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Wood density is an important plant trait. Data from 1.1 million forest inventory plots and 10,703 tree species show a latitudinal gradient in wood density, with temperature and soil moisture explaining variation at the global scale and disturbance also having a role at the local level.

Why revisit long-discredited claims for a source of abundant energy, asks Philip Ball? Because we are still learning how to treat pathological science.

Amorphous films with tunable thermal conductivity are needed for semiconductor/aerospace fields. Amorphous Al(Ti)N nanoparticles have negligible effect on thermal conductivity of Si₃N₄ 2 W m⁻¹K⁻¹, while incorporating crystal TiN phases increases to 15 W m⁻¹K⁻¹.

Advancing single-atom quantum information processing necessitates a deep understanding of electron and nuclear spin dynamics. Here, using pump-probe spectroscopy, the authors detect the coherent dynamics of a nuclear and electron spin of a single hydrogenated Ti atom on MgO surface.

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.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Using multi-ancestry genome-wide association study and fine-mapping, 298 loci and 36 credible genes are identified in the aetiology of bipolar disorder.

Terrestrial ecosystem productivity is widely accepted to be nutrient limited. A series of standardized nutrient addition experiments, carried out on grasslands on five continents, suggests aboveground grassland productivity is commonly limited by multiple nutrients, including potassium and micronutrients.

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.

Diffusion models are reframed by developing a generative blood cell classifier that performs reliably in low-data regimes, adapts to domain shifts, detects anomalies with robustness and provides uncertainty estimates that surpass clinical expert benchmarks.

Magnetic cooling could be a radically different energy solution that could replace conventional vapour compression refrigeration in the future. It is now shown that a Heusler-type magnetocaloric alloy exhibits a remarkable cooling capability due to the effect of a sharp structural transformation at a specific temperature. The finding may be of relevance beyond Heusler alloys and represents an important step towards the implementation of cooling systems based on magnetocaloric materials.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

Detection of ultracold molecules based on absorption imaging have inherent limitations. Here, the authors demonstrate spatially resolved detection of single ultracold 87Rb133Cs molecules in the bulk, extending recent microscopy developments from ultracold atoms to molecules.

PU.1^low CD28-expressing microglia may act as suppressive cells in Alzheimer’s disease, mitigating its progression by reducing neuroinflammation and amyloid plaque load, indicating potential immunotherapeutic approaches for treatment.

The primitive hominins from Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia are often thought to be akin to Homo erectus and are arguably the earliest known members of the human family outside Africa. This conclusion has come, so far, from the presentation of postcranial material: now a partial skeleton of an adolescent individual associated with a skull, and remains from three adult individuals, suggest that the Dmanisi hominids are even more primitive than that, akin to Homo habilis.

Genome editing tools can precisely introduce a specified lesion into the DNA, but ultimately rely on the cell’s DNA repair machinery to determine the editing outcome. Here, authors demonstrate how neurons’ unique DNA repair pathways impact the safety, efficiency, and precision of CRISPR edits.

Whole-genome sequencing of more than 2,000 colorectal carcinoma samples provides a highly detailed view of the genomic landscape of this cancer and identifies new driver mutations.

Genome-wide analysis in individuals of African ancestry identifies a nonsense variant in CD36 associated with increased risk of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), partly accounting for the higher incidence of DCM in African-ancestry populations.

Mice lacking A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase 9 (ADAM9) do not mount Type 1 interferon responses against encephalomyocarditis infection. Here, Bazzone et al show that ADAM9 regulates innate immune responses via by MDA5.

Macromolecular crowding can increase the robustness of gene expression in artificial cellular systems.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

The authors conducted prospective multimodal monitoring of simultaneous brain and heart function to define physiological changes during the human dying process leading to circulatory arrest.

Scale-invariant magnetic anisotropy in RuCl₃ has been revealed through measurements of its magnetotropic coefficient, providing evidence for a high degree of exchange frustration that favours the formation of a spin liquid state.

Meta-analyses in up to 1.3 million individuals identify 87 rare-variant associations with blood pressure traits. On average, rare variants exhibit effects ~8 times larger than the mean effects of common variants and implicate candidate causal genes at associated regions.

Human brain structure changes throughout the lifespan. Brouwer et al. identified genetic variants that affect rates of brain growth and atrophy. The genes are linked to early brain development and neurodegeneration and suggest involvement of metabolic processes.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

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 placenta plays vital roles in supporting fetal development. Here, Richards et al. develop a high-throughput bioprinted trophoblast organoid model to recapitulate the microenvironment of the early placenta, enabling investigation of placenta development and evaluation of therapeutics for placenta dysfunction disorders.

Intermolecular interactions underpin an array of physical and chemical phenomena. Here, the authors probe the three dimensional potential between fullerene molecules in different orientations showing that the positional variation in the intermolecular binding energy is dominated repulsive interactions.

Spectral broadening generally conceals the signatures of rotational and translational motion in solution-phase spectra. Now, using highly inert perfluorocarbon solvents, spectral broadening has been minimized allowing the translational, rotational and vibrational relaxation dynamics of highly excited CN solute molecules to be observed simultaneously.

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.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

Multiancestry fine-mapping of brain protein quantitative trait loci coupled with Mendelian randomization analyses identifies protein–trait pairs consistent with causal effects across neurological and psychiatric conditions.

Analysis of ground-sourced and satellite-derived models reveals a global forest carbon potential of 226 Gt outside agricultural and urban lands, with a difference of only 12% across these modelling approaches.

Systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease study reported that, despite global improvements from 1990 to 2021, dietary iron deficiency-associated disease burden remains high in women, children and residents in low socio-demographic index countries.

Analysis of shallow-water marine carbonate samples from 101 stratigraphic units allows construction of a record of lithium isotopes from the past 3 billion years, tracking the evolution of the global carbon and silicon cycles.