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Defaunation can have impacts on ecosystem functioning that are currently little understood. Using an exclusion experiment, Risch et al. show the impacts of vertebrate and invertebrate losses on ecosystem coupling, particularly emphasising the role of invertebrates in ecosystem functioning.

Molecular magnets are molecules with an inherent non-zero spin that can exhibit magnetic ordering. Here, the authors show that such molecules can change the many-body ground state of nonmagnetic metals at a functional scale with magnetic phthalocyanines.

By forming heterostructures of different layered two-dimensional materials, functional spintronic devices may be built by exploiting the materials’ different spin-orbit coupling and spin transport properties. Here, the authors demonstrate a spin switch in a gated structure of graphene and MoS₂.

To demonstrate charge transfer in different Marcus regimes in an organic semiconductor, precise tuning of the material’s electronic properties is required. Here, the authors use a three-terminal hot-electron technique to access the Marcus regimes for electronic transport in organic thin films.

Spin valves with organic semiconductors sandwiched between two ferromagnetic layers can have similar performance as their inorganic counterparts. Here, the authors fabricate bathocuproine spin valves with good air stability and show that the transport takes place through the organic layer.

Organic semiconductors are attractive candidates for spintronics applications because of their long spin lifetimes. But few studies have investigated how to optimize the injection of spin into these materials. A new study suggests that the metal/organic interface is key.

Springtails are omnipresent soil arthropods, vital for ecosystems. In the first global assessment of springtails, this study shows a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, with distinct temperature-related patterns for diversity and metabolism that suggest climate change may restructure the functioning of soil biodiversity.

Light scattering from nanoscale objects can be dramatically enhanced in the proximity of optical antennas. Here, by studying the amplitude and phase of the light scattered from a tip located at the hot spot of an antenna, the underlying electromagnetic mechanism of this enhancement is resolved.

Nonlocal resistances in graphene Hall bars attributed to neutral current Hall effects have been mainly measured at the microscale. Here, the authors observe consistently strong nonlocal signals in Hall bars with channel length ranging from the micrometer up to the millimeter scale, and explain them by field-induced spin-split edge states.

Spintronic devices with full electrical control rely on electrical generation and detection of spin currents in the absence of magnetic materials. Here, the authors use Pt, a non-magnetic metal, to generate and detect pure spin currents in a few-layer graphene channel, achieving a remarkable spin-to-charge voltage signal at room temperature.

Probing energy level alignment in metal/molecular semiconductor interfaces via electron photoemission spectroscopy requires conditions removed from those during device operation. Here, the authors report a three-terminal device for obtaining this information under real operating conditions.

Two-dimensional magnets and superconductors are emerging as tunable building blocks for quantum computing and superconducting spintronic devices. Here, Jo et al. demonstrate NbSe₂/CrSBr van der Waals superconducting spin valves that exhibit infinite magnetoresistance and nonreciprocal charge transport, arising from a unique metamagnetic transition in CrSBr.

Employing terahertz nanoscopy, we image highly confined, in-plane anisotropic acoustic terahertz plasmon polaritons in monoclinic Ag₂Te platelets placed above a Au layer, verifying a linear dispersion and elliptical isofrequency contour in momentum space.

Using a tapered two-wire transmission line, researchers experimentally focus mid-infrared energy to a nanoscale confined spot with a diameter of 60 nm at the taper apex.

Phonon polaritons can be harnessed for SEIRA spectroscopy. Here, the authors demonstrate a compact on-chip phononic SEIRA platform based on a h-BN/graphene/h-BN heterostructure atop a metal split-gate that serves both as a SEIRA substrate and as a room-temperature infrared detector.

All-electrical generation, manipulation and detection of spin polarization in chiral nanowires is demonstrated.

Meteorology measurements from NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars reveal a diversity of processes at work in the atmospheric boundary layer at Jezero crater over a range of temporal scales.

Near-field photocurrent nanoscopy is used for imaging strongly confined terahertz graphene plasmons with linear dispersion.

Momentum mismatch prevents efficient coupling between free space photons and hyperbolic phonon polaritons. The authors show, using far-field infrared spectroscopy, infrared nanoimaging and numerical simulations, that resonant metallic antennas can efficiently launch hyperbolic phonon polaritons in thin h-BN slabs.

There has been substantial progress in observing and understanding nonlinear transport properties of non-centrosymmetric materials in recent years. This Review surveys the interplay between symmetry and nonlinear phenomena, and how nonlinear transport probes quantum properties of solids. The authors also highlight the potential applications of these nonlinear transport effects in fields such as spintronics, orbitronics and energy harvesting.

Here, the authors report a near-field study of hyperbolic phonon polaritons in linear antennas made of hexagonal boron nitride. Infrared nanospectroscopy and nanoimaging experiments reveal sharp Fabry-Perot resonances with large quality factors, exhibiting atypical modal behaviour.

Photonic crystals can steer, shape, and sculpture the flow of photons. Here, the author fabricate a deep-subwavelength photonic crystal slab that supports ultra-confined phonon polaritons, by patterning a nanoscale hole array in h-BN.

JWST has revealed unexpected and complex emissions structures in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter, above the Great Red Spot. These features suggest that different atmospheric layers are strongly coupled by gravity waves.

It is unclear whether terrestrial herbivores are able to consume the extra plant biomass produced under nutrient enrichment. Here the authors test this in grasslands using a globally distributed network of coordinated field experiments, finding that wild herbivore control on grassland production declines under eutrophication.

Time-domain interferometry and near-field scanning microscopy are used to investigate infrared phonon polaritons exhibiting hyperbolic dispersion. Negative phase velocity and group velocity as small as 0.002c are confirmed.

Mosses support carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, organic matter decomposition and plant pathogen control in soils across the globe, according to a global survey of soil attributes in ecosystems with and without mosses.

Nitrogen mineralisation (N_min), an important index of soil fertility, is often determined in the laboratory, with an uncertain relationship to N_min under field conditions. Here the authors show that combining laboratory measurements with environmental data greatly improves predictions of field N_min at a global scale.

Researchers demonstrate graphene plasmon edge modes at infrared wavelengths. Such modes may offer additional electromagnetic field confinement compared with conventional sheet modes.

Great White Spot—a rare planet-encircling storm—raged on Saturn in 2010–2011. Analyses of high-resolution spacecraft imagery and numerical modelling reveal a dynamic storm head powered by sustained convection in the zonal flow of Saturn’s atmosphere.

A series of four storms appeared on Saturn’s northern polar region in 2018, unusually close to each other in space and time. By their dimension and the energy needed to form them, they appear to be a hitherto unobserved kind of storm at Saturn, intermediate between the regional- and the global-sized ones.

Analysis of 2,170 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Spain provides insights into transmission patterns and the effects of lockdown on the emergence of new variants.

Carbon dioxide enrichment of a mature forest resulted in the emission of the excess carbon back into the atmosphere via enhanced ecosystem respiration, suggesting that mature forests may be limited in their capacity to mitigate climate change.

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.

The origin, variability, and structure of Saturn’s intense and broad eastward equatorial jet at upper cloud level are complex and unexplained. Here, based on observations of a large, bright equatorial disturbance in 2015, the authors characterise the vertical structure of the jet and its long-term variability.

Venus has a bright 'dipole' double-eye feature at the centre of a vast vortex that rotates around the north pole, and is surrounded by a cold 'collar'. Observations of Venus' south polar region are reported, where clouds with morphology much like those around the north pole are seen, but rotating somewhat faster.

The thermodynamic properties of magnetocaloric materials show significant promise for energy-efficient cooling applications. The demonstration that large and reversible magnetocaloric effects can be created by means of strain suggests a new approach for inducing them in other magnetic materials.

Observations of infrared emission from CO₂, O₂ and NO established that photochemical and dynamic activity controls the structure of the upper atmosphere of Venus, but were unable to identify the altitude of the emission. But it is reported here that day-side CO₂ emission extends from 90–120 km altitude, with a peak at ∼115 km. Night-side O₂ emission peaks at 96 km and is visible over the range 95–100 km.

Observations and modelling of two plumes in Jupiter's atmosphere that erupted at the same latitude as the strongest jet (23° North) are reported. Based on dynamical modelling it is concluded that the data are consistent only with a wind that extends well below the level where solar radiation is deposited.

Analysis of the spread of the 20E (EU1) variant of SARS-CoV-2 through Europe suggests that international travel and insufficient containment, rather than increased transmissibility, led to a resurgence of infections.

Electrocaloric materials can be electrically driven to pump heat and hold promise for use in efficient solid-state refrigeration. Here, the authors demonstrate an approach to recycle recoverable energy from electrocaloric cycles, offering a method to enhance performance in electrocaloric refrigeration systems.

Observations of a stellar occultation of Haumea, one of the four known trans-Neptunian dwarf planets, constrain its size, shape and density, and reveal a ring coplanar with Haumea’s largest moon.

This Perspective discusses the spin-dependent properties emerging at the interfaces of molecular and inorganic materials, and describes possible future developments for spin-based technologies.

In a global grassland dataset, large mammalian herbivores rescued forb cover and diversity from the negative effects of eutrophication.