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An assessment of juniper tree-ring samples from central Turkey, together with other types of dating analysis, demonstrate that a devastating drought in 1198–1196 bc contributed to the end of the Hittite empire.
Signals from gut microorganisms to the brain might be involved in neurodegeneration. It emerges that the gene APOE — variants of which each confer a different risk of Alzheimer’s disease — has a role in modulating this gut–brain communication.
A 319-million-year-old fossil provides the oldest known evidence of preserved vertebrate brain tissue. This specimen offers insights into the brain evolution of ray-finned fishes, the most diverse group of living vertebrates.
A light-activated ‘plasmonic’ catalyst, made from abundant elements, produces as much hydrogen from ammonia as do the most-used heat-activated catalysts based on a rarer element, suggesting a strategy for sustainable chemical production.
The activity of two energy-producing metabolic pathways was recorded in different types of healthy tissue and solid-tumour tissue in mice. Comparisons of these measurements revealed that solid tumours make and use energy more slowly than do most healthy tissues, even though tumours grow and show cell division.
When a semiconductor material called black phosphorus is hit with intense laser light, the behaviour of its electrons is found to change. The discovery opens a route to time-dependent engineering of exotic electronic phases in solids.
Antibodies that activate stimulatory or inhibitory receptors are of great therapeutic interest for the treatment of cancer or autoimmune diseases. It emerges that such antibodies work better if they don’t bind to receptors too tightly.
The rotation and movement of polar molecules in an ultracold gas are intertwined with each other through dipolar interactions between the molecules, giving rise to rich, tunable dynamics. This molecular platform could advance the understanding of electron-transport phenomena in condensed-matter systems and be used for quantum sensing.
What ingredients and processes underlay mummification in ancient Egypt? The molecular analysis of labelled pots excavated from an embalming workshop provides some answers to this question.
Engineering the energies of ultracold molecules when they collide has been shown to enhance the probability that they will form complexes — an exciting prospect for precisely controlled chemistry.
The discovery of bacterial compounds that have antifungal properties opens up opportunities for the development of agents that protect crops from a devastating disease.
Experiments on ultracold atoms reveal that disorder doesn’t stop a quantum system of interacting particles from reaching thermal equilibrium. Instead, small thermalized regions ripple like an avalanche through the whole system.
Mitochondria are intracellular organelles that contain a large set of proteins to help them produce energy, among other functions. A systematic analysis reveals how mitochondrial proteins are organized into complexes and assemblies, facilitating the identification of the molecular mechanisms and pathways that underlie the organelle’s many functions.
High-resolution structures of the bacterial Rho protein in complex with an RNA polymerase enzyme and partner proteins provide support for the long-held model of how Rho helps to terminate gene transcription.
The study of how chemical reactions work is key to the design of new reactions, but relies on hard work and expert knowledge. A machine-learning tool has been developed that could change the way this challenge is approached.
A new ultrasound patch can image the heart while being worn, even when the wearer is moving during strenuous exercise. A customized model that uses a technique of artificial intelligence called deep learning then processes the images to extract important measures of cardiac performance.
Impaired sensory-nerve function is a common complication of diabetes. Evidence in mice indicates that deficiency of the amino acid serine causes these complications — and suggests that supplements could help to treat them.
Whether to self-degrade is a crucial cellular decision. When nutrients are abundant, degradation of cell components is reduced through inactivation of a protein called TFEB by the enzyme complex mTORC1. The structure of a megacomplex consisting of 36 polypeptide chains, which presents TFEB to mTORC1, has been resolved.
