Search

Lung cancer screening effectiveness can be subject to variation based on personal risk factors. Here the authors report that heterogeneity in lung cancer screening effectiveness is primarily driven by histology.

Using blood-based genome sequence data, non-genetic and genetic factors associated with control of Epstein–Barr virus during persistent infection are reported.

Electric aircraft offer an aviation decarbonization pathway and attract increasing attention owing to the rapid development of batteries. Here Andreas Schäfer and colleagues analyse the potential technological, economic and environmental viability of battery-electric commercial aircraft.

Oxygen contained within cosmic spherules is sourced from the atmosphere, making micrometeorites a possible archive for past atmospheric conditions. Here, Packet al. compare the isotopic composition of oxygen in cosmic spherules from Antarctica with that of the troposphere, and validate the value of this archive.

The oxidation of CO to CO₂ on rutile TiO₂ is a model reaction in heterogeneous catalysis, but the effect of substrate-specific oxygen activation timescales remains underexplored. Here, the authors monitor the reaction through time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy at a free-electron laser and propose an O₂-TiO₂ charge transfer complex responsible for initiating the oxygen activation pathway for CO oxidation on rutile, showing that despite anatase being the more active photocatalyst, oxidation dynamics on rutile are faster.

We uncover key processes of the genomic evolution of small cell lung cancer under therapy, identify the common ancestor as the source of clonal diversity at relapse and show central genomic patterns associated with drug response.

The relationship between single-neuron activity and theta oscillations in the human brain remains unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate that human theta-phase locking is influenced by various properties of the local field potential and characterize its dynamics during spatial memory encoding and retrieval.

Efficient sunlight-to-fuel conversion requires materials that produce long-lived charges, but increasing carrier lifetimes in visible-light-active photocatalysts has proven difficult. Now it has been shown that rapid charge deactivation via metal-centred states prevents long lifetimes and limits photocatalytic performance. These insights bridge solid-state and molecular photochemistry, informing strategies for improved photocatalyst design.

The authors report a meta-analysis of methylome-wide association studies, identifying 15 significant CpG sites linked to major depression, revealing associations with inflammatory markers and suggesting potential causal relationships through Mendelian randomization analysis.

A newly compiled atlas of species-wide structural variants and gene-based and graph pangenomes derived from highly complete assemblies of genomes from 1,086 natural isolates enable integrative genome-scale studies of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Acetaldehyde is a petrochemically sourced base chemical used in the production of drugs, fragrances and dyes. Now acetaldehyde can be produced selectively using a Cu-cluster electrocatalyst, electricity, CO₂ and water. Guided by a high-throughput in silico screening process, spark ablation enables the production of a high-performing Cu-cluster electrocatalyst with a precise number of atoms.

Simulating molecular adsorption on surfaces presents considerable challenges, as computational methods typically suffer from either insufficient accuracy or prohibitive computational costs. Now, with an open-source multilevel embedding approach, adsorption processes on the surfaces of ionic materials can be modelled routinely with an accuracy comparable to that of experiments.

Light-oxygen-voltage receptors sense blue light through the photochemical generation of a covalent adduct between a flavin-nucleotide chromophore and a strictly conserved cysteine residue. Here, the authors show that these proteins can react to light even when devoid of the adduct-forming cysteine.

Raman spectroscopy is a versatile tool to gain insight into the functionalization of graphene-based materials, yet unequivocal assignment of the vibrational modes associated with covalent binding has so far remained elusive. Here, the authors succeed in an experimental and theoretical identification of this molecular fingerprint.

Ultramafic olivine-rich achondrites provide insight into the missing mantle problem in the asteroid belt. The petrology and geochemistry of these samples suggests they are related to Vesta or the Vestoids.

In this work, electron diffraction is used to measure the disorder parameter, Debye-Waller factors, and deformation electron density of FePd alloys. Chemical disorder raises atomic displacements but minimally alters deformation electron density.

Molecular helicity affects many of the bulk properties of materials. A study finds that helicity also controls the self-assembly of colloidal particles, opening the door to a new generation of functional materials. See Letter p.348

Group-IV color centers in diamond show promise for spin-photon interfaces, but precise positioning and activation are challenging. Here the authors combine site-controlled ion implantation with laser annealing and in-situ photoluminescence monitoring to create and tune individual tin vacancy centers in diamond.

Previous studies have suggested that being hungry causes people to make more selfish and less prosocial decisions. Here, the authors carried out a series of studies to test this claim and found that the effect of acute hunger was very weak at best.

Helium accumulation in structural ceramics causes early failure, making damage control important. Here, defect landscape engineering is proposed as a general strategy to suppress helium-induced degradation, involving the deliberate creation of vacancy clusters prior to helium exposure.

The protein gephyrin is involved in organizing synapses. Here, the authors show how different transcripts of gephyrin form and regulate inhibitory synapses.

This Case Study describes a 64-year-old woman who presented with a 2-year history of itch on her right dorsal forearm. The patient was diagnosed with brachioradial pruritus caused by cervical disc herniation, and the symptoms resolved after surgery to decompress the sixth cervical nerve root. Various alternative treatment options for brachioradial pruritus are discussed.

Analysis of samples from the asteroid Ryugu provide evidence of late fluid flow in a carbonaceous asteroid, indicating that such bodies may have retained two to three times more water than previously thought.

p53 is an important tumor suppressor protein which is regulated by the E3 ubiquitin ligase MDM2. Here the authors reveal that DNA damage-induced Ser429 phosphorylation of MDM2 serve to boost the activity of MDM2 homodimer by stabilizing the active E2–ubiquitin complex and promote its self-destruction to enable rapid p53 stabilization.

Satellite observations reveal that the Conger–Glenzer Ice Shelf collapse in East Antarctica occurred in four stages spanning a period of 25 years, culminating in its rapid disintegration in March 2022.

High binding affinities are usually obtained when ligands are rigidified. Here the authors present flexible peptides binding to Armadillo repeat proteins with femtomolar affinity. They demonstrate that the bound state is characterized by residual dynamics limiting entropic losses upon binding.

The increasing popularity of electric vehicles as an alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles brings new realities, challenges and opportunities for scientists and engineers. A key element of this transition will be to develop solutions for lubrication, thermal management, electrical compatibility and corrosion inhibition. Two-dimensional materials are well poised to address these challenges and enhance the performance, efficiency, durability and, hence, sustainability of electric vehicles during this century and beyond.

A pangenome analysis of 76 wild and domesticated barley accessions in combination with short-read sequence data of 1,315 barley genotypes indicates that allelic diversity at structurally complex loci may have helped crop plants to adapt to agricultural ecosystems.

The DNA-binding activity of the winged-helix domain of PHF1 stabilizes PRC2 on chromatin, thereby permitting efficient H3K27 trimethylation.

The joy and trepidation of graduation.

Four-coordinate cobalt(II) complexes possess high energy barriers toward inversion of the magnetic moment, but not the magnetic bistability needed for magnetic data storage. Here, the authors report an air-stable radical-bridged binuclear cobalt(II) complex with improved magnetic properties.

Winds of change blow through Congress.

Here, Waltenspühl et al. report the cryo-EM structure of active human oxytocin receptor in complex with oxytocin and with a heterotrimeric G protein, providing insights into this hormone system critically involved in the regulation of social behaviour and reproduction.

Sensitive methods for antibody detection tend to be expensive and slow. Here, the authors report a magnetic particle spectroscopy method named COMPASS, as a rapid and low-cost technique which is comparable to ELISA in terms of sensitivity but with a measurement times of seconds.

A nanopore DNA sequencer is used for real-time genomic surveillance of the Ebola virus epidemic in the field in Guinea; the authors demonstrate that it is possible to pack a genomic surveillance laboratory in a suitcase and transport it to the field for on-site virus sequencing, generating results within 24 hours of sample collection.

Chalcopyrite, the main copper ore mineral, is usually formed at high temperatures, according to a study that shows that microbial processes might promote its low-temperature formation in acidic pit lake sediments, with implications for bioremediation and biomining.

Recent years have seen significant growth of electric vehicles and extensive development of energy storage technologies. This Review evaluates the potential of a series of promising batteries and hydrogen fuel cells in their deployment in automotive electrification.

Bulk RNA sequencing of organs and plasma proteomics at different ages across the mouse lifespan is integrated with data from the Tabula Muris Senis, a transcriptomic atlas of ageing mouse tissues, to describe organ-specific changes in gene expression during ageing.

The authors examined how family experiences are linked to the development of trust in adolescence and young adulthood. They show that trust increases over time but self-reported family adversity can hinder this, and trust may act as a resilience factor in maintaining positive peer relations.