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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.

Hall et al. document ‘democratic neutrality’ (neither agreement nor disagreement with undemocratic practices) as prevalent and as consequential as outright support for undemocratic practices in shaping preferences for anti-democratic candidates.

Data from 12,608 pregnancies across 7 African countries and a simulation model suggest that the total number of malaria-exposed pregnancies across sub-Saharan Africa exceeded 13 million in 2023, and that current prevention measures avoided more than 2 million malaria-related anaemia cases.

Extremely low-mass stars, much less massive than the Sun, lack radiative cores—something that could affect their magnetic dynamos. This study reveals that these stars can have magnetic fields that are up to 30% stronger than those of Sun-like stars, implying fundamental differences in their internal magnetic structures.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

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).

A completely solid-state, single-chip, microwave-frequency surface acoustic wave phonon laser can generate coherent phonons from thermal noise or resonantly amplify injected phonons using only a direct current bias field.

A time-dependent study of the effective temperature of carriers in impurity-free graphene now indicates that a disorder-assisted mechanism is responsible for cooling hot electrons. Observation of this so-called supercollision contradicts the idea that electron–phonon interactions dominate cooling.

A disc device integrating chromatography, centripetal liquid transfer and bead-based vesicle capture enables extracellular vesicle isolation and labelling, achieving high accuracy in cancer detection and tumour classification.

Scourzic et al. show that germinal centre B cells display an enhanced ability to reprogram to induced pluripotent stem cells compared to mature B cells. This ability indicates their higher plasticity level and is T follicular helper cell-dependent.

cellSTAAR advances noncoding rare variant association analysis by integrating single-cell genomics data.

A high-bandwidth neuromotor interface offers performant out-of-the-box generalization across people.

A cavity-array microscope is realized using intra-cavity lenses to create a two-dimensional array of over 40 modes, each coupled to a single atom in free-space.

Genetic mapping in mice identified Homer1a as a key modifier of attention. Developmental downregulation in the prefrontal cortex enhances inhibitory tone, neural signal to noise and adult attentional performance, revealing a new control mechanism and target.

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.

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.

A study using iPhones and Apple Watches to track and analyze cognitive health over 18 months in more than 23,000 US adults demonstrates the feasibility of remote cognitive health monitoring and uncovers potential methods for early detection of cognitive decline.

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.

Observations of optical flares from AT2022tsd (the ‘Tasmanian Devil’) show that they have durations on the timescale of minutes, occur over a period of months, are highly energetic, are probably nonthermal and have supernova luminosities.

Early emission from gamma-ray burst GRB 211211A comes entirely from charged particles accelerating in strong magnetic fields. The fast-evolving spectrum may be the key to understanding unusually long-lived GRBs from neutron star mergers.

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.

Carrier multiplication effects are of promise for enhancement of solar cells, but have been difficult to exploit in such devices. Here, the authors demonstrate how carrier multiplication in quantum-dot films can be considerably enhanced by appropriate tuning of the charge-carrier mobility.

Umklapp scattering, an effect that has been conventionally studied in phonon systems in quantum transport, is studied here in an elastic system. The authors demonstrate mode conversion from surface Rayleigh waves into bulk waves that have uniquely tunable properties.

Widely cited studies have claimed that musical training is associated with enhanced neural encoding for sound at early stages of the auditory system. Results from this large-scale multisite study do not support this earlier claim.

Experimental measurements of high-order out-of-time-order correlators on a superconducting quantum processor show that these correlators remain highly sensitive to the quantum many-body dynamics in quantum computers at long timescales.

Here the authors perform a trans expression quantitative trait locus meta-analysis study of over 3,700 people and link a USP18 variant to expression of 50 inflammation genes and lupus risk, highlighting how genetic regulation of immune responses drives autoimmune disease and informs new therapies.

Light-controlled motor–microtubule systems are used to construct micrometre-scale fluid flows for programmable transport, separation and mixing.

By modelling the radio, optical, UV and X-ray data of the unusually bright cosmological explosion AT 2022cmc, Pasham et al. argue for the presence of a highly collimated jet moving at ≳99.99% the speed of light.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom measures and clinical diagnoses identify new risk loci, highlight putative effector genes and yield improved polygenic risk scores.

Hidden water beneath Antarctica’s ice can accelerate ice loss, potentially raising sea levels by over 2 meters by 2300. These findings highlight the urgent need to incorporate evolving subglacial hydrology into ice sheet models for more accurate sea-level rise projections.

Fibrous networks constructed from high aspect ratio protein building blocks are ubiquitous in nature, but the functional advantage of such building blocks over globular proteins is not understood. Here, using shear rheology and small-angle neutron scattering, the authors characterise the mechanical and structural properties of photochemically crosslinked protein L and fibrin networks and show that aspect ratio is a crucial property that defines network architecture and mechanics.

The diffuse, isotropic background of gamma rays comes mainly from star-forming galaxies, according to a physical model of gamma-ray emission.

By day 1,041 after explosion, SN Ia-CSM 2018evt had produced an estimated 0.01 solar masses of dust in the cold, dense shell behind the supernova ejecta–circumstellar medium interaction, ranking it as one of the most prolific dust-producing supernovae ever recorded.

This study presents a data-driven framework for the design of streamflow monitoring networks across various scales that improves hydrological predictions while also accommodating socio-environmental constraints.

This paper presents evidence for dynamical interactions in the very dense regions in the core of galaxies causing two compact objects, such as neutron stars and black holes, to merge, leading to a gamma-ray burst.

The accretion geometry of X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 is determined here from IXPE observations. X-ray polarization reveals a narrow funnel with reflecting walls, which focuses emission, making Cyg X-3 appear as an ultraluminous X-ray source.

Physical realizations of qubits are often vulnerable to leakage errors, where the system ends up outside the basis used to store quantum information. A leakage removal protocol can suppress the impact of leakage on quantum error-correcting codes.

Literature produced inconsistent findings regarding the links between extreme weather events and climate policy support across regions, populations and events. This global study offers a holistic assessment of these relationships and highlights the role of subjective attribution.

Gelatinous bloom-forming zooplankton—salps—alter microbial communities and quintuple the flux of sinking particles from the surface to the deep, strongly enhancing the ability of the ocean to sequester CO₂.

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.

Narco trafficking and subsequent counter-drug interdiction strategies can lead to loss of biodiverse forests, which are important habitats for resident and migratory bird species. This study evaluates how such activities can threaten the bird habitat in Central American forests.

Observations from the JWST of the second brightest GRB ever detected, GRB 230307A, indicate that it belongs to the class of long-duration GRBs resulting from compact object mergers, with the decay of lanthanides powering the longlasting optical and infrared emission.

The exoplanet HD 189733b has a metal-enriched atmosphere with the possible presence of H₂O (13.4σ), CO₂ (11.2σ), CO (5σ) and H₂S (4.5σ).

X-ray polarimetry observations with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer constrain the accretion geometry in an X-ray pulsar and provide evidence for a misalignment of the spin, magnetic and orbital axes in Her X-1.

Koster et al introduce a deep reinforcement learning (RL) mechanism designed to manage common-pool resources successfully encourages sustainable cooperation among human participants by dynamically adjusting resource allocations based on the current state of the resource pool. The RL-derived policy outperforms traditional allocation methods by balancing generosity when resources are abundant and applying temporary sanctions to discourage free-riding, ultimately maximizing social welfare and fairness.

A study reports the development and validation of a wrist-worn, consumer wearable-based system that identifies sudden loss of pulse events with a performance profile suitable for societal-scale use.

Strontium isotope analysis can be applied to animal and plant tissues to help determine their provenance. Here, the authors generate a strontium isoscape of sub-Saharan Africa using data from 2266 environmental samples and demonstrate its efficacy by tracing the African roots of individuals from historic slavery contexts.

Self-assembled PbSe quantum dot (QD) superlattices are a class of materials that promises novel mesoscale electronic properties due to electronic coupling between individual QDs. Here, the authors reveal distinct electronic states manifested by the quantum confinement of charge carriers in epitaxially formed necking between QDs.