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Electrochemical urea oxidation can coproduce nitrite and H₂, but it typically lacks selectivity. Here, the authors address this issue by designing doped Lewis acid sites to trigger a hydroxyl spillover mechanism, resulting in highly selective nitrite production and efficient energy conversion.

The perceived toxicity of organometallic reagents has limited their use in living systems. Now it has been shown that balancing flexible chelation with biocompatible ligands without precluding chemical reactivity enables organonickel-mediated S-arylation inside cells. This reaction enables deep chemical surveys of reactive proteins and covalent tracking of intracellular viral and bacterial pathogens.

Here the authors report NiGa₂O_4–x(OH)_y for light-driven CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol. The surface Lewis acid–base pairs and -OH groups act as conduits for H^- /H⁺ transport to active sites, enhancing photocatalytic methanol production.

Recently superconductivity was observed in La₃Ni₂O₇ ultrathin film grown on the SrLaAlO₄ substrate with T_c ≈ 40 K at ambient pressure. Here, the authors propose that an imposed strong perpendicular electric field can strongly enhance the T_c in the single-bilayer film of La₃Ni₂O₇ at ambient pressure.

Higher dimensional vortical structures are being explored in optical and acoustic systems via complex wave interference. However, deterministic generation has not been reported. Here, the authors demonstrate emergent 3D optical vortices in a gradient-thickness optical cavity.

The authors obtain tetragonal La3Ni2O6.92 single crystals at ambient pressure by post-annealing in a high-oxygen-pressure environment. Experimental results on these samples suggest that the tetragonal structure is not a prerequisite for achieving superconductivity in La3Ni2O7.

Turning CO2 into useful fuels is promising for cleaner energy but remains hard due to low efficiency. This study shows that a spinel-engineered catalyst boosts ethanol formation by promoting C–C coupling while suppressing further carbon-chain growth.

Hydrogen production coupled with electrochemical oxidation of organic nucleophiles is often limited by catalyst’s reconstruction at the anode. Here, the authors developed the stable Ni(II) active sites in Prussian Blue analogue for fast, selective ethylene glycol electrooxidation and constructed an effective coupled electrochemical hydrogen production flow cell.

Strong paramagnetism is generated in hydrogels rich in carbon–oxygen double bonds simply by coupling with diamagnetic Ca cations. These paramagnetic hydrogels are applied as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents and magnetic drug carriers.

There is tremendous ongoing effort in the development of electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution. Here, the authors report that single nickel atoms dispersed on graphitic supports are formed by carbonization of metal-organic frameworks and that they are highly active hydrogen evolution catalysts.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the bile acid transporter OSTα–OSTβ, which has a key role in bile acid homeostasis, provide insight into its distinct architecture and mechanism of substrate translocation.

While many catalytic modes of palladium have been able to be supplanted by nickel catalysis, which is more Earth-abundant, enantioselective nickel-catalysed C–H activation remains unexplored. Here, the authors report an enantioselective C–H activation of metallocenes via a nickel–1′-bi-2-naphthol catalytic system.

Psychedelics and their non-hallucinogenic analogues were compared, revealing that serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT_2AR)-mediated G_i signalling is essential for hallucinogenic effect, with the functional mechanisms underlying this providing insights for designing therapeutic drugs without hallucinogenic effects.

Several recent works have highlighted the importance of the orbital currents in transferring angular momentum within materials. In combination with spin-orbit coupling, such orbital currents can be used to alter the magnetization of a material. Herein, the authors demonstrate the inverse effect, showing orbital current driven terahertz emission in Nickel based heterostructures.

Reactive capture bypasses CO₂ regeneration, enabling efficient CO production but with low Faradaic efficiency. The authors report a Ni–N₃ molecular catalyst that resists amino acid adsorption and promotes efficient CO production in amino-acid systems.

The spin-orbit coupling present in certain nonmagnetic/ferromagnetic metal bilayers could enable electrical control of pure spin currents in future spintronic devices. Xiao et al. report the signatures of such coupling, even when the two layers are separated by a third copper layer.

A self-powered symbiotic transcatheter pacemaker that regenerates energy via electromagnetic induction from the cardiac motion demonstrates a month-long operation in a porcine model of arrhythmia and surpasses the critical energy condition for lifelong service.

High-entropy nanocarbides (HENCs) containing 5–22 metal elements are synthesized through a nanoconfined impulse synthetic strategy enabled by Joule heating-induced in situ reactions in carbon nanotube films. These HENCs exhibit multi-element effects and enhanced electrocatalytic activities due to their nanoscale size and modified catalytic sites.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

La₅Ni₃O₁₁, a hybrid Ruddlesden–Popper nickelate, exhibits pressure-induced superconductivity with a high superconducting volume fraction. It offers insights into the interplay of structure and electronic order in nickelate superconductors.

Common methods for regulating metal-support interactions for single-atom catalysts usually suffer from interference of the variation of supports or sacrificing the stability of catalysts. Here, the authors report a facile electrochemical deposition strategy to design highly active oxygen evolution catalysts with site-specific metal-support interactions via selective anchoring of single atoms.

Li-ion cathode active materials are transitioning from poly- to single-crystal structures. However, the performance of high Ni-content single-crystal cathodes remains below expectations. Here, via Al/Zr co-doping, the authors propose a strategy to mitigate structural degradation in this class of materials.

Water oxidation is a key component of water splitting, but more effective catalysts for the process are still required. Here the authors synthesize a monolayer nickel-vanadium layered double hydroxide material showing high activity for water oxidation owing to enhanced conductivity and abundant active sites.

Early vertebrates, particularly myllokunmingids, possessed four camera-type eyes (a pair of lateral eyes and pineal and parapineal organs), which indicates that these structures functioned in image formation, in support of the hypothesis that the four camera-type eyes represent an ancestral vertebrate trait.

The development of effective, earth-abundant cocatalysts is critical for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction. Here, authors report the assembly of transition metal hydroxides on graphene to act as cocatalyst ensembles for efficient CO₂ photoreduction.

Superconductivity was recently discovered in La₄Ni₃O₁₀ under pressure in proximity to a density-wave phase. Here, by stabilizing a tetragonal form of La₄Ni₃O₁₀ at ambient pressure, the authors show that the density-wave state is crucial for the superconductivity, but the tetragonal structure is not.

Achieving efficient carbon chain propagation remains a grand challenge for ethanol upgrading. Here, the authors report sulfur doped Ni@C-Sx catalysts with controllably exposed nickel sites that can dramatically improve direct-growth probability towards long-chain alcohols production.

Achieving selective and precise modification of macromolecules under biocompatible conditions (such as aqueous solutions, mild temperatures, and neutral pH) remains a significant technical challenge. Here, the authors develop a photoinduced coupling reaction based on N-hydroxy naphthalimide esters, which is effective in biologically relevant conditions.

Electrochemical oxygen reduction is a promising method for H₂O₂ production but suffers from poor activity and low yield. In this work, the authors present Ni single atom catalyst for efficient H₂O₂ production which is further coupled with organic oxidation reaction to enhance the economic feasibility of the system.

Single-crystal Ni-rich cathodes suffer from side reactions with the electrolyte and slow Li-ion transport during high-voltage cycling. Herein, a Li_1.4Y_0.4Ti_1.6(PO₄)₃ coating is applied to facilitate the Li-ion transport and improve the cycling life of the cell.

Charging at high voltages in principle makes batteries energy dense, but this is often achieved at the cost of the cycling stability. Here the authors design a sulfonamide-based electrolyte to enable a Li metal battery with a state-of-the-art cathode at an ultra-high voltage of 4.7 V while maintaining cyclability.

Semi-metallic single crystals of antimony can be deposited using molecular beam epitaxy on molybdenum disulfide to create ohmic contacts with resistance of under 100 Ω µm at a contact length of 18 nm.

Although structurally ordered intermetallic nanocrystals are promising electrocatalysts for fuel cells, their high-temperature large-scale preparation has proved challenging. A low-melting-point-metal-induced bond strength weakening strategy to promote alloy catalyst ordering is now proposed.

A Ni²⁺-modified MspA nanopore construct can unambiguously discriminate the 20 proteogenic amino acids as well as several post-translational modifications.

Converting alkynes into alkenes with high stereoselectivity via two consecutive C-C bond forming steps is a desirable process, yet very challenging. Here, the authors describe a dual photoredox-nickel catalytic system for the regio- and syn-selective alkylarylation of terminal alkynes with alkyl oxalates and aryl bromides.

The role of cations in the CO₂ electroreduction is crucial, but elusive. Here, the authors combine electrokinetic on a well-defined single-atom catalyst with grand canonical potential kinetics simulations to provide an in-depth study of the interaction of K ⁺ -ions with adsorbed CO₂⁻.

Fire hydrants can create stagnant zones in drinking water systems that degrade water quality. This study shows that stagnant water has much higher metal and microbial levels than flowing water, revealing distinct chemical and microbial shifts that may pose health risks.

A short peptide derived from a commensal-fungal-secreted protein promotes repair in models of colon epithelial damage when delivered directly or via probiotic microbes.

The need to use blue or high-energy near-UV light limit the synthetic applications of the combination of photocatalysis and transition-metal catalysis. Here, the authors report a method for red-light-driven nickel catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of aryl halides with 11 different types of nucleophiles using a polymeric carbon nitride as photocatalyst.

Zhao et al. demonstrate that ZmCRY1s, blue-light receptors in maize, interact with GL2 in blue light to promote C32 aldehyde accumulation thereby modulating epidermal wax composition and enhancing UV-B tolerance, revealing a light-regulated wax biosynthetic mechanism critical for maize stress adaptation.

Simultaneous stereochemical control of two vicinal C(sp³) stereocentres from two reaction partners is challenging. Now, this is achieved in a nickel-catalysed enantio- and diastereoselective cross-coupling reaction of internal alkenes with racemic alkyl bromides.

Enantioenriched α-aryl propionic acids are an important class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications. Here the authors use a visible-light-promoted photoredox/nickel catalyzed method to form such compunds via a three-component alkyl arylation of acrylates.

Water electrolysis provides a carbon-neutral means to generate hydrogen fuel from water, but the process typically requires expensive, rare metal catalysts. Here, the authors prepare hydrogen- and oxygen-evolving electrocatalysts from earth-abundant elements that outperform noble-metal counterparts.

There exists an urgent need to develop new materials to convert CO₂ to useful products. Here, authors demonstrate metal phosphide nanoparticles to enable light-driven CO₂ hydrogenation with high activities and near-unity selectivity.

There is a strong push to develop new catalysts and supports to convert low-value CO₂ into high-value CH₄. Here, authors found that the internal or external confinement of Ni on multi-layered siloxene supports determined the reaction pathway, activity, selectivity, and stability in CO₂ methanation.

The Vesta anorthosite meteorite discovery suggests Vesta experienced a lunar magma ocean-like process. Anorthite formed during magma crystallization could have floated to the surface of Vesta, creating a primary anorthositic crust.

KP.3.1.1 S S31del confers enhanced immune escape and increased infectivity, which is counterbalanced by NSP10 S33C. The opposing effects of these mutations highlight the complex interplay of viral genomic elements in shaping their overall fitness.

The local acidic interfacial environment limits oxygen evolution at high current densities. Here, the authors report that intercalating squaric acid anions into NiFe-based electrocatalysts stabilizes the interface, inhibiting acidification and achieving stability for 700 h at 3.0 A cm⁻².