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A reinforcement learning-based virtual reality system, implementing a series of sport sessions with coaching, was as effective as standard physical activity in reducing fat mass in adolescents, with positive effects on cognition.

Lithium–sulfur batteries are a promising electrochemical energy storage technology; however, they are limited by the dissolution of polysulfide intermediates. Now, it has been shown that sparingly solvating electrolytes containing a phase mediator can avoid polysulfide dissolution and accelerate surface-localized solution-phase sulfur reaction to improve battery performances.

By using lithium thioborophosphate iodide glass-phase solid electrolytes in all-solid-state lithium–sulfur batteries, fast solid–solid sulfur redox reaction is demonstrated, leading to cells with ultrafast charging capability, superior cycling stability and high capacity.

The high trap density associated with tin (II) oxidation impacts the device performance of methylammonium cation-free tin-lead perovskite solar cells. Here, authors employ rubidium acetate for defect passivation and achieve efficient and stable single-junction and all-perovskite tandem solar cells.

An accurate evaluation of lithium-metal battery performance is challenging due to the excessive lithium that is often used at the anode. Here the authors report a methodology to assess the degradation mechanism and cycle life of practical lithium-metal batteries.

Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) with Retinoic acid receptor-gamma (RARG) fusions have similarities to Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) but are not responsive to standard APL treatments. Here, the authors show the specific molecular mechanisms lead by RARG fusions in AML driving leukemogenesis and as potential therapeutic targets.

In this work, the authors report that citronellal stimulates skin renewal by promoting keratinocyte proliferation through the activation of TRPV3. Structural and functional analysis elucidate that essential oil ligands activate TRPV3 channels by competitively displacing endogenous lipids from the vanilloid site. These findings can help move skin healthcare forward.

Rechargeable aqueous metal-ion batteries are promising for large-scale applications, but performance and stability issues still remain. Here the authors utilize open-framework indium hexacyanoferrate cathodes to improve performance, showing that water-mediated cation intercalation occurs at the cathode.

Neuromorphic computing memristors are attractive to construct low-power- consumption electronic textiles. Here, authors report an ultralow-power textile memristor network of Ag/MoS2/HfAlOx/carbon nanotube with reconfigurable characteristics and firing energy consumption of 1.9 fJ/spike.

Rooftop photovoltaic systems are often seen as a niche solution for mitigation but could offer large-scale opportunities. Using multi-source geospatial data and artificial intelligence techniques, the authors map their potential for reducing global temperatures and analyse regional differences.

The antiferromagnetic moments in the topological insulator/antiferromagnetic insulator bilayer (Bi,Sb)₂Te₃/α-Fe₂O₃ can be reversibly switched using electrical currents at room temperature, and with a critical current density that is one order of magnitude smaller than that required in heavy-metal/magnetic insulator systems.

Harvesting of hot electrons in non-noble metal plasmonic materials is still little explored. Here the authors investigate plasmon-driven hot electron generation in doped metal oxide nanocrystals and the mechanism of transfer to surface adsorbed molecules by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy.

Heterostructures consisting of ferromagnets and heavy metals have become a focus of interest because their strong spin–orbit coupling allows for efficient current-induced magnetization switching phenomena. Now, a magnetically doped topological insulator bilayer is shown to display a range of appealing characteristics for current-induced magnetization switching, including a significantly enhanced efficiency.

Small circular RNAs encoding one or more antigens and enclosed in subcutaneously injected lipid nanoparticles can elicit potent and durable antitumour T cell responses for robust tumour immunotherapy, particularly in combination with immune checkpoint inhibition, as shown in multiple mouse models of tumours.

Molten salt aluminium-sulfur batteries exhibit high-rate capability and moderate energy density, but suffer from high operating temperature. Here the authors demonstrate a rapidly charging aluminum-sulfur battery operating at 85 °C enabled by a quaternary alkali chloroaluminate electrolyte.

A three-channel spinneret simultaneously extrudes and combines electrodes and electrolyte to make 1,500-km-long fibre batteries.

Implantation-associated infections often lead to infections. Here, the authors propose a piezo-based nanoreactor to achieve US-excited tandem catalysis, endowing the polyetherketoneketone bone scaffold with on-demand antibacterial and osteogenic capacities.

Mechanical cues play critical roles in embryonic development. A micropatterned neuroectoderm developmental model based on human pluripotent stem cells now reveals how morophogenetic signals such as cell shape and contractility regulate neural tissue development.

ZrCo, a promising hydrogen isotope storage material, has poor cyclic storage capacity. Here author reveal a defect-derived disproportionation mechanism and report a nano-single-crystal strategy to comprehensively improve performances.

It is rarely reported that copy number variants (CNVs) might influence plant phenotypes. A genetic analysis now shows that a CNV silences the expression of the downstream FZP gene in rice and improves the yield by increasing the number of spikelets per panicle.

Achieving high pure formic acid production from CO₂ electroconversion is of high interest yet challenging. Here the authors report vitamin C functionalized Bi₃S₂ nanowire catalyst to achieve selective, active, and stable formic acid production.

The quantum anomalous Hall effect is a recently demonstrated chiral transport phenomenon arising in magnetically doped topological insulators. Here, the authors study the Hall plateau switching and universal phase diagram of the quantum anomalous Hall effect in thin films of two-dimensional Cr-doped (BiSb)₂Te₃.

Genetic lineage tracing in mice shows that endocardium-derived fibroblasts preferentially proliferate in response to pressure overload. Ablation of these cells alleviates cardiac fibrosis and reduces functional decline after pressure overload injury.

An aluminium–chalcogen battery operating with a molten-salt electrolyte composed of NaCl–KCl–AlCl₃ is presented, which allows rapid charging at up to 200C for hundreds of cycles, and is scalable, fire-resistant and low cost.

Spatially resolved proteomics is an emerging approach for mapping proteome heterogeneity. Here, the authors report a method based on the combination of hydrogel-based tissue transformation with mass spectrometry-based proteomics, that enables proteome profiling with a lateral resolution of 160 µm.

Electric field control of spin–orbit torque and magnetization switching can be achieved in a Cr-doped topological insulator thin film incorporated in a field-effect transistor structure, promising gate-controlled spintronic applications.

Newly developed microfluidic neural tube-like and forebrain-like structures based on human pluripotent stem cells can model pivotal aspects of neural patterning along both the rostral–caudal and dorsal–ventral axes.

Individual electrons trapped on the surface of solid neon can operate as charge qubits with very long coherence times.

The magnetic exchange interaction of MnBi₂Te₄—an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator—can be tuned by intercalating ferromagnetic layers of MnTe.

A gate voltage has been used to control quantum oscillations in Bi₂Te₃ nanoribbons and enhance the surface conduction.

Using low-input lipidomics in mouse and human embryos, Zhang, Shui, Li and colleagues find that lipid unsaturation increases with development towards the blastocyst stage. They further show that lipid desaturases contribute to successful embryo implantation.

Surface of colloidal quantum dot is sensitive to water, and the interaction could potentially alter its chemical environments. Here, Shi et al. investigate how the interaction effects the nanostructures and carrier dynamic in CQDs, and subsequently introduce meniscus-guided coating technique to mitigate CQD fusion triggered by water adsorption.

Voltage control of magnetism in ferromagnetic semiconductor is appealing for spintronic applications, which is yet hindered by compound formation and low Curie temperature. Here, Nie et al. report electric-field control of ferromagnetism in Mn_xGe_1−xnanomeshes with a Curie temperature above 400 K and controllable giant magnetoresistance.

Providing large-scale iodide capped semi-conductive PbS nanocrystals inks preparation for high-throughput manufacturing remains a challenge. Here, the authors propose a direct one step and scalable synthesis method enabling cost reduction and promoting its commercial viability for solar cells.

A combination of multiview imaging, structured illumination, reconstruction algorithms and deep-learning predictions realizes spatial- and temporal-resolution improvements in fluorescence microscopy to produce super-resolution images from diffraction-limited input images.

The fossil record of the reproductive traits of early birds is limited. Here, Bailleul and colleagues describe the Cretaceous enantiornithine bird Avimaia schweitzerae, which preserves an unlaid egg in the abdominal cavity and putative medullary bone.

Conventional solid-to-solid conversion cathodes in rechargeable aluminium batteries suffer from sluggish reaction kinetics and cumulative structural degradation. Here the authors disclose a solution-to-solid conversion chemistry using molten salt electrolytes to achieve fast-charging capability and good cycling stability.

Photonic crystals used for many optical devices are the materials made of nanoscaled periodic structures that diffract light. Yue et al. design and fabricate a soft mechanochromic hydrogel that exhibits a fast colour switching rate at 0.1 ms in a full-colour band.

A solid-state single-electron qubit platform is demonstrated based on trapping and manipulating isolated single electrons on an ultraclean solid neon surface in vacuum, which performs near the state of the art for a charge qubit.

The superconductor-ferromagnet interface provides a unique opportunity to study the interplay between superconductivity and ferromagnetism. Here, the authors build a van der Waals ferromagnetic Josephson junction evidencing a strong 0 and π phase Josephson coupling.