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A simple method for incorporating molecules into the gaps of stacked semimetallic materials through immersion offers an efficient way of filtering electrons, which could be useful for information-storage technologies.
The discovery that gut viruses can be transmitted from mouse pups to their mothers in saliva during breastfeeding reveals previously unrecognized sites of viral replication and means of viral transmission.
A compound made by plants used in traditional medicine has been prepared by chemical synthesis, providing enough for biological testing. The unexpected finding that it acts at opioid receptors raises prospects for drug discovery.
How a bacterium coordinates the assembly of its outer layers, and couples the formation of this envelope to cell growth and division, is not fully understood. Assessing the role of peptidoglycan molecules provides some answers.
An experiment firing helium-8 nuclei at a proton target has generated evidence that four neutrons can exist transiently without any other matter. But doubts remain, because the existence of such systems is at odds with theory.
The deadly spread of cancer occurs predominantly during sleep, as revealed by an analysis of migrating human tumour cells in the bloodstream. What are the implications of this finding for the treatment of cancer?
A transistor fabricated from the crystalline phase of an organic semiconductor material could provide a path to improved switching speeds — rivalling those of devices built from inorganic materials such as silicon.
The sensation of touch-evoked itch is common in people who have chronic itch conditions. Evidence in mice now suggests that the mechanoreceptor protein Piezo1 underlies this sensation.
Two-dimensional materials made of carbon have been limited to monolayers of atoms, such as graphene. Sheets composed of connected buckyballs — spherical clusters of atoms — have now been made by peeling layers from a crystal.
A high-precision comparison of the magnetic moments of two isotopically different neon ions opens a path to the search for elusive particles that could explain the unexpectedly low observed mass of the Higgs boson.
A metabolite called Lac-Phe is associated with exercise-induced ‘muscle burn’. This molecule has now been shown to reduce food intake after exercise in mice, racehorses and humans, and to trigger weight loss in obese mice.
Systematic editing of yeast genes to generate thousands of mutations indicates that, overall, the mutations have similar effects on yeast fitness regardless of whether they change the protein sequences encoded by the mutated genes.
Analysis of data from astrophysical and terrestrial sources offers a promising way of narrowing the range of parameters that describe the extreme properties of neutron stars.
Cancer-promoting mutations tend to result in tumours arising only in certain organs, but the reasons for this specificity are not fully understood. The analysis of human kidney cancer provides clues to solving this mystery.
The collective vibrations of atoms at the interface between two semiconducting materials have been imaged with nanometre-scale resolution. Their dynamics depends sensitively on the abruptness of the boundary.
High-quality genome sequences for 44 wild and cultivated potatoes will enable researchers to better study this essential crop’s evolution and develop varieties that can withstand heat and drought caused by climate change.
