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Gold has a vital role in human society and the global economy, but its production currently causes high levels of environmental pollution. This work reports an approach that can effectively produce gold from both primary and secondary resources without the use of toxic substances such as mercury or cyanide.

The micronutrient iron is thought to limit primary production in large regions of the global ocean. Meltwater measurements suggest that the Greenland ice sheet serves as a significant source of potentially bioavailable iron to the surrounding coastal ocean

Electrochemical acid-base production has attractive applications in mineral recovery and CO₂ removal, but current membrane-based designs are plagued by resistive losses. The authors report a membrane-less system generating useful acid and base solutions at high rates with less energy.

While water splitting could provide a green means to store energy, there are few materials that can sustain high water oxidation half-reaction rates in acidic electrolytes. Here, authors design a perovskite oxide that generates high performance under-coordinated iridium sites during electrocatalysis.

Reconstruction of oceanic phosphorus concentrations during a large negative carbon-isotope excursion co-occurring with global oceanic oxygenation and evolution of some of Earth’s earliest animals suggests that decoupled phosphorus and ocean anoxia cycles during the Ediacaran may have prolonged the rise of atmospheric oxygen.

Whales transform prey biomass into labile micronutrients and inject them directly into the surface ocean, according to chemical analyses of whale excrement samples from the Southern Ocean.

Cell seeding on scaffolds for regenerative tissue engineering presents a regulatory and manufacturing hurdle. Here, the authors report on the development of a cell free conductive scaffold which can support tissue regeneration without cell seeding, demonstrating application in bladder repair.

Preservation of oral microbiome ancient DNA from Oceania is much better than human ancient DNA. The authors leverage this to demonstrate that oral microbial community composition in Oceania is not only distinct from the rest of the world, but it may also be associated with patterns of ancient human migration in the region.

Sorption modeling treating soil as a homogenous medium misrepresents PFAS mobility in the subsurface. Exploring minerals reveals the role of aluminum-oxide electrostatics for short PFAS and organic matter and air-water interface for long-chains.

Bees are important components of sustainable agriculture through their pollination services, however, they are susceptible to pesticide toxicity. This study presents an ingestible hydrogel microparticle technology that can lessen the detrimental effects of toxicity from the imidacloprid pesticide.

Glucocorticoid (GC) induced osteoporosis (GIOP) remains a significant clinical problem. Here, the authors find that GCs disrupt skeletal stem cell–endothelial crosstalk via Basigin that can be targeted as a potential therapy for GIOP.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Measuring the entanglement between down-converted photons is central to many quantum optical experiments, and is normally performed by scanning detectors stepwise across a plane. Edgaret al. use a CCD camera to measure the entire entangled light field, finding strong correlations in position and momentum.

Thlaspi arvense (pennycress) has the potential to provide new sources of food and bioproducts when grown as a winter cover crop. Here, Chopra et al. demonstrate that multiple desirable traits can be stacked to rapidly domesticate pennycress. The resulting crop integrates into current crop rotations and produces seeds with improved nutritional qualities, easier harvesting and suitability for human consumption.

Warm greenhouse conditions spanning the end-Permian mass extinction event are linked to increased rates of reverse weathering, according to lithium and strontium isotope records as well as geochemical modelling.

The onset of deep water export from the North Atlantic Ocean preceded the onset of Antarctic glaciation by about one million years, according to sediment geochemistry, and may have been triggered by tectonic changes in the Atlantic basin.

New proxy data for ocean pH and an ocean–atmosphere model show that a radically different ocean circulation led to decoupling of ocean productivity and upwelling in the equatorial Pacific Ocean 3–6 million years ago.

Results forecast that cliff retreat rates will increase by up to an order of magnitude by 2100 according to current predictions of sea-level rise, and reveal that even historically stable rock coasts are highly sensitive to sea-level rise.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across different populations highlights new risk loci and provides a genetic risk score that can stratify prostate cancer risk across ancestries.

Timothy Frayling, Joel Hirschhorn, Peter Visscher and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for adult height in 253,288 individuals. They identify 697 variants in 423 loci significantly associated with adult height and find that these variants cluster in pathways involved in growth and together explain one-fifth of the heritability for this trait.

A multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of prostate cancer performed in 156,319 cases and 788,443 controls identifies 187 novel risk variants associated with the disease. Genetic risk scores associated with overall risk, and risk of aggressive disease in men of African ancestry.

The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) can be targeted in the treatment of diabetes, obesity and other metabolic disorders. Here, the authors assess the molecular mechanisms of peptide agonists binding to GLP-1R and the responses elucidated by these ligands, including distinct kinetics of G protein activation.

The global risk of record-breaking heatwaves is assessed, with the most at-risk regions identified. It is shown that record-smashing events that currently appear implausible could happen anywhere as a result of climate change.

Genome-wide data from 400 individuals indicate that the initial spread of the Beaker archaeological complex between Iberia and central Europe was propelled by cultural diffusion, but that its spread into Britain involved a large-scale migration that permanently replaced about ninety per cent of the ancestry in the previously resident population.

A consortium reports the tripling of the number of genetic markers in Phase II of the International HapMap Project. This map of human genetic variation will continue to revolutionize discovery of susceptibility loci in common genetic diseases, and study of genes under selection in humans.

The study of an iron-fertilized phytoplankton bloom dominated by diatoms, which takes up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, shows that a substantial proportion of the bloom eventually sinks to the deep-sea floor, sequestering the carbon for timescales of centuries or more.

The venomous stinging cells of jellyfish, anemones, and corals contain an organelle, the nematocyst, which explosively discharges a venom-laden thread. Here, the authors describe the nematocyst thread and its sub-structures in the sea anemone N. vectensis, revealing a complexity and sophistication underpinning this cellular weapon.

This Consensus Statement uses available mechanistic knowledge on pharmaceutical, chemical, physical and biological agents to identify the key characteristics (KCs) of metabolism-disrupting agents (MDAs). Examples demonstrating the use of these KCs to characterize the toxicity of various agents are provided. Recommendations for assessing how previously untested chemicals might affect specific KCs are also outlined.

Urbanization and climate-induced rainfall changes are enhancing flood risk, putting increased demand on urban hydrology management. This Review summarizes how perceptions and approaches in stormwater management are evolving, and emphasizes the need to transform stormwater from a hazard to a resource.

In this study the authors identify a possible link between the gene FAM222A and brain atrophy. The protein it encodes is found to accumulate in plaques seen in Alzheimer’s disease, and functional analysis suggests it interacts with amyloid-beta.

Using insights from whole-genome screening, the mineral-dissolving microbe Gluconobacter oxydans was engineered by deleting the pstS gene and overexpressing mgdh, creating a strain that improves rare earth element extraction by up to 73%.

DNA preservation in archaeozoological caribou ribs from West Greenland Inuit hunting camp shows better quality in newly excavated samples, revealing detrimental effects of museum storage and diverse microbial communities involved in bone degradation.

Engineered living materials are composed of a matrix that encapsulates living cells, which endow the biomaterial with controllable responses and dynamic functions. This Review discusses the fabrication and biomedical applications of engineered living materials that contain microorganisms as the living, active component.

Comparative study of 81 genomes of parasitic and non-parasitic worms identifies gene family births and expanded gene families at key nodes in the phylogeny that are relevant to parasitism and proteins historically targeted for drug development.

The dynamics of cardiomyocyte cell cycle activity and proliferation in humans are poorly understood. This protocol describes how to measure cell division in infant hearts by multi-isotope imaging spectrometry after incorporation of ¹⁵N-thymidine.

In the semiarid rangelands of the western US, the annual grass invasion and wildfire depleted the soil carbon in deep horizons and led to ecosystem carbon loss across 400,000 hectares, according to an analysis based on soil and biomass samples and statistical approach.

Black carbon is produced by wildfire and fossil fuel burning, and persists in the environment over centuries to millennia. This Review describes black carbon sources and budgets, discusses its transport along the land-to-ocean continuum and highlights its enigmatic cycling in the ocean.

Using whole-genome data for single-nucleotide polymorphism and results from genome-wide association studies, the authors show that people’s preference for pairing with those with similar phenotypic traits has genetic causes and consequences.

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have numerous environmental applications, such as in water treatment and reuse. This Review explores the trade-offs between the risks and benefits of environmental ENMs, and highlights that the environmental and health risks of ENMs are relatively low when used responsibly.