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Membrane ion channels can be responsive to a variety of stimuli such as pressure, temperature, or pH. Here, the authors show that simply shining 365 nm light activates a native potassium channel in rodent pain-sensing neurons, delivering powerful analgesia without drugs or genetic manipulations.

Behaviour changes, rather than vaccination or postinfection immunity, best explained the sudden decline of mpox cases among men who have sex with men during an outbreak in the Paris region in 2022, according to a network model and survey data.

That attention is a rhythmic process has received abundant evidence. Here, the authors reveal the natural sampling rate of auditory and visual periodic temporal attention. Both are antagonistically modulated by overt motor activity, a result generalised in a dynamical model of coupled oscillators.

Bunel et al. show that mitochondria behave as asymmetric fate determinants in vertebrates in vivo. Forcing their unequal segregation during mitosis is sufficient to drive premature neural differentiation of the daughter inheriting the smallest pool.

Variants in the PSMC5 gene impair proteasome function and cellular homeostasis, altering brain development in children. This study reveals underlying molecular mechanisms contributing to this neurodevelopmental phenotype, and suggests therapeutic leads for neurodevelopmental proteasomopathies.

Trace fossils from the end Ordovician of South Africa suggest a low-diversity meiofaunal benthic community fed by episodic concentrations of phytoplankton (marine snow).

Mitochondria play roles in sensing environmental and physiological stress, but their response can become maladaptive during chronic stress. Here they identify a protective miRNA response in C. elegans that maintains tissue health by attenuating mitochondrial stress signaling.

Retinal prostheses aim to restore sight by stimulating residual retinal cells. Here, the authors develop a photoacoustic stimulation technology using a PDMS and carbon-based flexible film that activates retinal cells with near-infrared laser pulses, ex vivo and in vivo.

The neural mechanisms driving seizure development in peritumoral brain regions remain incompletely defined. Here, using patient tissue, glioma mouse model, and computational simulation, the authors identify early pathological activities that are predictive of tumor-associated seizures.

Optical frequency combs are key tools in spectroscopy and telecom. Here, authors report a stable and broadband comb (>10 THz) from a high-Q fiber Fabry-Perot resonator via Kerr-Brillouin passive mode-locking. This easily integrable platform ensures state-of-the-art photonic performance.

The authors use atomistic calculations with machine-learned interatomic potentials to show that dislocation motion in metals like iron and tungsten involves a nearly constant activation entropy, challenging prior models and improving strength predictions.

Imaging through complex media is challenging because scattering results in image blurring. By introducing a fingerprint operator and applying it to the measured reflection matrix, information on a target within a complex medium becomes accessible.

Mecp2 deficiency underlies Rett syndrome, a genetic disorder presenting with chronic low-grade inflammation of unknown origin. Here, the authors show that Mecp2 is a central regulator of the onset, breadth and nature of nucleic acid immunity.

CRISPR-Cas9 is an adaptive immune system that protects bacteria against invading DNA. Here, the authors show that the master virulence regulator CovR controls the CRISPR-Cas9 system in Streptococcus agalactiae, allowing transient increases in Cas9 off-target activity to overcome escape mutations in the target DNA, boost immune memory recall, and promote new memory acquisition.

A demonstration of the ability to coherently control the collective attosecond dynamics of relativistic electrons driven through a plasma by an intense laser represents an important step in the development of techniques to manipulate and study extreme states of matter.

Eggplants are important vegetables worldwide. Here, the authors report 40 genome assemblies of Solanum melongena, its progenitor S. insanum and the allied species S. incanum to construct two pangenomes, and identify loci associated with multiple traits via pangenome-wide association analysis.

To stop bleeding from an injured vessel, platelets adhere and form a clot despite high shear stress from the flow. Here, the authors show that platelet actin disassembly is a key step that enables a receptor to translocate to membrane lipid rafts, enhancing its adhesive function under shear stress.

A complementary analysis of DESI DR2 distance measurements along with supernova and CMB data shows consistent, moderate evidence that dark energy changes over time rather than behaving as a simple cosmological constant.

Visualisation of multiprotein complexes in cellular contexts remains challenging. Here, the authors present a tripartite chemogenetic fluorescent reporter, which enables the imaging of ternary protein complexes in living cells, advancing the study of dynamic multiprotein interactions across diverse cellular locations.

The temporal characterization of few-femtosecond vacuum ultraviolet pulses bring new opportunities for investigating ultrafast light-matter interactions.

Open-ended survey questions may provide useful detail on possible venues of transmission of infectious diseases, but data are difficult to analyse at scale. Here, the authors use large language models to extract potential transmission venues in ~80,000 responses to an open-ended COVID-19 survey question in France.

Wildfire risk in California’s WUI is rising. Analysis of past events shows home hardening and defensible space can reduce structure loss by up to 52%, but coordinated, community-scale action is essential to maximize impact.

Temporal clustering of sleep spindles and their phase coupling with slow oscillations shape motor memory, revealing complementary sleep mechanisms that promote either skill consolidation or generalization.

Marie Arnaud discusses how underground time-lapse photography can be used to measure root dynamics in coastal wetlands.

Understanding how biological invaders displace native species is challenging. Here, the authors compare the evolution of life-history strategies in the harlequin ladybird under laboratory conditions and show that invaders reproduce earlier and allocate more resources to reproduction than natives.

Broadband integrated electrical modulators are key components for photonic systems. Here, the authors present a room temperature mid-IR free-space amplitude modulator based on a semiconductor heterostructure that exploits the change in reflectance occurring at the change between weak and strong coupling.

Saber et al. show that the lipase DDHD2 provides endogenous saturated fatty acids to support fatty acid oxidation and energy production, proteostasis and membrane trafficking balance.

The products and dynamics in mutual neutralisation of \({{{{\rm{O}}}}_{2}}^{+}\) with O⁻ occurring in atmospheric sprites are unknown. Here, the authors reveal a dissociative two-step mechanism via intermediate Rydberg states and a dependence on the \({{{{\rm{O}}}}_{2}}^{+}\) vibrational state.

Single-agent maintenance PARP inhibition may represent an effective strategy for advanced/metastatic endometrial cancer treatment. Here this randomized phase IIb UTOLA trial evaluates the efficacy and safety of orally administered olaparib in female patients (n = 145) without progression following front-line platinum-based chemotherapy for advanced/metastatic endometrial cancer.

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.

In normal dispersion, modulation instability, which is a precursor of Kerr combs, is forbidden due to phase mismatch. Here, the authors show the compensation of such phase mismatch by introducing frequency-dependent loss using a notch filter, hence leading to effective parametric gain and comb formation.

The emergence of resistant subpopulations often underlies the development of resistance to cancer therapy. Here, using a DNA barcoding approach, the authors demonstrate EGFR TKI treatment in non-small cell lung cancer enriches for resistant subpopulation which can be prevented by treatment with the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib via inhibition of MKNK, STAT3 and MCL1.

Two-phase materials hold great promise for multifunctional applications. To realize practical devices, it is first necessary to obtain a high degree of control of the phase composition. By taking into account the properties of each phase, it is now possible to control the strain at the interfaces between them in two-component materials, and obtain phase ordering at large scales.

Structural and functional characterization of the β-barrel assembly machinery complex in Bacteroidota reveals a distinct, seven-component complex with a large extracellular domain that may enable β-barrel–surface lipoprotein complex assembly.

Group A trichothiodystrophy is caused by mutations in the p8 subunit of the TFIIH complex, involved in transcription and nucleotide-excision repair. Now the structure of the yeast ortholog of p8 in complex with a fragment of the yeast ortholog of p52 shows how p8 stabilizes p52 and thus the whole TFIIH complex.

The influence of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation on Atlantic marine systems and fisheries is complex. This Review outlines the mechanisms by which El Niño–Southern Oscillation impacts the tropical and South Atlantic, connecting physical climate perturbations to biogeochemical and ecological responses.

School-based non-pharmaceutical interventions were widely used for COVID-19 control. Here, the authors use simulations to investigate how the potential effectiveness of these interventions can vary depending on the relative contribution of community and school-based transmission.