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High-latitude soils are future soil organic carbon loss hotspots, with losses dominated by particulate organic carbon (POC). The fraction of POC in total SOC (f_POC) is a key indicator, emphasizing the climate importance of preserving POC.

Short-lived halogens have a substantial indirect cooling effect on climate and this cooling effect has increased since pre-industrial times owing to anthropogenic amplification of natural halogen emissions.

An Earth system model estimates that natural halogens, of marine biotic and abiotic origin, remove about 13% of present-day global tropospheric O₃. Projections suggest this ratio is stable through 2100, with high spatial heterogeneity, despite increasing natural halogens.

Researchers report real-time molecular detection of oxidized mercury species in the polar atmosphere, revealing discrepancies with current models and advancing understanding of neurotoxic mercury cycling in sensitive ecosystems.

LHAASO has detected γ-ray emission with a spectrum extending to 2 PeV from the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by PSR J1849-0001, indicating an extreme particle acceleration efficiency and challenging the current particle acceleration theories.

Iodide promotes HONO production during nitrate photolysis by influencing the surface enrichment of nitrate, accelerating reactive nitrogen cycling in the marine atmosphere.

It is unclear whether the harsh abiotic conditions of drylands hinder biological invasions. This global analysis shows that drylands are vulnerable to non-native plants and are likely to become more so as native plant diversity declines and grazing pressure intensifies.

Commitment to different fates by differentiating pluripotent cells depends upon integration of external and internal signals. Here the authors analyse the entry of mouse embryonic stem cells into retinoic acid-mediated differentiation using single cell transcriptomics with high temporal resolution.

The specification of positional values along the proximo-distal axis (shoulder to digits) of the vertebrate limb is an unresolved issue. By using heterochronic transplants of distal mesenchyme, the authors show that the zeugopod and autopod (elbow to digits) are progressively specified in an intrinsically timed manner.

Grazing affects plant diversity, but plant diversity in turn may modulate the effect of grazing on the plant community. This global analysis explores the association between plant species richness and plant cover resistance to grazing intensity in drylands.

Researchers are borrowing tricks from armadillo shells and mother-of-pearl to create replacements for human bone and to develop a new generation of protective clothing.

In contrast to the overall recovery of stratospheric ozone, ozone depletion in the tropical lower stratosphere has been ongoing over recent years. Here the authors show that currently unregulated halogenated ozone-depleting very short-lived substances play a key role in this ongoing depletion.

Many ecological studies assume that space-for-time substitution approaches can be suitable proxies for unavailable time series. Here the authors show congruence between the two approaches in the direction but not the magnitude of grassland plant and arthropod community responses to land-use intensification.

Iodic acid (HIO₃) forms aerosols very efficiently, but its gas-phase formation mechanism is not well understood. Atmospheric simulation chamber experiments, quantum chemical calculations and kinetic modelling have now revealed that HIO₃ forms as an early iodine oxidation product from hypoiodite. The mechanism explains field measurements and suggests a catalytic role for iodine in particle formation.

Glucocorticoid (GC) induced osteoporosis (GIOP) remains a significant clinical problem. Here, the authors find that GCs disrupt skeletal stem cell–endothelial crosstalk via Basigin that can be targeted as a potential therapy for GIOP.

Research advances are changing the image of a once-niche technology.

Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, has comparable anthropogenic and natural sources, complicating emission control. Increasing reactive chlorine has been proposed for mitigation. This study assesses the global environmental impacts of such proposal.

The Antarctic ozone hole has had far-reaching impacts, but effects on geochemical cycles in polar regions is still unknown. Iodine records from the interior of Antarctica provide evidence for human alteration of the natural geochemical cycle of this essential element.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and previous studies focus on its sources with less attention on the loss. Here the authors show that reactive halogen species, not considered in climate projections, significantly reduces the methane loss, increasing its lifetime, burden, and radiative forcing.

Mercury deposition onto the Greenland Ice Sheet increased from the Last Glacial Termination to early Holocene as the North Atlantic warmed and sea ice retreated, according to an ice-core mercury record and atmospheric chemistry modelling.

Heterostructures based on (111)-oriented KTaO₃crystals are a new platform for studying oxide interfaces. Gate-tunable superconductivity in 2D electron gases at the surface of (111)-oriented KTaO₃is now reported, with the superconducting transition being of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type.

Analysis of 20 chemical and morphological plant traits at diverse sites across 6 continents shows that the transition from semi-arid to arid zones is associated with an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity.

A Review of the impacts of short-lived halogens on air quality and climate identifies gaps in our knowledge of short-lived halogen emissions, chemistry, and the environmental and climate impacts.

Meteorology measurements from NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars reveal a diversity of processes at work in the atmospheric boundary layer at Jezero crater over a range of temporal scales.

Observations are reported of HClO₃ and HClO₄ in the atmosphere and their widespread occurrence over the pan-Arctic during spring, providing further insights into atmospheric chlorine cycling in the polar environment.

Protection afforded by inorganic minerals is assumed to make mineral-associated organic carbon less susceptible to loss under climate change than particulate organic carbon. However, a global study of soil organic carbon from drylands suggests that this is not the case.

The integration of 1,024 independent silicon quantum dot devices with on-chip digital and analogue electronics, all of which operate below 1 K, allows characteristic data across the quantum dot array to be acquired and analysed in under 10 min.

In global drylands, soils tend to be more fertile beneath tree, shrub and grass islands. Soil fertility was greater beneath taller and wider plants but was unaffected by either grazing pressure or the type of herbivore.

Iodine is important for new particle formation in the atmosphere, but how it varies over long time scales is not well known. Here, the authors present ice core data from the last 127,000 years that show that iodine varied between glacials and interglacials, but also showed abrupt changes in pace with sea-ice and temperatures.

Micro- and nanostructures found in nature can be adopted to new uses and materials in engineered composites. Here authors demonstrate large enhancements in toughness and electrical conductivity in a ceramic upon addition of graphene at low (1 volume %) levels.

Short-lived natural bromocarbons, which contribute to ozone depletion in the atmosphere, are believed to be produced through light-driven processes, mainly in oceans. Here the authors present bromocarbon measurements in snow, sea ice, and air during polar winter that show an unexpected source of bromine to the polar atmosphere during periods of no sunlight.

Reduction of gaseous Hg(II) compounds drives atmospheric mercury wet and dry deposition to Earth surface ecosystems. Global Hg models assume this reduction takes place in clouds. Here the authors report a new gas-phase Hg photochemical mechanism that changes atmospheric mercury lifetime and its deposition to the surface.

A live-cell microscopy method assesses patient-specific efficacy of myeloma treatment in real time at the single-cell level.

The separation of nanoparticles from oxide hosts by exsolution forms the basis for catalytic and energy-related applications. Here, the authors elucidate the multistep mechanism of exsolution at perovskite surfaces by combining real-time electron microscopy and computational methods.

The limb bud is patterned by crosstalk between the mesoderm and the overlying apical ectodermal ridge, but it has been difficult to determine the requirement for different ligands in this process. Here the authors use a chick wing explant system to show that fibroblast growth factors trigger a mesodermal programme that is key for timing limb bud patterning.

Despite its chemical importance, the evolution of atmospheric iodine concentrations over time is unknown. Here, the authors show that North Atlantic atmospheric iodine levels have tripled since 1950, and propose ozone pollution and enhanced biological production Arctic sea ice thinning as a primary driver.

“How iodine-bearing molecules contribute to atmospheric aerosol formation is not well understood. Here, the authors provide a new gas-to-particle conversion mechanism and show that clustering of iodine oxides is an essential component of this process while previously proposed iodic acid does not play a large role.”

MRI data from more than 100 studies have been aggregated to yield new insights about brain development and ageing, and create an interactive open resource for comparison of brain structures throughout the human lifespan, including those associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Dynamic combinatorial chemistry (DCC) is instrumental in the discovery of ligands for pharmaceutical targets. Here, the authors adapted DCC to work at 4 degrees Celsius and used it to identify a ligand for Neuronal Calcium Sensor-1 that promotes NCS-1/Ric8a protein-protein interaction.

High ozone and low water structures in the tropical western Pacific are commonly attributed to transport from the stratosphere or mid-latitudes. Here, Anderson et al. show these structures actually result from ozone production in biomass burning plumes and large-scale descent of air within the tropics.

A genome-wide association study including 22,389 cases of multiple sclerosis finds an association with disease progression at the DYSF–ZNF638 and DNM3–PIGC loci and identifies a potential of higher educational attainment in slowing disease progression.

In yeast, the phosphatase Cdc14 controls mitotic exit. Here the authors show that mammalian CDC14B antagonizes CDK1, to keep the deubiquitinase USP9X unphosphorylated and inactive, and that Wilms’ tumor protein 1 is a substrate for active USP9X that directs mitosis-specific transcription to regulate mitotic survival.

Thalidomide and its derivatives lenalidomide and pomalidomide, which are used to treat multiple myeloma and del(5q) myelodysplastic syndrome, have antitumor and teratogenic effects through a mechanism involving destabilization of the CD147 and MCT1 proteins.

The mTORC1 complex promotes protein translation and cell growth, whereas mTORC2 promotes survival. The Tel2 and Tt1 proteins belong to both complexes. Bassermann and colleagues demonstrate that following growth-factor deprivation, casein kinase 2 mediates phosphorylation of Tel2 and Tt1, specifically in the mTORC1 complex, to target them for degradation by the SCF^Fbxo9 ubiquitin ligase. This mechanism inactivates mTORC1 and activates mTORC2 and Akt signalling to promote survival of multiple myeloma cells.