Articles

Superconducting circuits may be useful as quantum simulators, but new tools are needed to fully characterize their behaviour. Shankset al.present a scanning transmon qubit, map its coupling strength to a separate resonator, and propose its use to probe photon number in a superconducting resonator lattice.

Light–sound interactions in microcavities are used for optomechanical excitation and cooling, but have previously only been shown in solid-state devices. Here, Bahl et al. generate acoustic oscillations in microfluidic resonators to enable novel optomechanical interactions with liquid-phase materials.

Satellite cells have important roles in homeostasis and regeneration of skeletal muscles. Urciuolo et al. show that the extracellular matrix protein collagen VI is required for preserving satellite cell self-renewal and muscle regeneration in vitro and in vivoby modulating muscle mechanical properties.

The murine G protein-coupled receptor 83 (Gpr83) is expressed widely in the brain, but its physiological role is largely unknown. Here Müller et al.show that Gpr83 regulates systemic energy metabolism in part by modulating ghrelin signalling in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus.

Presently, the design of 3D topological insulators is limited to single-compound synthesis with appropriate symmetries. Here, the authors propose a new design principle for 3D topological insulators based on stacked 2D Fermi gases, which may allow for better control of topological properties.

Evolutionary theories predict that rates of morphological change should be positively associated with the rate at which new species arise. Here Raboski et al.demonstrate that rates of species diversification are highly correlated with the rate of body size evolution across ray-finned fish species.

Mouse embryonic stem cells gradually lose their developmental potency in long-term culture. Here the authors show that their deteriorating developmental potency can be restored by transient activation of the Zscan4gene.

Exploiting photon–phonon coupling in nanoscale silicon waveguides could enable a host of powerful features in photonic devices. Using a hybrid photonic–phononic waveguide structure, Shin et al. show stimulated Brillouin scattering nonlinearities and gain, which offers new on-chip signal-processing abilities.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 infects human skin and mucous membranes. MacLeod and colleagues identify MARCO as a novel cell-surface receptor bound by herpes simplex virus type 1, and show that this interaction enhances infection of keratinocytes and promotes the development of skin lesions in mice.

The spin Seebeck effect, which refers to a spin current induced by a temperature gradient, is experimentally well established but a comprehensive theoretical framework is still missing. Here the authors succeed in explaining the non-locality and in predicting a non-magnon origin of the effect.

Polymer light-emitting diodes promise cheap and flexible lighting and displays, but their fabrication is hindered by high-vacuum methods for creating cathodes. Zheng et al.show an all-solution processing approach to polymer diodes that removes this obstacle, offering roll-to-roll fabrication of devices.

Nonvolatile luminescent liquids are solvent-free fluids with a range of flexible electronic applications. Here, the authors show that anthracenes enveloped in branched aliphatic compounds are stable emissive liquids, with emissive and thermoresponsive properties that may be tuned by addition of dopants.

TRF-1 is a telomere-binding protein that protects chromosome ends from degradation. Schneider and colleagues show that TRF1 is a marker of adult stem cell compartments and of induced pluripotent stem cells, and that TRF1 is essential for the induction and maintenance of pluripotency.

Although structural insights into antigen recognition by T cell receptors are increasingly available, the thermodynamic underpinnings are less well understood. Here the authors deconstruct the energetics of a representative interface and discover that peptide specificity, cross-reactivity and MHC restriction can be inextricably linked.

The lateral hypothalamus is implicated in drug reward and addiction. Chen and colleagues find that in the lateral hypothalamus of mice, the proteoglycan syndecan-3 negatively regulates cocaine-seeking behaviour by modulating the effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor.

The transfer of spin polarization from electrons to nuclei is important for nuclear spin-based techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance. Here Wang and colleagues achieve sensitive magnetic control of the hyperpolarization of nuclei near optically polarized nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond.

X-ray lasers are of interest to study various properties of materials down to the atomic scale. The discovery by Magnitskiy et al. of a mirage interference effect in X-ray plasma lasers could lead to new possibilities to control the output of such lasers.

Nanostructured silicon is a promising anode material for lithium ion batteries but needs to tolerate large volume increase upon lithiation. Wu et al. solve this problem by binding silicon nanoparticles to a conducting polymer hydrogel via in-situpolymerization, which also improves cycling stability.

Influenza A viruses spread through contact, large and small respiratory droplets (aerosols), but the relative importance of these modes of transmission is unclear. Cowling et al. model data from community trials of face masks and hand hygiene and find that aerosol transmission accounts for half of influenza occurrences.

An enduring paradox of urban economics is why cities support levels of enterprise, such as patents and inventions, higher than the countryside. Here Pentland et al. suggest that the density of social ties provides a greater flow of ideas, resulting in increased productivity and innovation.