Featured
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Article |
A vision chip with complementary pathways for open-world sensing
Inspired by the human visual system, a vision chip with primitive-based complementary pathways is developed to overcome the power and bandwidth wall of vision systems, achieving fast, precise, robust and high-dynamic-range sensing efficiently in the open world.
- Zheyu Yang
- , Taoyi Wang
- & Luping Shi
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Article |
Selective lignin arylation for biomass fractionation and benign bisphenols
By controlling C–C bond formation in catalytic arylation, lignin can be efficiently extracted from biomass and converted into benign bisphenols that can be used as replacements for their fossil-based counterparts.
- Ning Li
- , Kexin Yan
- & Feng Wang
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Article
| Open AccessLow-latency automotive vision with event cameras
Use of a 20 frames per second (fps) RGB camera plus an event camera can achieve the same latency as a 5,000-fps camera with the bandwidth of a 45-fps camera without compromising accuracy.
- Daniel Gehrig
- & Davide Scaramuzza
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Comment |
Risks of bridge collapses are real and set to rise — here’s why
Hundreds of millions of people cross deficient bridges each day. With damage to these structures likely to intensify because of climate change and ageing, technicians and policymakers must act to make them safer.
- Jose M. Adam
- , Nirvan Makoond
- & Manuel Buitrago
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Book Review |
Tackling ‘wicked’ problems calls for engineers with social responsibility
Many technologies are high-risk, and their problems cannot be fixed by policy alone; engineers must embrace social responsibility.
- Susan Krumdieck
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Nature Video |
Laser-powered bullets reveal surprising metal hardness
Micro-ballistics research has shown metals hardening as they are heated, under extreme strain rates.
- Dan Fox
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News & Views |
Combined cement and steel recycling could cut CO2 emissions
Cement can be reused by including it as a component of steel recycling. This opens the way to an industrial partnership that improves the use of materials and lowers carbon emissions — but only if waste resources are well managed.
- Sabbie A. Miller
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Article |
Transcranial volumetric imaging using a conformal ultrasound patch
A conformal ultrasound patch can be used for hands-free volumetric imaging and continuous monitoring of cerebral blood flow
- Sai Zhou
- , Xiaoxiang Gao
- & Sheng Xu
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Article
| Open AccessAdhesive anti-fibrotic interfaces on diverse organs
A study shows that implants with an adhesive implant–tissue interface mitigate the formation of a fibrous capsule when attached to various organs in mice, rats and pigs.
- Jingjing Wu
- , Jue Deng
- & Xuanhe Zhao
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Article |
Monolithic three-dimensional tier-by-tier integration via van der Waals lamination
We develop a low-temperature, damage-free process using van der Waals lamination to integrate multiple circuit tiers into a monolithic three-dimensional device, incorporating unique multi-tier functionality and resolving legacy issues with the layering technology.
- Donglin Lu
- , Yang Chen
- & Yuan Liu
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Article
| Open AccessElectric recycling of Portland cement at scale
Recovered cement paste can be reclinkered if used as a partial substitute for the lime–dolomite flux used in steel recycling, which can reduce waste and carbon emissions.
- Cyrille F. Dunant
- , Shiju Joseph
- & Julian M. Allwood
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Article |
Strain-invariant stretchable radio-frequency electronics
Stretchable radio-frequency electronics based on a dielectro-elastic elastomer is demonstrated to be capable of completely maintaining operating frequencies unaffected by strain and shows superior electrical, mechanical and thermal properties compared with conventional stretchable substrate materials.
- Sun Hong Kim
- , Abdul Basir
- & Yei Hwan Jung
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Nature Careers Podcast |
Infrastructure projects need to demonstrate a return on investment
Terms such as sustainability and inclusivity loom large in big infrastructure projects. But impact and value for money need measuring too, says Sinan Küfeoğlu.
- Dom Byrne
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News |
China’s Yangtze fish-rescue plan is a failure, study says
Researchers have debated the best management plan for highly endangered fish species since the 1980s.
- Xiaoying You
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Nature Video |
Controlled failure: The building designed to limit catastrophe
New design - inspired by lizard tails - could save lives by isolating collapsing sections of damaged buildings
- Dan Fox
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News & Views |
Strategic links save buildings from total collapse
A design principle for buildings incorporates components that can control the propagation of failure by isolating parts of the structure as they fail — offering a way to prevent a partial collapse snowballing into complete destruction.
- Sarah L. Orton
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Article
| Open AccessArresting failure propagation in buildings through collapse isolation
A design approach arrests collapse propagation in buildings after major initial failures by ensuring that specific elements fail before the failure of the most important components for global stability.
- Nirvan Makoond
- , Andri Setiawan
- & Jose M. Adam
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Perspective |
The refinery of the future
Efforts to find renewable alternatives to fossil fuels that might enable a carbon-neutral society by 2050 are described, as well as outlining a possible roadmap towards a refinery of the future and evaluating its requirements.
- Eelco T. C. Vogt
- & Bert M. Weckhuysen
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Article |
Self-oscillating polymeric refrigerator with high energy efficiency
We report on a near-zero-power flexible heat pump that uses both electrocaloric and electrostrictive properties of a tailored polymer to create a chip-scale refrigerator device.
- Donglin Han
- , Yingjing Zhang
- & Xiaoshi Qian
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News & Views |
Microbubble ultrasound maps hidden signs of heart disease
Cardiovascular disease claims more lives each year than do the two next-deadliest diseases combined. An ultrasound technique that tracks tiny gas-filled bubbles could pave the way towards improved early detection.
- Elisa E. Konofagou
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News |
China’s Chang’e-6 launched successfully — what happens next?
Scientists have high hopes for the first mission to collect rocks from the far side of the Moon.
- Ling Xin
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Correspondence |
Corrosion is a global menace to crucial infrastructure — act to stop the rot now
- Weichen Xu
- , Ruiyong Zhang
- & Donald Terry Greenfield
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News |
What China’s mission to collect rocks from the Moon’s far side could reveal
The Chang’e-6 mission aims to land in the Moon’s oldest and largest crater, where it will collect rocks to bring back to Earth.
- Ling Xin
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Article |
High-performance fibre battery with polymer gel electrolyte
A fibre lithium-ion battery that can potentially be woven into textiles shows enhanced battery performance and safety compared with liquid electrolytes.
- Chenhao Lu
- , Haibo Jiang
- & Huisheng Peng
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Article
| Open AccessMulti-project wafers for flexible thin-film electronics by independent foundries
The iconic 6502 microprocessor designed in two key thin-film transistor technologies by independent foundries is used to demonstrate and expand the multi-project wafer approach for flexible electronics.
- Hikmet Çeliker
- , Wim Dehaene
- & Kris Myny
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Article |
Corner- and edge-mode enhancement of near-field radiative heat transfer
Near-field radiative heat transfer between two coplanar silicon carbide membranes in close proximity is enhanced by the electromagnetic corner and edge modes.
- Lei Tang
- , Lívia M. Corrêa
- & Chris Dames
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News |
NASA admits plan to bring Mars rocks to Earth won’t work — and seeks fresh ideas
The agency’s head calls the current plan for delivering samples collected by the Perseverance rover ‘too expensive’ and its schedule ‘unacceptable’.
- Sumeet Kulkarni
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Article
| Open AccessSelenium-alloyed tellurium oxide for amorphous p-channel transistors
A pioneering design strategy for amorphous p-type semiconductors can be used in high-performance, stable p-channel TFTs and complementary circuits, which may establish viable amorphous p-channel TFT technology and large-area complementary electronics in a low-cost manner.
- Ao Liu
- , Yong-Sung Kim
- & Yong-Young Noh
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News & Views |
The biologist who built a Faraday cage for a crab
What every biologist should know about electronics, plus a disturbing outbreak of volcanism in North Carolina, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
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Article |
Giant energy storage and power density negative capacitance superlattices
Using a three-pronged approach — spanning field-driven negative capacitance stabilization to increase intrinsic energy storage, antiferroelectric superlattice engineering to increase total energy storage, and conformal three-dimensional deposition to increase areal energy storage density — very high electrostatic energy storage density and power density are reported in HfO2–ZrO2-based thin film microcapacitors integrated into silicon.
- Suraj S. Cheema
- , Nirmaan Shanker
- & Sayeef Salahuddin
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News & Views |
A quirky fluid that has robotic capabilities
Scientists have designed a liquid that behaves as both a solid and a fluid owing to the presence of tiny gas-filled capsules. An unusual relationship between pressure and volume enables this material to grasp fragile objects.
- P.-T. Brun
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Article |
Phase-change memory via a phase-changeable self-confined nano-filament
We present a device that can reduce the phase-change memory reset current while maintaining a high on/off ratio, fast speed and small variations, representing advances for neuromorphic computing systems.
- See-On Park
- , Seokman Hong
- & Shinhyun Choi
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Article |
Shell buckling for programmable metafluids
A metafluid with programmable compressibility, optical behaviour and viscosity is realized by mixing deformable spherical shells that undergo buckling within an incompressible fluid; the versatility of these metafluids opens up numerous opportunities for functionality.
- Adel Djellouli
- , Bert Van Raemdonck
- & Katia Bertoldi
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News & Views |
Why hand-operated front brakes were set to be the future of motoring
The complexity of fitting brakes to all four wheels of a car and the simplicity of John Maynard Smith’s ecological models, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
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News & Views |
The wearable electronic patch that’s impervious to sweat
A smart adhesive patch that wicks sweat away from electronics embedded in its centre offers comfortable and reliable sensing of the wearer’s biometrics or environment without the risk of perspiration damaging the devices.
- Yifan Rao
- & Nanshu Lu
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News Explainer |
Divisive Sun-dimming study at Harvard cancelled: what’s next?
As the climate crisis rages on, advocacy for testing controversial solar geoengineering technology is ramping up.
- Jeff Tollefson
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Article |
A global timekeeping problem postponed by global warming
Increased melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica, measured by satellite gravity, has decreased the angular velocity of Earth more rapidly than before and has already affected global timekeeping.
- Duncan Carr Agnew
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Article |
A three-dimensional liquid diode for soft, integrated permeable electronics
Incorporation of a ‘liquid diode’ into a wearable electronic platform enhances comfort and stability by shunting away sweat as it accumulates.
- Binbin Zhang
- , Jiyu Li
- & Xinge Yu
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Correspondence |
Don’t underestimate the rising threat of groundwater to coastal cities
- Daniel J. Rozell
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News & Views |
How Sydney Harbour Bridge was shaping up 100 years ago
Plans for Sydney’s iconic landmark become concrete, plus a ‘Michelin Guide’ to superconductive tunnelling, in the weekly dip into Nature’s archive.
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Research Briefing |
A delay that makes wireless communication faster
Cutting-edge communication (6G and beyond) will rely on precise time control of large amounts of wirelessly transferred information. To achieve this precision, a ‘quasi-true time delay’ chip has been designed that packs as much time delay as possible into a tiny area using 3D waveguides whose length can be varied as required.
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News & Views |
Complex motions emerge from robot interactions
An array of robots has been set up so that pushes between them produce movements that do not conform to the usual laws of motion. Fascinating behaviour emerges from these interactions: wave phenomena known as solitons.
- Sebastian D. Huber
- & Kukka-Emilia Huhtinen
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Nature Podcast |
AI hears hidden X factor in zebra finch love songs
Machine learning detects song differences too subtle for humans to hear, and physicists harness the computing power of the strange skyrmion.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Benjamin Thompson
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Article |
Non-reciprocal topological solitons in active metamaterials
A local driving mechanism for solitons that accelerates both solitons and antisolitons in the same direction, called non-reciprocal driving, is introduced, showing a subtle interplay between non-reciprocity and topological solitons and providing waveguiding and wave-processing possibilities for other fields.
- Jonas Veenstra
- , Oleksandr Gamayun
- & Corentin Coulais
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Article |
Long-term continuous ammonia electrosynthesis
Use of a chain-ether-based solvent instead of tetrahydrofuran for lithium-mediated nitrogen reduction enables long-term continuous ammonia electrosynthesis with high efficiency and improved gas-phase ammonia distribution.
- Shaofeng Li
- , Yuanyuan Zhou
- & Ib Chorkendorff
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Research Highlight |
These cyborg jellyfish could monitor the changing seas
A hat-like prosthesis helps the invertebrates to swim more efficiently and can be used to carry ocean sensors.
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News & Views |
3D printing enables mass production of microcomponents
Combining a high-throughput technique with 3D printing offers a way of fabricating micrometre-sized particles for use in electronics and biotechnology. The versatile method can produce one million intricate shapes in a single day.
- Christoph A. Spiegel
- & Eva Blasco
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Article |
High-speed and large-scale intrinsically stretchable integrated circuits
High-density, intrinsically stretchable transistors with high driving ability and integrated circuits with high operation speed and large-scale integration were enabled by a combination of innovations in materials, fabrication process design, device engineering and circuit design.
- Donglai Zhong
- , Can Wu
- & Zhenan Bao
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Article
| Open AccessRoll-to-roll, high-resolution 3D printing of shape-specific particles
We introduce a scalable, high-resolution, 3D printing technique for the fabrication of shape-specific particles based on roll-to-roll continuous liquid interface production, enabling direct integration within biomedical, analytical and advanced materials applications.
- Jason M. Kronenfeld
- , Lukas Rother
- & Joseph M. DeSimone