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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.

A large sulfur-bearing carbon ring molecule has been detected in space, 2,5-cyclohexadien-1-thione, using laboratory spectroscopy and a radio telescope. Found near the Galactic Centre, it opens the door to a new family of interstellar molecules.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Large informal settlements reflect inequalities in Latin America, where transport interventions can build social capital. TransMiCable increased the probability of individuals transitioning to bridging social capital networks, suggesting an increase in trust among neighbors and an improvement in bridging community networks.

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.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading global cause of death, highlighting the need for better imaging of myocardial injury. Here, the authors show that SPOT, an AI powered dual bright- and black-blood imaging approach, improves myocardial scar detection and measurement for more accurate diagnosis and treatment of heart disease.

The microbial metabolite trimethylamine (TMA), the precursor of TMAO, which is associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, is shown to have beneficial metabolic and anti-inflammatory effects in the host in the context of obesity.

A global research network monitoring the Amazon for 30 years reports in this study that tree size increased by 3% each decade.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

A large brain imaging study of over 2000 people worldwide shows that fear conditioning engages brain regions linked to emotion and attention, with differences in individuals with anxiety or depression and strong influences from task design.

Known genetic loci account for only a fraction of the genetic contribution to Alzheimer’s disease. Here, the authors have performed a large genome-wide meta-analysis comprising 409,435 individuals to discover 6 new loci and demonstrate the efficacy of an Alzheimer’s disease polygenic risk score.

Species’ traits and environmental conditions determine the abundance of tree species across the globe. Here, the authors find that dominant tree species are taller and have softer wood compared to rare species and that these trait differences are more strongly associated with temperature than water availability.

A study of several longitudinal birth cohorts and cross-sectional cohorts finds only moderate overlap in genetic variants between autism that is diagnosed earlier and that diagnosed later, so they may represent aetiologically different conditions.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Analysis of 20 chemical and morphological plant traits at diverse sites across 6 continents shows that the transition from semi-arid to arid zones is associated with an unexpected 88% increase in trait diversity.

Understanding the mechanisms of block copolymer crystallization is fundamentally important. Here the authors investigated the crystallization behavior from a miscible melt of a polymeric material composed of five potentially crystallizable and biocompatible, chemically distinct blocks.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Here, the authors perform large trans-ancestry fine-mapping analyses identifying large numbers of association signals and putative target genes for colorectal cancer risk, advancing our understanding of the genetic and biological basis of this cancer.

In global drylands, soils tend to be more fertile beneath tree, shrub and grass islands. Soil fertility was greater beneath taller and wider plants but was unaffected by either grazing pressure or the type of herbivore.

Petroni et al. report that the infiltration of IL-17A-secreting γδ T cells in the tumor microenvironment coupled with the accumulation of immunosuppressive macrophages is associated with resistance to CDK4/CDK6 inhibition in HR⁺HER2⁻ breast cancer.

An analysis involving the shotgun sequencing of more than 300 ancient genomes from Eurasia reveals a deep east–west genetic divide from the Black Sea to the Baltic, and provides insight into the distinct effects of the Neolithic transition on either side of this boundary.

The development of innovative strategies for the capture and biodegradation of nanoplastics is sought after. Now, artificial hydrolytic active sites are incorporated into non-catalytic membrane nanopores generating pore-based biocatalytic nanoreactors that depolymerize polyethylene terephthalate plastic nanoparticles.

Here the authors perform a trans expression quantitative trait locus meta-analysis study of over 3,700 people and link a USP18 variant to expression of 50 inflammation genes and lupus risk, highlighting how genetic regulation of immune responses drives autoimmune disease and informs new therapies.

The authors analyse tree responses to an extreme heat and drought event across South America to understand long-term climate resistance. While no more sensitive to this than previous lesser events, forests in drier climates showed the greatest impacts and thus vulnerability to climate extremes.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

The outer subventricular zone (OSVZ) contains basal radial glial cells (bRGC) involved in cortical expansion in gyrencephalic mammals. Here the authors identify a developmental time window with marked production of bRGCs required to found the OSVZ that is dependent on coincident downregulation of Cdh1 and Trnp1.

Large-footprint, low-sensitivity charge sensors hinder scaling semiconductor quantum dot arrays for quantum computation. Here the authors present a potentially scalable approach using multiplexed gate-based readout and operation in a foundry-fabricated quantum dot array, demonstrating single-electron occupancy.

A multi-ancestry genome-wide association study meta-analysis, combined with transcriptome- and methylome-wide association analyses, identifies risk loci associated with colorectal cancer. Credible effector genes and their target tissues are also highlighted, showing that over a third probably act outside the colonic mucosa.

Protection afforded by inorganic minerals is assumed to make mineral-associated organic carbon less susceptible to loss under climate change than particulate organic carbon. However, a global study of soil organic carbon from drylands suggests that this is not the case.

Enzyme engineering is opening up new chemistries. Here, the authors report enzymes engineered to contain two biological active sites — also showing that one site can be converted to a metal-complex catalyst — and demonstrate the utility of such dual sites in a range of catalytic processes.

Fasting has been reported to protect from chemotherapy-associated toxicity. Here, the authors show that fatty acid profiles in erythrocyte membranes and gene expression from peripheral blood mononuclear cells are associated to the fasting-mediated benefits during cancer treatment in mice and patients.

WindSled, a zero-emission mobile science platform, is capable of traveling thousands of kilometers and doing valuable science on the Antarctic Plateau. Wind-driven aerosols condition the biogeographic distribution of bioburden from air to 4 m depth.