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A pangenome of the Cannabis genus including 193 genomes demonstrates high variability in most of the genome but low diversity in cannabinoid synthesis genes and provides a resource for future genetic studies and crop optimization.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

An organic bipolar junction transistor composed of highly crystalline rubrene thin films has a device architecture that could be used in organic electronics with greatly improved high-frequency performance

In situ spectroscopic analysis of operating solid oxide electrochemical cells has proved to be difficult owing to high-vacuum requirements. Ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy on single-chamber cells now suggests that surface reaction kinetics and electron transport on the electrodes are co-limiting processes.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) with inorganic solid-state electrolytes suffer from lithium dendrites propagation. Here, the authors demonstrate the production of stable lab-scale LMBs using an Ag-coated Li_6.4La₃Zr_1.7Ta_0.3O₁₂ inorganic solid electrolyte in combination with a silver-carbon interlayer.

Proteoforms from 10,000 rat single-brain cells are captured directly at high throughput.

Grayson et al. report the genomic discovery and biochemical characterization of a widely distributed gene cluster family for briarane diterpenoid biosynthesis in metazoans. This study expands our understanding of the metazoan specialized metabolism, revealing the use of biosynthetic gene clusters by octocorals.

The development of vertical organic transistors with controllable threshold voltage is highly desirable for integrated circuit-based displays and sensors. Here, the authors report vertical organic permeable dual-based transistors with independently tunable on-currents and threshold voltages.

Metamorphic soles beneath ophiolites record rapid subduction initiation, with high-temperature metamorphism that may be driven by relative motion across the plate interface, according to diffusion speedometry of garnets combined with isotopic data.

Stereotactic needle biopsies are currently performed for diagnosis only in glioblastoma; this study highlights the depth of information available through multi-omics analysis.

A climatic record from desert speleothems shows that the central Arabian interior experienced recurrent humid intervals over the past 8 million years, which likely facilitated mammalian dispersals between Africa and Eurasia.

Conventional electrochemical CO2 conversion electrodes are bound by a tradeoff which prevents electrodes from being both stable and scalable. Here the authors develop a composite electrode which achieves both, enabling scaling to a 50 cm² electrode with low ohmic losses.

Carbon materials are promising for perovskite solar cells but suffer from poor interfacial energy level alignment. Now, Zhang et al. show that Ti atomically dispersed in reduced graphene reduces energy losses improving device performance.

Gut microbiota contribute to the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC), but the molecular mechanisms are still unclear. Here the authors show that colonic fluid from patients with UC is enriched for bacteria extracellular vesicles (BEV) coated with host IgA, and that these IgA-coated BEV may activate CD89⁺ immune cells to aggravate inflammation and colitis in mouse models.

A catalogue of the vascular flora of New Guinea indicates that this island is the most floristically diverse in the world, and that 68% of the species identified are endemic to New Guinea.

Compared with intramuscular vaccine, intranasal vaccination has easier administration and local responses, but efficient antigen delivery presents an obstacle. Here the authors test an intranasal subunit vaccine fused to albumin to facilitate FcRn-mediated trans-mucosal antigen transport and demonstrate protective immunity in mouse models.

While the impetus to develop lithium metal solid-state batteries is clear, identifying a practical manufacturing process is challenging. Herewith, authors study the underlying mechanisms controlling in-situ anode formation that could enable viable lithium-free manufacturing.

The global monsoon is considered to have provided an important interhemispheric climate link during deglaciation, but direct evidence is lacking. Here, climate evidence from speleothems suggests that rapid latitudinal displacements of the Australasian monsoon play a key role in deglacial warming.

Li-metal batteries often utilize liquid electrolytes that yield a solid–electrolyte interphase on electrodes; however, the role of anions in interphase formation remains unclear. Now it has been shown that anion-decomposition products provide varying contributions to interphase formation and that high-performance electrolytes balance effective interfacial passivation with minimized degradation.

Atmospheric water harvesting is challenging due to the presence of airborne pollutants. The authors show a device design that enables fog capture with simultaneous pollutant decomposition powered by sunlight.

The amount of S released by the Chicxulub impact event is empirically determined to be 5 times lower than previously estimated, with important consequences for our understanding of the climate cooling that ultimately led to the K-Pg mass extinction.

The decay of electrostatic charges largely reduces the protective efficacy of electret masks. Here, the authors report a triboelectrification-based self-charging electrostatic face mask with high airborne particle capture efficiency and prolonged stability.

Zinc deficiency can impair child growth and development, and edible insects contain substantial amount of zinc. Here the authors report that edible house crickets are a source of well-absorbable zinc in a randomized crossover clinical trial in Kenyan children aged 24–36 months.

Fused silica glass has excellent optical properties, chemical and thermal stability and hardness, but its microstructuring for miniaturized applications has proven difficult. Here the authors demonstrate obtainment of precise arbitrary three dimensional hollow microstructures in fused silica glass by sacrificial template replication.

CO₂ electrolysers store electricity as CO or other chemical fuels, but can suffer from carbon deposition at the electrodes. Skafte et al. identify a mechanistic route to inhibiting carbon build-up in ceria-based electrolysers and build a cell that operates beyond the thermodynamic carbon deposition threshold.

Photocatalytic conversion of CO₂ typically uses concentrated feeds, hindering the direct conversion of ambient CO₂ to value-added products. Kar et al. report a flow reactor that produces syngas (a mixture of CO and H₂) through on-site utilization of air-captured CO₂ using light.

Extracting lithium from alternative aqueous sources becomes crucial in meeting increasing lithium demand. Here, authors design an economically feasible electrochemical process that achieves selective lithium extraction from geothermal brine and finally produce battery grade lithium hydroxide.

Rechargeable aluminium ion batteries are an emerging class of energy storage device. Here the authors reveal high-quality natural graphite as a promising cathode for Al-ion batteries, also identifying chloroaluminate anion intercalation in graphite by Raman spectroscopy.

Bayesian modelling of radiometric age estimates provides a robust chronology for Homo erectus at Ngandong (Java), confirming that this site currently represents the last known occurrence of this species.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) tape is widely used for lithium-ion batteries but its chemical stability has been largely overlooked. Reversible self-discharge is now shown to be virtually eliminated in LiFePO₄–graphite cells by replacing PET with polypropylene jellyroll tape.

Strontium isotope analysis can be applied to animal and plant tissues to help determine their provenance. Here, the authors generate a strontium isoscape of sub-Saharan Africa using data from 2266 environmental samples and demonstrate its efficacy by tracing the African roots of individuals from historic slavery contexts.

CYP5122A1 is a sterol C4-methyl oxidase that catalyzes the sequential oxidation of lanosterol, is essential for both Leishmania donovani promastigotes in culture and intracellular amastigotes in infected mice, and provides a new target for antileishmanial drug discovery.

Perovskite solar cells have been limited by the use of relatively expensive organic compounds as hole-transporting materials. Here, Qin et al.use an inorganic hole conductor, CuSCN, in a lead halide perovskite solar cell and achieve power conversion efficiencies as high as 12.4%.

All-solid-state batteries are promising alternatives to Li-ion batteries. Here, the authors investigate the chemo-mechanical changes at the lithium metal/solid electrolyte interface via operando acoustic transmission and magnetic resonance imaging.

Colloidal state machines, composed of 2D nanoelectronics grafted onto submillimetre-sized particles, act as autonomous electronic circuits capable of logical operation and information storage.

Evidence for hominin activity on Flores, Indonesia, has been thought to go back at least 800,000 years, as shown by fission-track dating at Mata Menge in the Soa Basin. However, new research at another locality in the Soa Basin uses the more accurate technique of ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating to show that hominins were living on Flores at least a million years ago.

Bees provide important pollination ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, but the extent to which they are affected by pesticide use on a continental scale has yet to be explored. This study evaluates the impact of pesticide use on wild bee populations across the contiguous United States.

A characteristic of costal-pelagic fishes is their large population size fluctuations, yet the drivers remain elusive. Here, the authors analyze a 45-year timeseries of nitrogen stable isotopes measured in larvae of Northern Anchovy and find that high energy transfer efficiency from the base of the food web up to young larvae confers high survival and recruitment to the adult population.

Plasma extracellular vesicles contain quantifiable amounts of TDP-43 and full-length tau, allowing the accurate assessment of pathology in frontotemporal dementia, frontotemporal dementia spectrum disorders and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Rocks and dust from the asteroid Bennu contain some of the molecular building blocks of life on Earth, such as amino acids and nucleobases. They also carry ammonia that formed billions of years ago in cold, distant regions of our Solar System.

How cargo proteins are selected for endosomal recycling by the Commander complex is unclear. Here the authors report that the cargo adaptor SNX17 interacts with the Retriever sub-complex to facilitate cargo entry into the Commander endosomal recycling pathway and show that cargo relieves an autoinhibited conformation of SNX17 to promote SNX17-Commander coupling.

A gelatin–alginate hydrogel ink incorporating short gelatin fibres guides the self-organization of human cardiomyocytes into contractile tissues that can be 3D-printed into structures mimicking human organs.

The ultimate driver of ultraslow spreading ridges is unknown. Here the authors use spreading rates derived directly from isotopic ages of seafloor samples to link magmatic and amagmatic segments with thermochemical variations in the upper mantle.