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A solvent-free and zero-waste method was reported for the synthesis of single-atom catalysts via abrading bulk metal into single atoms. This strategy works for different metals (iron, cobalt, nickel and copper or their alloys) and supports (carbons, oxides or nitrides).

Periaqueductal gray (PAG) inputs control hunting, but foraging-inducing PAG cells were unidentified. Here, authors show that in mice activity in the projection of vgat PAG cells to the zona incerta is sufficient and necessary for food-seeking.

Linking microscale cellular structures to macroscale features of the brain is required to fully understand its structure and function. Here, the authors present a resource which combines multi-contrast microscopy and MRI of a single whole macaque brain to facilitate multimodal analyses.

Chronic stress disrupts the brain vasculature and contributes to mood disorders, but mechanisms of resilience remain unclear. Here, the authors show that enriched environments increase astrocytic Fgf2 to prevent stress-induced vascular alterations and depressive behavior with relevance to human depression.

The authors use a combination of perceptual decision making in rats and computational modeling to explore the interplay of priors and sensory cues. They find that rats can learn to either alternate or repeat their actions based on reward likelihood and the influence of bias on their actions disappears after making an error.

Here the authors identify adenophages, a previously unknown macrophage population present in exocrine glands in mice and humans. These cells are dependent on ILC2-derived GM-CSF and support glandular homeostasis.

After rats were trained to fear a sound, they showed less fear when another rat was nearby and this calming effect lasted when the other rat was removed. Both reductions required oxytocin signaling from the hypothalamus to the central amygdala.

Using a haplotype-based approach, David-Alexandre Trégouët and colleagues report that the SLC22A3-LPAL2-LPA gene cluster is associated with risk of coronary artery disease.

Tumor neoantigens versus tumor-associated antigens may have different functions in antitumor immunity depending on the strength of antigen recognition. Here the authors characterize CD8 T cell clones specific for TAA, neoantigens or viral antigens isolated from tumor and blood and show that neoantigen-specific clones have a higher structural avidity than TAA-specific ones and preferentially infiltrate tumors.

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.

Targeting a non-natural micropeptide ‘killswitch’ to several biomolecular condensates altered condensate compositions and revealed condensate functions in human cells

Based on the finding that the concentration of mRNA encoding olfactory chemoreceptors decreases after odorant stimulation, the authors developed a large-scale transcriptomic approach that allows the identification of ligand-chemoreceptor pairs in various species in vivo. This represents a critical step in our understanding of combinatorial coding of odors.

Charlet, Grinevich et al. show that social touch between female rats activates parvocellular oxytocin neurons; these neurons control social behavior by coordinating the responses of the much larger population of magnocellular oxytocin neurons.

This study shows that a subpopulation of astrocytes in the central amygdala (CeA) expresses the oxytocin receptor (OTR) and that OTR activation in astrocytes underlies the anxiolytic and positive reinforcement effects of oxytocin in the CeA.

Timber harvest claims can be scrutinized based on a combination of wood chemical composition and species distribution. The location of timber harvest can be determined within 180 to 230 km of true location across Eastern Europe.

The large virus family,Paramyxoviridae, includes several human and livestock viruses. This study, testing 119 bat and rodent species distributed globally, identifies novel putative paramyxovirus species, providing data with potential uses in predictions of the emergence of novel paramyxoviruses in humans and livestock.

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has low mutational load. Here the authors analyze circulating and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) from 19 EOC patients and report frequent recovery of neo-antigen-reactive T cells from both compartments but with distinct TCR repertoires that have higher affinity in TILs.

Though tractography is widely used, it has not been systematically validated. Here, authors report results from 20 groups showing that many tractography algorithms produce both valid and invalid bundles.

A high-resolution, global atlas of mortality of children under five years of age between 2000 and 2017 highlights subnational geographical inequalities in the distribution, rates and absolute counts of child deaths by age.

Wahl et al. present palaeoenvironmental, epigraphic and archaeological evidence that suggests that the Maya engaged in tactics akin to total warfare earlier and more frequently than previously thought.

Cardiac dysfunction is a hallmark of aging in humans and mice. Here, the authors show that by restoring youthful Bridging Integrator 1 (BIN1) protein levels in the hearts of 24-month-old mice in vivo cardiac systolic function is rejuvenated, and the aging phenotype partially reversed within two weeks.

Porous solids comprising a self-entangled coiled polymer fibre or metal wire reversibly increase their volume when either stretched or compressed in an axial direction, possibly providing a new type of mechanical behaviour for tuning functional properties.

Lightning Pose is an efficient pose estimation approach that requires few labeled training data owing to its semi-supervised learning strategy and ensembling.

Glutaminase is a mitochondrial complex that deaminates glutamine to form glutamate. Here the authors investigate inorganic-phosphate-induced enzyme filamentation, revealing an allosteric mechanism and roles of filamentous glutaminase in mitochondrial morphology and recycling.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Many current methods to prepare 2-hydroxybiaryls require the prefunctionalization of phenol groups or show limited substrate scope. Now, use of a pentavalent sulfone-bridged bismacycle, formed in situ by telescoped boron-to-bismuth transmetallation and oxidation, allows the direct and regioselective ortho-arylation of unprotected phenols.

Tripartite ATP-independent periplasmic (TRAP) transporters are widespread in bacteria and archaea. Here, the authors used cryo-EM and a range of biophysical techniques to study the structure of function of the sialic acid TRAP transporter HiSiaQM.

The authors here propose a chemical reaction that forms ammoniated phyllosilicates on Ceres. This process could trigger at a very low temperature, suggesting Ceres evolution in a region different from its current location.

Biomechanical mechanisms orchestrating stem cell dynamics in development remain unclear. Here the authors show that guidance receptor Plexin-B2 organizes actomyosin contractility, cytoskeletal tension and adhesion during multicellular development of human embryonic stem cells and neuroprogenitor cells.

Aerobic energy metabolism is driven by proton-pumping respiratory supercomplexes. The study reports the structural basis for energy conversion in such supercomplex. It may aid metabolic engineering and drug design against diphtheria and tuberculosis.

The results obtained by seventy different teams analysing the same functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset show substantial variation, highlighting the influence of analytical choices and the importance of sharing workflows publicly and performing multiple analyses.

The nucleus is a mechanically stiff organelle of the cell and the DNA damage response protein ATR can localize to the nuclear envelope upon mechanical stress. Here, the authors show that ATR may contribute to the integrity of the nuclear envelope and may play a role in cell migration.

A combination of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and targeted mutagenesis studies elucidates the structure and organization of the core complex of the type IV secretion system used by Xanthomonas citri to kill competing bacteria.

Many bacteria use TonB-dependent outer membrane receptors to scavenge iron from their host during infection. Here, the authors report on the structure and function of FusA, which is a bacterial receptor that is used to obtain iron from plants.

Viridicatin is a fungal alkaloid. Here, the authors identify and characterize the cyclopenase that catalyzes the last step of its biosynthesis in Aspergillus nidulans, the conversion of cyclopenin to viridicatin, and find that the reaction proceeds via an unusual elimination mechanism.

This Brain Somatic Mosaicism Network analysis of 283 cases of malformations of cortical development identifies 69 candidate and known genes in 76 patients. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing and mouse modeling implicate radial glia and daughter excitatory neurons.

The influence of 'fake news’, spread via social media, has been much discussed in the context of the 2016 US presidential election. Here, the authors use data on 30 million tweets to show how content classified as fake news diffused on Twitter before the election.

Jeanette Erdmann and colleagues identify a locus on chromosome 3q22.3 associated with coronary artery disease. The SNP with the strongest association is in MRAS, which encodes a membrane-anchored GTP-binding protein.

Software is much more than just code. It is time to confront the complexity of licenses, uses, governance, infrastructure and other facets of software in science. Their influence is ubiquitous yet overlooked.

Myocardial hypoxia activates HIF1α, which activates the splicing factor SF3B1, which mediates a splice switch of the fructose-metabolising enzyme KHK, so that the C isoform that has superior affinity for fructose is expressed in the heart—pathological heart growth and contractile dysfunction can therefore be suppressed by depleting SF3B1 or deleting KHK.