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Two double-sun exoplanets have been discovered by the Kepler spacecraft, establishing a new class of ‘circumbinary’ exoplanets and suggesting that at least several million such systems exist in our Galaxy.

Two exoplanets of Earth’s size have been discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-20.

When an extrasolar planet passes in front of its star (transits), its radius can be measured from the decrease in starlight and its orbital period from the time between transits. This study reports Kepler spacecraft observations of a single Sun-like star that reveal six transiting planets, five with orbital periods between 10 and 47 days plus a sixth one with a longer period. The five inner planets are among the smallest for which mass and size have both been measured, and these measurements imply substantial envelopes of light gases.

Kepler-107 b and c have the same radius but, contrary to expectations, the outermost Kepler-107 c is much denser. This difference cannot be explained by photoevaporation by stellar high-energy particle flux and it suggests that Kepler-107 c experienced a giant impact event.

Stellar data from the Kepler spacecraft are used to infer the existence of a sub-Mercury-sized exoplanet, the smallest yet discovered, in orbit around a Sun-like star.

An analysis of transits of planets over starspots on the Sun-like star Kepler-30 shows that the orbits of the three planets are aligned with the stellar equator; this configuration is similar to that of our Solar System, and suggests that high obliquities are confined to systems that experienced disruptive dynamical interactions.

The radial-velocity technique could detect a small gas giant orbiting a binary star and determine its mass: 65.2 ± 11.8 Earth masses. The system also hosts a smaller inner planet, making it one of the few known multiplanetary circumbinary systems.

A prominent under-density in the observed radius distribution separates small exoplanets in two categories. The study demonstrates, through planet formation and evolution simulations, that the larger planets, whose composition has been disputed, may be water-rich planets migrating towards the star, where they become steam worlds.

Scientific discovery is a highly relevant task in natural sciences, however generating scientifically meaningful laws and determining their consistency remains challenging. The authors introduce an approach that exploits both experimental data and underlying theory in symbolic form to generate formulas that hold scientific significance by solving polynomial optimization problems.

The classical stellar evolution concept assumes that when the stars arrive on the main sequence, there is no traceable mark remains about their early evolutionary history. Here, the authors show that the accretion history leaves an imprint on the interior structure of the stars that are potentially detectable via asteroseismology.

Red giants are evolved stars that have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and instead burn hydrogen in a surrounding shell. Once a red giant is sufficiently evolved, the helium in the core also undergoes fusion. However, it is difficult to distinguish between the two groups. Asteroseismology offers a way forward. This study reports observations of gravity-mode period spacings in red giants using high precision photometry obtained by the Kepler spacecraft. It is found that the stars fall into two clear groups, making it possible to distinguish unambiguously between hydrogen-shell-burning stars and those that are also burning helium.

Orbital parameters for the seventh Earth-sized transiting planet around star TRAPPIST-1 are reported, along with an investigation into the complex three-body resonances linking every member of this planetary system.

How do low-mass binaries age? Astronomers have constrained a tight, circular orbit of a close-in companion around a dying giant star, raising new questions about how tidal forces shape binary orbits in the final phases of stellar evolution.

Observations of six transiting planets around the bright nearby star HD 110067 show that they follow a chain of resonant orbits, with three of the planets inferring the presence of large hydrogen-dominated atmospheres.

Three planets orbit the Sun-like star ν² Lupi. CHEOPS data show that all of them are transiting and show remarkable diversity. In particular, dry and gas-poor inner planet b has experienced extensive atmospheric loss, while planets c and d are water rich and have a small gaseous envelope of primordial origin.

Longitudinal sampling is used to map the evolution of an HIV-1 virus from the time of infection, and the co-evolution of a broadly neutralizing antibody in the same infected patient; the findings have important implications for HIV vaccine development.

A transiting planet with a period of about 8.5 days and a radius 0.4 times that of Jupiter is reported within the debris disk around the star AU Microscopii.

Federated learning (FL) algorithms have emerged as a promising solution to train models for healthcare imaging across institutions while preserving privacy. Here, the authors describe the Federated Tumor Segmentation (FeTS) challenge for the decentralised benchmarking of FL algorithms and evaluation of Healthcare AI algorithm generalizability in real-world cancer imaging datasets.

Sequencing mutants in both normal skin and tumors that arise from it in a mouse model of ultraviolet light driven carcinogenesis reveals mutant selection changes as cancers develop. Only p53 mutants are selected throughout squamous carcinogenesis.

A 51-minute-orbital-period, fully eclipsing binary system consisting of a star with a comparable temperature to that of the Sun but a 100 times greater density, accreting onto a white dwarf is reported.

Magnetospheres of exoplanets are vast, tenuous and hard to detect. Deep blue-shifted absorption lines observed in the extended region around HAT-P-11 b may provide evidence for a magnetosphere and magnetotail.

Many autotrophic bacteria rely on Rubisco for carbon dioxide fixation. Here the authors report the position, orientation, and structure of Rubisco within alpha-carboxysomes; showing how it polymerizes and can form a lattice inside this compartment.

A modelling study suggests that Mars had a desert-like climate with intermittent liquid-water oases regulated by a negative feedback among solar luminosity, liquid water and carbonate formation.

First-principles calculations predicted electronic topological properties for 2D honeycomb–kagome polymers, which have been now confirmed experimentally thanks to improvements in on-surface synthesis.

Using two wavelengths to activate different photoreactions in a resin system has attracted attention in the scientific community. Here, the authors use wavelength orthogonal photochemistry to spatially control the curing kinetics of a thiol-ene photopolymerization reaction.

A giant planet candidate roughly the size of Jupiter but more than 14 times as massive is observed by TESS and other instruments to be transiting the white dwarf star WD 1856+534.

Observations from the Lucy spacecraft of the small main-belt asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh reveals unexpected complexity, with a longitudinal trough and equatorial ridge, as well as the discovery of the first contact binary satellite.

In-depth methylation analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded glioblastoma samples demonstrates heterogeneity between primary and recurring tumors and enables prediction of composition of the tumor microenvironment and insights into progression.

The impact of the DART spacecraft on the asteroid Dimorphos is reported and reconstructed, demonstrating that kinetic impactor technology is a viable technique to potentially defend Earth from asteroids.

Observations of an eclipsing double-white-dwarf binary with an orbital period of 6.91 minutes that is decaying as predicted by general relativity are reported; once launched, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) should swiftly detect this binary.

A very uncommon detached binary system with a 20.5-min orbital period has been discovered to harbour a carbon–oxygen white dwarf star and a low-mass subdwarf B star with a seven-Earth radius that traces the theoretical limit of binary evolution predicted 20 years ago.

Imaging of large, cleared samples in diverse media is achieved using a mirror objective.

WD 0032–317B is a 75–88-Jupiter mass companion orbiting a hot white dwarf with a period of 2.3 h. It has a day-side temperature of about 8,000 K and a day–night difference of ~6,000 K. WD 0032–317B is amenable to detailed characterization and can be used as a proxy for strongly irradiated ultra-hot giant planets.

Optical observations of Dimorphos, a satellite of the asteroid 65803 Didymos, before, during and after the impact of the DART spacecraft, from a network of citizen science telescopes across the world are reported.

Infrared brightening and luminosity observations from a young, solar-like star suggest a collision between two exoplanets producing a hot, highly extended post-impact remnant and transit of the debris causing the visible light eclipse of the host star.

According to the Milankovitch theory, glacial to interglacial climate variability — as recorded in Antarctica ice cores — is governed by summer insolation at high northern latitudes. It is now shown that accumulation of Antarctic snow is biased towards austral winter and may be explained simply by variations in local insolation, with no recourse to northern influences. Although not constituting a complete negative proof, the results show that the Antarctic ice core records do not, in themselves, provide sufficient support for the Milankovitch theory.

The number of ligand binding sites in the dopamine transporter is enigmatic due to conflicting data from structures and molecular pharmacology. Here, force spectra reveal the position and dynamics of a previously invisible transient site.

In this Stage 2 Registered Report, Buchanan et al. show evidence confirming the phenomenon of semantic priming across speakers of 19 diverse languages.

Ultrathin laser-driven lightsails represent a unique vision for interstellar space exploration. Here, the authors show how spinning flexible membranes can be both shape- and trajectory-stable with multiphysics structural and nanophotonic engineering.

Stretchable and biodegradable elastic biogels based on gelatin, glucose, glycerol and citric acid are realized, whose mechanical properties can be adapted to a broad range of applications in soft robotics and wearable electronics.

The assumption that light sources based on radiative cascades provide maximally polarization-entangled photons is not always correct. Here the authors show experimentally in cavity-embedded quantum dots that photon polarization correlates with its emission mode, impacting the degree of entanglement for emitted photon pairs.