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Robbie Waugh and colleagues report that the EARLINESS PER SE (EPS2) locus is associated with spring growth habit and environmental adaptation in barley. Resequencing the barley homolog of CENTRORADIALIS, located within the EPS2 locus, in 216 spring and 207 winter barley accessions identified haplotypes at HvCEN that correspond with winter or spring growth habit.

Soil carbon loss from human agriculture-related land use in the dry tropics largely offsets gains in northern lands, leading to a small net sink of 0.34 ± 0.30 PgC yr⁻¹ at a global scale.

Trends in global H₂ sources and sinks are analysed from 1990 to 2020, and a comprehensive budget for the decade 2010–2020 is presented.

Despite the important role that NAD plays in axon maintenance and degeneration, an understanding of how NMNAT2 expression, a terminal enzyme for NAD production, influences retinal ganglion cell degeneration is lacking. Here the authors demonstrate epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) drives NAD production in neurons through an NMNAT2 dependent mechanism and provides neuroprotection against retinal ganglion cell injury ex vivo.

Microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) plays a key role in soil carbon storage. Here, the authors show that CUE declines with soil depth across 60 forest sites, driven by microbial diversity in topsoil and by physicochemical protection in deeper layers.

Here they show that C. elegans can transmit diet-induced, sperm- or oocyte-specific reproductive traits non-genetically, enabling rapid and flexible adaptation to ecologically relevant changes in environmental conditions.

Long-period seismicity at volcanoes may be generated by deformation of weak material in the subsurface, not solely by fluid movement, according to rock deformation experiments.

A sensitive Breakthrough Listen search for technosignatures towards Proxima Centauri has resulted in a viable narrowband signal. The observational approach, using the Parkes Murriyang telescope, is described here, while the signal of interest is analysed in a companion paper by Sheikh et al.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

The development of methodology to convert biomass into fuels and chemical feedstocks is part of a drive to reduce the world's dependence on crude oil. Here, the catalytic defunctionalization of a series of biomass-derived molecules is described, which allows the selective generation of alkanes with carbon chain lengths between eight and sixteen for use as transportation fuels.

Particle radiation studies have been one of the elementary keystones since the dawn of the nuclear physics. Here, the authors discovered the heaviest proton emitting isotope to date, ¹⁸⁸At, that points to a trend change in binding energy systematics, further implying a novel interaction in heavy nuclei.

Machine learning accelerates protein engineering by predicting sequence-function relationships. Here, authors evaluate neural network architectures’ ability to extrapolate beyond training data, finding simpler models excel in local design while convolutional models explore deeper sequence spaces.

In analysis of physically embedded complex networks, their nodes are usually considered as localized spheres connected by links, neglecting possible differences of nodes spatial shapes. The authors develop a representation of physical networks that captures arbitrary node shapes to characterize structural and dynamical network properties.

The origins of the Sun’s periodic activity, such as sunspot cycles, are poorly understood. McIntosh et al.posit that the rotational forcing of the activity bands comprising the 22-year magnetic cycle undergoes shorter-term variations, driving magnetic flux surges that impact solar output on those timescales.

This study provides a continent-wide assessment of surface meltwater area in Antarctica between 2006 and 2021, highlighting recent increases in magnitude and variability in East Antarctica, with indications that the ice-sheet surface is becoming increasingly prone to further meltwater ponding.

Increasing the supply of growth machinery to axons is a potential strategy for promoting repair after injury. Here the authors demonstrate that the endoplasmic reticulum adaptor molecule Protrudin provides cellular components that support axonal regeneration in the adult CNS.

Snow accumulation rates in Antarctica can now be reconstructed from nitrate isotopes in snow and ice. This independent technique offers scientists a new tool for studying how Antarctic climate changed in the past and how it may change in the future.

The discovery of a distant blazar J0410−0139 at z = 7 suggests that many similar sources existed in the early Universe, supporting the hypothesis that the rapid growth of black holes is driven by jet-enhanced or obscured accretion.

Reduced mitochondrial respiration in peripheral blood cells is associated with faster vision loss in glaucoma patients with controlled intraocular pressure.

Large uncertainties remain in Earth system models in predicting soil carbon-climate feedbacks. Here, the authors constrained projected soil carbon changes in ESMs using observation-derived data, and found that global soil will become a carbon source under future warming.

Understanding how global changes affect both aboveground plants and belowground soil organisms is essential for preserving ecosystem functions and biodiversity. This study synthesizes extensive data, revealing decoupled responses in plant and soil biota to global changes across different biomes.

The endosomal retrieval subdomain organizes recycling of endocytosed proteins. Here, using proximity proteomics, the authors reveal that this recycling subdomain regulates switching of specific RAB GTPases, a feature likely important in neuroprotection.

The loss of Arctic sea-ice enhances evaporation and fuels extreme European winter snowfall, according to an analysis of atmospheric water vapour isotope measurements.

The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted ecosystem and biodiversity monitoring programs, including marine fisheries surveys. Here the authors combine multiple modelling approaches and data to overcome lost observational effort off the coasts of California in a diversified integrated ecosystem approach.

A radio signal detected in the direction of Proxima Centauri in a Breakthrough Listen programme is analysed for signs that it was transmitted by extraterrestrial intelligent life, using a newly developed framework. However, the signal ‘blc1’ is likely to be terrestrial radio-frequency interference.

Diet diversity across northern hemisphere ecosystems affects seabird responses to climate change, with breeding productivity declining in the Arctic and North Atlantic but not in the Pacific from 1993 to 2019, based on 138 time series of breeding success and linear mixed effects models.

Village chickens are commonplace among smallholder communities, but mortality is high. This study compares two regions in Ethiopia and finds that unique adaptations, including traits and parasite burdens, reflect distinct gene pools likely shaped by human-driven selection. Results suggest sustainable interventions for village chickens should be locally tailored.

Crop rotations including legumes have been proposed as a strategy to enhance food production. Here, the authors conduct a global meta-analysis on legume-based crop rotations, showing that legume pre-crops increase 20% of yield in average across various crops and climatic regions.

Effective solutions for food systems transformation must be designed in a participatory way. This study illustrates the application of an integrated assessment framework to explore stakeholder-driven scenarios towards climate-smart nutrition security in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.

Dietary zinc and plant-derived aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonists are involved in maintaining intestinal epithelium integrity. The authors show that combined supplementation with AHR ligands and zinc might be effective in preventing inflammatory gut disorders.

Schellenberger and colleagues engineer masked, conditionally active T-cell engagers targeting tumor antigens and CD3 and show potent, protease-dependent antitumor activity in mouse models, as well as safety in non-human primates.

PCR often gets taken for granted, but there are ways of making it faster, more accurate and easier to perform. Pete Moore investigates.

Ion channels, stem cells and cell signalling are the focus of intense interest in both cell biology and drug discovery. Pete Moore takes a look at what's on offer for the researcher.

Feedbacks between the living and non-living components of the terrestrial carbon cycle present a major source of uncertainty in climate predictions. Now research using materially closed soil-vegetation-atmosphere chamber experiments with carbon amounts proportional to the main terrestrial carbon pools suggests that short-term biotic responses could potentially buffer a temperature increase of 2.3 °C without significant positive feedbacks to atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Food demand is increasing, while climate change is impacting the magnitude and stability of crop yields. High-quality soils are able to buffer the negative impacts of climate change and lead to smaller yield reduction and higher yield stability, indicating a potential adaptation strategy.

The International Barley Genome Sequencing Consortium reports sequencing and assembly of a reference genome for barley, Hordeum vulgare.

Experiments with high-risk pathogens are routinely conducted under strict conditions of biosafety and biosecurity. In this Comment, we propose a Minimum Information about a High Containment Laboratory Experiment (MIHCLE) reporting standard. Although conceived particularly for work in biosafety level (BSL) 4 laboratories, it can be generally applicable to any research performed in both high (BSL-3) and maximum (BSL-4) containment facilities.

There was extensive degradation during the warm middle Holocene and permafrost area was reduced substantially. Here the authors synthesize data across the Tibetan permafrost region and find that paleoclimate is more important than modern climate in shaping current permafrost carbon distribution, and its importance increases with soil depth.

Colour mixing and other optical effects displayed by the wings of the Papilio blumei butterfly have now been replicated by a combination of colloid self-assembly and other standard layer-deposition techniques.

An unusual ultraviolet compact object associated with a dusty starburst has been observed at a redshift of about 7.2, with a luminosity that falls between that of quasars and galaxies, possibly in transition between the two. 

Satellite imagery, vessel GPS data and deep-learning models are used to map industrial fishing vessel activities missing from public tracking systems and changes in offshore energy infrastructure in the world’s coastal waters during 2017–2021.

The authors simulated the impact of organic farming expansion on soil organic carbon. They found that soil organic carbon stock may be at risk of decline if the complete conversion to organic farming does not involve additional practices such as widespread cover cropping and residue recycling.

The peak in Antarctic ice core isotope values, 128,000 years before present, was concurrent with a significantly warmer-than-present Antarctic climate. Here, the authors show that this isotope maximum was associated with a major retreat of sea ice and not a collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Introducing active hetrojunctions could improve the capabilities of devices based on colloidal quantum dots. Here, the authors develop nanorods with double heterojunctions and show that they can provide independent control over the electron and hole processes, demonstrating their potential in light-emitting diodes.

RMC-7977, a compound that exhibits potent inhibition of the active states of mutant and wild-type KRAS, NRAS and HRAS variants has a strong anti-tumour effect on RAS-addicted tumours and is well tolerated in preclinical models.

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.

A population of neurons is identified in the lateral preoptic area that can drive the full range of social communication sounds with affective scaling during mating in mice.