed with modern hardware to run Monte Carlo algorithms solve hard optimization efficiently and establish a rigorous classical baseline to assess practical quantum advantage.

In a quantum simulation of a (2+1)D lattice gauge theory using a superconducting quantum processor, the dynamics of strings reveal the transition from deconfined to confined excitations as the effective electric field is increased.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.

In the heavy-fermion metal URu₂Si₂, direct evidence of symmetry change in the crystal structure at the hidden-order transition has been missing. Using synchrotron X-ray diffraction measurements, Tonegawa et al. observe lattice symmetry breaking from the fourfold tetragonal to twofold orthorhombic structure.

Effective band-gap engineering of armchair graphene nanoribbons calls for control over both width and edge structure. Here, the authors report a modular synthesis of narrow N = 6 armchair graphene nanoribbons whose edges can be unsymmetrically modified with heteroarenes, introducing a simple way to tune band gap.

Magnetically intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides provide a platform to study the interplay of magnetism, electronic band structures, and correlations. Here the authors demonstrate a nearly magnetization-free anomalous Hall effect, collinear antiferromagnetism and non-Fermi liquid behavior in V_1/3NbS₂.

Plasmids exhibit a broad range of sizes and copies per cell, and these two parameters appear to be negatively correlated. Here, Ramiro-Martínez et al. analyse the copy number of thousands of diverse bacterial plasmids in relation to their genomic context, hosts, and other features, and develop a universal scaling law that links copy number and plasmid size across bacterial species.

Several experiments have shown evidence for unusual nematic electronic behaviour in unconventional superconductors. Here the authors use pump-probe spectroscopy to observe out-of-equilibrium behaviour of coupled nematic-orbital excitations in iron selenide.

An application-specific integrated circuit that is fabricated in 130-nm foundry complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor technology, and uses stochastic bit sequences read from an adjacent voltage-controlled magnetic tunnel junction chip, can be used to solve integer factorization problems.

Self-assembly of synthetic molecules in living cells can influence cell function, but is extremely challenging due to the complex environment of cells. Here the authors report the self-assembly of small organic molecules that locate, target and self-report their supramolecular behavior in living cells.

In this Consensus Statement, a consortium of microbiome scientists discuss current sequencing data sharing policies and propose the use of a Data Reuse Information (DRI) tag to promote equitable and collaborative data sharing.

Mammalian genomes are scattered with repetitive sequences, but their biology remains largely elusive. Here, the authors show that transcription can initiate from short tandem repetitive sequences, and that genetic variants linked to human diseases are preferentially found at repeats with high transcription initiation level.

Comparing hydrogen and antihydrogen—its antimatter counterpart—provides important tests of fundamental symmetries in the Standard Model. Kuroda et al. present a source of antihydrogen atoms that may provide high-precision in-flight measurements of their ground-state hyperfine splitting.

Valley-dependent spin polarization is directly observed in a polytype of bulk MoS₂ that has broken inversion symmetry.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

Understanding the transport of ions, electrons and heat in magnetized plasmas is important to the development of fusion power as well as our understanding of the behaviour of astrophysical objects. Ida et al.find that stochastization of magnetic field lines in a plasma damps plasma flow more strongly than expected.

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.

Mass spectrometry generates vast amounts of data in chemistry labs. Here, authors developed a machine learning-driven search engine that analyzes archived data to discover chemical reactions without performing additional experiments.

A genome-wide association study meta-analysis combined with multiomics data of osteoarthritis identifies 700 effector genes as well as biological processes with a convergent involvement of multiple effector genes; 10% of these genes express the target of approved drugs.

An analysis of data from 522 population-based studies encompassing 82 global regions and spanning more than a century (1920–2024) shows spatiotemporal transitions across epidemiologic stages 1 to 3 of inflammatory bowel disease, and models stage 4 progression.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Most global climate models overestimate the aerosol effect on cloud properties, but the reason for this is unclear. Here the authors show that using explicit representation of cloud microphysics, in global scale modelling, rather than parameterisations, reduces the overestimation.

To fully elucidate the relationship between density wave orders and superconductivity in high-T_c cuprates remains difficult. Here, the authors reveal two types of charge-density-wave orders and their intertwined relationship with spin-density-wave order and superconductivity in La_2-xSr_xCuO_4.

A triangular-lattice organic conductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)₄Hg_2.89 Br₈ is a promising doped spin liquid candidate which also exhibits superconductivity. Here the authors report thermoelectric measurements under pressure and find a quantum critical phase that could be correlated to BEC-like superconductivity.

The organic material κ-H₃(Cat-EDT-TTF)₂ has been suggested to exhibit a quantum spin liquid phase in which quantum fluctuations prevent the formation of magnetic order. Here, the authors show that this may be a result of fluctuations of hydrogen atoms, rather than more conventional geometric frustration.

Here the authors show that the m¹G9 post-transcriptional methylation differentially regulates the stability of the native and the MELAS variants of human mt-Leu(UAA) tRNA, contributing to mitochondrial pathology.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have improved our understanding of the genetic basis of lung adenocarcinoma but known susceptibility variants explain only a small fraction of the familial risk. Here, the authors perform a two-stage GWAS and report 12 novel genetic loci associated with lung adenocarcinoma in East Asians.

This study examines the history of North Atlantic deep-water masses, as recorded in marine sediments. Major lithological changes and increased rate of deposition reveal that stronger deep-ocean circulation initiated 3.6 million years ago.

Marine cyanobacteria contribute to global carbon balance by fixing CO₂ and the shift between CO₂ fixation and ATP production requires fine-tuning its metabolic fluxes to light–dark cycles. These cycles can be very short in marine environments due to sea currents and fast adaptation is key to avoid futile cycles. In this study, Lu et al. provide a mechanistic insight into how this process is tightly regulated.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

To better understand trophoblast development, scientists have long sought stem cells that model the trophectoderm at the early blastocyst stage. Gao, Li et al. now derive trophectoderm stem cells from morula-stage embryos, representing an earlier pre-implantation stage than previously reported trophoblast stem cells.