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A binary star merger has produced a white dwarf with a spin period of under 7 minutes, a magnetic field of 600 to 900 million gauss and a radius only slightly larger than that of our Moon.

Here, the authors show the mechanism by which Streptococcus pneumoniae can, through natural variation of a capsule transcriptional control element, alter capsule size and the course of serotype-specific infection with implications for vaccine escape.

The physiology and behavioral function of proprioceptors that detect joint limits are not fully understood. In this study, the authors used calcium imaging, optogenetics, behavioral genetics, and the connectome to demonstrate that hair plate proprioceptors on the fly leg detect joint limits and engage circuits to drive the leg away from those limits.

The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

Myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) use different metabolic mechanisms to adapt to the tumour microenvironment. Here the authors show that 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) is important for MSDC function and that blockade of 6PGD impaired MDSC function and suppresses tumour growth leading to metabolic and functional changes in the MDSC and a more pro-inflammatory phenotype.

Geochemical evidence continues to challenge giant impact models, which predict that the Moon formed from both proto-Earth and impactor material. Analyses of lunar samples reveal isotopic homogeneity in titanium, a highly refractory element, suggesting lunar material was derived predominantly from the mantle of the proto-Earth.

Corals usually undergo single mass spawning events, however, occasionally they split reproductive effort across two months. Here, Foster et al. use 10 years of data to determine the drivers and timing of split spawning, showing that these events realign spawning with optimal environmental conditions.

A battery-free smart mask enables multiday exhaled breath condensate monitoring by integrating a regenerable hydrogel, an electrochemical lactate sensor and a perovskite solar cell, allowing autonomous tracking of metabolic lactate in humans.

A black hole’s Hawking radiation inevitably deposits records of its location in the environment, making isolation fundamentally impossible. Here, the authors investigate the decoherence of a black hole in a superposition of two positions due to its Hawking radiation and give the rate of this process.

Ribas and colleagues report the results of a phase 2 clinical trial of neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade in patients with surgically resectable desmoplastic melanoma.

Images collected during NASA’s DART mission of the asteroid Didymos and its moon, Dimorphos, are used to explore the origin and evolution of the binary system. Authors analysis indicate that both asteroids are weak rubble piles and that Didymos’ surface should be about 40 to 130 times older than Dimorphos.

Four decades after a test mining experiment that removed nodules, the biological impacts in many groups of organisms persist, although populations of several organisms have begun to re-establish despite persistent physical changes at the seafloor.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

Rapid diagnosis and implementation of treatments is crucial in many genetic conditions. Here the authors describe Genome-to-Treatment, a virtual disease management system that can achieve a rapid diagnosis by expedited whole genome sequencing in 13.5 hours and provide guidance to clinicians for possible therapies.

Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission impacted Dimorphos to test asteroid deflection. Here, the authors show that post-impact spectra largely match pre-impact properties, with only subtle variations probably linked to mutual events and to the evolution of the ejecta dust.

The significance of biofluorescence across taxonomic groups is understudied. Here the authors document biofluorescence in South American tropical amphibians, suggesting that biofluorescence corresponds with wavelengths of light at twilight and may be used in communication.

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.

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.

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.

Medication non-adherence represents a healthcare challenge, generating over $100 billion in additional costs annually in the USA. Here, the authors developed a resorbable and ingestible system designed for assessing medication adherence.

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of capsule based, biodegradable medication adherence tracking system with envisioned scenario for clinical use. A, Bio-RFID capsule administration. B, Shielding coating dissolution and payload release C, Monitoring of the Tag ID and frequency range, recording of the payload for tracking adherence. D, Dissolution and biosorption of the coating, tag and the capsule.

Very early observations of a type Ia supernova—from within one hour of explosion—show a red colour that develops and rapidly disappears. These data provide information on the initial explosion mechanism: surface nuclear burning on the white dwarf or extreme mixing of the nuclear burning process.

An analysis involving the shotgun sequencing of more than 300 ancient genomes from Eurasia reveals a deep east–west genetic divide from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and provides insight into the distinct effects of the Neolithic transition on either side of this boundary.

2023 CX1 is the only L-chondrite-like asteroid analysed from space to ground. It catastrophically fragmented in the atmosphere, depositing 98% of its energy in one burst—an unusual, high-risk fragmentation mode with implications for planetary defence.

In cohort B of the phase 2 SWOG S1512 trial, pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with unresectable desmoplastic melanoma elicited a complete response rate of 37% and an objective response rate of 89%, supporting a new treatment option for this tumor type.

On Arthur C. Clarke's centenary, Andrew Robinson lauds a prescient, original writer.

Quantum mechanics predicts that objects can simultaneously exist in a superposition of two states. Kneeet al.propose and demonstrate experimentally a protocol which fully confirms this prediction, by testing the so-called Leggett–Garg inequality in a non-invasive manner.

STING–type-I interferon pathway regulates the immunogenicity of several cancer types, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Here the authors describe that glutamine metabolism in the tumour microenvironment dampens the STING–type-I interferon pathway by epigenetically silencing the expression of BATF2, which functions as a tumour suppressor.

A giant planet candidate roughly the size of Jupiter but more than 14 times as massive is observed by TESS and other instruments to be transiting the white dwarf star WD 1856+534.

Enceladus’s interior ocean could sustain a pole-to-equator overturning circulation, which might mean its bulk salinity is greater than that estimated from plume sampling by Cassini, according to numerical simulations.

Telescopic measurements of asteroids' colours rarely match laboratory reflectance spectra of meteorites owing to a 'space weathering' process that rapidly reddens asteroid surfaces. 'Unweathered' asteroids, however, with spectra matching ordinary chondrite meteorites, are seen only among small bodies with orbits that cross inside the orbits of Mars and Earth. Such unweathered asteroids are now shown to have experienced orbital intersections closer than the Earth–Moon distance within the past half-million years.

A trans-ancestry meta-analysis of GWAS of glycemic traits in up to 281,416 individuals identifies 99 novel loci, of which one quarter was found due to the multi-ancestry approach, which also improves fine-mapping of credible variant sets.

Wei et al. perform spatial transcriptomic profiling on synovial tissue biopsy samples from individuals with recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis, finding TGFβ signaling and fibrogenic fibroblast activation drive a treatment-refractory tissue phenotype.

Therapeutic options for patients with renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) are limited. Here the authors report the results of a phase II clinical trial of anti-PD1 nivolumab plus anti-CTLA4 ipilimumab in RMC, associating the activation of a myeloid mimicry program in tumor cells to the rapid disease progression and hyper-progression observed in treated patients.