News & Comment

Peer review has long been established as the gold standard for scientific publishing, but changes in the publishing ecosystem should not influence author response to the views of their peers.

In multi-principal-element alloys the local chemical order is of increasing research interest for understanding their structures and correlation with properties, requiring systematic exploration with definitive and quantitative characterizations.

In many concentrated alloys of current interest, the observation of diffuse superlattice intensities by transmission electron microscopy has been attributed to chemical short-range order. We briefly review these findings and comment on the plausibility of widespread interpretations, noting the absence of expected peaks, conflicts with theoretical predictions, and the possibility of alternative explanations.

On the 10th anniversary of the Graphene Flagship, Nature Materials talks to Jari Kinaret, Professor of Physics at the Chalmers University of Technology and Director of the Graphene Flagship. We look back at the flagship’s challenges and achievements and discuss future graphene research and initiatives in Europe.

After a decade of intense activity, the Graphene Flagship has helped to establish an incipient European graphene industry, yet mainstream commercialization of graphene products continues to be hindered by limited market readiness and industry acceptance.

The study of point defects in non-metallic crystals has become relevant for an increasing number of materials applications. Progress requires a foundation of consistent definitions and terminology. This Comment clarifies the underlying definitions of point defects, encourages the correct use of relative charge for their description and emphasizes their recognition as quasiparticles.

The Materials Research Society, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, has long been a central hub for the materials community.

Ferroelectrics have already impacted scientific research and commercial applications, but they still show plenty of potential to surprise.

Increasing chemical complexity expands the design space and drives the coupling of materials science and computational techniques.

A measure of the impact of scientific papers indicates that they are on average becoming less disruptive — this could reflect changes in the scientific community.

Click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry have finally been recognized with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The hunt for a quantum spin liquid continues with new materials and more refined methods leading the way.

Zhu-Jun Wang and Zhi Liu discuss how advanced characterization technologies have helped to understand ancient man-made materials and human history.

Zhi-Wei Shan, a professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University (School of Materials Science and Engineering), talks to Nature Materials about the non-negligible impact of trace impurities in metallic structural materials.

Experiments with entangled photons, which enabled the pioneering of quantum information science, have been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics.

A change in UK government must lead to changes in science policy.

Gang Qian from CITIC Pacific Special Steel, one of the major steelmakers in China, talks to Nature Materials about their experience and perspective on moving towards decarbonization.

Steel underpins modern society but its production generates intensive carbon dioxide emissions. For its sustainable development, the steel industry requires technology and product upgrades, driven by innovation and cooperation.

The steel industry in China has an important role in reducing national and global carbon emissions, demanding integrated actions and efforts across policies, industry and science to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.