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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.

Standard approaches for identifying pleiotropic genetic variants may lead to spurious results. Here the authors present a new statistical method and show that it uncovers five genes linked to metabolites in METSIM participants, which were previously undetected by existing methods.

Authors use a high-entropy engineering approach to produce fully amorphous BiTO films by exfoliation and annealing, creating crystalline regions, leading to flexible ceramics with dielectric properties.

Ferromagnetic systems produced by the transition metal doping of semiconductors may be used as components of spintronic devices. Here, a new ferromagnet, Li_1+y(Zn_1-xMn_x)As, is prepared in bulk quantities and shown to have a critical temperature approaching 50 K.

Stereoselective synthetic routes use P3HB (a polyester produced by bacteria) as a chiral feedstock for related polymers that have properties more amenable to processing and use.

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.

While Bell inequalities have been violated several times—mostly in photonic systems—their violations within particle physics experiments are less explored. Here, the BESIII Collaboration showcases Bell-violating nonlocal correlations between entangled hyperon pairs.

The realization of high-performance flexible perovskite/crystalline-silicon tandem solar cells requires efficient photocarrier transport and mitigation of residual stress. Here, authors reveal the critical role of perovskite phase homogeneity, achieving flexible devices with efficiency of 29.88%.

A CRISPR knock-in strategy that uses endogenous gene regulatory mechanisms can engineer ‘armoured’ CAR T cells that secrete proinflammatory cytokines directly within a tumour without causing toxicity, leading to prolonged survival in mice.

The study of isotopes away from the beta stability valley is crucial for the understanding of nuclear structure, especially for neutron-deficient heavy nuclei. Here, the authors report the observation of the alpha-decay isotope 210-protactinium (Pa), extending the alpha-decay systematics of underexplored regions of the nuclides chart.

Licensing of eukaryotic origins of replication with MCM double hexamers (DHs) can occur through distinct pathways. Here, Lim et al. show that in yeast, cell cycle-dependent regulation of DH formation by CDK and origin structure have co-evolved.

Water scarcity is a global issue that demands urgent resolution, but current approaches are inadequate. Now a metre-scale atmospheric water harvester, featuring a hygroscopic origami hydrogel panel and a window-like glass chamber, demonstrates exceptional efficiency in extracting water from air, even in extremely arid conditions.

A new methodology for the discovery of chalcogenides by tuning the temperature and flux ratios of systems using mixed fluxes is demonstrated, leading to the synthesis of 30 new and unreported compounds or compositions.

In a quantum simulation of a (2+1)D lattice gauge theory using a superconducting quantum processor, the dynamics of strings reveal the transition from deconfined to confined excitations as the effective electric field is increased.

The synthesis of atom-thin amorphous films remains challenging as their thermodynamically favourable grains are neither two dimensional nor layered. Here a droplet-driven nanoribbon-to-film growth strategy is reported to achieve amorphous metal chalcogenides at the single-layer limit.

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.

Ion exchange is a powerful method to access metastable materials for energy storage, but identifying lithium and sodium interchange in layered oxides remains challenging. Using such model materials, vacancy level and corresponding lithium preference are shown to be crucial for ion exchange pathway accessibility.

Using Kepler, this study identifies a compact multiplanetary system that is not flat, where gravitational interactions cause its planets’ periods to change by nearly a day per cycle and their orbital planes to tilt back and forth.

The interfaces in perovskite solar cells are critical to the device performance. Li et al. tune the bond strength of the interfacial molecule with the perovskite and the electron transport layer, increasing the power conversion efficiency of the cells.

Intercalation-type metal oxides are promising anodes for Li-ion batteries but suffer from low energy and power density together with cycling instability. A nanostructured rock-salt Nb₂O₅ formed via amorphous-to-crystalline transformation during cycling with Li⁺ is shown to exhibit enhanced performance.

Earth-abundant TiO₂ is a promising negative electrode material for low-cost sodium-ion batteries. Here, authors show that ordered rocksalt NaTiO₂ nanograins are in situ formed by electrochemically cycling with Na⁺ ions in anatase TiO₂, which determines the pseudocapacitive high-rate capability.

In situ liquid-cell electrochemical transmission electron microscopy allows the direct visualization of the transformation of lithium polysulfides over electrode surfaces at the atomic scale, leading to a new energy-storage mechanism in lithium–sulfur batteries.

Designing electrode architectures for Li-ion batteries that can be reversibly accessible for ion storage can be challenging. Using operando techniques the mechanistic origin of lithiation-induced phase transformations in a V₂O₅ model cathode is now clarified.

Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data from 3,023 human genomes from mainland Southeast Asia identifies high genetic heterogeneity among populations in the region and many unique small and structural variants.

Lithium-rich layered oxides are promising cathode materials for next-generation batteries, but they suffer from long-standing problems such as voltage decay during cycling. Here the authors analyse the root cause of voltage decay and present a structure engineering strategy to mitigate the issue for a cobalt-free, lithium-rich layered oxide.

Two types of amyloid-β protein (1–42) (Aβ₄₂) fibrils are known to form in the insoluble fraction of diseased human brains. Now, another type of Aβ₄₂ fibril (type III) has been identified in the soluble fraction of Alzheimer’s disease brain using cryo-electron microscopy. These studies also reveal differences in ligand–fibril interactions between fibril types.

Here the authors show that loss of TANGO2, a gene linked to an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by developmental delay, rhabdomyolysis, cardiac arrhythmias and metabolic disturbances, disrupts mitochondrial and cytoskeletal structure by impairing its interaction with CRYAB, leading to desmin aggregation and desminopathy, causing cardiomyopathy, muscle weakness, and metabolic dysfunction in mice and human cells.

Preparing two-dimensional heterolayers by vertically stacking chemically different layers with multiple anions remains challenging. Now, a general approach for the synthesis of heterolayered oxychalcogenides using molten hydroxides as unconventional solutions for the rapid stacking of oxide and chalcogenide layers with precise composition control is demonstrated.

The authors report that the metallic spin-1/2 chain compound Ti₄MnBi₂ forms near a quantum critical point with inherent frustration. They identify strong 1D spin and 3D electron coupling that should stimulate the search for materials exhibiting a 1D Kondo effect and heavy fermions.

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.

Olivine iron phosphate (FePO₄) is widely proposed for electrochemical lithium extraction, but particles with different physical attributes demonstrate varying Li preferences. Here, the authors characterize the electrochemical lithiation and sodiation behavior of a series of FePO₄ particles with different morphology to identify critical features that enhance Li selectivity.

The bactericidal action of some antibiotics is associated with increased ATP consumption, cellular respiration, and reactive oxygen species formation. Here, Li et al. show that constitutive hydrolysis of ATP and NADH (or ‘bioenergetic stress’) potentiates the evolution of antibiotic resistance and persistence in E. coli.

Zhang et al. show that YAP binds to TDP-43 to promote TDP-43 multimerization and phase separation. YAP and TDP-43 may co-localize in multiple cell types in oxidative stress and in brain samples from individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

A hybrid analogue–digital quantum simulator is used to demonstrate beyond-classical performance in benchmarking experiments and to study thermalization phenomena in an XY quantum magnet, including the breakdown of Kibble–Zurek scaling predictions and signatures of the Kosterlitz–Thouless phase transition.

Diluted magnetic semiconductors are promising spintronic materials, however the simultaneous doping of charge and magnetic moment has prevented synthesis of bulk samples. This work reports the synthesis of a bulk magnetic semiconductor (Ba_1−xK_x)(Zn_1−yMn_y)₂As₂with Curie temperatures up to 180 K.

Zinc batteries are receiving growing attention due to their sustainability merits not shared by lithium-ion technologies. Here the aqueous electrolyte design features unique solvation structures that render Zn–air pouch cell excellent cycling stability in a wide temperature range from −60 to 80 °C.

Metal-fluoride-based lithium-ion battery cathodes are typically classified as conversion materials because reconstructive phase transitions are presumed to occur upon lithiation. Metal fluoride lithiation is now shown to be dominated instead by diffusion-controlled displacement mechanisms.

Enhancing the superconducting temperature is often the main driver of synthetic studies of novel superconducting materials. Now, an approach yielding an air-stable iron selenide system that superconducts up to 40 K is reported.

In Li-ion batteries, single crystalline cobalt-free lithium transition metal oxides are less understood than their polycrystalline counterparts. Here, authors show that the absence of cobalt in single crystalline oxides results in structural degradation that ultimately degrades battery performance.

The semileptonic decay channels of the Λc baryon can give important insights into weak interaction, but decay into a neutron, positron and electron neutrino has not been reported so far, due to difficulties in the final products’ identification. Here, the BESIII Collaboration reports its observation in e+e- collision data, exploiting machine-learning-based identification techniques.

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

It is challenging to decipher electrochemical processes, especially at the molecular scale, inside a working battery. Here Tarascon and colleagues develop a technique that pairs optical fibre sensors with operando infrared spectroscopy to reveal the dynamic mechanisms of key processes in commercial Li-ion and Na-ion batteries.

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.

Voltage fade is a major obstacle for the efficient use of lithium-rich layered oxide materials in batteries. Here, the authors reveal the link between voltage fade and nucleation of a mobile dislocation network in the oxide nanoparticles, offering design ideas to restore the voltage.

Colour code on a superconducting qubit quantum processor is demonstrated, reporting above-breakeven performance and logical error scaling with increased code size by a factor of 1.56 moving from distance-3 to distance-5 code.

Diffractive imaging of an important class of battery electrodes during cycling shows that lattice strain is a crucial yet overlooked factor that contributes to voltage fade over time.

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.

Micrometre-sized particles of two niobium tungsten oxides have high volumetric capacities and rate performances, enabled by very high lithium-ion diffusion coefficients.

A human ascending somatosensory assembloid model was developed, which integrates multiple organoids to simulate the spinothalamic pathway, demonstrating functional connectivity and responsiveness to stimuli and revealing insights into pain-related genetic mutations.

Layered oxide cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries often experience irreversible phase transitions and structural instability. Now researchers have developed a P2-type oxide containing earth-abundant elements, featuring an intergrowth phase structure that enables long-cycle, high-energy sodium-ion batteries.