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Although river protection is core to social and environmental well-being, the extent to which river conservation policies are effective is difficult to assess. This study reveals that, under all relevant protection mechanisms in the contiguous USA, only 12% of rivers are adequately protected.

RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) is typically considered as an essential enzyme. Here the authors show that natural degradation of RNAPII drives chromatin reorganization in growing oocytes, preparing the chromatin for genome activation after fertilization.

The authors in this work present a study with multiplexed gene editing that is used to assess all possible mutations at a native drug binding site. The approach yields data that predicts spontaneous resistance, that aligns with in silico predictions, and that promises to facilitate drug discovery.

The authors realize two- and three-site Kitaev chains in semiconducting quantum dots coupled via superconductors and tune them to the sweet spot where zero-energy Majorana modes appear at the chain ends. To assess Majorana localization, they couple the system to an additional quantum dot.

Crop choice strongly influences irrigation energy needs. Chiarelli et al. provides crop specific irrigation energy data, showing that irrigation under the current scenario uses 1.38×10⁹ GJy^-1 and under sustainable expansion, will use 1.62×10⁹ GJy^-1.

The transcription factor CarD facilitates the activation of transcription in many bacteria and in Rhodobacter sphaeroides, CarD compensates for suboptimal promoter DNA sequences. Here, the authors show CarD function is tied to promoter DNA topology.

This study quantifies the environmental impact associated with photovoltaics manufacturing and demonstrates significant CO₂ emissions savings, depending on solar cell technology and the composition of the electricity mix in the region of manufacture.

Humans alter the daily timing of animal activity, potentially reshaping predator–prey interactions. This meta-analysis reveals that larger species tend to “lose” under human disturbance, with large predators overlapping less with their prey, and large prey overlapping more with their predators.

This work reports optical studies of circular and linear dichroism to image, respectively, chiral and nematic spin ordering in the layered triangular-lattice antiferromagnet Co1/3TaS2. Phases with co-existing chirality and nematicity are revealed.

Here, the authors find that time-varying brain network analysis better captures cognitive processing than static methods and reveals network measurement linked to task performance and psychopathology that offer precise neural markers for mental health risks.

Energy gaps can be induced by spatial modulation of the electronic potential. Here, the authors demonstrate a large and robust energy gap in a free-standing carbon nanotube utilizing a 15-gate keyboard that spatially modulates the local potential.

GDF15 has been associated with cancer-associated cachexia. Here, the authors show that STK11/LKB1 loss-of-function mutations in non-small cell lung cancer result in an exaggerated integrated stress response culminating in the tumor cell secretion of the cytokine GDF15 promoting cachexia.

Mangrove ecosystems are facing severe climate threats. However, this study shows that strategically expanding protected areas to include the most climate-resilient sites can safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services for the future, and this can be achieved with only a modest increase in protected area.

OSCA/TMEM63 proteins act as both ion channels and mechanically activated lipid scramblases. They translocate lipids through open pores, with cholesterol inhibiting scrambling, aiding membrane remodeling and cell resilience under mechanical stress.

Aerial surveys over the Permian Basin found 500+ major methane leaks, many recurring. A few sites leaked continuously and offer quick mitigation wins. These super-emitters may produce ~50% of regional emissions, underscoring the need for frequent monitoring.

Beta-glucan is an inducer of trained immunity, an epigenetic and metabolic reprogramming of the innate immune cells conferring immunological memory. Here the authors show that glucan-induced trained immunity enhances response to a cancer vaccine platform in colorectal cancer models, by inducing epigenetic and metabolic rewiring of macrophages that promotes an NK-cDC1 axis boosting anti-tumor immunity.

Here, using anatomy, transcriptomics, and functional assays, the authors reveal how Japanese wisteria climb using an unusual vascular architecture. Ectopic cambia arise from cortical cells and repurpose conserved cambium regulators, including KNOX genes.

The authors describe a stacked generalization approach to predicting missing links in food webs that considers both species traits and network structure, achieving near-perfect performance on many empirical food webs.

This study shows that contrail avoidance can recover 9% of the global temperature budget by 2050. For every year of delay, the recoverable warming will diminish by 0.6%. This makes inaction (not fuel penalties) the most significant climate risk associated with avoidance.

This study shows that promoter and enhancer functions are often linked within the same DNA sequences. Using a dual-reporter assay, the authors reveal shared sequence features and co-dependent activities supporting a unified model of gene regulation.

After two years of mass azithromycin distribution to preschool age children in rural Niger, in this study, authors present evidence that selection of antibiotic resistance genes was not spread from treated villages to nearby untreated villages.

Structural variants are an underexplored source of genetic diversity. Here, the authors use phased pangenome graphs to improve detection of these variants in dairy cattle and link these variants to traits of economic importance.

Weak social connections are thought to influence how people age. This study finds that deficits such as living alone or low social integration relate to faster physiological ageing, while no statistically significant associations are observed with perceived aging.

High energy use in controlled environment agriculture clouds its potential as a lower-carbon option for agri-food transformations. The authors find that using a Maximum Energy-use Threshold in specific contexts can provide a potential solution.

The contribution of ether lipid species in cancer cell fate has not been fully understood yet. Here the authors show that malignant cancer cells employ ether lipids to modulate membrane biophysical properties, enhancing iron endocytosis and ferroptosis susceptibility.

This work highlights how changes to beaches are related to sand movement and human impacts to the coast and illuminates opportunities for sand management to resolve shoreline erosion and enhance beach sustainability.

Peroxidases have long been considered to use ferryl heme intermediates (Fe(IV) = O) to catalyze oxidative chemistries. Here, Williams et al. find that ferric-oxyl (Fe^III–O^•–) excited states exist along the catalytic reaction coordinate of a peroxidase.

Japonica subspecies has a lower nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) than that of indica rice. Here, the authors show that natural variations in the NIN-like protein 4 (OsNLP4) encoding gene are responsible for the divergence and introgression of the indica OsNLP4 allele into elite japonica cultivar can increase NUE and grain yield.

In this work, authors develop a “mini-bladder” model with a perfusable lumen that reveals how urine and its solute composition impact tissue resilience and enables cell-wall-deficient uropathogenic Escherichia coli to persist in tissues and drive recurrence in urinary tract infections.

How white matter develops along the length of major tracts in humans remains unknown. Here, the authors identify fundamental patterns of human white matter development along distinct axes that reflect brain organization.

Dimorphic organisms switch between two distinct life forms, but how a single genome controls the genetic program for both states is unclear. The study identifies hundreds of convergently evolved gene families and two regulator genes, dkl and dfl, that coordinate expression to optimize the two morphologies of Mucorales fungi.

Although antiretroviral therapies (ART) have expanded the life expectancy of patients with HIV, they are not curative due to the presence of latently infected cells. Here, the authors present IMC-M113V, a bispecific soluble TCR targeting the HIV peptide Gag_77-85 complexed to HLA-A*02:01 as an approach for targeting HIV reservoirs and test safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics in a first-in-human clinical trial on 12 HLA-A*02:01-positive male individuals on ART.

Photocatalytic water splitting using a single particulate photocatalyst is a cost-efficient approach for sustainable hydrogen production. Here, the authors report a nanoscale Ba_xSr_1-xTaO₂N solid-solution photocatalyst exhibits an apparent quantum efficiency of 13.5% for H₂ evolution at 420 nm.

Despite advances in enzyme design and engineering, the development of biocatalysts featuring a combination of tailored stereoselectivity with broad substrate scope has been very difficult. Focusing on a new-to-nature reaction, the authors report a mechanism-based, multi-state computational design workflow for the generation of ‘generalist’ cyclopropanases capable of transforming a broad range of substrates with tailored and divergent stereoselectivity.

A joint analysis of sugars and amino acids in the Orgueil meteorite, a proxy for asteroids Bennu and Ryugu, reveals multiple biologically relevant sugars, including ribose, supporting efficient sugar formation in space and a richer prebiotic delivery to early Earth.

Luppi et al. identify transcriptomic and connectomic controllers of information integration and its breakdown induced by anaesthesia in humans, macaques, marmosets and mice.

This study applies machine learning to fMRI data to map developmental variations in functional connectivity, uncovering heterogeneity across individuals and cortical regions that predicts neurocognitive maturation in youth.

In this work, the authors present their Chloroalkane Azide Membrane Permeability (CHAMP) assay that measures cytosolic accumulation of small molecules in Escherichia coli, enabling rapid profiling of compounds, with the goal to simplify and accelerate antimicrobial drug discovery.

A streamlined blood test using mass spectrometry improves measurement of amyloid-β for early Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, requiring less sample volume and reagents while maintaining high accuracy, sensitivity and strong agreement with brain imaging.

Forests are essential for both climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, yet how to balance these goals in managed forests remains unclear. Here, using a Europe-wide dataset, the authors find that biodiversity increases with carbon stocks, but mostly when deadwood is included.

Wafer bonding has allowed the synthesis of twisted interfaces which support polar discontinuities in ferroelectric lithium niobate. Two-dimensional sheet conductivity arises but is suppressed when twist angles lead to interfacial lattice aperiodicity.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses are of global concern. This study shows that a low-dose H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b Alum/CpG-adjuvanted vaccine elicits broad, durable antibody and T cell responses and protects female mice against lethal homologous and heterologous H5N1 challenges.

Large-effect variants in autism remain elusive. Here, the authors use long-read sequencing to assemble phased genomes for 189 individuals, identifying pathogenic variants in TBL1XR1, MECP2, and SYNGAP1, plus nine candidate structural variants missed by short-read methods.

Using the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, the authors show that earthquake-triggered landslides increased mountain carbon storage by ~10% from 2008 to 2020, as vegetation recovery and sediment burial retained carbon, revealing earthquakes and landslides function as long-term carbon capacitors.

Avian influenza jumped from wild birds into dairy cattle. Here, the authors report that two mutations in the viral polymerase helped the virus to quickly adapt to cattle. Mutations increased the polymerase activity and made the virus better at replicating in human cells.

Most kiwifruit species are vulnerable to high levels of heat stress. Here, the authors report natural variation at the GATA transcription factor binding site of EGY3 gene mediates chloroplastic ROS homeostasis to confer kiwifruit thermotolerance.

MicroRNAs guide Argonaute proteins to repress gene expression. Here, the authors define the binding rules for five Drosophila miRNAs, showing a narrow preference for canonical seed sites and identifying non-canonical sites with comparable affinities.

Projected impacts of climate change on malaria burden in Africa by 2050 highlight the urgent need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems to safeguard progress towards malaria eradication.

Mapping global alluvial channel patterns reveals a hidden dominance of anabranching channels, constituting nearly half of the total reach length globally.