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Two-dimensional (2D) metal halide perovskites exhibit efficient photoinduced emission at room temperature, but control over charge carrier transport remains limited. Here formamidinium-based layered 2D perovskites are developed with high predicted symmetry. The absence of octahedral distortion results in an exciton diffusion length of 2.5 µm.

Natural rubber is a widely used biopolymer and further improving its resistance to crack growth will extend its service life. Here the authors show a strategy to amplify the resistance to crack growth in natural rubber by forming a tanglemer.

Interacting electrons in Hofstadter bands can form symmetry-broken topological states. These are now revealed in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene, and their properties are influenced by non-uniform quantum geometry.

Conventional methods for human motion analysis using sensors tightly attached to the body are often uncomfortable. Here, the authors demonstrate motion recognition and prediction using sensors embedded in garments. The results provide guidance for the development of wearable technology integrated into everyday clothing.

Operating devices close to a phase transition can improve performance due to the singular behaviour at critical points. An enhancement in sensitivity has now been achieved using the bistable transition point in a hybrid quantum system.

The vacuum process is scalable and solvent free, yet all-vacuum-deposited perovskite solar cells still trail solution-processed counterparts. Facet-directed co-evaporation yields (100)-oriented mixed-halide wide-bandgap films for efficient, stable single-junction cells and perovskite–silicon tandem cells.

Femtosecond photoexcitation drives a coherent twist–untwist motion of the moiré superlattice in 2° and 57° twisted WSe₂/MoSe₂ heterobilayers.

DNA recognition and cleavage control in type II topoisomerases are poorly understood processes. Here, the authors determine cleaved and uncleaved structures of supercoiled DNA-bound topoisomerase VI that reveal how the enzyme activates its cleavage state and prefers to act at deformable substrates.

Plasmas can unlock unconventional reactivity for established catalytic systems, but understanding the resulting mechanistic changes is a complex endeavour. Here in situ characterization techniques allow us to rationalize the promotional role of non-thermal plasma on the catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol on Cu–Zn systems.

A monolithically integrated photonic ski-jump enables scalable, diffraction-limited 2D beam scanning from photonic chips, achieving ultrahigh spot rates, compact footprints and applications spanning displays, sensing and quantum photonics.

Activity in human dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN)—the main source of serotonin to the human forebrain—signals changes in behavioural policy that are shaped by the distribution of rewards in the environment.

Polymer thin films that emit and absorb circularly polarised light are promising in achieving important technological advances, but the origin of the large chiroptical effects in such films has remained elusive. Here the authors demonstrate that in non-aligned polymer thin films, large chiroptical effects are caused by magneto-electric coupling, not structural chirality as previously assumed.

How white matter develops along the length of major tracts in humans remains unknown. Here, the authors identify fundamental patterns of human white matter development along distinct axes that reflect brain organization.

Active galactic nuclei are surrounded by a dusty and molecular disk that fuels supermassive black holes and connects them to their host galaxies. Here, the authors show with JWST interferometric observations that most of the dust in the Circinus galaxies lies in a compact disk, while only a tiny fraction traces hot outflowing material.

Tilting planar photovoltaic panels to track the position of the sun over the day can add to yearly energy consumption. Here, Lamoureaux et al.propose a kirigami solar cell structure with solar tracking integrated within the design, reducing cost, structural weight and bulk associated with conventional tracking.

Jung et al. showed that targeted transcranial ultrasound stimulation of the anterior temporal lobe enhances semantic memory by altering brain chemistry, activity, and structure, highlighting a promising non-invasive approach for neurorehabilitation.

Intermolecular singlet fission (xSF) has typically been observed when the interchromophore separation is below ∼5.6 Å because the chromophore coupling is dominated by van der Waals forces. Now, using carbon nanohoop assemblies that allow the chromophore assembly and coupling to be modulated, efficient xSF has been observed at chromophore separations distances up to ∼16 Å.

Tiny protein crystals often evade X-ray methods. Here, authors solved the seed protein crambin at 0.85 Å by ab initio MicroED from 58 self-formed nanocrystals on standard 200 kV hardware, resolving hydrogen atoms using anisotropy-aware merging.

This paper reports a fluorescence imaging method based on interference contrast in which the incidence angle of the excitation light is actively scanned. The high axial precision and temporal resolution are used for dynamic nanoscale imaging of cytoskeleton and adhesion proteins in living cells.

Mass-wasting deposits that accumulated against mid-ocean ridge faults have high porosity in which calcium carbonate precipitated, storing seawater carbon dioxide, as revealed by cores of a 61-million-year-old seafloor talus deposit.

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is highly heritable, yet not well understood from a genetic perspective. Here, the authors perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 34,179 POAG cases, identifying 44 previously unreported risk loci and mapping effects across multiple ethnicities.

This study shows that strain-stabilized interfacial polarization in metallic RuO₂/TiO₂ heterostructures modulates the work function by over 1 eV and the metallicity, establishing a new route to control the electronic properties of functional metals.

Hydrophobic surfaces composed of an asymmetric array of polymer nanorods show unidirectional wetting behaviour relative to the orientation of the tilted nanorods. The surfaces, which are smooth on the microscale, can transport water droplets of microlitre capacity by a ratcheting mechanism resulting from the pillared substrate.

The logic of feedback connectivity in the visual system is largely unknown. Here the authors show that border-ownership tuned cells in V4 have stronger feedback connectivity with V1 cells located in their preferred figure location.

From lock-in transport measurements of a skyrmion lattice in MnSi, the authors find a delay in the voltage response of the Hall effect and resistivity, arguing that its deformation leads to inertial skyrmion lattice dynamics and emergent reactance.

Here, the authors show that brain dynamics mature from childhood to adulthood with increased hierarchical propagation and reduced visual-somatomotor dynamics. Top-down hierarchical flow strengthens throughout this developmental period.

Flexible superblack materials are crucial for minimizing stray light, complicating object identification, and serving as low reflectance standards, however it is challenging due to scalability and durability issues. Here the authors show a superblack material which is scalable, durable and flexible.

Examination of a complete structural phase diagram of twisted trilayer graphene shows that several large-scale moiré domain lattices can be formed, the physical properties of which can be tuned by the twist angles between layers.

Analyses of newly discovered hand and foot bones of a Paranthropus boisei specimen provide insight into possible tool use and other palaeobiology characteristics among Plio-Pleistocene hominin species.

Broadband light antireflection materials have numerous applications as highly transparent window, for broadband applications thin-film multilayers have been considered. Here, Rahman et al. demonstrate broadband antireflection enhancement in silicon solar cells using a self-assembled, nanostructured copolymer.

A human spinal cord organoid model can replicate two different types of spinal cord injury and can be used as an in vitro system to evaluate therapeutics and inflammatory reactions to treatments.

HIV-1 integrase forms an RNA-binding module on the luminal side of the mature capsid lattice.

The authors study epitaxial thin films of the pyrochlore-sublattice compound LiTi2O4 by RIXS and ARPES. They observe cooperation between strong electron correlations and strong electron-phonon coupling, giving rise to a mobile polaronic ground state in which charge motion and lattice distortions are coupled.

In solid state spin-photon interfaces, a key challenge is to efficiently prepare the excited state while spectrally separating excitation light from the emitted photons. Here the authors demonstrate optical control of a spin center in diamond with both resonant driving and the SUPER nonresonant excitation based on two detuned pulses, and propose a broadband excitation protocol for spin-spin entanglement generation.

Radiation reaction (RR) on particles in strong fields is the subject of intense experimental research, but previous efforts lacked statistical significance due to the extreme regimes required. Here, the authors report a 5σ observation of RR and obtain strong, quantitative evidence favouring quantum models over classical, using an all-optical setup where electrons are accelerated by a laser in a gas jet before colliding with a second, intense pulse.

Jamie Craig, Puya Gharahkhani and colleagues report results of a genome-wide association study of primary open-angle glaucoma. They identify common variants near ABCA1, AFAP1 and GMDS that are associated with risk of this disease.

Insights into regulatory T cell biology are accelerating therapeutic innovation in cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.

The relation between magnetooptical activity and chirality has previously been confused. Chiral polymer films are presented with state-of-the-art Verdet constants, revealing the role of chirality, and a strategy to enhance the magnetooptical B term.

Ischemic heart disease causes irreversible damage due to poor cardiomyocyte renewal. Here, the authors show that PKM2 modRNA therapy in pigs drives cardiomyocyte proliferation, minimizes fibrosis, restores cardiac function and prevents heart failure after injury.

A machine-learning workflow has been developed to predict the enantioselectivity of asymmetric catalytic reactions using only sparse data for training.

A van der Waals heterostructure made from atomic layers of ferroelectric CuCrP₂S₆ and ferromagnetic Fe₃GeTe₂ can offer reversible, non-volatile ferroelectric control of two-dimensional magnetism.

Low oxidation state aluminium complexes have gained wide recognition as discrete and versatile 2-electron reductants, but neutral trimeric structures remain elusive. Here the authors report the synthesis and characterization of two neutral Al(I) trimers whose trimeric structure is retained in solution.

High-enthalpy elastic metamaterials constructed from freely rotatable chiral metacells have high stiffness, large recoverable strain and improved buckling strength.

Sydnor et al. developed a new tractography atlas of thalamocortical structural connections and applied it to three youth samples. They uncovered coordinated development between thalamic connectivity and hierarchical cortical plasticity in humans.

The International Brain Laboratory presents a brain-wide electrophysiological map obtained from pooling data from 12 laboratories that performed the same standardized perceptual decision-making task in mice.

A scanning electron microscope operated at 20 keV with distortion corrected ptychography achieves sub-ångström resolution, thus offering a compact and lower-cost alternative TEM imaging method that is well-suited to 2D materials and small proteins.

Spatiotemporal insight into photoactivation of the prototypical B₁₂ photoreceptor CarH is revealed across nine orders of magnitude in time, identifying a transient adduct that distinguishes it from thermally activated B₁₂ enzymes.

In a magnetoelectric material, an applied electric field can drive changes in the magnetic order. This feature has profound technology prospects and here, Moody et al demonstrate deterministic control of the direction of magnetic spiral order via an applied electric field in Cu₂OSeO₃.

The authors demonstrate the tunability of moiré potential and emergent moiré exciton Rydberg states in a monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide governed by an adjacent twisted bilayer graphene near the magic angle with gate-tunable local charge density.

The LGN is a critical stage between the retina and visual cortex, but the properties of human LGN neurons are not fully understood. Here the authors report that they closely resemble those in monkeys and that closure of one eye increases the activity of putative inhibitory neurons connected to that eye.