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Drone-mounted LiDAR scans reveal two remote cities buried high in the mountains of Central Asia — plus, how a digital watermark could help identify AI-generated text.

The ingestible device shoots out tiny jets of drugs to deliver them to the GI tract of pigs and dogs — plus how light-powered catalysts could help break down ‘forever chemicals’.

Natural petroleum seepage emits large volumes of oil and methane to the oceans every year, accompanied by the formation of asphalt volcanoes on the sea floor. The discovery of seven asphalt volcanoes off the coast of southern California may help to explain high methane emissions recorded during the late Pleistocene.

The diatom Pseudo-nitzschia produces the neurotoxin domoic acid, known to cause illness and death in marine mammals and humans. Measurements of surface- and deep-water domoic acid concentrations off the coast of California suggest that this toxin is rapidly transported to depth following diatom blooms.

Catabolism of extracellular glutathione by γ-glutamyltransferases supports tumour growth and survival, and pharmacological targeting of these enzymes slows tumour growth.

CRISPR–Cas9 screening identifies CLCC1 as a factor that increases neutral lipid flux to prevent hepatic steatosis and promotes nuclear pore complex assembly by promoting membrane bending and fusion.

The Greenland shark, the longest-living vertebrate, inhabits the dim, frigid depths of the Arctic Ocean. Despite its extreme lifespan, this study finds that its vision remains intact and well-adapted for life in dim light, revealing remarkable preservation of sensory function across centuries.

Differences in the sequence and timing of ocean circulation changes across glacial terminations could affect the magnitude of deglacial atmospheric CO₂ rise. Here, the authors argue that late ocean circulation recovery during the penultimate deglaciation (T2) led to a larger rise in CO₂compared with T1.

Minerals in drinking water are valued for taste and nutrition, yet their roles during enteric infection remain poorly understood. A mouse model study shows that magnesium can worsen Salmonella-induced inflammation by reshaping gut microbiota.

Eggerthella lenta is a prominent human gut bacterium implicated in several physiological processes, but its study has remained limited. Here, by developing a genetic toolbox for E. lenta, the authors provide insights into how the bacterium regulates drug and dietary compound metabolism.

The heterogenous nature and dynamics of endogenous protein complexes pose challenges for conventional structural biology techniques. Here, the authors develop a native nanoproteomics strategy for the enrichment and subsequent native top-down mass spectrometry (nTDMS) analysis of endogenous cardiac troponin (cTn) complex directly from human heart tissue.

MK-7762 is a new oxazolidinone antitubercular agent that is structurally similar to linezolid, and demonstrated in vivo efficacy, lesion penetration and limited toxicity compared to linezolid, indicating it could be used in broad tuberculosis regimens.

The microbiota may mediate the differential responses to oral cholera vaccine (OCV). Here, the authors reveal that the presence of sphingolipid-producing bacteria is associated with the development of protective immune responses after OCV.

We find that bile salt hydrolase N-acyltransferase activity can form bacterial bile acid amidates that are positively correlated with the colonization of gut bacteria that assist in the regulation of the bile acid metabolic network.

An analysis of bowel samples from bowhead whales collected yearly from 2004–2022 indicates increasing algal toxin concentrations in Arctic food webs due to warming ocean conditions.

Mesocosm experiments revealed that both phytoplankton community composition and cellular acclimation influence marine particulate C:N:P ratios, with community shifts more sensitive to nitrogen supply and acclimation to the nutrient N:P supply ratio

Here they show that PPARα-dependent mitochondrial programming promotes the differentiation of pluripotent stem cell-derived β cells. Targeting mitochondria has the potential to improve β cell replacement efforts for the treatment of type 1 diabetes.

Experiments and modelling unravel mechanisms of nitrous oxide production from nitrate, the primary nitrous oxide production pathway in oxygen minimum zones. Results highlight the critical role of microbial interactions in regulating this pathway.

Despite being consumers, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria contribute to the accumulation of nitrite in marine oxygen minimum zones through interactions with other microbes, in particular denitrifiers, according to ecosystem and regional ocean modelling.

A spatially explicit global estimate reveals that land–water connections are important for regulating methane supply to running waters, and that these connections are vulnerable to both climate change and direct human modifications of the land.

Here, by integrating faecal metabolomics, metagenomics, and habitual dietary data of two large human cohorts, the authors show that faecal metabolites reflect diet and gut microbiome interactions, predict dietary patterns, and indicate cardiovascular risk, offering insights for diet-based health interventions.

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).

Mussels produce a dynamic bio-interface between their living tissue and their non-living byssus attachment, relevant for design of implant devices. Here, authors discover a mechanoresponsive protein that may mediate mechanosensing at the interface.

Oceans are on the front line of new planned climate actions, but understanding of novel marine-climate intervention development and deployment remains low. Here a survey among intervention practitioners allows identification of science and governance gaps for marine-climate interventions.

Large swathes of standing dead trees or ‘ghost forests’ can form owing to rising sea levels in coastal areas, but the extent to which this occurs is unclear. This study maps ghost forests at the individual tree level along the US Atlantic coastal region.

What is the best way for predators to find food when prey is sparse and distributed unpredictably? Theory predicts that in such circumstances predators should adopt a Lé-flight strategy, in which short exploratory hops are occasionally interspersed with longer trips. When prey is abundant, simple Brownian motion should suffice. Now, analysis of a large data set of marine predators establishes that animals do indeed adopt Lévy-flight foraging when prey is sparse, and Brownian episodes when prey is abundant.

Spectroscopic studies of allosteric activation of Aurora A kinase using a site-specific infrared probe combined with FRET analysis and molecular dynamics simulations reveals a water-mediated hydrogen bond network in the active site that regulates Aurora A activity.

Biological uptake in the surface and release in the deep ocean contribute to oceanic nickel distribution, including the residual surface Ni pool, according to culture experiments, field data and global biogeochemical circulation modelling

During filamentous growth in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, a reduction in ribosome concentration leads to a decrease in macromolecular crowding. Inhibition of ribosome biogenesis can trigger filamentous growth in this pathogen.

Cell surface receptors perceive immunogenic elicitors, triggering downstream signalling via receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases such as BIK1. Here the authors define and use the phosphorylation motif of BIK1 to find novel substrate candidates.

Failing to account for emission differences between day and night will lead to an underestimate of global CO₂ emissions from rivers by up to 0.55 PgC yr^–1, according to analyses of high-frequency CO₂ measurements.

Methylmercury is a strong neurotoxin that accumulates in aquatic biota. Here, the authors demonstrate that the concentration of thiol compounds associated with dissolved organic matter controls the bioavailability of methylmercury in aquatic systems

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the preeminent drug delivery vehicle for mRNA therapies, partially due to the ionizable lipid (IL) components that facilitate endosomal escape. Here, authors devise terminally branched ILs that enhance endosome escape, resulting in increased liver and T cell delivery.

Methane levels in the oceans’ surface waters are higher than those in the atmosphere, which is puzzling. Here the authors show that marine bacteria of the ubiquitous SAR11 group can release significant amounts of methane when feeding on phosphorus-containing compounds such as methylphosphonic acid.

Unlike the Arctic, the Southern Ocean has shown little warming. An analysis of observations and numerical simulations suggests that Southern Ocean warming patterns are shaped by meridional overturning more than surface heating.

Whether excessive light activated photo-protective compounds accumulation functions as sunscreen or participating in modulating photoreceptor responses in plants is still unclear. Here, the authors provide evidences to support the role of flavonoid pathway intermediates in integration of light signals into plant development.

Tsusaka et al. discover that histone deacetylases, which are well known to remove protein modifications, such as lysine acetylation and β-hydroxybutyrylation, can also reverse their chemical activity to add lysine modifications.

Studies have identified that mutations to metabolic enzymes can lead to abnormal biological activity and disease. Here, the authors show that in addition to this, non-enzymatic chemistry could also influence abnormal metabolic processes and disease development.

Whether rivers are speeding up or slowing down in a warming Arctic is unclear, but has implications for carbon cycling and infrastructure. This study finds divergent behaviour in migration rates for rivers in discontinuous versus continuous permafrost, driven by changes in permafrost thaw and river ice.

Bond et al. show that inducible PolG mutation in muscle causes mtDNA damage and muscle wasting. This is driven by the integrated stress response (ISR) and reduction in folate intermediates, linking impaired folate metabolism with ISR/disease induction.

[¹⁸F]OXD-2314 is a brain penetrant positron emission tomography radiotracer with high affinity for tau aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and non-AD tauopathies based on in vitro and in vivo studies, and is suitable for first-in-human use.

Acyl carrier proteins (ACPs), a universal and highly conserved carrier of acyl intermediates during fatty acid and polyketide synthesis, are difficult to visualise. Here, the authors developed a facile, Raman spectroscopy-based method to detect ACP-substrate interactions.

Oxygen in shallow shelf waters rose linearly with atmospheric oxygen in the Neoproterozoic era, potentially driving the first radiation of marine animals, but widespread ocean oxygenation came later, according to reconstructions of oxygen levels and marine productivity.

The cellular organelles peroxisomes contribute to the sensitivity of cells to ferroptosis by synthesizing polyunsaturated ether phospholipids, and changes in the abundances of these lipids are associated with altered sensitivity to ferroptosis during cell-state transitions.

As Greenland’s huge calving glaciers melt, they pump sediment deep into biologically rich fjords. In this study, the quantity and path of this sediment is tracked and an empirical relationship is found between sediment and the amount of surface melt on the glacier.

Allele-preferential transcription factor binding can influence pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma risk loci function. Here, the authors show allele-specific JunB and JunD binding at chr1p36.33 and propose a role for KLHL17 in protein homeostasis by mitigating inflammation.