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Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

Measles virus and canine distemper virus (CDV) are still causing health impairments in humans and animals. Here, the authors develop a synthetic antibody protecting ferrets from lethal CDV infections, providing a roadmap for antiviral drug design.

High-resolution 3D simulations reveal that rotation dramatically amplifies wave-driven mixing in red giant stars, providing a natural explanation for observed changes in surface chemistry that have long puzzled astronomers.

Applications of optical laser-based techniques are limited by the long wavelengths of the lasers. Now, observations of phonons and thermal transport at nanometre length scales are reported with an all-hard X-ray transient-grating spectroscopy technique.

Here, the authors present archaeology of the Namorotukunan site in Kenya’s Turkana Basin that demonstrates adaptive shifts in hominin tool-making behaviour spanning 300,000 years and increasing environmental variability. They contextualize these findings with paleoenvironmental proxies, dating, and geological descriptions.

A greater diversity of crops at the national level increases the temporal stability of total national harvest, reflecting markedly lower frequencies of years with sharp harvest losses.

The authors demonstrate dual-probe multi-messenger imaging of high-energy-density plasmas based on laser-wakefield-accelerated electrons. This enables spatiotemporally resolved simultaneous probing of plasma hydrodynamics and electromagnetic field evolution with both x-ray and electron beams.

Moral-Sanz, Fernández-Carrasco and colleagues identify senolytic properties of sea anemone-derived pore-forming toxins, with selectivity mediated by senescence-associated lipid profiles. An optimized senotoxin improves the efficacy of chemotherapy in mouse models.

Examining human brain organoids and ex vivo neonatal murine cortical slices demonstrates that structured neuronal sequences emerge independently of sensory input, highlighting the potential of brain organoids as a model for neuronal circuit assembly.

Induction of CD11b-positive regulatory B cells and low expression of CD40 in melanoma cells have been associated with resistance to agonist CD40 (aCD40) and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Here the authors show that the addition of RAS/MEK/PI3K inhibitors to aCD40 abrogates these effects and reverses ICB resistance in preclinical melanoma models.

A Dirac quantum spin liquid phase is predicted to have a continuum of fractionalized spinon excitations with a Dirac cone dispersion. A spin continuum consistent with this picture has now been observed in neutron scattering measurements.

Visualising the structure of museum objects is a crucial step in understanding the origin, state, and composition of cultural heritage artifacts. Here the authors present an approach for creating computed tomography reconstructions using only standard 2D radiography equipment already available in most larger museums.

Proactive disease prevention must play a larger role in public health strategies. This will require enhanced efforts to enable the development and use of preventive medicines at scale, for the right patient group at the right time. Here, we describe regulatory and drug development recommendations to help unlock the potential of disease prevention.

The authors study Sr₂RuO₄ under shear strain, finding that shear strain has little to no coupling to superconductivity. These results suggest a one-component superconducting order parameter in Sr₂RuO₄.

The ability to tune spin-orbit interaction is crucial for spintronic and quantum devices. Alarab and colleagues use soft X-ray ARPES to show that this interaction in MoSe₂ can be strengthened by a proximity induced spin-orbit field transfer from a Pb layer deposited onto the MoSe₂ surface.

Liu et al. report the design of organic cation to selectively enhance in-plane distortion for localizing excitons and suppress out-of-plane and intra-octahedral distortions for minimizing the formation of self-trapped excitons, enabling 2D perovskites with fast X-ray scintillation response (0.62 ns) and high light yield (19,700 photons MeV⁻¹).

The micro isolation (MISO) method combines microfluidics-based protein purification with cryo-EM grid preparation, enabling cryo-EM structure determination of soluble and membrane proteins starting from less than 1 µg of a target protein.

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 affects both muscle and neuronal function, but its synaptic pathology is poorly understood. Here, the authors show that upregulation of FasII (NCAM1) in both pre- and postsynaptic cells synergistically drives neuropathological and behavioral DM1 phenotypes, which can be rescued by FasII knockdown or specific isoform modulation.

The relationship between superconductivity and antiferromagnetism is an unresolved question in electron-doped high-T_c superconductors. Saadaoui et al. perform low-energy muon spin relaxation measurements to study the phase diagram of La_2−xCe_xCuO_4−δat the magnetic-superconducting transition region.

This computational modelling study unveils the detailed DNA translocation mechanisms of two archetypal SF2 family helicases, XPD and DinG, and sheds light on the functional impact of XPD-associated mutations on genetic disease etiology.

Neutrophils infiltrate glioblastomas with the capacity to engage pro/anti tumoural responses. Here the authors developed proteomic workflows to stratify neutrophil heterogeneity by function. This work provides a platform to study neutrophil proteomes with single cell resolution in glioblastoma.

Heteroepitaxy is used to precisely control the growth of Mn₃O₄ shells on the faces of a Co₃O₄ nanocube crystal, producing uniform grain boundary defects and highly ordered multigrain nanostructures.

Using multi-omic analyses, the authors reveal how aging, sex, and trisomy 21 shape human biology across the lifespan, showing that age- and sex-specific changes peak during puberty and adulthood, while trisomy 21 exerts differential effects over time.

Understanding the complex flow of soft amorphous materials requires going beyond standard rheometers, which fail to capture stress heterogeneities at the mesoscopic scale. By combining shear rheometry with time-resolved X-ray micro-tomography on 3D foams, the study uncovers universal master curves in local stress dynamics and reveals how microstructural rearrangements drive non-local stress redistribution, explaining macroscopic elastoplastic behavior.

This case study on Bangladesh shows that, while there are no large differences in water application between solar- and diesel-irrigated plots under the fee-for-service solar irrigation model in the study area, scaling solar irrigation will require tailored policies to balance groundwater sustainability risks.

The mechanism of superconductivity in layered kagome metals remains unclear, however its coexistence with charge order suggests exotic interpretations. Here the authors study the vortex lattice in the superconducting state of Ta-doped CsV₃Sb₅ with suppressed charge order, suggesting conventional pairing.

It is known that the spin-excitation spectrum of the undoped parents of iron-pnictide superconductors contains a pronounced magnon peak, but it is unclear whether this survives doping into the superconducting state. Schmitt et al.report resonant inelastic X-ray scattering spectra that suggest it does.

The dynamic behavior of supported metal nanoparticles under reaction conditions plays a crucial role in determining their catalytic performance. Here, time-resolved XRD, PDF, and modulation techniques provide direct evidence of hydrogen-induced breathing and detachment of Pt nanoparticles from an alumina support, uncovering reversible, size-dependent dynamics in both gas and liquid phases.

The Mermin-Wagner theorem states that for short-range isotropic interactions, magnetic order in two dimensions is destroyed by magnetic fluctuations at finite temperatures. Observing this situation is challenging due to the finite size of typical laboratory samples. Here, Kiaba et al observe the suppression of magnetic order in oxide superlattices, at the thickness of the superlattice layers are reduced to one monolayer.

Large language models can describe and classify changing objects in astronomical images with high accuracy. This enables searches for visual features using text and introduces a new way to interact with sky survey data.

Semipermeable polymeric anion exchange membranes are essential for separation, filtration and energy conversion technologies such as fuel cells. Quasi-elastic neutron scattering is now used to disentangle water, polymer relaxation and OH⁻ diffusional dynamics in a commercially available membrane.

The spiral spin liquid is a spin liquid state characterized by short range correlations that maintain the spin spiral locally, but without the global order of the standard spin spiral. Material realization of this state has been lacking. Here, through neutron scattering measurements, Andriushin et al confirm a spiral spin liquid state in AgCrSe₂.

Point defects in 2D semiconductors hold potential as single photon emitters (SPEs), but their controlled fabrication and microscopic understanding remain a challenge. Here, the authors report the synthesis of dilute Nb-doped monolayer WS₂, showing that Nb impurities behave as SPEs with well-defined emission energies.

Observations of a fast X-ray transient reveal that it is a gamma-ray-burst explosion from a very distant galaxy that emits light with the wavelength necessary to drive cosmic reionization, the last major phase change in the history of the Universe.

This study reveals that excitatory–inhibitory imbalance in Alzheimer’s disease is diverse including both impaired long-range synaptic integration and altered local excitability, with distinct links to β-amyloid and tau pathology.

Iceberg calving can act as a submarine melt amplifier through excitation of transient internal waves.

Here the authors report an allotrope to the nanocarbon family, Graphene-P-phenyl-Graphene, for potassium-ion batteries.

The SrTiO₃/LaAlO₃ system is widely studied because it forms a two-dimensional electron gas at the interface. This study investigates the effects of diluting the LaAlO₃ layer with SrTiO₃, and finds that the threshold thickness required for the onset of conductivity scales inversely with the fraction of LaAlO₃, suggesting an intrinsic origin for the electron gas.

Research into steatotic liver disease should prioritize person-centred care and work towards a reduced disease burden and lower economic and societal costs.

Weak antilocalization is a signifier of electrical transport via topologically non-trivial surface states of a topological insulator, but it is often masked by dopant-induced scattering. Kim et al.overcome such difficulties to identify coherent transport via the topological surface states of bismuth selenide.