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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.

Identifying jets originating from heavy quarks plays a fundamental role in hadronic collider experiments. In this work, the ATLAS Collaboration describes and tests a transformer-based neural network architecture for jet flavour tagging based on low-level input and physics-inspired constraints.

The development of fast-charging and high-capacity negative electrodes is critical for advanced lithium-ion batteries. Here, authors use a vacancy engineering strategy to develop a layered Prussian blue analogue with competitive rate capability, delivering a specific capacity of 510 mAh g⁻¹ at a specific current of 8 A g⁻¹.

The Einstein Probe has discovered a fast X-ray transient, EP240414a, associated with a broad-lined type Ic supernova. Its unusually soft spectrum and weak jet add to the diversity of stellar deaths and suggest a previously unknown Wolf–Rayet star explosion mechanism.

Conventional ammonia synthesis is energy intensive. Here the authors explore the mechanism of light-driven ammonia synthesis through in situ spectroscopy and modelling, and demonstrate that certain AuRu plasmonic alloys are promising catalysts for this potentially more sustainable process.

A mechano-intelligent transmission mechanism based on the slipknot delivers precise force signals for clinical practice and robotic operations such as minimally invasive surgery and tendon-driven robotics.

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analyses of polycystic ovary syndrome in women of East Asian and European ancestries identify 94 independent susceptibility regions, including 73 novel loci.

Xue et al. report self-powered photoelectrochemical photodetectors based on CuOx decorated AlGaN nanowires with staggered energy band structure. High-energy photons can be absorbed by CuOx to trigger the multiexciton generation effect, enabling an external quantum efficiency of 131.5% at 255 nm.

A device for rectifying supercurrents at liquid-nitrogen temperature with high efficiency is demonstrated. This is a practical step towards implementing dissipationless electronics.

In returning Thouless pumping, the quantized charge is pumped during the first half of the cycle and returns to zero during the second. Here, authors demonstrate returning Thouless pumping experimentally with a symmetry-protected delicate topological insulator, made of a two-dimensional acoustic crystal.

Coastal settlement retreat reflects human behavioural adaptation to increasing coastal climate hazards. Using night-time light data over 1992–2019, this study finds that over half of global coastal settlements have retreated, driven by insufficient infrastructure protection and adaptive capacity.

The death of massive stars has traditionally been discovered by explosive events in the gamma-ray band. Liu et al. show that the sensitive wide-field monitor on board Einstein Probe can reveal a weak soft-X-ray signal much earlier than gamma rays.

The insertion of thin layers of cobalt can stabilize β-tungsten under back-end-of-line thermal constraints, allowing a 64-kb spin–orbit torque magnetic random-access memory to be fabricated that offers a spin–orbit torque switching of 1 ns, data retention of more than 10 years and a tunnelling magnetoresistance of 146%.

A new artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek-R1, is introduced, demonstrating that the reasoning abilities of large language models can be incentivized through pure reinforcement learning, removing the need for human-annotated demonstrations.

An approach that integrates electrochemical CO₂ reduction and biological denitrification provides a new solution for nitrogen removal, where the formate obtained from CO₂ is used directly as the carbon source in the denitrification process in wastewater treatment.

The exact mechanism for superconductivity in iron-based superconductors remains elusive, but is thought to involve complex interactions between many orbitals. Using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, Liuet al. report the electronic structure of the single-layer parent compound FeSe.

Spin-orbit torques, arising in systems with strong spin-orbit interactions, have been a major avenue of research for the potential electric control of magnetization. Recently, unconventional spin-orbit torques, with spin polarizations aligned in atypical ways have garnered interest due to the numerous advantages offered compared to their conventional counterparts. Here, Xue et al investigate ‘type-x’ spin-orbit torque switching, demonstrating both unique spin polarizations, and field-free magnetization switching in Platinum/Cobalt multilayers.

Relating the degree of network crosslinking as a descriptor to the desalination performance of crosslinked polymer membranes remains challenging. Here, the authors introduce a parameter based on distinct amide bonds per unit mass of polyamide, to unravel the relationship between the crosslinked networks of polyamide membranes and their desalination performance.

Spin–orbit torque switching in a two-terminal magnetoresistive random access memory cell can reduce critical write current by more than 70% compared with an equivalent spin-transfer torque device.

The primary entry route of vanilloid ligands to the vanilloid-binding site in transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is found to be a distinct and targetable hydrophobic pathway at the TRPV1–cell membrane interface rather than through direct membrane penetration.

Humping defects in high-speed laser welding of stainless steel are investigated here using in situ synchrotron X-ray imaging and fluid dynamics simulations. High welding speeds cause a short keyhole rear wall, high backward melt velocity, and long molten pool tail, leading to humping.

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 variational-autoencoder-based diffusion architecture that enables topological controls on the diffusion-based protein structure generation is proposed. As a result, novel folds of mainly beta proteins can be designed with experimental validation.

The coexistence of topological and superconducting states in a single layer of FeSe on a SrTiO₃ substrate is reported.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Authors demonstrate that Ig-like binders targeting the C-terminal of α-synuclein fibrils block fibrils-induced pathological activities, including neuronal aggregation and neuroinflammation, suggesting potential molecular avenues for future Parkinson’s disease intervention.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

This work assesses the enrichment and organification of tritium by algae and the transfer along the marine food chain, suggesting human health risks and highlighting the importance of radioactive isotope management.

SUANPAN: A programmable and reconfigurable photonic linear vector machine with extreme scalability formed by a series of emitter-detector pairs as the independent basic computing units and implemented through time-space encoding.

The authors proposed to cascade N polarization-multiplexed metasurfaces for 2^N electrically switchable channels without intrinsic loss or cross-talk. A 3-layer setup with 8 channels for beam steering and orbital angular momentum (OAM) generation is demonstrated.

RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription factories play a central role in gene expression and 3D chromatin organization. Here, the authors demonstrate that RUVBL2 directly regulates Pol II clustering at active gene promoters.

Optical tweezers based on focused laser beams are widely used for biophysical measurements of single molecules in vitro. Here Zhong et al. use infrared optical tweezers to trap and manipulate red blood cells within subdermal capillaries in living mice.

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

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

In situ mechanical testing and simulations unveil a reversible shuffle twinning mechanism enabled by bond switching, which gives rise to anisotropic tensile superelasticity in GeSe ceramics.

The authors find the magnon spin transport in CrSP₄/Pt (Ta) can be effectively modulated through adjustments in temperature and applied magnetic field, particularly at the spin-flip field.

Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is an aggressive subtype with limited effective therapeutic options. Here, the authors identify the RNA-binding protein ELAVL3 as a driver of differentiation into NEPC via a positive feedback loop with MYCN and demonstrate the use of the repurposed drug pyrvinium pamoate to target this axis using preclinical models of NEPC.

A machine-learning pipeline that mines the entire space of polypeptide-chain sequences can identify potent antimicrobial peptides by integrating tasks that gradually narrow down the search space.

Study shows PTSD predisposition shares distinct genes and genomic regions with several cardiovascular conditions. Here the findings reveal neuronal, immune, and metabolic pathways, and repurposed drug targets that further the understanding of the comorbidity.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

Hydrogel materials have emerged as versatile platforms for biomedical applications. Here this group reports an mRNA lipid nanoparticle-incorporated microgel matrix for immune cell recruitment/antigen expression and presentation/cellular interaction thereby eliciting antitumor efficacy with a single dose.

Non-Hermiticity is usually considered detrimental to quasiparticle physics. Here, the authors show that such an assumption of Hermiticity can be lifted in the context of a lattice model containing two non-Hermitian Dirac cones, with one hosting amplifying Dirac quasiparticles and the other hosting decaying ones.

Symmetry plays a crucial role in defining the band topology. Here, the authors experimentally demonstrate that spacetime inversion symmetry can lead to Stiefel-Whitney topological charges and protect hinge states in an acoustic nodal-line semimetal.

The authors address spin–orbit torques and magnetization switching in MnPd₃/CoFeB hetrostructures.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

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.

Authors report that micron-sized Na₂S particles can be self-refinement into nanoparticles during the initial cycle under rapid solid-liquid-solid conversion, which facilitates the development of Na-free anode systems in room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries.

Well-defined single-atom alloy (SAA) nanocrystals possess isolated atom centres and tunable electronic properties but are challenging to synthesize. Here, a direct solution-phase synthesis of Cu/CuAu core/shell nanocubes with tunable SAA layers is reported. The Cu/CuAu nanomaterial is highly active for the electrocatalytic conversion of nitrate into ammonia.

Rps genes are used to manage the major soybean pathogen Phytophthora sojae, which causes Phytophthora stem and root rot (PRR). Here, the authors show that widely used Rps genes are no longer effective for managing PRR in the United States, Canada and Argentina.