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Fast-charging is highly desired for lithium-ion batteries but is hindered by potential hazardous lithium plating and the associated parasitic reactions. Here, the authors report a nondestructive differential pressure sensing method for early detection and mitigation of lithium plating in fast-charging batteries.

A novel covalent inhibitor, ISM3312, targets the main protease of multiple human coronaviruses, including drug-resistant strains, and shows broad antiviral activity. It offers a promising therapeutic strategy against current and future coronavirus threats.

An electrochemical process stimulates the progression toward the electrode of isolated or ‘dead’ lithium in a battery, recovering its electrical connection, and the effect is demonstrated by increased cycle life.

Understanding the mutation landscape of cancer may enable the development of more targeted therapies. Here, the authors sequence a panel of genes in a large Asian cohort and compare to American cohorts and find 64% of the Asian patients have actionable mutations.

Operation of lithium batteries at high, non-uniform temperatures can lead to safety issues, but the effects of localized high temperatures are difficult to probe. Here the authors use micro-Raman spectroscopy to show that local-temperature hotspots can induce lithium metal growth and trigger circuit shorting.

Femtosecond polygonal optical vortices with light intensity distributions of square, pentagonal, and hexagonal shapes were generated from a passive mode-locked solid-state laser oscillator.

Exciton energy transfer in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides is limited to short distances. Here, Shi et al. fabricate a planar metal-oxide-semiconductor structure and show that exciton energy transfer can be extended to tens of microns, mediated by an exciton-surface-plasmon-polariton–exciton conversion mechanism.

Biological systems, subject to evolutionary optimization over millions of years, have been a source of ingenious solutions in many areas of science. Here, Han et al. develop transparent electrodes inspired by two such systems: a leaf venation and a spider’s web.

From 2000 to 2023, Northeast Asia saw a net loss of surface water in Far East Russia due to rising temperatures and evaporative demand, and a net gain in Northeast China driven by increased precipitation and irrigation infrastructure, according to integrated analysis of remote sensing, climate, and anthropogenic data.

Early prediction of Acute kidney injury (AKI) may be crucial for AKI prevention. Here the authors present a simple, real-time, interpretable, AKI prediction model for hospitalized patients, based on routinely collected electronic health records data.

Helicity of photons is exploited for preferential emission direction and sorting of valley-polarized excitons is achieved at room temperature.

Manipulating liquids with tunable shape and optical functionalities in real time remains a great challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate electrotunable liquid sulfur microdroplets in an electrochemical cell and tune its characteristics in a fast, repeatable, and controlled manner.

Based on the correlation analysis of various omics data from Brassica napus L., authors identify one Flavobacterium strain C2 which mitigates P deficiency by regulating fatty acid metabolism and enhancing P uptake, indicating potential strategies to improve P utilization in rapeseeds.

L. Zhang, M. Zhang, Huang et al. show that Klf9 regulated PGC-1α and Mfn2 expression, contributing to mitochondrial energy metabolism and dynamic regulation, promoting mitophagy, improving cardiac function and revealing a potential therapeutic target.

Clinical outcomes differ in men diagnosed with early- versus late-onset prostate cancer. Cheng and colleagues perform single-cell and spatial transcriptomics on patient samples to provide insights into the divergent tumor microenvironments.

A study describes an approach using designed building blocks that are far more regular in geometry than natural proteins to construct modular multicomponent protein assemblies.

Lumped circuit elements provide a simple tool to design complex electronic systems; a similar approach has been proposed for nanophotonics. Here, the authors demonstrate the modularized design and assembly of photonic nanocircuits using metal and dielectric nanoparticles as the constituent lumped elements.

The co-crystal structure of the T-box tRNA-binding region, stem I, bound to tRNA is solved, showing that this region not only binds the anticodon, but also cradles the entire tRNA, forming an extended interface; the two T-loop motifs of stem I mediate interactions similar to those of RNase P and the large ribosomal subunit, even though the three species do not share a common evolutionary ancestor.

The cocrystal structure of the Nocardia farcinica ileS T-box in complex with its cognate tRNA illustrates how mRNA junctions can create specific binding sites for interacting RNAs.

Synthetic methodologies that enable the formation of C‒Si bonds in organic molecules are desirable. Here, the authors report the nickel-catalyzed reductive alkylsilylation of acrylonitrile with unactivated alkyl bromides and chlorosilanes.

Chemical libraries with skeleton diversity are important for drug discovery. Here, the authors establish a synthetic methodology-based compound library (SMBL), and apply it to identify a small-molecule inhibitor to interrupt a challenging target:  the protein–protein interaction (PPI) of GIT1/β-Pix.

Application of adenine base editors (ABE) has been precluded by low activity. Here the authors show the generation of a human cell based ABE directional screening system and identification of ABE variant (NG-ABEmax-KR) exhibiting a significant increase in activity for human and mouse genome manipulation.

Membrane distillation can use low-grade heat for salt water desalination, but the materials used can often suffer from limited permeance. Here, a strategy is proposed to construct a pore surface and size functionality gradient in a covalent organic framework, enabling a flux of 600 l m^–2 h^–1 with NaCl rejection of 99.99%.

The results of the Fifth RNA-Puzzles contest highlights advances in RNA three-dimensional structure prediction and uncovers new insights into RNA folding and structure.

Cocrystal and cryo-EM structures of Geobacillus kaustophilus glyQ and Bacillus subtilis glyQS T-box-tRNA complexes establish a universal mechanism of amino acid sensing on tRNAs and gene regulation by T-box riboswitches.

Adenovirus Virus-Associated (VA) noncoding RNAs interfere with the host system by mimicking double stranded RNAs. Here, the authors report a 2.7 Å crystal structure of VA-I RNA providing an understanding of its function.

China’s coasts have become more populous and urbanized. This study finds a rebound in the area of coastal wetlands, reflecting recent conservation and restoration, with large losses between 1984 and 2011 followed by increases in saltmarsh area and stabilization of tidal flats.

IL-2 is a classic T cell growth factor. Huang and colleagues demonstrate, however, that chronic IL-2 stimulation leads to a new exhaustion pathway that impairs antitumor immune responses.

Personal protective air filtration masks are becoming increasingly desirable, but most commercial air purifiers have poor biocidal capabilities. Here the authors fabricate metal–organic framework-based air filters with both high particulate matter removal efficiencies and photocatalytic bactericidal properties.

Here the authors design an electrolysis reactor to generate H₂O₂ which could be further catalytically activated by Cu single atoms to yield hydroxyl radicals. Combining the two reactions enables a system that could treat organic wastewater, providing a path toward sustainable advanced oxidation processes.

In photovoltaics window electrodes must display uniform current transport, as well as high light transmission from the substrate. Here, Han et al.show that quasi-fractal metallic networks provide a practical realization of an electrode structure with an optimal surface coverage and a uniform current density.

Here Zhaoet al. use twisted metamaterials to drastically enhance chiral responses through strong near-field interactions, and sense the chirality down to zeptomoles of molecules, orders of magnitude smaller than what is detectable with conventional circular dichroism spectroscopy.

The authors of this study compile data on spatial and temporal dynamics of surface water bodies across China, covering a time span from 1989 – 2016. The study describes hot-spot areas with strongly decreasing trends in surface water area and terrestrial water storage in North China and discusses implications of water resources and security in China.

GABAergic transmission regulates the K⁺-Cl⁻ co-transporter KCC2. Here the authors demonstrate that inhibitory transmission, via GABA_A receptor and WNK signaling, regulates KCC2 expression in the membrane of hippocampal neurons.