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Flux-closure patterns are rarely observed in ferroelectric materials and almost exclusively form at the nanoscale. McQuaidet al. report mesoscopic dipole closure patterns formed in free-standing single-crystal lamellae of BaTiO₃, thought to result from an unusual set of experimental conditions.

Mechanisms ensuring developmental precision are poorly understood. Here Blanco-Obregon et al. report reciprocal feedback between Dilp8 and Ecdysone, two hormones required during a precise time window of Drosophila development for organ size adjustment.

Modern technology such as electronics and photovoltaics requires careful control of optical responses of electronic properties. Here, Sando et al. demonstrate a large variation of optical index and light absorption in multiferroic material BiFeO₃thin films, tunable by in-film strain or electric field.

The combination of magnetism and ferroelectricity makes multiferroics of interest for applications such as data storage. Here, the authors predict a new class of multiferroics near room temperature, consisting of oxide superlattices whose electrical and ferromagnetic properties can be easily controlled.

Whilst chiral magnets can support topologically protected particle-like magnetization textures called skyrmions, ferroelectric skyrmions have yet to be observed. Here, the authors use first-principles-based calculations to demonstrate the possibility of ferroelectric skyrmions in oxide nanocomposites.

Epithelial sealing is a fundamental process in animal development and wound healing. Here the authors show that a transient contractile seam in the freshly sealed epidermis generates forces promoting tissue zippering during Drosophila dorsal closure.

Sangbum Park, Catherine Matte-Martone and colleagues track Langerhans cells, dendritic epidermal T cells and epithelial basal cells in living mice over time and show that immune cells coordinate with epidermal cells to maintain their positions.

A study of division in proliferating animal cells points to the existence of a kinetochore-based signalling pathway, independent of furrow formation, centrosomes and microtubules, that couples chromosome segregation to cell division.

Antiferroelectric capacitors hold great promise for high-power energy storage. Here, through a first-principles-based computational approach, authors find high theoretical energy densities in rare earth substituted bismuth ferrite, and propose a simple model to assess the storage properties of a general antiferroelectric material.

Nanoscale ferroelectric domains called electric bubbles are shown to behave as dynamical particles. Using atomistic simulations and experiments, the authors reveal a bubble liquid phase and demonstrate teleportation-like displacements of single bubbles.

Controlling the electric polarization in ferroelectric materials at room temperature is an important aspect in the design of novel ferroelectric-based devices. Simulations of a typical ferroelectric material now provide insights into why and how its ferroelectric polarization can be partially reversed.

In geometrically frustrated materials there is an intrinsic incompatibility between fundamental interaction rules and the underlying lattice geometry, which leads to exotic material behaviour. So far, geometric frustration has been reported for a range of magnetic materials but not yet in ferroelectrics, which would be of significant fundamental interest. This study reports computational results that show that geometric frustration can be induced in ferroelectrics with compositional grading. The findings reveal unusual ordered phases, allowing new microscopic insights in the phenomenon of geometric frustration.

Relaxor ferroelectrics possess potential microwave frequency applications due to characteristic dielectric relaxation properties however the underlying mechanism is debated. Here, the authors use first-principles-based molecular dynamic simulations to understand such behaviour in Ba(Zr_0.5Ti_0.5)O₃.

The labyrinthine domain patterns formed in ultrathin films of ferroelectric oxides by subcritical quenching undergo an inverse phase transition to the less-symmetric parallel-stripe domain structure upon increasing temperature.

Understanding the processes underlying the self-assembly of polar textures is pivotal for the development of future technologies. Here, the authors reveal the dynamics of nonequilibrium phase transitions in low-dimensional ferroelectrics and emphasize their topological nature.

Relaxor ferroelectrics are important materials that are used in electronic capacitors and other devices, although the origin of their unusual properties remains poorly understood. Here, the authors predict that Fano resonances between phonon modes could explain some properties of lead-free relaxors.

(Ba,Ca)(Zr,Ti)O₃ceramics have attracted interest as lead-free materials with large piezoelectric responses. Here, the authors use an atomistic model to show the electromechanical properties are due to a complex microstructure and polarization fluctuations in the narrowly stable orthorhombic phase.

Accurate modelling of memristor dynamics is essential for the development of autonomous learning in artificial neural networks. Through a combined theoretical and experimental study of the polarization switching process in ferroelectric memristors, Boynet al. establish a model that enables learning and retrieving patterns in a neural system.

Schliffka et al. show that in the early mouse embryo, hemispherical intrusions, or inverse blebs, grow into cells at cell–cell adhesion sites in response to luminal fluid accumulation and pressure build-up, and may serve as pumps moving fluid into hydraulic sinks.

The ferroelectric properties of BiFeO₃ have been the subject of extensive study. Using a range of experimental tools and numerical modelling, it is now shown that its ferroic properties can also be manipulated by strain effects, giving rise to a variety of magnonic phenomena.

Magnetically-driven ferroelectricity holds the key for novel multiferroic effects in perovskite oxides, but it remains poorly understood. Here, Zhaoet al. determine the dominant magnetostructural couplings that yield improper ferroelectricity in a generic perovskite with two spin sublattices.

Dendritic cells alternate between fast and slow migratory behaviours, however in the absence of a component of the antigen processing machinery, migration is uniform and fast. Chabaudet al. now show that slow migration results from the relocalisation of myosin II to the cell front where it promotes antigen capture.

In the Hippo pathway, the atypical cadherins Fat and Dachsous modulate tissue growth. Harvey and colleagues have identified two regulators of the Hippo pathway, the WD40 protein Riquiqui and the DYRK kinase Minibrain, that act downstream of Dachsous to inhibit Wts and promote Yki-dependent tissue growth.

Motile cilia direct efficient, oriented flow, which is ensured by alignment of their beating. In mammalian brain ventricles, coupling between hydrodynamic forces and the planar cell polarity protein Vangl2 allows cilia that have docked in random orientation to reorient in a uniform direction.

In the Big Data era, a change of paradigm in the use of molecular dynamics is required. Trajectories should be stored under FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) requirements to favor its reuse by the community under an open science paradigm.

The orientation of the cell division axis is critical for normal growth and development as it determines the fate of future daughter cells; and the extracellular matrix to which cells adhere to plays a role in determining the orientation of the division axis. Here Bornens and colleagues present a combination of experimental and quantitative theory to show that spindle orientation is controlled by cortical force generators; a simple model based on pulling forces exerted by force generators on spindle microtubules can quantitatively describe spindle orientations in many different geometries.

Memristors are devices whose dynamic properties are of interest because they can mimic the operation of biological synapses. The demonstration that ferroelectric domains in tunnel junctions behave like memristors suggests new approaches for designing neuromorphic circuits.

Laruelle et al. present a fitting based computational method called SET that can detect hidden spatial structure in cell tissue organization in a statistically significant manner using a single image and without any parameter settings. They exemplify the utility of the approach by identifying invisible cell and subcellular patterns.

Here, a combination of biophysical measurement, modelling, and genetic and experimental manipulation of cell contractile components is used to analyse the formation of the inner cell mass in the early mouse embryo.