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Climate policies based on conventional economic models that assume that citizens are entirely self-interested may trigger negative responses, even among those who support green lifestyles. A more dynamic approach is proposed, accounting for the importance of green values that may be undermined or enhanced by policy.

Specialized σ factors interact with nuclease-dead, CRISPR–Cas12f proteins to form potent, RNA-guided gene activation systems that function independently of fixed promoter motifs.

The study reports the arrival of avian influenza H5N1 virus clade 2.3.4.4b into the Indian Ocean sub-Antarctic archipelagos of Crozet and Kerguelen. Using phylogeographic analyses, the virus likely came from the distant South Georgia islands.

Using a cryogenic 300-mm wafer prober, a new approach for the testing of hundreds of industry-manufactured spin qubit devices at 1.6 K provides high-volume data on performance, allowing optimization of the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible fabrication process.

Xeno-learning uses preclinical data from one species to boost the performance of neural networks applied to another species when exploring physiological responses.

Organic semiconductors provide a platform for flexible lasers, but these are still produced on rigid, thick substrates. Here, Karl et al. develop a method to make freestanding membrane lasers that can be transferred onto any substrate and show that these could be used as anti-counterfeiting labels.

Rare coding variants that reduce the activity of a protein can have a beneficial impact on health. Here, researchers identify rare genetic variants in the CHRNB3 gene that associate with reduced cigarette smoking across diverse populations.

The identification of ‘boosters’ that drive gene overexpression directly in a CAR construct provides a simple and scalable strategy for developing effective CAR-NK cell therapies for solid tumours.

DNA polymerases are molecular machines that copy genetic material using a template. Here, authors characterize the ability of diverse polymerases to synthesize DNA without a template and show that environmental conditions can alter sequence composition, enabling guided kilobasescale DNA synthesis.

Long quantum coherence time is a fundamental requirement for the realization of any quantum-mechanically operating machine. Here, Bader et al.demonstrate a coherence time as long as 68 μs at low temperature and of 1 μs at room temperature for a transition metal complex.

Global research prioritization for peatland science engaged 467 participants from 54 countries, identifying 50 priority research questions across carbon dynamics, climate impacts, restoration and management, technological innovation, and community and policy engagement.

Temporal interference stimulation is thought to act via low-frequency envelope demodulation. Here, the authors demonstrate that stimulation thresholds in TIS follow the same carrier frequency dependence as direct kHz stimulation, indicating a shared biophysical mechanism.

Wastewater surveillance for disease outbreaks currently requires lab testing which causes delays. Here, authors develop ultra-sensitive quantum sensors enabling 2-hour near-source pathogen detection from raw wastewater with high sensitivity and specificity, creating a portable “lab-in-a-suitcase” system.

The bacterial genus Aeromonas includes emerging human pathogens, often misidentified as Vibrio cholerae. Here, the authors analyse genomic sequences of over 1,800 Aeromonas isolates, showing that clinical and environmental strains do not display clear differences in drug resistance or disease-causing potential.

Using a long-lived quantum-dot spin qubit coupled to a GaAs-based photonic crystal cavity, researchers demonstrate complete quantum control of an electron spin qubit. By cleverly controlling the charge state of the InAs quantum dot using laser pulses, optical initialization, control and readout of an electron spin are achieved.

Magnetic reconnection, thought to drive solar eruptions, has been studied with remote sensing. The Parker Solar Probe has directly measured reconnection-associated plasma properties in situ in the solar corona, deepening our understanding of the process.

The APOE-ε4/ε4 genotype is the strongest genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer’s disease. Here, Brutman et al. identify a deletion common in people of African ancestry that reduces the relative risk conferred by the APOE-ε4/ε4 genotype.

Waveguides—often based on total internal reflection—underpin many photonic technologies, including fibre networks for broadband communications. Now a different type of waveguide based on physical diffusion in a scattering medium is demonstrated.

Capturing ultrafast molecular dynamics is difficult as the process involves coupled and very fast motions of electrons and nuclei. Here the authors study non-adiabatic dynamics in the NO molecule using strong-field photoelectron holography to shed light on the valence-shell electron dynamics.

Resolving interactions of negligibly charged or neutral small molecules with their binding partners in a label-free manner is challenging. Here the authors present a single-molecule carbon-nanotube biosensor device for capturing aptamer–neurotransmitter kinetics at high temporal resolution, uncovering four-state structural transitions.

Natural physical and biological systems change in regions of temperature increase. Such changes have occurred on all continents and in most oceans since at least 1970. This paper presents statistical evidence that these changes cannot be explained by natural climate variations alone, and concludes that anthropogenic climate change is affecting physical and biological systems globally and on some continents.

SmartEM is a ‘smart’ pipeline for electron microscopy-based data acquisition for connectomics. In order to efficiently image large datasets, the approach involves imaging at short pixel dwell times and identifying problematic regions that are then imaged with longer dwell times and therefore higher quality.

Thermal imaging lenses are typically made from expensive materials such as germanium and silicon. Here, the authors synthesise a sulfur-based polymer with high mid-wave infrared and long-wave infrared transparencies, presenting a high-performing, low-cost alternative to traditional thermal imaging lens materials.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

Quadrupolar excitons — a superposition of two dipolar excitons with anti-aligned dipole moments — are of great interest for applications in quantum simulations and for the investigation of many-body physics. Here, the authors demonstrate the emergence of quadrupolar excitons in natural MoSe2 homobilayers, whose energy shifts quadratically in electric field.

Researchers use adaptive optics to correct distortions from digital micromirror devices in Hadamard single-pixel microscopy. The sensorless method restores sharp detail, nears diffraction-limited resolution, while correcting sample-induced aberrations.

Reconstructing microbial genomes from 820 reef-building corals collected at 99 reefs across 32 islands throughout the Pacific Ocean highlights the importance of conserving coral reefs as vital reservoirs of molecular diversity.

Here, the authors show the emergence of valley-polarized Floquet-Bloch states in 2H-WSe₂ upon below-band-gap driving using circularly polarized light.

Certain RIFINs from Plasmodium falciparum can bind to both inhibitory (KIR2DL1) and activating (KIR2DS1) immune receptors on natural killer cells, demonstrating the potential role of activating killer immunoglobulin-like receptors in targeting pathogens and controlling malaria infection.

This study demonstrates a sub-THz free-space link, achieving 120 Gbit/s across 5 m enabled by compact plasmonic components with >300 GHz bandwidth, paving the way for next-generation scalable wireless networks at high carrier frequencies.

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

The effect of strain-induced pseudo-magnetic fields on the optical properties of graphene has not been experimentally explored yet. Here, pseudo-magnetic fields reaching values of 100 T are shown to increase by more than an order of magnitude the relaxation lifetime of hot carriers in periodically strained graphene.

Two-qubit operations exceeding 99% fidelity have been demonstrated by silicon devices made with standard semiconductor tooling in a 300-mm foundry environment.

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.

Annunziato, Quan and Donckele et al. identify G3BP2 (Ras–GAP SH3 domain-binding protein 2) as a molecular glue-induced neosubstrate of the CRL4^CRBN E3 ubiquitin ligase. The CRBN–glue neosurface uses a molecular surface mimicry mechanism to recruit and degrade G3BP2 in a compound-dependent manner.

Neural basis of decision-making is not fully understood. Here authors show that mouse prefrontal neurons encode history-specific rewards and choices. However, their influence is gated by task structure and timing, affecting decisions primarily in variable interval tasks and when temporal delays separate events.

The authors present magnetotransport measurements to demonstrate multistep magnetization switching in orthogonally twisted CrSBr ferromagnetic monolayers.

An end-to-end continuous-variable quantum key distribution system with an untrusted node is proposed. A proof-of-principle experiment shows that 10⁻¹ secret key bits per relay use are distributed at 4 dB loss, corresponding to 20 km in optical fibre.

Chronic stress is a risk factor for depression, yet the mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors show in mice that stress drives interferon-mediated neutrophil recruitment from the skull to the brain’s outer membranes, contributing to depressive behaviors.

Cavity-stimulated Raman spin-flip emission is demonstrated by coupling a negatively charged InAs/GaAs quantum dot to a photonic crystal defect cavity. The emission is spectrally narrow and tunable over a range of about 125 GHz. The process can be made spin selective by tuning the scattered photons to be in resonance with the cavity.

Transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) is a non-invasive method to modulate deep brain activity. Using direct recordings from implanted electrodes, we showed that TUS engages the human globus pallidus internus, with effects on neural oscillations and behavior.

EGFR inhibitors are standard of care in patients with EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) but resistance often develops. Here the authors report that the evolution of EGFR inhibitor resistance in EGFR-mutant NSCLC results in a sensitivity to the compound, MCB-613, and investigate the underlying mechanism of action.

It is unclear why flying insects congregate around artificial light sources. Here, the authors use high-speed videography and motion-capture, finding that insects fly perpendicular to light sources due to a disruption of the dorsal light response.