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Here, the authors provide a framework to map glucuronidated metabolites and show that gut microbes shape their distribution across the body, with findings in mice supported by human data, where colonization and diet influence glucuronidation patterns.

Urban development that supports nature and people is a challenge. This study finds that, despite gains in jobs, income and ecological health with ‘green development’, former villagers in Qunli New Town, Harbin, China, feel less content than newcomers given the rural attributes they lost.

Global analysis of obesity trends from 1980 to 2024 in 200 countries and territories using data from 4,050 population-based studies reveals that framing obesity as a single global epidemic masks the highly varied dynamics across countries and age groups.

Global Burden of Disease analysis found that in 2023, suboptimal diet was estimated to be responsible for 4 million deaths and 97 million morbidity burdens from ischemic heart disease.

Exploring a broad range of 270 human–AI collaboration scenarios, this study presents which strategy would provide the best benefits in terms of gained quality-adjusted life years at lower costs, based on a case study of diabetic retinopathy screening.

Despite enormous resources expended, lead exposure in endangered California condors has risen. The authors show lead ammunition bans and outreach are effective, with changing hunting patterns and wilder condor behavior explaining exposure increases.

Freshwater springs act as key ecohydrological links exporting groundwater-derived microbial diversity into surface waters, with springs harbouring the greatest biodiversity across the system, based on environmental DNA and radon tracer analyses of aquifer, spring, and surface waters.

A large-scale study on the replicability of claims from social and behavioural science journals reports that about half of the results replicate in the same patterns as the original study.

When 100 social and behavioural science claims were examined, 34% of reanalyses closely matched the original results, with 74% reaching the same conclusion, revealing limited robustness of single-path analyses and the need to address analytical uncertainty.

Robustness checks and reproduction of analyses with existing and updated data based on 110 articles in economics and political science journals with data and code-sharing requirements found high levels of robustness and reproducibility and determined that robustness was not dependent on author characteristics or data availability.

Using two-photon imaging in mice, Garborg et al. show that brain movement within the skull is driven by abdominal muscle contractions through mechanical coupling with the abdomen. Simulations suggest that this brain motion could contribute to cerebrospinal fluid circulation.

A phylogenetic analysis examined the origins of the first mpox outbreak in Sierra Leone and found evidence of an emerging lineage (G.1) that has likely descended from the Nigerian epidemic and emerged in Sierra Leone months before first detection.

Snyder et al. analyze two population-based birth cohorts to test associations of newborn metabolite concentrations and childhood respiratory outcomes. C4, C10:1, C18:2, and citrulline are associated with early-life wheezing and asthma, with C18:2 specifically associated with increased non-allergic asthma risk.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

Mechanotransduction involved in pathological tissue remodelling is recapitulated in vitro in a proof-of-concept microphysiological system of human asthmatic lungs.

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.

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).

Current HIV animal models, which use macaques or mice, have known limitations. Here, the authors develop a model of HIV-1 infection in owl monkeys, small neotropical primates, expanding experimental opportunities for advancing HIV-1 research.

Two individuals with KCNT1-related epileptic encephalopathy were treated with a KCNT1-targeting antisense oligonucleotide, leading to significant reductions in seizure frequency and intensity, but also the development of hydrocephalus.

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.

Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

A growing appreciation of the diversity of glial cells, including astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes, is providing new insights into their roles in multiple sclerosis. This Review describes their complex interactions and regulatory roles in neuroinflammation, demyelination and neurodegeneration, highlighting potential therapeutic strategies targeting these cells in chronic inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

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.

The lowest-frequency gravitational wave background may be shaped by supermassive black hole binaries that scatter nearby stars or dark matter. In this case, the NANOGrav 15-year dataset favours dense galactic centres with 10⁶ solar masses per cubic parsec.

A two-step doping strategy for preparing Nb-doped Ni-rich positive electrode active materials forms nanosized grains and enables reversible multiphase transitions, improving lithium-ion transport and high-power performance of Li-based batteries.

Proteins are promising ligands for selective metal capture, but low-throughput assays limit their discovery and design. Now, a high-throughput platform for quantifying the rare earth selectivity of lanmodulin (LanM) proteins has been developed. The SpyCI-LAMBS platform enabled the identification of a set of LanMs capable of separating light rare-earth elements in a single step.

Hiʻiaka is the largest moon of the distant dwarf planet Haumea. Here, the authors report the first multi-chord stellar occultations of Hiʻiaka, revealing its size, shape, and density, suggesting an origin from Haumea’s icy mantle.

This study shows that many plants form a second, deeper root layer underground, enabling access to nutrient-rich deep soil. This previously unnoticed rooting pattern adds to the growing recognition that deep soil dynamics are overlooked.

Global travel hubs could be key in future pandemic surveillance efforts. Here, using a global metapopulation model calibrated to epidemiology, phylogeography and air travel, the authors show that traveler-focused genomic surveillance at key hubs can speed up detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants under resource constraints.

Federated learning (FL) algorithms have emerged as a promising solution to train models for healthcare imaging across institutions while preserving privacy. Here, the authors describe the Federated Tumor Segmentation (FeTS) challenge for the decentralised benchmarking of FL algorithms and evaluation of Healthcare AI algorithm generalizability in real-world cancer imaging datasets.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma carries a poor prognosis, with pancreatectomy as the only potentially curative option. This Phase II trial assessed distant metastasis-free survival in locally advanced disease using GVAX vaccine, pembrolizumab, and SBRT following chemotherapy.