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The design of inorganic-organic hybrid solid-state electrolytes is expected to merge the merits of both inorganic and organic material. Here, the authors craft Li-ion-implanted copper maleate hydrate nanoflakes via a bottom-up self-assembly approach to reveal superior room-temperature Li-ion conductivity.

The sensitivity of Li-ion battery materials to moisture complicates their synthesis, storage, processing and recycling. Here, authors show that protonation causes structural instability in LiNi_xCo_yMn_1-x-yO₂ (0 <x,y < 1) and that controlled H⁺ and Li⁺ concentration in aqueous processing is critical.

A vanadium-based lithium-rich disordered rock salt oxide is shown to work as a low-potential anode with rapid intercalation kinetics for lithium-ion batteries.

A conductive, low-melting-point and healable sulfur iodide material aids the practical realization of solid-state Li–S batteries, which have high theoretical energy densities and show potential in next-generation battery chemistry.

Charging and discharging Li-metal batteries (LMBs) at low temperatures is problematic due to the sluggish charge-transfer process. Here the authors discuss the roles of solvation structures of Li-ions in the charge-transfer kinetics and design an electrolyte to enable low-temperature operations of LMBs.

Controlling the nucleation and growth is essential for enabling long-life Li-metal batteries. Here the authors report the growth of faceted single-crystalline Li seeds on a lithiophobic Fe/LiF composite substrate that enables dense Li deposition under fast-charging conditions.

Immunotherapy in prostate cancer conventionally leads to a low response rate and inadequate therapeutic efficacy. Here, the authors address these issues by developing a nanozyme-based system with sonosensitive and magnetic-targeting capabilities to mitigate the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and enhance the body’s immune response, achieving sono-metallo-immunotherapy for prostate cancer.

Controlling crystal growth in perovskite syntheses that rely solely on chemical processes is challenging. Now, a synthesis protocol that integrates mechanical and chemical effects achieves enhanced crystalline orientation and uniformity.

Oxygen activity can play a vital role in determining charge transport properties of materials. Here, the authors demonstrate a method to create oxygen vacancies on layered oxides via a gas-solid interface reaction, leading to materials with enhanced energy and power densities for Li-ion batteries.

Most of the available fluorogenic RNA approaches emit visible fluorescence, and there is a need for tools working at longer wavelengths. Here, the authors identify and modulate red fluorescent protein-like fluorophores to bind the fluorogenic RNA Squash, thereby obtaining near-infrared fluorogenic RNA-based tools.

The identification of HLA epitopes is essential for vaccine and immunotherapy development. Here, authors develop ImmuneApp using deep learning on extensive immunopeptidomics data, advancing antigen presentation prediction, neoepitope prioritisation, and immunopeptidomics deconvolution.

Design strategies for non-fullerene acceptors are important for achieving high-efficiency organic solar cells. Here the authors design asymmetrically branched alkyl chains on the thiophene unit of the L8-BO acceptor to achieve high crystallinity and photoluminescence quantum yield, yielding over 20% efficiency in single-junction organic solar cells.

A method for design of polymer membranes uses strategically placed pendant groups with specific hydrophobicity to precisely tailor hydrated pore size, with applications in ion-conducting membranes for redox flow batteries.

The photooxidation of CH₄ to CH₃OH is limited by the availability of reactants at flooded interfaces. Now the authors report a modified metal organic framework nanoreactor to promote the direct photooxidation of CH4 to CH₃OH at the gas-solid interface.

Auxin can promote or inhibit hypocotyl elongation. This biphasic effect has puzzled generations of plant biologists. Wang et al. shows that the decreasing apoplastic pH, stimulated by auxin, underlies the change in hypocotyl growth response.

The study uncovered a novel wax alcohol-forming pathway involving a two-step reduction process and further elucidated the carbon relocation mechanism between the alcohol- and alkane-forming pathway in response to environmental cues.

The authors introduce a loss-enhanced magneto-optical effect and sublinearly amplify the frequency response of a non-Hermitian optical cavity under different background magnetic fields. This effect is exploited to detect subtle magnetic field variations against a strong background with enhanced system response and sensitivity.

Introducing biomaterials into semiconductors to manifest bio-mimetic functionality is impactful to trigger new enhancement mechanisms. Here, the authors utilize different types of biomolecules to regulate the perovskite crystal lattice and endow a mechanism for stabilizing the metastable lattice.

FLAPs have recently emerged as RNA counterparts to fluorescent proteins. Here, the authors determine the crystal structure of a FLAP called RhoBAST in complex with its ligand TMR-DN and reveal the mechanisms for binding and activation.

Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation might not solely rely on electron transfer from dominant metal centers. Here, authors found that the formation of hydrogen bond between PMS and [V₄O₁₂] ⁴⁻ in Co₂(V₄O₁₂)(bpy)₂ catalyst provided extra electron transfer channel for achieving efficient PMS activation.

A biodegradable electronic bandage that applies pulsed and d.c. electrostimulation can accelerate the healing of intestinal wounds in mice via transfection of cells and stimulation-induced secretion of healing factor from those cells.

Understanding the fundamental nano–bio interactions of nanomaterials intended for biomedical use might unlock potential alternative applications. Here the authors reveal a tumoricidal mechanism of black phosphorus nanomaterials where these nanomaterials directly affect the mitotic centrosome machinery by suppressing polo-like kinase 1, suggesting that nanomaterials can be applied in targeted cancer therapy with their intrinsic nano–bio properties.

Uncontrolled dendrite growth and severe side reactions at high capacities and rates impede its practical application for zinc metal anodes. Here, the authors propose a composite zinc anode with 3D hierarchical graphene matrix as a multifunctional host to regulate zinc deposition for aqueous zinc batteries.

Air-stability is a critical challenge faced by layered sodium transition metal oxide cathodes. Here, the authors depict a general and in-depth model of the structural/chemical evolution of P2-type layered oxides in air and propose an evaluation rule for the air-stability of layered sodium cathodes.

Gibberellins (GA) negatively regulate light-mediated suppression of hypocotyl elongation in plants. Here, Li et al. show that GA-mediated destabilization of DELLA proteins promotes accumulation of the light-regulated PIF transcription factors thus contributing to the crosstalk between light and GA signalling.

In a re-analysis of a cluster-randomized trial on malaria-control measures, the combined intervention reduces infections up to 3 km from the point of intervention, increasing efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the intervention.

Fluorescence probes for detecting tumours during surgery can suffer from poor accumulation and short imaging windows. Here, the author develop fluorescence probes with multiple motifs that permit enhanced circulation times, tumour targeting and use the probes to image pancreatic cancer in mice

Phosphorylation plays an important role in the regulation of molecular circadian clocks. Here the authors utilize multi-omics data from flies to describe the circadian kinome and identify GASKET as a potentially important regulator within the circadian kinase network.

Understanding the in vivo biotransformation of nanomaterials used for biomedical applications might shed light on their long-term effects and safety. Here the authors show that molybdenum derived from nanomaterials is mainly transported in the liver, in a corona-mediated process, and is incorporated in molybdoenzymes, with an effect on liver metabolism.

Reconstruction of oceanic phosphorus concentrations during a large negative carbon-isotope excursion co-occurring with global oceanic oxygenation and evolution of some of Earth’s earliest animals suggests that decoupled phosphorus and ocean anoxia cycles during the Ediacaran may have prolonged the rise of atmospheric oxygen.

The full potential of single-cell RNA-sequencing applied to precision medicine has yet to be reached. Here, we propose a drug recommendation system ASGARD, which predicts drugs by considering cell clusters to address the intercellular heterogeneity within each patient.

Lung injury initiates a series of wound-healing responses, which if unregulated, can lead to fibrosis. Liet al. show that the deubquitinase CYLD has a key role in the prevention of fibrosis by inhibiting transforming growth factor β-signalling through the direct deubiquitination of the protein kinase Akt.

A human genome resolved at the haplotype level without a reference genome reveals previously undetected sequences.

Gravitropism is the process by which plants perceive and respond to gravity. Here the authors identify a minus-end-directed kinesin required for gravity-triggered actin filament rearrangement and negative gravitropic response in the moss Physcomitrella patens, thus linking a microtubule-based cellular motor to gravitropism via actin.

Analysis of data from 33 longitudinal cohorts from low- and middle-income countries indicates that conditions during pre-conception, pregnancy and the first few months of life are crucial in determining the risk of growth faltering in young children.

An analysis of longitudinal cohort data across diverse populations suggests that the incidence of wasting between birth and 24 months is higher than previously thought, and highlights the role of seasonal factors that affect child growth.

A pooled analysis of longitudinal studies in low- and middle-income countries identifies the typical age of onset of linear growth faltering and investigates recurrent faltering in early life.

Cell adhesion peptides like RGD are important to biomedical applications but suffer from proteolysis as well as processing and cost issues. Here, the authors report on the development of cationic-hydrophobic amphiphilic β-amino acid polymers which function as cell adhesion motifs but are resistant to proteolysis.

Implantation-caused foreign-body response is a commonly encountered issue and can result in failure of implants. Here, the authors demonstrate that a highly water soluble, biocompatible, and easily accessible poly-DL-serine hydrogel can mitigate foreign-body response.

Platinum dispersed on metal oxide supports is widely used for industrially important catalysis such as the reverse water gas shift reaction, but active site migration and subsequent alterations in catalytic performance are still not fully understood. Here, the use of platinum on ceria nanodomes shows the detrimental effect of migration of platinum nanoparticles to titania supports at elevated temperatures.

Conventional wet chemistry method represents an inefficient way for bulk crystal synthesis. Here, the authors report a universal approach using electrical and mechanical field-assisted sintering technique to generate halide perovskites from solid precursors into large bulk crystal within minutes.