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Radiation-damaged paternal DNA has been found to cause embryos of the second generation of nematode worms, but not the first, to die. The proposed mechanisms help to explain the observed lack of such an effect in humans.
Future LEDs could be based on lead halide perovskites. A breakthrough in preparing device-compatible solids composed of nanoscale perovskite crystals overcomes a long-standing hurdle in making blue perovskite LEDs.
Cells in a state of arrested growth, called senescence, have been characterized in skeletal muscle in mice. Senescent cells promote inflammation and block regeneration, and thus might induce harmful changes in aged muscle.
An X-ray imaging mission has unveiled the magnetic field in the environment of a dead star. The order and symmetry of the field will reshape our understanding of how it accelerates particles to ultra-high energies.
The mammalian testis is a rapidly evolving organ, in both structural and molecular terms. An investigation of testicular cell nuclei from 11 species has unveiled genes, cell types and evolutionary forces that underlie these changes.
A microorganism that is a proposed relative of our cellular ancestors has been grown successfully in the laboratory. Its internal architecture offers clues to the early evolution of eukaryotic cells.
Recent key developments in the exploration of kagome materials are reviewed, including fundamental concepts of a kagome lattice, realizations of Chern and Weyl topological magnetism, flat-band many-body correlations, and unconventional charge-density waves and superconductivity.
Assessment of a tumour’s mutational profile offers a way of predicting a person’s response to anticancer therapies called immune-checkpoint inhibitors. It seems that such approaches might fall short for people who are not of European ancestry.
Plants have immune systems that defend them against various disease-causing microbes. One virus targets plant hormone receptors to help it to infect plants. As a defence, a plant has evolved an immune receptor that mimics hormone receptors, recognizes a virus-encoded protein and triggers immune defences.
Estimating the number of deaths attributable to COVID-19 around the world is a complex task — as highlighted by one attempt to measure global excess mortality in 2020 and 2021.
Atmospheric methane concentrations rose unexpectedly during the lockdowns of 2020. It now seems that this was due to warm, wet weather in the Northern Hemisphere and, ironically, a slowdown in air-pollutant emissions.
The therapeutic options available to treat ovarian cancer need improvement. Data that reveal the cellular, molecular and mutational landscape as such tumours grow and spread might aid efforts to develop new targeted therapies.
Microorganisms in the gut produce molecules that activate sensory neurons, stimulating exercise-associated reward circuits in the brain. This newly discovered pathway in mice affects motivation for prolonged exercise.
How do environmental cues steer the branching of plant roots? Insights into how water availability shapes root growth reveal an unexpected mechanism behind the hormone-mediated regulation of this process.
Analysis of radio emission from matter near the Milky Way’s central black hole sheds light on this previously unobservable region, revealing that the local magnetic field is carried around in complete loops by the matter orbiting the centre.
What are the ecological consequences of logging in a tropical forest? A detailed assessment of vegetation growth, bird and mammal numbers, and energy flows in logged and unlogged forests offers some surprising findings.
A versatile nanowire system has enabled the hunt for particles that could be useful for quantum computers. The platform can be probed with two techniques simultaneously — minimizing the possibility of false-positive signals.
When circularly polarized light hits an array of chiral gold nanoparticles, it generates polarized electric and magnetic waves across the surface of the nanoparticles. Chiral molecules can alter these resonances, providing a highly sensitive method to determine and quantify molecular chirality, even at very low concentrations.
