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Tellurium vacancies can drive atomic reconstruction in PdTe₂ thin films, converting them into non-layered PdTe. Such a non-stoichiometric phase transition yields large-scale thin-film superconductors and can also create an intermediate heterostructure that enables helicity-sensitive terahertz emission.

It was recently found that a certain nickelate compound, La₃Ni₂O₇, at moderately high pressures has a superconducting phase that persists to above liquid nitrogen temperatures. Here, by studying the parent phase at ambient pressure, Chen et al uncover rich magnetic properties and show the vital role of the strong bonding of the inter-layer Ni orbitals in the magnetic and electronic excitations.

Nickelates have been shown to host unconventional superconductivity, and recently it has been found that the choice of substrate can significantly change the superconducting critical temperature. This suggests, that like some Cuprates, strain could be important. Here Gao, Fan, Wang, and coauthors find that magnetic excitations in a parent Nickelate are insensitive to substrate choice, and therefore strain, which differs markedly from the case of Cuprates.

Alfajaro et al identify that a bat MERS-like coronavirus HKU5 uses ACE2 as a receptor from its natural bat reservoir Pipistrellus abramus and American mink. Structural analyses demonstrate a unique interaction between the HKU5 receptor binding domain and bat ACE2. This highlights the receptor flexibility of merbecoviruses and identifies mink as potential intermediate hosts, informing viral surveillance and countermeasure development.

A major mystery in cuprate superconductors is how Cooper pairs form and condense. Here, the authors use RIXS and STM techniques to reveal that a charge-ordered insulating phase and enhanced bond-buckling phonons play important roles in this process.

Developing safe, fast-recharging Li-metal batteries is challenging due to the need for stable, non-flammable electrolytes. This study presents an electrolyte design using miniature anion–Li⁺ solvation structures, achieving high conductivity, stable cycling and improved safety.

Multilayer-grating-based spectrometer with high photon flux and moderate energy resolution for tender X-ray

A gold-embedded oxide interlayer can be used to create metal–interlayer–semiconductor contacts for two-dimensional materials that exhibit low series resistance and Fermi level depinning.

Unconventional superconductivity is often associated with the presence of other kinds of electronic order. Observations of charge order in infinite-layer nickelate superconductors show that they fit this pattern.

The mechanisms underlying the nonclassical growth of penta-twinned gold nanocrystals remain unclear. Here, the authors elucidate the atomic-level processes that drive size-dependent and twin configuration-related aggregation phenomena.

Two-dimensional metallic WTe₂ and MoTe₂ layers can be combined with a semiconducting MoS₂ monolayer to create metal–semiconductor junctions that are free from substantial disorder effects and Fermi-level pinning.

Total mRNA expression in cancer cells is a marker for disease progression and death.

Denoising low-counting statistics data in the presence of multiple, unknown noise profiles is a challenging task in scientific applications where high accuracy is required. Oppliger and colleagues train a deep convolutional neural network on pairs of experimental low- and high-noise X-ray diffraction data and demonstrate better performance on experimental noise filtering compared with the case of training on artificial data pairs.

There is an urgent need to develop coatings with good neutron-absorption capacity and workability. Here the authors addressed these challenges by developing a scalable and solution processable two-dimensional Ti₃C₂T_x MXene hybrid film with homogeneously distributed B₄C particles.

In optimally doped Nd_0.8Sr_0.2NiO₂H epitaxial film, combined state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical approaches show abundant hydrogen with zero resistivity, and its critical role in superconductivity in epitaxial infinite-layer nickelates.

Edge-to-edge metal-semiconductor junctions have the potential to improve the performance of 2D transistors. Here, the authors report a synthetic strategy to fabricate monolayer MoS₂-PtTe₂ heterojunction arrays with sub-1-nm transfer length and enhanced carrier injection compared to vertical 3D metallic contacts.

It is unclear if the molecular profiles of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) preclinical models remain stable during propagation. Here, the authors characterise clonal evolution throughout propagation in PDAC cell lines and a patient-derived organoid using single-cell genomics, transcriptomics and epigenomics.

A study of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) shows maintenance of elevated levels of monocyte-activating pathogen-specific IgG not seen in children infected with SARS-CoV-2 who do not develop MIS-C.

Transposable element proliferation poses considerable threats to genomes. A previously unknown methyl reader, MBD2, represses transposable elements during male gametogenesis. MBD2 acts with a high degree of redundancy with other silencing pathways, together preserving genome stability.

Spin orbit coupling (SOC) is a feature crucial to many interesting physics phenomena ranging from Mott insulators to topological insulators. Here, the authors use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to study the low-energy excitations of the Mott insulator, Ca2RuO4, and reveal the orbital character of the magnetic properties of the system.

In an inter-laboratory study, the authors compare the accuracy and performance of three optical density calibration protocols (colloidal silica, serial dilution of silica microspheres, and colony-forming unit (CFU) assay). They demonstrate that serial dilution of silica microspheres is the best of these tested protocols, allowing precise and robust calibration that is easily assessed for quality control and can also evaluate the effective linear range of an instrument.

While it is widely believed that high-temperature superconductivity in cuprate materials arises from an intertwined interplay between charge and spin fluctuations, the microscopic coupling between charge and spin degrees of freedom still remains a mystery in these materials. Here, the authors profit from neutron scattering with superior beam focusing to probe the subtle spin-density wave order under uniaxial pressure, and demonstrate that charge and spin orders respond to the external tuning parameter in the same manner.

Frustration in magnetic systems may lead to exotic quantum phases such as spin liquid and spin ice state. Here the authors demonstrate that compressive epitaxial strain in La₂NiO₄ films deposited on different substrates can tune antiferromagnetic exchange interactions and increase the degree of frustration through the increased level of incompatibility between exchange interactions.