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From Alzheimer’s to obesity, these researchers are tackling the most common age-related conditions.

Silane, which is a precursor to the sandy surfaces of rocky planets and dusty clouds on gas giants, is seen directly in another world—a low-metallicity brown dwarf in which oxidation is slow and gas mixing is fast.

Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) offer a minimally invasive biopsy strategy for prostate cancer monitoring. This Review discusses the use of CTCs at all stages of prostate cancer development and treatment, from CTC isolation and enrichment strategies to the prognostic and clinical utility of these cells in prostate cancer.

The fraction of C4 plants in terrestrial biomass decreased from 16% to 12% between 1982 and 2016, but the change is too small to explain the observed change in the isotopic composition of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to estimates based on a C3/C4 distribution model and a carbon cycle box model.

With the world at their feet, these prolific young researchers are making their mark.

From artificial intelligence to infectious diseases, top researchers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are making big impacts on the global stage.

An oligodendrocyte-specific genomic silencer element determines the cell type specificity for a fatal neurological disorder caused by a widely expressed nuclear protein (Lamin B1) and suggests a role for silencer elements in disease causation.

This study explores the impact of mood and individual differences on trading off between possible rewards and checking for the presence for threat and escaping to safety in a gamified foraging task.

Groups coordinate more effectively when individuals are able to learn from others’ successes. Hawkins et al. use a large-scale collective sensing paradigm to test how individual social inference abilities shape the emergent behaviour of human groups.

Blum et al. performed single-nucleus RNA sequencing of the adult mouse spinal cord. This analysis revealed heterogeneity in the autonomic and skeletal motor systems and provides a resource to study motor neurons in health and disease.

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.

Researchers like to work on projects that start small and slowly scale up. They must think bigger and faster, says Sandy J. Andelman, to tackle today's problems in time.

Mobility restrictions implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have significantly impacted walking behavior. In this study, the authors integrated mobility data from mobile devices and area-level data to study the walking patterns of 1.62 million anonymous users in 10 US metropolitan areas.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

Analysis of the FLUXNET2015 dataset provides observational evidence for widespread thermal acclimation of canopy-scale photosynthesis and its timescales across diverse biomes, improving its representation in land surface models.

A new X-ray-based technique, X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, is developed to directly measure magnetic noise. Its use is demonstrated for elemental chromium, an antiferromagnet that displays a nanometre-scale superstructure of spin- and charge-density. Fingerprints of a particular magnetic domain configuration are obtained, and after the temporal evolution of the patterns, magnetic domain walls advancing and retreating over micron distances are observed.

Significant process has been made in using one carbon sources toward biomanufacturing. Here, the authors explore how to strength its competitiveness, and highlight latest technologies and the released patents.

The Southern Ocean makes a substantial contribution to the oceanic carbon sink. Observationally based estimates of carbon subduction suggest that carbon sequestration depends on physical properties, such as mixed layer depth, ocean currents, wind and eddies, that are potentially sensitive to climate variability and change.

Sandy Grimwade reports from Washington on the progress of the Viking 1 experiments on Mars

Cytokinesis in budding yeast is accompanied by a major rearrangement of septins into a double ring. Here, authors show that the F-BAR protein Hof1 contributes to septin remodeling upon its phosphorylation and relocalisation from septins to the division site.

Caloric restriction (CR) has been shown as an effective intervention to reduce tumorigenesis, but alternative less stringent dietary interventions have also been considered. Here, the authors show that in a murine model of breast cancer CR has a larger effect on preventing tumorigenesis and metastasis compared to periodic caloric cycling.

Alternative stable states in forests have implications for the biosphere. Here, the authors combine forest biodiversity observations and simulations revealing that leaf types across temperate regions of the NH follow a bimodal distribution suggesting signatures of alternative forest states.

This Article reports the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 escape mutations during bamlanivimab therapy in the setting of a phase II clinical trial.

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells represent a breakthrough in the treatment of haematopoietic malignancies, however, in solid tumours this form of immune therapy is hampered by the scarcity of suitable targets showing high level tumour-restricted expression. Here authors generate CAR-T cells that target an osteosarcoma-specific isoform of alkaline phosphatase and show efficacy in orthotopic animal models while sparing healthy tissues.

Three researchers making a material difference.

Zeziulia et al. identify the proton-activated Cl⁻ channel ASOR/TMEM206 as necessary for shrinkage of macropinosomes, which is needed for downstream sorting events.

The signaling-specific inhibitor AEF0117 selectively inhibits CB₁ activation by THC and reduces self-administration and subjective effects of cannabis in clinical trials, making it a potential treatment for cannabis use disorder.

Malakar et al. investigate the photochemical dynamics in the isomerization of bacteriorhodopsin light and dark-adapted forms and in the first photocycle intermediate, K. The results prompt a reevaluation of the counter ion model, revealing that a different protonation then that shown in the classic quadrupole so far considered must be employed to account for the experimental data.

To keep Earth habitable, humanity must recognize the value of Antarctica and seek to save it from irreversible damage.

A primary element of modern wildfire management is to aggressively suppress small fires before they become large, but benefits can be offset by the fact that these practices promote older forests that are more ‘flammable’. Here the authors show that this downside puts numerous human communities at elevated risk of fires in boreal Canada.

The telomere binding proteins RAP1 and TRF2 protect telomeres from engaging in homology directed repair (HDR). In this study, the authors reveal that the basic domain of TRF2 (TRF2B) and RAP 1 cooperate to repress HDR at telomeres and prevent formation ultrabright telomere structures.

NMR resonances of backbone nuclei have been assigned for >95% of the residues in oxidized, substrate-free, perdeuterated ¹³C/¹⁵N-labelled MurB (347 residues). A novel approach utilizing minimum chemical shift changes was employed to localize the NADP⁺ binding site on MurB.

Bone maintenance in health and disease depends on bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Whitlock et al. demonstrate that an RNA chaperon -La protein- lives a second life as a key regulator of osteoclast size and function, suggesting a new therapeutic target.

The shrinking dimensions, the increased structural complexity and the 3D stacking of silicon-based semiconductor devices are intensifying challenges in thermal dissipation. This Review explores thermal management materials, integration challenges and characterization methods, and proposes a road map for efficient heat dissipation solutions in 3D integration.

Islands can provide insights into the evolution of diverse adaptations. The genomes of 34 major lineages of Mediterranean wall lizards reveal a highly reticulated pattern of evolution across the group, characterised by mosaic genomes and showing that hybrid lineages gave rise to several extant endemics.

Efficient, large-scale genomic analysis is facilitated on the cloud by a computational tool with error-diagnosing and self-healing capabilities.

Mutations inCHCHD10 have been recently associated with frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here the authors study the functions of endogenous CHCHD10 in Caenorhabditis elegans, primary neurons, and mouse, and show that it normally protects mitochondria and synaptic integrity, and retains TDP-43 in the nucleus.

Rnf8 is an E3 ligase involved in the DNA damage response, adding ubiquitin moieties to histones H2A and H2AX at sites of DNA damage. Now Rnf8 is found to modify shelterin subunit Tpp1, and this is important for its stability and retention at telomeres. Cells lacking Rnf8 show telomere shortening and chromosome fusions.

Live birth may be a precursor for parent-offspring associations and subsequent sociality, but the ubiquity of live birth in mammals and parental care in birds precludes testing the relationship in those clades. Here the authors show that live birth, but not egg attendance, is associated with the evolution of social grouping in squamate reptiles.

By analysing changes in occupancy among >5,000 species of invertebrates, bryophytes and lichens in the United Kingdom over the past 45 years, the authors find substantial turnover in community composition among all groups, although average declines are evident only among terrestrial non-insect invertebrates.

The traditional view of the open ocean is that surface waters should change faster and that the deep waters should be relatively stable. Now research shows that the depths of the Southern Ocean are also rapidly freshening and warming, and that these changes are spreading towards the Equator.

The present patent system risks becoming a barrier to medical progress.