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Even when neocortical neurons form in abnormal locations, they retain their identity and function, revealing that brain circuit formation can be guided by intrinsic developmental programs rather than physical position.

Space missions imaging small asteroid moons revealed the variety in shapes. Here, the authors show that repeated low-speed collisions can explain the shape of Selam, which is the smaller component in Dinkinesh-Selam binary asteroid system.

Hundreds of genetic loci associated with age at menopause, combined with experimental evidence in mice, highlight mechanisms of reproductive ageing across the lifespan.

A statistical mechanical theory on the effects of the denaturant molecule on the protein helix–coil transition is developed. The unfolding agents are assumed to attach to the polypeptide backbones and disturb the formation of the hydrogen bond. The polypeptide becomes denaturated by the following reaction: h (helix) ⇌c (random coil) ⇌c* (random coil attached by denaturant). The results obtained from the theory are compared with the experimental result of short oligopeptides.

Aligning foundation models with human judgments enables them to more accurately approximate human behaviour and uncertainty across various levels of visual abstraction, while additionally improving their generalization performance.

A model with a more plausible collision scenario explains the formation of Mercury through a giant impact between two bodies of similar size. The model also obtains very accurate results in terms of the iron core-mass fraction.

In this work, the authors performed a single-cell genotyping and transcriptomics analysis, revealing cell-type-specific and nonautonomous effects of mTOR pathway mutations in mosaic focal cortical dysplasia.

Using cross-areal mapping of axonal projections in the mouse neocortex, we identify the subtype-specific developmental dynamics of extratelencephalic neurons and show the functional transcriptional programs driving extratelencephalic neuron diversity.

Climate change has led to a significant decrease in streamflow, particularly in the Negro River in the Andes, posing water scarcity risks and necessitating effective management strategies, according to streamflow reconstruction and tree-ring data analysis.

The initial cellular alterations underlying changes in digit numbers and identities were unknown. Here, Palacio et al. identify two limb bud progenitor populations that are impacted in an opposing manner by changes in BMP antagonism linked to congenital and evolutionary digit variations.

A search for transient dark matter in the form of domain walls of axion-like particles finds no statistically significant signal. This places constraints on our theoretical understanding of such scenarios.

Infrared and neutron spectroscopic observations by Dawn give contrasting results on the elemental composition of Ceres’s surface, which can be reconciled by assuming that Ceres’s surface contains ~20 wt% of carbon, coming from impacts by carbonaceous asteroids and/or generated by extensive aqueous alteration.

In Drosophila neuroblasts, Centrobin marks the daughter centriole, which, in contrast to the mother centriole, is able to retain pericentriolar material (PCM) and organize an interphase microtubule aster thought to guide the subsequent asymmetric division. Gonzalez and colleagues demonstrate that Centrobin is necessary and sufficient to mediate this centrosome asymmetry, that it binds centriole and PCM proteins, and is regulated by POLO kinase.

Dry-season climate variability is a primary driver of tropical tree growth, according to observations from a pantropical tree-ring network.

Learning-activated engram neurons play a critical role in memory recall but the role of these neurons in offline memory consolidation is unclear. The authors show that sleep-associated reactivation of learning-activated sensory neurons is necessary for memory consolidation.

Analysis of 2,170 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Spain provides insights into transmission patterns and the effects of lockdown on the emergence of new variants.

NEK7 is a kinase known for its role in mitotic spindle assembly, driving centrosome separation in prophase through regulation of the kinesin Eg5. Here, the authors show that NEK7 and Eg5 also control dendrite morphogenesis in postmitotic neurons.

In meiosis, HORMAD1 promotes alignment of homologues chromosomes and formation of the synaptonemal complex and is required for efficient accumulation of checkpoint and repair proteins on unsynapsed DNA.

Bacterial two-component systems are composed of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) and an effector response regulator and upon signal detection, the HK autophosphorylates a conserved His residue. Here the authors structurally and functionally characterise two HKs, HK853–RR468 and EnvZ–OmpR, and find that the rotamer of the phosphorylatable catalytic His is not influenced by the environmental pH, ruling out an earlier proposed pH-gated model.

Combined analysis of the connectome and transcriptome in the mouse cortex indicates that dynamic differences in expression levels of largely generic sets of genes regulate differential targeting within neuronal subtypes.

Histone H4 is released from neutrophil extracellular traps and induces membrane lysis in vascular smooth muscle cells, leading to the destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques.

A population of free-floating planets in Upper Scorpius that is larger than that predicted by core-collapse models suggests that the ejection of planets due to dynamical interactions early in the lifetime of a forming planetary system is more common than prevoiusly thought.

Analysis of the spread of the 20E (EU1) variant of SARS-CoV-2 through Europe suggests that international travel and insufficient containment, rather than increased transmissibility, led to a resurgence of infections.

In mature neurons the centrosome no longer functions as the main microtubule organizer and it is unclear how ordered microtubule arrays are assembled. Here, the authors show that in post-mitotic neurons this process depends on non-centrosomal nucleation mediated by the protein complex augmin and the nucleator gamma-TuRC.

Storrs et al. train unsupervised generative neural networks on glossy surfaces and show how gloss perception in humans may emerge in an unsupervised fashion from learning to model statistical structure.

Bacteria use two-component systems (TCSs) to sense and respond to environmental changes. Here, the authors show that Staphylococcus aureus can survive in the absence of all its 16 TCSs under growth arrest conditions, and each TCS seems to be sufficient to sense and respond to specific environmental clues.

Observations of a stellar occultation by (10199) Chariklo, a minor body that orbits the Sun between Jupiter and Neptune, reveal that it has a ring system, a property previously observed only for the four giant planets of the Solar System.