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The past few decades have revealed the surprising fact that the rules of mathematical topology can determine the properties of materials. But which structures have topological features and which ones donât? Predicting whether a material might be topologically interesting is a challenging task and physicists have so far found only a few hundred âEopological� compounds. In this issue, an international collaboration of physicists, mathematicians and chemists offers a potential solution in the form of a new and complete theory for calculating the topological properties of the electronic band structures of materials. They bring together the thus-far disconnected points of view of physicists and chemists by combining the conventional band-structure approach � which considers electron properties in nonlocal, momentum space � with local chemical bonding. As a result, they complete the theory of electronic band structure, which can now classify the band structures for all of the 230 possible crystal symmetry groups that arise from local atomic orbitals situated on lattice sites. Using this they are able to determine which structures are topologically nontrivial, and they apply the theory to discover several new classes of materials. The theory should greatly simplify the search for further materials with exotic properties and also shed light on the underlying physics of existing topological materials. Cover illustration by JVG.
The break in the Larsen C ice shelf highlights the vulnerable nature of other Antarctic environments and the impact people are having on the continent.
A third gravitational-wave signal has been detected with confidence, produced again by the merger of two black holes. The combined data from these detections help to reveal the histories of the stars that left these black holes behind.
It emerges that people reached Australia earlier than was thought. This finding casts light on the technology used by the travellers, and their possible interactions with animal species that became extinct. See Article p.306
A major advance in the quantum theory of solids allows materials to be identified whose electronic states have a non-trivial topology. Such materials could have many computing and electronics applications. See Article p.298
Immune cells called T cells help immune-system B cells mature to produce antibodies. This entails signalling between cells using the molecule dopamine — a surprising immunological role for this neurotransmitter. See Article p.318
Complex nanoscale magnetization patterns have been resolved in 3D using advanced X-ray microscopy. This could spur the design of magnetic devices that have unique properties and functions. See Letter p.328
The results of in vitro and in vivo screens to identify genes that are essential for the survival of a type of brain cancer show almost no overlap, underlining the need for caution when interpreting in vitro studies. See Letter p355.
The large number of small, similarly sized proteins and the small number of heavy RNA molecules that make up a ribosome reduce the time required for reproduction.
A complete electronic band theory is presented that describes the global properties of all possible band structures and materials, and can be used to predict new topological insulators and semimetals.
Optical dating of sediments containing stone artefacts newly excavated at Madjedbebe, Australia, indicate that human occupation began around 65,000 years ago, thereby setting a new minimum age for the arrival of people in Australia.
Genomic analysis of 491 medulloblastoma samples, including methylation profiling of 1,256 cases, effectively assigns candidate drivers to most tumours across all molecular subgroups.
Human follicular helper T cells engaging in synaptic interactions with germinal centre B cells release dopamine stored in chromogranin B+ granules, causing rapid externalization of ICOS ligand, which in turn enhances CD40L delivery to the synaptic cleft and synaptic contact, and results in an accelerated response.
A positive magneto-thermoelectric conductance is observed in the Weyl semimetal niobium phosphide, suggesting the presence of the elusive mixed axial–gravitational anomaly.
Techniques exist for imaging the magnetization patterns of magnetic thin films and at the surfaces of magnets, but here hard-X-ray tomography is used to image the three-dimensional magnetic structure within a micrometre-sized magnet in the vicinity of Bloch points.
A complex containing two uranium ions and three potassium ions, held together by a nitride group and a flexible molecular framework, can reduce and functionalize N2 under mild conditions.
A huge smartphone dataset of physical activity yields global insights, revealing that activity inequality predicts obesity better than does volume of activity and that much of the inequality is a result of reduced activity in females.
Two independent systems impairing hepatocyte proliferation during liver injury cause physiologically significant levels of functional hepatocyte regeneration from biliary cells.
An in vivo RNA interference screening strategy in glioblastoma enabled the identification of a host of epigenetic targets required for glioblastoma cell survival that were not identified by parallel standard screening in cell culture, including the transcription pause–release factor JMJD6, and could be a powerful tool to uncover new therapeutic targets in cancer.
New high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structures of the HIV-1 envelope protein provide a detailed description and understanding of how the HIV-1 fusion machinery functions and how it changes its structure over time to convert from the pre-fusion to the fusion-intermediate conformation.
Crystal structures of an activated two-pore potassium channel reveal a cryptic binding pocket that binds small-molecule activators that restrict the mobility of the selectivity filter and surrounding structure, stabilizing an active ‘leak-mode’ conformation.