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The BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network has constructed a multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex in a landmark effort towards understanding brain cell-type diversity, neural circuit organization and brain function.

The electronic structure of superconducting magnesium diboride is predicted theoretically to have a distribution of energy gap values. Chenet al. observe this distribution of values experimentally, by means of high-resolution electron tunnelling spectroscopy.

Entanglement was observed in top–antitop quark events by the ATLAS experiment produced at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN using a proton–proton collision dataset with a centre-of-mass energy of √s  = 13 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 140 fb⁻¹.

Studying the nature of actinide-actinide bonds is important for understanding the electronic structure of the 5f elements, but the synthesis of these chemical bonds remains extremely challenging. Here, the authors report a strong covalent Th-Th bond formed between two rarely accessible Th³⁺ ions, stabilized inside a fullerene cage.

Prostate cancers (PCa) are characterized by an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Here the authors identify a subset of iron-loaded cancer-associated fibroblasts secreting myeloid cell-associated proteins and driving immunosuppression in PCa.

A fluoropolymer-based cancer nanovaccine that delivers antigens directly to the cytosol of dendritic cells and elicits strong antitumour immune responses inhibiting tumour growth in animal models can be used to produce personalized treatment for post-surgical immunotherapy.

Under conditions of Earth’s deep lower mantle, hydrogen ions diffuse freely through the FeOOH lattice framework and electrical conductivity increases rapidly, according to electrical conductivity experiments and first-principles simulations.

Designing an efficient electrocatalyst of hydrogen oxidation reaction is highly critical for anion exchange membrane fuel cells. Here the authors report implanting oxophilic metal atoms in PtRu nanowires to significantly improve the mass activity, stability, and resistance to CO-poisoning for hydrogen oxidation.

The active sites of metal-free carbon catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction remain still elusive. Now, Yao, Dai and co-workers combine work-function analyses with macro/micro-electrochemical measurements on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and conclude that pentagon defects are the main active sites for acidic oxygen reduction.

Gene editing tools have tremendous potential for biomedical and basic research. Here the authors report a Cas9 from Faecalibaculum rodentium (FrCas9) that achieves efficient and specific gene editing in human cells with a NNTA palindrome PAMs for targeting optimal sites at TATA-boxes to enhance CRISPRa/i screening.

Formylpeptide receptors (FPRs) are a class of chemotactic G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that recognize pathogen- and host-derived formylpeptides. Here the authors report the 3.17 Å cryo-EM structure of the human FPR2-G_i signaling complex with a bound peptide agonist and in combination with computational docking and MD simulations provide mechanistic insights into formylpeptide recognition by FPRs.

A South China Sea expedition in 2021 identified a 3.5-km-deep site close to the Equator for a next-generation neutrino telescope: TRIDENT. A large array of advanced detectors will be arrayed on the seabed to probe fundamental physics and explore the extreme Universe.

Highly stretchable organic electrochemical transistors with stable charge transport under severe tensional strains are demonstrated using a honeycomb semiconducting polymer morphology, thereby enabling controllable signal output for diverse stretchable bioelectronic applications.

Intensive research efforts are underway to enable applications of layered lithium transition metal oxides in batteries. Here the authors report an oxidative chemical vapour deposition technique to conformally coat both the primary and the secondary particles of these oxides to unleash potential applications.

This overview of the ENCODE project outlines the data accumulated so far, revealing that 80% of the human genome now has at least one biochemical function assigned to it; the newly identified functional elements should aid the interpretation of results of genome-wide association studies, as many correspond to sites of association with human disease.

HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) is an important drug target. RT has two activities, DNA synthesis, and cleavage of a DNA–RNA hybrid. These activities require that RT bind to both DNA and RNA. Single-molecule technology is used to show that the enzyme binds to RNA and DNA in different orientations, and provide insight into how it can flip between these orientations and activities without dissociating from the substrate.

A low cost MRI scanner may have the potential to meet clinical needs at point of care or in low and middle income countries. Here the authors describe a low cost 0.055 Tesla MRI scanner that operates using a standard AC power outlet, and demonstrate its preliminary feasibility in diagnosing brain tumor and stroke.

The field of battery chemistry must embrace abundant elements such as Mn for improved sustainability. Here the authors engineer the orientation of Mn 3d orbitals, resulting in excellent performance in LiMnO₂ cathodes.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports the observation of the electroweak production of two jets and a Z-boson pair. This process is related to vector-boson scattering and allows the nature of electroweak symmetry breaking to be probed.

The ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider reports a search for charged-lepton-flavour violation in decays of Z bosons into a τ lepton and an electron or muon of opposite charge.

Insight-HXMT detected a double-peaked X-ray burst from Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154, consistent with two fast radio bursts (FRBs) observed from the same object within seconds. This coincidence suggests a common physical origin, and gives insight into the mechanism behind the origin of FRBs.

The electrocatalytic upgrading of CO to higher-value feedstocks provides a promising route to multicarbon products. Here, the authors show that high ethylene selectivity can be achieved by constraining CO availability on copper, with an ethylene Faradaic efficiency of 72% and a partial current density of >800 mA cm⁻².

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide receptor (VIP1R) is a widely expressed class B G protein-coupled receptor and a drug target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Here authors report a cryoelectron microscopy structure of human VIP1R bound to PACAP27 and Gs heterotrimer, which provides insights into PACAP27 binding and VIP receptor activation.

Li-In alloys are widely used as reference materials in the research field of solid-state lithium-based batteries. Here, the authors report and discuss the instability of Li-In electrodes towards sulfide solid electrolytes in all-solid-state batteries.

The ATLAS Collaboration reports a measurement of the ratio of the decay rates of W bosons to τ leptons and muons, in agreement with universal lepton couplings as postulated in the standard model of particle physics.

The measurement of the total cross-section of proton–proton collisions is of fundamental importance for particle physics. Here, the first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton–proton collisions at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

Ten years after the discovery of the Higgs boson, the ATLAS  experiment at CERN probes its kinematic properties with a significantly larger dataset from 2015–2018 and provides further insights on its interaction with other known particles.

Quantum electrodynamics predicts a rare process in which light is scattered by light. The ATLAS Collaboration reports signs of this elusive effect in the collisions of ultra-relativistic lead ions.

Ding Ma, Xing Xie, Yongyong Shi and colleagues report a genome-wide association study of cervical cancer in the Han Chinese population. They identify two new susceptibility lociat 4q12 and 17q12.

MCL1, a pro-survival BCL-2 related protein with rapid turnover rate, is often dysregulated in cancers. Here, the authors show that MCL1’s stability is regulated by deubiquitinase USP13, and its inhibition sensitises tumor cells to BH3 mimetic inhibitors.

The combination of systemic immune checkpoint inhibition with local administration of a hydrogel containing the enzyme catalase, a radioisotope and an immunostimulatory agent promotes effective antitumour immune responses in mice models.

Photoacoustic imaging offers higher spatial resolution than most optical imaging techniques, but contrast agents are needed because many diseases in their early stages do not display a natural photoacoustic contrast. Using single-walled carbon nanotubes conjugated with a peptide as a contrast agent allows the non-invasive photoacoustic imaging of tumours in animals.

An injectable and biocompatible hydrogel loaded with both Indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) inhibitor and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) displays synergistic anti-cancer effects in vivo by remodeling the tumor microenvironment and generating immune memory effects.

The heterogeneity of breast cancer has a major role in drug response and resistance. In this study, the authors use patient-derived tumour xenografts as a platform for drug testing and correlation with single-cell proteomic phenotypes characterized by mass cytometry.

Bodenmiller and colleagues present a method for three-dimensional analysis of tissue architecture using imaging mass cytometry and demonstrate the utility in resolving cellular interactions in the tumor microenvironment, in human breast cancer samples.

Iavarone, Lasorella and colleagues develop genetic mouse models to study the roles of inhibitor of DNA-binding (Id) proteins in neural stem-cell maintenance. They show that Id proteins promote neural stem-cell adhesion to their niche by driving the transcriptional repression of Rap1GAP, thereby maintaining the activity of the Rap1 GTPase, a known regulator of integrin adhesion.

Across cancer types tumor heterogeneity has been observed, but how this relates to tumor evolution is unclear. Here, the authors sequence multiple synchronous lung cancers, highlighting the evolutionary pressures that simultaneously shape the expansion and constraint of genomic heterogeneity.

Bodenmiller and colleagues pair imaging mass cytometry with data from the METABRIC cohort to define single-cell phenotypic and genomic features of breast cancer with spatial context, finding associations with breast cancer subtypes and prognosis.

The decay asymmetry and helicity phase of polarized baryon–antibaryon pairs are measured at the BESIII experiment, testing charge–parity symmetry and revealing a discrepancy of the Λ → pπ⁻ decay asymmetry with respect to the current world average.

Zi-Jiang Chen and colleagues report a genome-wide association analysis for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in Han Chinese. They identify eight new susceptibility loci for PCOS in this population.