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The second Global Amphibian Assessment finds that the status of amphibians is continuing to deteriorate globally, driven predominantly by climate change, disease and habitat loss.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses identify 26 risk loci for epilepsy, including 19 loci specific to genetic generalized epilepsy. Prioritized candidate genes implicate synaptic processes and overlap with targets of antiseizure medications.

The lithospheric controls on giant gold deposits remain unclear. Here, the authors show evidence for native gold in the mantle from the Deseado Massif in Patagonia demonstrating that refertilisation of the lithospheric mantle is key in forming metallogenic provinces.

Single-cell studies of human white adipose tissue (WAT) provide insights into the specialized cell types in the tissue. Here the authors combine publicly available and newly generated high-resolution and bulk transcriptomic results from multiple human datasets to provide a comprehensive cellular map of white adipose tissue.

DNA from ancient wolves spanning 100,000 years sheds light on wolves’ evolutionary history and the genomic origin of dogs.

Simulating a metapopulation of human evolution without Neanderthal introgression into Homo sapiens still identifies Neanderthal fragments in simulated genomes, and an admixture event that never took place. This indicates that population structure must be accounted for in human evolutionary genomics and that putative ancient hybridization events should be reinterpreted in this light.

Large-scale atom interferometers enable precise measurements of fundamental constants and novel sensors. This study uses Floquet formalism to create an optimal transported state, resulting in an efficient large-momentum-transfer interferometer, advancing largescale interferometers.

The artificial synthesis of ammonia remains one of the most important catalytic processes worldwide, over 100 years after its development. In this Review, recent developments in enzymatic, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis towards the conversion of nitrogen to ammonia are discussed, with a particular focus on how mechanistic understanding informs catalyst design.

Tumor-antigen-specific CD8⁺ T cells are generally thought to help fight against cancer, but here the authors identify a subpopulation of CD8⁺ T cells that are associated with a poor clinical outcome in melanoma. Although these cells can recognize tumor antigens, they suppress cancer immunity.

Low-frequency vegetation optical depth (L-VOD) sensing reveals global patterns of seasonal variations in ecosystem-scale plant water storage and relationships with leaf phenology; results vary between tropical and temperate–boreal zones.

In a semi-naturalistic ‘Metatron’ experiment, a rise of 2–3 °C causes a reduction in gut microbiome diversity of over one-third in an ectotherm, the common lizard (Zootoca vivipara).

Deep learning frameworks require large human-annotated datasets for training and the resulting ‘black box’ models are difficult to interpret. Here, the authors present Kartezio; a modular Cartesian Genetic Programming-based computational strategy that generates fully transparent and easily interpretable image processing pipelines.

Most Amazon tree species are rare but a small proportion are common across the region. The authors show that different species are hyperdominant in different size classes and that hyperdominance is more phylogenetically restricted for larger canopy trees than for smaller understory ones.

An analysis involving the shotgun sequencing of more than 300 ancient genomes from Eurasia reveals a deep east–west genetic divide from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and provides insight into the distinct effects of the Neolithic transition on either side of this boundary.

Low-frequency passive microwave data (L-VOD) allow quantification of biomass change in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2016, revealing climate-induced carbon losses, particularly in drylands.

Benzene reduction by molecular complexes remains a considerable synthetic challenge, and typically requires harsh reaction conditions involving group I metals. Now it has been shown that a highly polar organometallic samarium alkyl complex enables the reduction of benzene to its tetra-anion without the need for a group I metal.

A spatial taxonomic framework integrating genomic, morphological, ecological, life history and acoustic data is used to clarify the cryptic evolution of the taxonomically controversial mouse lemur complex, with a view to aiding future conservation of this and other similarly cryptic clades.

Mars’ distinctive red colour attributed to ferrihydrite, a type of rust mineral. This finding suggests Mars experienced a cold and wet environment before transitioning to its current desert state.

This study explores selection signals of Papua New Guinean highlanders and lowlanders using 128 new whole genome sequences. It highlights two genetic variants associated with blood traits that also influence the heart rate of these populations.

Therapeutic proteins are often conjugated with polymers, but separating the conjugate from unconjugated protein and free polymer is a major challenge. Here, the authors discover that proteins conjugated to charged or zwitterionic polymers maintain solubility in 100% ammonium sulfate, greatly simplifying purification.

Cornall and colleagues show that Themis2 interacts with the phospholipase PLC-γ2 and lowers the threshold for B cell activation by low but not high avidity antigens.

Aluminum-rich float rocks at Jezero crater display geochemical characteristics that are more similar to terrestrial weathered palaeosols than to hydrothermal deposits, according to a comparison of Perseverance rover elemental data with terrestrial analogues

Fetal brain development is dependent on the maternal supply of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs). Here, the authors show that pregnancy-induced liver-X-receptor (LXR) signaling in the maternal liver promotes the synthesis of LC-PUFA-containing phospholipids for export to the fetus.

Machine learning is enabling a metallurgical renaissance. This Review discusses recent progress in representations, descriptors and interatomic potentials, overviewing metallic glasses, high-entropy alloys, superalloys and shape-memory alloys, magnets and catalysts, and the prediction of mechanical and thermal properties.

Carbon sequestration by Siberian forests has been low over the past decade due to disturbances that have decreased live biomass and increased dead wood, according to passive microwave observations.

Moderate flooding in the European Alps declined during past warmer periods, whereas extreme floods both increased and decreased, according to an analysis of palaeoflood records.

The global identification of enzyme substrates is still challenging. Here, the authors develop a method based on proteome-wide thermal shift assays to discover enzyme substrates directly from cell lysates, identifying known and novel oxidoreductase, kinase and poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase substrates.

Dust devils are common on Mars and understanding their dynamics is important to gain insights about the meteorology of the planet. Here, the authors show characteristics of a Martian dust devil and its sound from Perseverance rover multi-sensor data combined with modelling.

To consider the impact of sex on adaptation to space, the European Space Agency initiated VIVALDI dry immersion microgravity simulation in female subjects. Here, the authors show marked deconditioning with 5-day exposure, and propose comprehensive multi-system physiological assessment in 18 healthy women.

T cells are highly dynamic and their spatial and cellular interactions can influence their differentiation program. Groom and colleagues use three-dimensional spatial imaging to show that effector and stem-like memory cell fates are imposed within distinct lymph node regions.

Using data gathered from the microphones of the Perseverance rover, the first characterization of the acoustic environment on Mars is presented, showing two distinct values for the speed of sound in CO₂-dominated atmosphere.

Understanding local electrochemical processes can help improve electrochemical energy storage. Here, the authors report a charge storage mechanism in aqueous electrolyte for reduced graphene oxide using an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance.

The authors generate genomic data from 30 ancient human individuals, spanning the Bronze Age and the Iron Age from four archaeological sites in the Mediterranean (located in Tunisia, Sardinia and central Italy). Comparing with additional published ancient genomes, they generate insights into mobility and admixture in this interconnected region

Targeted therapies matched to genomics improved progression-free survival when genomic alterations were classified as level I/II (according to ESCAT), and genomics should thus be driven by target actionability in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Impact-induced acoustic and seismic wave events on Mars recorded by the InSight lander’s seismometer have been traced to fresh craters observed in spacecraft imagery.

Analysis of ancient human DNA from the Swahili coast reveals that predominantly African female ancestors and Asian male ancestors formed families after around ad 1000 and lived in elite communities in coastal stone towns.

It is recognized that cellular senescence is triggered by DNA damage as a protective mechanism against tumorigenesis. Here the authors show that DNA single-strand breaks of oxidative origin can induce a transient senescent state followed by the emergence of clonal transformed cells.

Simple uranium complexes, UX₃, are shown to disproportionate in the presence of a reducing agent under mild conditions, cooperatively binding and reducing arenes. This enables arene C–H bond activation and borylation, and the trapping of reactive substituted arenes in inverse sandwich complexes.

Dire wolves split from living canids around 5.7 million years ago and originated in the New World isolated from the ancestors of grey wolves and coyotes, which evolved in Eurasia and colonized North America only relatively recently.

Matching iPSC donors’ and patients’ HLA haplotypes has been proposed as a way to generate cell therapy products with enhanced immunological compatibility. Here the authors show that MHC matching alone is insufficient to grant long-term survival of neuronal grafts in the lesioned brain of non-human primates.

Archaeological and biomolecular investigations of ancient sheep remains from the site of Obishir V in southern Kyrgyzstan reveal that domestic livestock and Neolithic lifeways reached the heart of Central Asia by ca. 6,000 BCE, thousands of years earlier than previously recognized.

Panos Deloukas, Nilesh Samani and colleagues report a large-scale association analysis using the Metabochip array in 63,746 coronary artery disease cases and 130,681 controls. They identify 15 susceptibility loci, refine previous associations and use network analysis to highlight biological pathways.

Pseudocapacitors based on redox-active materials have relatively high energy density but suffer from low power capability. Here the authors report that two-dimensional transition metal carbides exhibit high gravimetric, volumetric and areal capacitance values at high charge/discharge rates.

There is currently no disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson’s disease, a common neurodegenerative disorder. Here, the authors use genetic variation associated with gene and protein expression to find putative drug targets for Parkinson’s disease using Mendelian randomization of the druggable genome.