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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.

The band gap of bulk semiconductors widens when excited by sub-bandgap wavelengths at low temperature—it’s the optical Stark effect. Here, the authors measure a room temperature optical Stark effect in lead halide perovskite films, due to their well-resolved excitonic transitions.

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.

Most studies assessing food self-sufficiency look at calories and neglect nutrient gaps. Comparing food demand and potential food production under land and water constraints, this study quantifies 9 key nutrient gaps for each of African’s 54 countries.

There is a challenge of overestimation in figures of merit for organic electrochemical transistors due to a kink in the transistor current. Here, the authors investigate the origin of the kink and identify the charge transport phenomena that is impacted.

Ferroelectric ordering of moiré excitons and collective photon emission emerge in WSe₂/WS₂ heterobilayers near the Mott state driven by strong dipolar interactions and a transition to symmetry-broken ferroelectric phases.

Realising scalable entangled photon sources with quantum dots requires compensating for both wavelength mismatches and exciton fine-structure splitting (FSS). So far, multiple QDs with the same emission wavelength and near-zero FSS have not been demonstrated. Here, the authors fill this gap, reaching high entanglement fidelity for multiple QDs tuned into resonance with each other or with Rb atoms.

Xeno-learning uses preclinical data from one species to boost the performance of neural networks applied to another species when exploring physiological responses.

Native state proteomics of PV interneurons revealed unique molecular features of high translational and metabolic activity, and enrichment of Alzheimer’s risk genes. Early amyloid pathology exerted unique effects on mitochondria, mTOR signaling and neurotransmission in PV neurons.

The precise manipulation of unfunctionalized hydrocarbons remains a fundamental challenge in chemical synthesis and catalysis. Here an organocatalytic asymmetric hydroxylation of bicyclobutanes with alcohols is disclosed, enabling efficient access to tertiary cyclopropylcarbinyl ethers with high enantioselectivity (up to 98:2 e.r.).

The cytoplasm can be partitioned into distinct compartments by microtubule structures, which can be stabilized by distinct mechanisms in different species.

Engineering motif-specific 'hot spots' into an antibody scaffold yields antibodies with high affinity to targets containing phosphoserine, phosphothreonine or phosphotyrosine.

Berghoff et al. discover that polycrystalline MAPbI₃ undergoes transient Wannier Stark localization at moderate field strengths, exhibiting substantial optical modulation with a fast response time. Since the polycrystallinity does not hinder the switching behaviour, this low-cost material is promising for light modulation and photonic applications.

Magnetic heliknotons are hopfions embedded in helical spin backgrounds. Current-induced nucleation and Hall-effect-free motion of isolated magnetic heliknotons is demonstrated in the chiral magnet FeGe.

Approved antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) remain constrained by a limited repertoire of payloads with restricted modes of action. Here, the authors present phosphoramidate-based self-immolative linker units that facilitate stable attachment in serum and traceless drug release in the target cell from aliphatic and aromatic alcohols with various modes of action.

Flooding threatens urban economies via direct damages and supply-chain disruptions. Losses grow nonlinearly: wealthier cities incur larger absolute losses, while poorer cities face higher relative impacts, highlighting tailored resilience measures.

Many-body interactions have important consequences for the optoelectronic properties of 2D materials. Here, the authors report on how many-body interactions affect the behavior of the valley-selective optical Stark effect for excitation near the A-exciton resonance in monolayer WS₂.

In strong enough electric fields the non-linear response of electrons in crystals is expected to lead to spatial localization but so far this has only been seen in artificial structures. Schmidt et al. present evidence of this Wannier-Stark localization effect in bulk GaAs driven by intense mid-infrared pulses.

This work presents a layer-engineering mechanism that enables the continuous tuning of the dipole moment of interlayer excitons in layered materials, resulting in enhanced dipole moment and enhanced dipole-dipole interactions as the number of layers increases.

The quantum-confined Stark effect is conventionally observed in inorganic semiconductor multilayer quantum well structures that are expensive to make. Here Walters et al. report large Stark effects in easily made layered hybrid perovskites and exploit the orientational polarizability of dipolar cations.

Experiments with a trapped-ion quantum simulator observe Stark many-body localization, in which the quantum system evades thermalization despite having no disorder.

Women of reproductive age may have specific concerns relating to perceived impacts on fertility and menstrual cycles that make them hesitant to receive COVID-19 vaccination. In this study, the authors explore COVID-19 vaccine uptake rates in women of reproductive age using linked data for ~13 million women in England.

Niche conservatism is a key assumption when planning non-native species management, but it is not always met. This study suggests that regional differences in niche conservatism are primarily transient and thus a matter of time.

Identifying jets originating from heavy quarks plays a fundamental role in hadronic collider experiments. In this work, the ATLAS Collaboration describes and tests a transformer-based neural network architecture for jet flavour tagging based on low-level input and physics-inspired constraints.

The authors report an experiment demonstrating fast control of the quantum dot–cavity coupling, indicating the coherent transfer of photons between the cavity and the quantum dot.

Global material use is rising unsustainably, but its distribution across individuals remains unclear. A study now reveals deep inequality in household material footprints, especially for non-renewable resources, and suggests that curbing overconsumption among the wealthy is key to sustainability.

In this work, authors present a nanoinducer (bacNID), which enables targeted bacterial protein degradation via ClpXP, leading to the effective treatment of bacterial infection (Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella typhimurium) without inducing resistance.

Rydberg atoms have the potential to serve as broadband receivers but require lasers with  > 100 GHz scan ranges to observe multiple states. We bridge this major gap with an optical frequency comb for rapid preparation of over 7 Rydberg states.

Exciton propagation in CrSBr is strongly influenced by magnetic properties, particularly peaking at the Néel temperature. Its transport is not governed by classical diffusion but rather by an interaction with the spin degree of freedom, specifically through a magnon–exciton drag effect.

Analysis of the 3D chromatin architecture and cis-regulatory elements in a sea urchin and a sea star reveals mechanisms of 3D chromatin organization in echinoderms and the long-term evolutionary dynamics of cis-regulatory elements in animals.

Phonon engineering with anisotropic Lorentz-type dielectric oscillations enables the creation of hyperbolic asymptotic line polaritons, achieving broadband diffraction-free propagation.

Light-induced phonon dynamics in 2D (BA)₂PbI₄ films reveal transient lattice shifts to a tetragonal phase, driven by Higgs-mode vibrations. Below-bandgap excitation causes larger spectral shifts, showing strong optomechanical coupling in perovskites.

Although electrometers based on quantum defects have advanced, achieving time-resolved detection of charges with subnanometer resolution remains challenging. Here the authors use a negatively charged tin-vacancy center in diamond to distinguish charge traps at the lattice scale with high temporal precision.

Candida albicans must adapt to hypoxia. Here, the authors discover the sterol C4-methyl oxidase (SMO) Erg251 is essential for extreme hypoxic growth, as well as virulence and colonization, and that SMO inhibitors have therapeutic potential.

Two-qubit operations exceeding 99% fidelity have been demonstrated by silicon devices made with standard semiconductor tooling in a 300-mm foundry environment.

There is a continuous effort to improve the accuracy of atomic clocks. Here the authors measure the static differential scalar polarizability of Lutetium ion resonant transitions and its lower light shift from blackbody radiation makes it a promising candidate for ion-based atomic clocks.

Adding tunable photon-photon nonlinearities to programmable photonic circuits would greatly extend their capabilities. Here, the authors demonstrate this by embedding a photonic-crystal waveguide nanostructure hosting an InAs quantum dot within a programmable linear optical circuit, and using it to realise a proof-of-concept quantum simulation of anharmonic molecular vibrational dynamics.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can greatly improve healthcare delivery and outcomes, but potential embedded biases can affect fairness in clinical deployment. Here, the authors develop a simulation-based approach to explore which formalisations of AI algorithmic fairness translate into long-term outcome fairness, with a focus on breast cancer.

Detecting proton arrangements and quantum behavior at the atomic level is a challenge. Here, the authors use atomic force spectroscopy to reveal symmetry breaking in the proton arrangement in cyclic hydrogen bonds caused by nuclear quantum effects.

LSFM imaging revealed 3D islet maps: GADA+ cases mirrored controls, while short-duration T1D showed loss of small INS + GCG– islets but preserved larger mixed INS + GCG+ ones, highlighting islet size- and composition-dependent vulnerability

Opacities are considered to be the source of the disagreement between theoretical solar models and helioseismic data. Here, the authors show solar opacity profiles derived from seismic inferences, which differs from theoretical values used in the solar models.

Npm1 promotes tumor formation via attenuating the integrated stress response and p53 activation in mouse WNT-driven intestinal and liver tumorigenesis.

The authors show that a bacterial histone, HLp from Leptospira perolatii, forms tetramers that wrap and compact DNA, revealing an unexpected mechanism by which bacteria organize their genetic material.

Authors combine neutron scattering and MD simulations to study psychrophilic bacteria, linking proteome dynamics to the state of the proteome folding in the context of differential thermal adaptation.

The Antarctic winter phytoplankton production is experiencing an underestimated acceleration based on the spaceborne LiDAR. This trend is linked to the declining sea ice, highlighting the Southern Ocean’s escalating role in the global carbon cycle.

This study projects the private costs and monetized climate and health damages of electrifying long-haul heavy-duty diesel trucks. Battery electric trucks yield net positive societal benefits by 2035, contingent on policies that accelerate adoption.

The spin of an electron bound to a single phosphorus atom in silicon is of interest for spin-based electronics such as quantum computing. Here, Büch et al. show these spin properties are retained even for clusters of a few phosphorus atoms, providing an additional means for quantum bit addressability.