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The ability to assemble weakly-interacting subsystems is a prerequisite for implementing quantum-information processing. In recent years, molecular nanomagnets have been proposed as suitable candidates for qubit encoding and manipulation, with antiferromagnetic Cr₇Ni rings of particular interest. It has now been shown that such rings can be chemically linked to each other and the coupling between their spins tuned through the choice of chemical linker.

Climate change is a major human rights challenge. This research shows how climate change is impeding the human rights of Ni-Vanuatu, outlines what can be done in response, and discusses how the future loss and damage fund should consider human rights restoration and compensation packages.

Chronic tinnitus is often treated with cognitive-behavioural therapy, hearing aids, counselling, or sound therapy, but their combined benefit is unclear. Here, the authors show, in a multicentre randomised trial, that combination treatments improve tinnitus scores more than single therapies, though benefits appear compensatory rather than synergistic.

The ferroelectric material α-GeTe(111) is an excellent playground for spin-to charge conversion due to its strong Rashba coupling. Here, the authors reveal an ultrafast modulation of its Rashba coupling on the femtosecond timescale.

Using multimodal MRI-derived white-matter features combined with BOLD-fMRI and MEG connectivity, Nelson et al. demonstrate that white-matter myelin is a major, frequency-dependent predictor of large-scale functional connectivity across brain networks.

A data-efficient deep learning model developed to predict ground-state and photophysical properties of molecules and nanomaterials by learning many-body Green’s functions achieves an accuracy surpassing the state-of-the-art density functional theory calculations.

Two-dimensional polyaramid polymers are synthesized to form nanofilms that exhibit the lowest gas permeability of any polymer by orders of magnitude, despite lacking crystallinity, enabling molecular-scale nanomechanical resonators and barrier materials.

Optical frequency combs in the mid-infrared are required for molecular gas detection applications but their realization in compact microresonator-based platforms is challenging. Here, Griffith et al. demonstrate on-chip broadband comb generation on a silicon microresonator spanning from 2.1 to 3.5 μm.

Glycosylation of human IgG antibodies in bacterial hosts has proven challenging. Here, the authors identify a bacterial enzyme enabling E. coli to glycosylate IgGs at native sites, thereby advancing therapeutic antibody development in this host.

Carbonate parameters in regions with low oxygen and high natural CO₂ are sensitive to added CO₂ but do not always suffer anthropogenic ocean acidification; outcomes depend on the combined action of available anthropogenic CO₂ and buffering

Analysis of individual-level patient records from Brazil reveals that the extensive shocks in COVID-19 mortality rates are associated with pre-pandemic geographic inequities as well as shortages in healthcare capacity during the pandemic.

Two out of 15 dogs from households with confirmed human cases of COVID-19 were asymptomatically infected with SARS-CoV-2 and showed antibody responses to the virus.

Marine sponges host bacteria that produce diverse bioactive compounds. Here, the authors conduct a large-scale metagenomic, single-bacterial and biochemical study to reveal the untapped biosynthetic potential of ‘Entotheonella’ symbionts, a talented producer taxon from microbial dark matter.

Lateral heterojunctions between two-dimensional semiconductor crystals are essential building blocks for electronic devices. Here, the authors utilize electron-beam lithography and selective conversion to simultaneously fabricate arrays of molybdenum diselenide–molybdenum disulfide heterojunctions.

Microplastics (MPs) represent an environmental hazard which must be resolved by efficient, cheap, and sustainable remediation technology. Here the authors use an engineered algae to capture MPs and treat wastewater, the captured algae-plastic mix is upcycled into a tougher bioplastic composite.

Analysis of eukaryotic gene sequences using a relaxed molecular clock methodology indicate that eukaryotes emerged 3.0–2.25 billion years ago as a result of mitochondrial endosymbiosis with complex archaea that already possessed an elaborated cytoskeleton, membrane trafficking, endomembrane, phagocytotic machinery and a nucleus.

CaBLAM is a bioluminescent genetically encoded calcium indicator that delivers high-contrast signals as shown in cell culture, in the in vivo mouse brain and in zebrafish larvae.

G protein-coupled receptors and their effectors can now be released directly from a lipid bilayer using infrared irradiation for proteoform-level characterization by native top-down mass spectrometry. This represents a critical development for drug discovery, as the direct role of post-translational modifications in protein–protein and protein–drug interactions can be characterized.

Heat transport across interfaces can be restricted due to interfacial thermal resistance between different materials. Here, authors find experimental evidence of a significant and enduring heat barrier between two high-energy-density materials that is consistent with interfacial thermal resistance.

Human challenge studies with SARS-CoV-2 have shown changes in the innate and adaptive immune response. Here the authors are examining potential correlates of infection in virus challenged recipients by assessing baseline immune parameters and how this predicts virus control.

Holo-acyl carrier protein synthase (AcpS) is an enzyme that catalyses the first step in lipid synthesis and is essential for bacterial survival, but no current antibiotics targeting AcpS are known. Here, the authors use computer-aided drug design to develop a structurally unique antibiotic family targeting AcpS.

Targeting individual DNA secondary structures in the genome with small molecules is challenging. Here, the authors develop ATENA, a CRISPR-based platform for targeting specific DNA structures in cells with high precision, helping to elucidate their biological roles and guide therapeutic design.

Velocimetry diagnostics such as photon Doppler velocimetry (PDV) are essential to the field of shock and high energy density physics. Here, the authors demonstrate a system that dramatically extends the velocity dynamic range of PDV into the regime of fusion experiments by harnessing a time lens.

Tree longevity is thought to increase in harsh environments, but global evidence of drivers is lacking. Here, the authors find two different pathways for tree longevity: slow growth in resource limited environments and increasing tree stature and/or slow growth in competitive environments.

GRX-810, an oxide dispersion strengthened alloy, shows excellent structural performance above 1100°C and stability up to 1300 °C. Grain-size effects, additive manufacturing–induced anisotropy, and fine trigonal Y₂O₃ particles enhance creep resistance.

REMETA is a method for meta-analyzing gene-based associations using summary statistics, integrating with REGENIE and improving computational efficiency for large studies with many phenotypes.

In cancer many gene variants may contribute to disease etiology, but the impact of a given gene variant may have varied effect size. Here, the authors analyse summary statistics of genome-wide association studies from fourteen cancers, and show the utility of polygenic risk scores may vary depending on cancer type.

Optimizations of X-ray nanotomography including the choice of resin allows high-resolution imaging of mouse brain tissue, approaching the resolution of volume electron microscopy. Since it does not require slicing the tissue, this technology may become an attractive alternative to current standard methods for connectomics.

A national prospective study of patients requiring hospitalization for COVID-19 demonstrates global cognitive deficits at 1 year, associated with elevated brain injury markers and reduced gray matter volume.

EDI048 is a gastrointestinal-targeted Cryptosporidium PI(4)K inhibitor that undergoes a predictable metabolism and limits systemic exposure without compromising its anti-parasitic activity.

Supervised deep learning models hold promise for the interpretation of histology images, but are limited by cost and quality of training datasets. Here, the authors develop a self-supervised deep learning method that can automatically discover features in cancer histology images that are associated with diagnosis, survival, and molecular phenotypes.

The latent circuit model identifies low-dimensional mechanisms of task execution from heterogenous neural responses. This approach reveals a latent inhibitory mechanism for context-dependent decisions in neural network models and the prefrontal cortex.

Large scale neural recordings show that task-related activity is observed across neural circuits. Here, the authors have identified a network mechanism that promotes distributed activity in the cortex during decision-making via task-independent synapses.

In this study, the authors assess the global response to the toxic aldehyde glyoxal (GO) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, suggesting that GO controls quorum sensing during infection through a mechanism involving a novel protein, ArqI.

The Kondo effect has been observed in a variety of systems, including carbon nanotube quantum dots and graphene in the presence of impurities. Here, the authors report the observation of the Kondo effect in bilayer graphene quantum dots and study its interplay with weak spin-orbit coupling.

Slow switching speeds in device configurations have severely limited the applications of electrochromic materials. Here, Xu et al. use plasmonic nanoslit arrays and demonstrate fast, high-contrast, monochromatic and full-colour electrochromic switching using two different electrochromic polymers.

Paramagnetic heterometallic rings have long been considered as possible qubits within a quantum information processing system. Here, the authors employ supramolecular chemistry to fabricate multiple rings around multi-armed threads, as an important step towards generating useful qubit arrays.

Tuning the electronic properties of nanocatalysts by doping them with uniformly dispersed hetero-metal atoms is an effective way to improve catalytic performance. Here, the authors show that weakening the Cu–O bond energy in CuO nanocatalysts boosts the efficiency of NH₃ oxidation.

Creative experiences such as dance, music, drawing, and strategy video games might preserve brain health. The authors show that regular practice or short training in these activities is linked to brains that look younger and work more efficiently.

Until now, efforts to enhance the performance of nanolasers have focused on reducing the rate of non-radiative recombination. Here, Burgess et al.employ controlled impurity doping to increase the rate of radiative recombination.

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.

tRNAs fold into defined structures and extensively interact with cellular proteins and ribosomes. Here, the authors develop a chemical mapping sequencing method to profile human tRNA structures and their interactions in cells. Their results reveal dynamic tRNA structurome and interactome in response to stress with consequences in translational regulation.

Early high-resolution images of two 2021 novae reveal eruptions unfolding in multiple stages with colliding outflows that produce shocks and gamma rays, reshaping our understanding of stellar explosions.

By leveraging both deep learning and hidden Markov models, Helixer achieves broad taxonomic coverage for ab initio gene annotation of eukaryotic genomes from fungi, plants, vertebrates and invertebrates.

JWST has revealed many prolate, filamentary galaxies at z ≈ 3–8. Hydrodynamical simulations reproduce this trend only in warm or wave dark matter models, where smooth filamentary accretion dominates over the hierarchical fragmentation seen with cold dark matter.

USP30 has been proposed to regulate mitophagy, a relevant Parkinson’s disease mechanism. Here, the authors show that Usp30 knockout mice and USP30 inhibitors like MTX115325 demonstrate neuroprotective responses in an alpha-synuclein mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.