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More than 500 near-infrared laser photons are scattered by a single electron into a single X-ray photon. This is the first experimental evidence of high-order multiphoton Thomson scattering and validates the decades-old theoretical predictions.

Climate change can alter when and how animals grow, breed, and migrate, but it is unclear whether this allows populations to persist. This global study shows that shifts in seasonal timing are key to helping vertebrate species maintain population growth under global warming.

Metabolite signatures were identified for subtypes of dietary carbohydrate, including added sugar, whole grain and refined grain, and showed different associations with type 2 diabetes, providing an objective measure of dietary risk.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Patricia Munroe, Joanna Howson and colleagues genotype ∼350,000 individuals and identify 30 new blood pressure– or hypertension-associated risk loci. Their analyses provide insights into the pathophysiology of hypertension and highlight new potential targets for clinical intervention.

Multimetallic solid–liquid–solid core–shell–shell nanoparticles are synthesized using liquid gallium as a nanoreactor. Characterization reveals core dissolution and recrystallization within the liquid gallium nanoreactor during the synthesis. The resulting nanoparticles show promising performance as electrocatalysts for CO₂ reduction, wherein the solid core is accessed as the catalytic domain while preserving the nanoreactor.

Carey and colleagues reveal 35 major latent constructs (factors) in the phenotype data of unrelated individuals with predominantly estimated European genetic ancestry from UK Biobank.

SOHO has provided a high-quality, continuous record of the Sun and its atmosphere. Marking the thirtieth anniversary since SOHO’s launch, this Review highlights its legacy, shaping our understanding of the Sun, and the new space missions it has inspired.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

An optimal model-experiment integration for testing many complex hypotheses is still lacking. Here authors introduce improv, a modular software platform enabling real-time adaptive neuroscience experiments, orchestrating parallel data collection, modeling, and experimental control. Authors demonstrate various use cases, including online neural analysis and closed-loop optogenetics in zebrafish.

Increasing use by industry showcases stem cell technology as research tool.

Isolation and optimization of antibodies targeting the malaria parasite may offer the potential for immediate protection as a prophylactic intervention to prevent severe disease.

Acute febrile illness is common in sub-Saharan Africa and causative agents are often unknown. Here, the authors perform metagenomic sequencing on samples from patients with acute febrile illness in Uganda for which no diagnosis was available through routine diagnostic screening.

Statins are effectively used to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease, but patient response to these drugs is highly variable. Here, the authors identify two new genes associated with the response of LDL cholesterol to statins and advance our understanding of the genetic basis of drug response.

A case–control study investigating the causes of recent cases of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in 32 children identifies an association between adeno-associated virus infection and host genetics in disease susceptibility.

Van Hove singularities have the potential to drive unconventional magnetic states in Kagomes. Here, the authors provide experimental and theoretical results suggesting a van Hove singularity-assisted spin density wave in the Kagome metal CeTi₃Bi₄.

Observations of optical flares from AT2022tsd (the ‘Tasmanian Devil’) show that they have durations on the timescale of minutes, occur over a period of months, are highly energetic, are probably nonthermal and have supernova luminosities.

Using high-resolution measurements in a magnetically confined plasma, two distinct turbulence types were directly observed: local turbulence, which carries heat, and nonlocal turbulence, which rapidly links distant regions. The authors show that nonlocal turbulence appears first after heating and becomes increasingly dominant for shorter pulses, revealing how mediator structures enhance nonlocal transport.

An investigation using various methods reports an association between adeno-associated virus 2 and paediatric hepatitis of unknown aetiology.

A consensus cell type atlas for the fly brain provides both an intellectual framework and open-source toolchains for brain-scale comparative connectomics.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

The Omicron variant evades vaccine-induced neutralization but also fails to form syncytia, shows reduced replication in human lung cells and preferentially uses a TMPRSS2-independent cell entry pathway, which may contribute to enhanced replication in cells of the upper airway. Altered fusion and cell entry characteristics are linked to distinct regions of the Omicron spike protein.

Analysing camera-trap data of 163 mammal species before and after the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns, the authors show that responses to human activity are dependent on the degree to which the landscape is modified by humans, with carnivores being especially sensitive.

COVID-19 can be associated with neurological complications. Here the authors show that markers of brain injury, but not immune markers, are elevated in the blood of patients with COVID-19 both early and months after SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in those with brain dysfunction or neurological diagnoses.

A study of SARS-CoV-2 variants examining their transmission, infectivity, and potential resistance to therapies provides insights into the biology of the Delta variant and its role in the global pandemic.

The use of electric fields to control the magnetization of ferromagnetic materials could enable more efficient electronics. Lei et al.show that by applying lateral strain to a magnetostrictive nanowire with a piezoelectric, voltage-controlled gating of magnetic domain wall motion in the wire can be achieved.

This study introduces an extensible framework—Morpho—for shape optimization, enabling researchers to predict the structure of soft materials, such as complex fluids, gels, particulate and biological materials.

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.

Chromodomain Helicase DNA-binding (CHD) proteins have been implicated in neurodevelopmental processes. Here, the authors identify missense variants in CHD3 that disturb its chromatin remodeling activities and cause a neurodevelopmental disorder with macrocephaly and speech and language impairment.

A vibrational spectroscopy technique is used to study vapour, liquid and solid water within isolated carbon nanotubes and reveals phase transitions that show an extreme sensitivity to nanotube diameter, with melting temperatures higher than 100 °C for 1.05 and 1.06 nm diameter nanotubes and below 0 °C for 1.24 and 1.44 nm diameter nanotubes.

A long-duration campaign to image the Sun’s middle corona—a region about 1.5–3 solar radii from the centre—reveals three dynamical processes that shape and restructure the middle corona. The dynamics can influence the global coronal structure and beyond.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

The suppression of edge-localized modes in tokamak plasmas is crucial to prevent them from damaging the walls of the chamber. Now experiments confirm the role that magnetic islands play in suppressing these detrimental modes.

Poor training in use of tests allows ‘superbugs’ to evade surveillance.

Whole-genome sequencing and phenotype data sharing are introduced in a national health system to streamline diagnosis and to discover coding and non-coding variants that cause rare diseases.

Natural product biosynthesis gene clusters were identified in bacterial isolates from the Arabidopsis phyllosphere, including inhibitory products with antibiotic activity, demonstrating the potential of the phyllosphere as a resource for antibiotics.