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A high-resolution spectroscopic analysis reveals ultralow amounts of heavy elements in the star SDSS J0715−7334. The star originates from the Large Magellanic Cloud and probably formed directly after the first stars through dust cooling.

The creation of stable and isolated magnetic hopfions—three-dimensional topological solitons—has remained experimentally challenging. Now the laser-induced nucleation of hopfions has been achieved in a chiral magnet.

The TRACS algorithm tracks bacteria, viruses and parasites in metagenomic or population sequencing data, detecting microbial transmission even when multiple strains coexist within a host.

Quantification of links among insect pollinators, crop plants, nutrient intake and income of smallholder communities in Nepal show that pollinators substantially contribute to their income and micronutrient intake.

Coordinated X-ray and radio observations reveal that disk winds and jets occur mutually exclusively in 4U 1630–472, providing new observational constraints on the interplay between different modes of outflow in X-ray binaries.

Electrochemically mediated CO₂ capture typically makes use of sorbents that must be reduced before binding CO₂, a process often hampered by competitive oxygen reduction reactions. Here the authors develop N-heterocyclic imines that capture CO₂ in the neutral state and release it with near-theoretical Faradaic efficiency upon electro-oxidation, avoiding the competing reaction.

Arboviruses often co-circulate, but cross-reactivity hampers serological diagnostics. Here, the authors paired multiplex serology with competitive immunoassays and Bayesian modelling to quantify antibody cross-reactivity and extract virus-specific signals from exposure data, enabling reconstruction of transmission dynamics.

Black phosphorus is an allotrope of phosphorous that, like graphite, can be exfoliated to create two-dimensional materials. Here, the authors use Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations to investigate the anomalous behaviour of phonons near different black phosphorus edges.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, but can also be used as a source for advanced carbon materials. This work shows a sustainable approach to produce high-value carbon fibres through methane pyrolysis.

The authors identify a cluster of proteins that target human complement and bind plasminogen, revealing a conserved structural fold and a multifunctional immune evasion strategy that enables survival of Borrelia recurrentis in the human host.

Genomic analyses of DNA from modern individuals show that, about 800 years ago, pre-European contact occurred between Polynesian individuals and Native American individuals from near present-day Colombia, while remote Pacific islands were still being settled.

The DAMPE satellite observed a universal charge-dependent spectral softening in primary cosmic rays, and ruled out mass-dependent softening with >99.999% confidence.

Mapping of genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in human islet alpha and beta cells highlights age- and type 2 diabetes-dependent adaptations, and CRISPR-based epigenetic editing strategies validate key targets in human islet beta cells.

Complex coupled ion–electron interfacial processes are poorly understood but crucial to battery dynamics. Here an ion-localization optical nanoscopy that enables single-ion imaging at 50 nm spatial and 20-ms temporal resolution at the single-particle level is presented and used to observe metal stripping cooperativity on Zn anodes.

Studying gravitational waves from a black-hole merger can constrain both the magnitude and direction of the remnant’s recoil, offering new ways to test black-hole formation scenarios and support multi-messenger observations.

Natural and sexual selection can be in opposition favouring different trait sizes, but disentangling these processes empirically is difficult. Here Okada et al. show that predation on males shifts the balance of selection in experimentally evolving beetle populations, disfavoring a sexually-selected male trait but increasing female fitness.

ThermoCas9, a genome-editing enzyme that is sensitive to the DNA methylation status of the target locus, is characterized and shows promise for targeting hypomethylated DNA regions in cancer cells.

Daily satellite data reveal that Earth’s artificial lights at night are highly volatile, with frequent brightening and dimming between 2014 and 2022.

In this phase 1/2 trial, patients with Ewing sarcoma received trabectedin and low-dose irinotecan at concentrations known to inhibit the activity of the transcription factor EWS::FLI1, leading to encouraging clinical response rates.

Here, the authors identify SpiR, a gut bacterial enzyme that converts cholesterol, exclusively in a clade of uncultured gut bacteria, and show it is a superior predictor of microbial cholesterol metabolism in humans.

Transmission of Plasmodium falciparum relies on the development of gametocytes, which undergo extensive cellular remodelling. Here, the authors demonstrate that the PfGID E3 ubiquitin ligase complex affects gametocyte development by regulating key proteins, producing defective cells that cannot infect mosquitoes.

In this study, authors investigate what happens to magma before a volcanic eruption. They find that crystals react to magma flow before it reaches the surface, preserving a mechanical fingerprint of the forces driving eruptions.

In this phase 1, open-label dose-escalation study in healthy adults found that the mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1215), encoding the Nipah virus Malaysian strain chimeric pre-fusion F protein linked to glycoprotein G, was safe and induced elevated immune responses at 1 year of follow-up, indicating that this is a promising vaccine candidate for further development.

The anti-CRISPR protein AcrVA2 specifically interrupts Cas12a biogenesis by triggering co-translational mRNA degradation.

The topographical features of insect wings result in some interesting surface properties, including hydrophobicity and antibacterial activity. Here the authors identify the surface of black silicon as a mimic of dragonfly wings and show that it too possesses antibacterial activity.

This Commission aims to resolve the current dialysis policy challenges in Thailand and generate lessons for the global kidney community by drawing on empirical evidence, systems thinking and multidisciplinary expertise to generate policy goals and recommendations.

Selecting for varieties of commercial crops with enhanced nutritional quality is important in agriculture. Here, the authors identify alleles of a gene in tomatoes that give rise to increased levels of vitamin E and find that the promoter of the gene is differentially methylated.

Most bacteria use a flagellum, to swim and disseminate in their environment, and it is essential for virulence. In Vibrio, the flagellum is surrounded by a sheath, a membrane-like shield that protects the bacterium from the host’s immune system. Here, authors have obtained a view of the sheathed flagellum to atomic levels, revealing the molecular details of how the flagellum rotates within the sheath.

This paper identifies the ‘master regulators’ that maintain cell transcriptional states in diffuse midline gliomas and shows that targeting them in combination could represent a promising therapeutic avenue for the disease.

Tissue patterning is essential to development. Now it is shown that boundary cues can drive the patterning of embryonic tissue.

In vivo adenine base editing corrects a common Pex1 pathogenic allele in mouse models of Zellweger spectrum disorder, rescuing liver pathology, fatty acid levels, body weight and peroxisome function.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells show inherently low antioxidant defenses, making them prone to lethal oxidative stress induced by thioredoxin reductase 1 (TXNRD1) inhibitors. Here, authors demonstrate that activating NRF2 mediated tissue protection allows increased therapeutic dose of TXNRD1 inhibitors to enhances SCLC cell killing in vivo without added toxicity to healthy tissues.

Genome-wide analyses identify genetic loci and plasma proteins associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This study highlights the hormonal and metabolic foundations of the disease and explores the impact of polygenic risk for PCOS in both sexes.

Plasma and CSF p-tau biomarkers show similar dynamics across Alzheimer’s disease progression, though plasma %p-tau217 and eMTBR-tau243 show less ceiling effect than CSF. Combining %ptau217, %p-tau205, and (e)MTBR-tau243 supports staging and prognosis.

ALMA observations have established the presence of warm, X-ray-heated gas near a supermassive black hole at redshift z = 6, demonstrating that highly excited CO lines are a powerful method for exploring heavily dust-obscured quasars in the early Universe.

The lowest-frequency gravitational wave background may be shaped by supermassive black hole binaries that scatter nearby stars or dark matter. In this case, the NANOGrav 15-year dataset favours dense galactic centres with 10⁶ solar masses per cubic parsec.

Strategies to upcycle plastic waste are critically needed to mitigate their impacts on the environment and public health. Here the authors introduce a programmable, microbial-based platform that converts end-of-life plastics into a suite of high-value products, ranging from fuels to biopolymers.

mRNA vaccine efficacy is enhanced by silencing cell-type-specific expression.

Few-layer black phosphorus (BP) is a promising semiconductor, but it is highly reactive and susceptible to ambient degradation. Covalent functionalization with aryl radicals has now been shown to significantly improve the stability of exfoliated BP, as well as the performance of BP-based electronic devices through a controllable p-type doping effect.

Analyses of snRNA genes in a French cohort of people with rare disorders, with validation through international collaboration, identify monoallelic and biallelic variants in RNU2-2 as frequent causes of neurodevelopmental disorders with epilepsy.

Treatment-seeking for fever is widely used to estimate treatment of childhood infections, but cross-country comparisons are problematic. Here, the authors estimate the probability of seeking treatment for fever at public facilities across 29 countries by quantifying person-level latent variables.

Centennial-scale variations in methane carbon isotope ratios are attributed to changes in pyrogenic and biogenic sources that can be correlated with anthropogenic activities, such as varying levels of biomass burning during the period of the Roman empire and the Han dynasty, and changes in natural climate variability.

Complex behaviors in amorphous solids, disordered magnets, and crumpled sheets can be traced to hysteric subsystems, or hysterons, within them. Here, the author translates an abstract hysteron model into a tunable mechanical structure that has stable memory and can process mechanical information.

Therapy to allergy often targets a specific allergen without addressing cross-reactivity. Here the authors develop a consensus, cross-reactive allergen, use mRNA-lipid nanoparticle immunization to induce specific, neutralizing IgG responses, but find no therapeutic effects in mouse allergy models, hinting the need for further optimization prior to translation.

Methane in modern subglacial meltwater coming from the western Greenland Ice Sheet largely dates back to the period following the Holocene Thermal Maximum, when a smaller ice sheet allowed organic matter accumulation and biological methane production after ice readvance.

This research presents a computational theory linking serotonin to reduced belief stickiness, tested through a randomized, double-blind study. Findings indicate that higher escitalopram levels correlate with improved inference, suggesting implications for obsessive–compulsive disorder treatment.