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JWST observations of GRB 221009A reveal the associated supernova, confirming that the GRB resulted from the collapse of a rapidly rotating massive star. The lack of r-process emission suggests that these extreme events are not key sources of the heaviest elements.

A type Ia supernova shows the presence of helium-rich circumstellar material, as demonstrated by its spectral features, infrared emission and a radio counterpart, that probably originates from a single-degenerate system in which a white dwarf accretes material from a helium donor star.

A pore-modulated pyrolysis reactor that enables catalyst-free and energy-efficient upcycling of plastic waste is demonstrated. The graded-pore structure imposes molecular-weight-dependent transport barriers, establishing a gating effect that enhances product selectivity and yields aviation fuel precursor (C₈–C₁₈) with high efficiency.

Solar photovoltaics is entering a multi-terawatt era, driven by decades of cost, performance and reliability gains. In this Perspective Alberi et al. discuss the role of historical and future learning, highlighting the increasing importance of sustainability considerations.

Researchers identified 7 biological group of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, one with poor prognosis. They developed a gene expression classifier to detect these groups, potentially improving prognosis and future treatments for the high-risk patients.

The cause of animal diversification in the Cambrian is unclear. Here, the authors use a biogeochemical model to argue that diel benthic oxygen fluctuations on expanding Cambrian shallow marine shelves promoted animal adaptive radiation.

The controllable conversion of plastic wastes to products with tailored molar mass would facilitate waste valorization but remains challenging. This study presents a catalyst- and hydrogen-free temperature-gradient thermolysis strategy to achieve this goal.

Tissue damage and turnover lead to the release of DNA in the blood and can be used to monitor changes in tissue state. Here, the authors developed a tool to accurately estimate the proportion of cell types contributing to cell-free DNA in the blood, with an application to pregnant women and ALS patients.

West and colleagues develop the Variant Database software tool for examination of changing Spike mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genomes. The authors use this to detect emerging lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in New York and report the rapid spread of the B.1.526 lineage in the city.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have become a key tool to discover genetic markers for complex traits; however, environmental factors that interact with genes are rarely considered. Here, the authors conduct a GWAS of obesity traits, and find that smoking may alter genetic susceptibilities.

Past genome-wide associate studies have identified hundreds of genetic loci that influence body size and shape when examined one trait at a time. Here, Jeff and colleagues develop an aggregate score of various body traits, and use meta-analysis to find new loci linked to body shape.

This Consensus Statement presents the standards for technical reporting in environmental and host-associated microbiome studies (STREAMS) guidelines.

High-coverage, ultra-long-read nanopore sequencing is used to create a new human genome assembly that improves on the coverage and accuracy of the current reference (GRCh38) and includes the gap-free, telomere-to-telomere sequence of the X chromosome.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report results of a large genome-wide association study for body mass index. They identify 18 new loci associated with this trait, some of which map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance.

Advanced ecological modelling reveals how Sahul (Australia and New Guinea) was first peopled, suggesting the most probable routes and surprisingly rapid early settlement of this continent by anatomically modern humans starting 50,000 to 75,000 years ago.

Exome-wide analysis identifies rare and low-frequency coding variants associated with body mass index. Gene-based meta-analysis and functional studies implicate 13 genes, eight of which are novel, and neuronal pathways as factors in human obesity.

A genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI) detects 97 BMI-associated loci, of which 56 were novel, and many loci have effects on other metabolic phenotypes; pathway analyses implicate the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and new pathways such as those related to synaptic function, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.

Perovskite solar cells degrade when subjected to reverse bias. Jiang et al. show that relatively thick hole transport layers and metal back contacts with improved electrochemical stability afford better tolerance to reverse bias.

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.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses of waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index in more than 224,000 individuals identify 49 loci, 33 of which are new and many showing significant sexual dimorphism with a stronger effect in women; pathway analyses implicate adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution.

Patricia Munroe, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Andrew Morris and colleagues perform association studies in over 340,000 individuals of European ancestry and identify 66 loci, of which 17 are novel, involved in blood pressure regulation. The risk SNPs are enriched for cis-regulatory elements, particularly in vascular endothelial cells.

Cecilia Lindgren and colleagues report results of a large-scale genome-wide association study for waist-to-hip ratio, a measure of body fat distribution. They identify 13 new loci associated with this trait, several of which show stronger effects in women than in men.

Erik Ingelsson and colleagues report a large-scale genome-wide meta-analysis for associations to the extremes of anthropometric traits, including body mass index, height, waist-to-hip ratio and clinical obesity. They identify four loci newly associated with height and seven loci newly associated with clinical obesity and find overlap in the genetic structure and distribution of variants identified for these extremes of the trait distributions and for the general population.

Empirically based models of disease progression in familial frontotemporal dementia reveal the relative ordering of clinical, neuroimaging, and fluid biomarker changes and facilitate novel clinical trial designs

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Recent discoveries have identified several striking parallels between the cellular factors and molecular events that govern mRNA degradation in eukaryotes and bacteria. Nevertheless, some key distinctions remain, the most fundamental of which may be related to the different mechanisms of translation initiation control.

Pulse tube refrigerators are a critical enabling technology for many disciplines that require low temperatures, including quantum computing. Here, the authors show that dynamically optimizing the acoustic parameters of the refrigerator can improve conventional cooldown speeds up to 3.5 times.

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.

This Comment article from the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine (PrIISM), New York, describes their efforts to provide critical reviews of COVID-19 articles posted daily on the preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv.

Colloidal perovskite quantum dots offer potential stability advantages for solar cells over bulk perovskites but lag far behind in device efficiency. Now, a modified cation exchange method has been shown to improve the optoelectronic quality of perovskite nanocrystals, improving further the efficiency and stability of quantum dot solar cells.

Cristen Willer and colleagues report genome-wide association analyses for blood lipid levels in 188,578 individuals. They identify 62 loci newly associated with blood lipid levels, refine the association signals at 12 loci and examine associations with cardiovascular and metabolic traits.

Sekar Kathiresan and colleagues examine 185 common variants using a modified mendelian randomization approach and provide evidence supporting a causal role of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins in the development of coronary artery disease.