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Ancient genomes from Neolithic rice-farming populations at Baligang reveal a demographic shift around 4,200 years ago and a 5,000-year-old patrilineal social structure, providing insights into the population history of East Asia.

Topsoil nitrogen stocks declined over a ten-year field warming experiment in a permafrost ecosystem due to enhanced plant nitrogen uptake, nitrogen leaching and gaseous losses, suggesting that permafrost soil nitrogen stocks are vulnerable to warming.

The catalytic activation of alkyl amines as α-nitrogen carbanions is challenging. Now the activation of N-arylidene-protected alkyl amines as carbanions by chiral ammonium organocatalysis for asymmetric conjugate addition and the Mannich reaction is reported, affording chiral α,α-dialkyl amines.

Hydroformylation of 1,2-disubstituted alkenes usually occurs at the α position of the directing heteroatom. Here, the authors report the asymmetric rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation of 1,2-disubstituted alkenylsilanes with excellent regioselectivity at the β position (relative to the silicon heteroatom) and enantioselectivity.

Dielectric materials with high energy storage performance are desirable for power electronic devices. Here, the authors achieve high energy density and efficiency simultaneously in multilayer ceramic capacitors with a strain engineering strategy.

Tropical Pacific hydrology affects the global climate through the strength of the Pacific Walker Circulation. Yanet al. reconstruct variations in the Pacific Walker Circulation in the South China Sea over the last millennium and find that less precipitation fell during warmer and more rainfall during cool periods.

Analysis of ancient DNA, stable isotope data and archaeological evidence from the Fujia archaeological site in eastern China suggests it was populated by a matrilineal Neolithic community between 2750 and 2500 bc.

Here, the authors identify genes and drug targets that show immune cell-specific and activation time point-specific effects on type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease and find strong immune-to-metabolic disease connections.

Transfer of faecal microbiota from hepatocellular carcinoma patients to mice promotes carcinogenesis via live gut pathogenic Klebsiella pneumoniae translocating to the liver.

Muons are conventionally produced from cosmic rays or with a proton accelerator. Now a proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates the feasibility of muon production with a laser-driven electron beam with gigaelectronvolt energy in a lead converter target.

Traditional cultured meat scaffolds employ animal-derived biomaterials or intricate manufacturing, but plant-based scaffolds offer an appealing alternative. Here the authors present a simple shortcut method to transform common vegetables into edible bioscaffolds via autoclaving, which mimics meat stiffness and microstructure.

The authors highlight the role of acyl coenzyme A binding protein (encoded by DBI) in Cushing’s syndrome by using six different inhibition methods and mapping the physiological effects.

Multi-omic analysis of 100 clear cell renal cell carcinomas identifies four transcriptomic subgroups (IM1–IM4). IM4 is a high-risk subtype characterized by specific metabolic changes and a loss of lipid droplets.

Data from two large longitudinal cohorts in China, in which the participants were clustered into five groups based on their metabolic characteristics, show that a signature of microbiome age modulates the risk of cardiovascular disease in metabolically unhealthy individuals.

Jun Wang and colleagues report the genome sequence of the cucumber. The cucumber genome is the seventh plant genome sequence to be reported and was assembled with a combination of traditional Sanger and next-generation sequencing methods.

EGFR amplification can affect temozolomide sensitivity in glioblastomas (GBM). Here the authors show that EGFR signalling mediates lysine methylation of NFAT5 which contributes to reduced efficacy of temozolomide in GBM.

Mitochondrial dynamics in large-scale regeneration remain poorly understood. Here they show that the mitochondrial fusion-fission equilibrium can determine the pluripotency of planarian stem cells and that mitonuclear balance is critical for planarian regeneration.

Congenital vertebral malformation has a complex genetic architecture that isn’t fully understood. Here, the authors explore the genetic architecture of congenital vertebral malformation through case-control rare variant genetic analyses and embryonic transcriptome analyses of the developing spine.

The mechanical signals of the laryngeal vocal organ have not been well utilized by human speech processing technology. The authors develop a prototype of a wearable artificial throat that can sense speech- and vocalization-related actions. The results suggest a new technological pathway for speech recognition and interaction systems.

Here a conformality-assisted tracing method is proposed to devise free-form and three-dimensional conformal metamaterials, featuring accuracy and efficiency in handling complex geometry and adaptability to various diffusion and wave fields.

Researchers report a sustainable nanofluidic osmotic energy harvester made from natural montmorillonite clay nanosheets and recycled cellulose. Scaled-up films of 700 cm² show power output of 8 W m⁻² with stability over 30 days

Reducing membrane thickness to nanometre scale should increase the throughput of gas separation sieves. Here, the authors report a sieving membrane composed of two-dimensional metal-organic framework nanosheets, exhibiting both high permeation flux and thermally switchable behaviour.

Acral melanoma (AM) is a rare melanoma subtype with unique features, where lymph node metastasis is closely associated with clinical outcomes. Here, the authors use single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to analyse early dissemination, tumour microenvironment, and heterogeneity in AM, and infer metabolic shifts with therapeutic implications.

Guo et al. report enhanced emission and photoconductivity in 2D Ruddlesden-Popper perovskites by synergistically tuning the intra and interlayer structure via pressure. A structure descriptor considering both intra- and interlayer is then introduced for screening perovskite with desired properties.

Urate oxidase (Uox) lost its function during evolution. Here the authors propose an atavistic strategy to treat hyperuricemia by using a proprietary lipid nanoparticle to load Uox mRNA, which reduced the serum uric acid levels effectively in two animal models.

Truck platooning allows for trucks to travel synchronously in close proximity to improve fuel efficiency. Here, authors evaluate the decarbonization effects of platooning on the vehicle-road system at a large-scale road network level revealing a trade-off between emission reduction and cost rise.

Buffalo is an important livestock in Asia. Here, the authors present a comprehensive metagenomic analysis of the microbial communities present in different sites and compartments along the buffalo digestive tract.

Recently an iron catalyst was developed to catalyze an oxa-Diels-Alder reaction, whose mechanism is unclear yet. Here the authors combine DFT and molecular dynamics simulations with experimental studies to elucidate the unusual iron effect on kinetic isotope effect and dynamics in this reaction.

A direct lead-halide perovskite CT imager has been demonstrated. The detector arrays have 980 μm absorber thickness and exhibit detection quantum efficiency of 80% and noise-equivalent dose of 153 pGy_air.

The Hippo signaling pathway controls tissue growth by regulating the subcellular localization of Yorkie /Yap. Here the authors show that PRP4K, a kinase involved in mRNA splicing, phosphorylates Yki/Yap in the nucleus, which prevents its nuclear accumulation and inhibits Hippo signaling.

Federated learning, a method for training artificial intelligence algorithms that protects data privacy, was used to predict future oxygen requirements of symptomatic patients with COVID-19 using data from 20 different institutes across the globe.

Phylogenetics and population genetics analysis of ancient tiger genomes inform tiger evolution and suggest post-glaciation admixture of divergent tiger lineages in China.

Zhenglin Yang, Xinghuai Sun and colleagues report the results of a genome-wide association study of primary open-angle glaucoma in East Asians. They show that common variants near ABCA1 and in PPM2 are associated with increased risk of this disease.

Differential spectrometers recognise different wavelength via their differential photodetector responsivity. The authors combine an 8-pixel hemispherical perovskite photodetector with neural network algorithms to realise 3D trajectory tracking and 2D location tacking with colour classification.

Multimodal biological data is challenging to analyze. Here, the authors develop UnitedNet, an explainable deep neural network for analyzing single-cell multimodal biological data and estimating relationships between gene expression and other modalities with cell-type specificity.

The toxicity of heavy metals for MRI contrast agents is an issue. Here, the authors report on the development of conjugated polymers nanoparticles based on paramagnetic polypyrrole to generate T2 MRI contrast effects by changing the interactions between polarons and water protons.

Nicotine accumulates in the intestine during tobacco smoking and accelerates the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but it can be degraded effectively by the human symbiont Bacteroides xylanisolvens.

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation is the largest source of interannual variability in the tropical Pacific Ocean. A multidecadal reconstruction of the Southern Oscillation Index for the past 2,000 years shows three prolonged periods of El Niño-dominated conditions.

The water stability of perovskites remains challenging due to their intrinsic ionic nature. Here, the authors present water stable perovskite X-ray imager driven by strong cation-π interactions between organic cations and a complete release of microstrain during dimension transformation process.

Jin et al. show that astrocytic ALDH2 metabolizes ethanol in the brain, thereby attributing behavioural effects of alcohol to metabolites produced in the brain rather than the liver.