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Palaeomagnetic data from South China and compiled reliable palaeopoles from 4 other continents reveals a ~50˚ true polar wander (TPW) event occurring 450–440 million years ago. Sweeping Gondwana across the South Pole, this TPW event induced the Ordovician glaciation and mass extinction.
γ-H2A.X is a critical signal for DNA double strand break responses. In this study, an Arabidopsis protein that interacts with γ-H2A.X and the recombinase RAD51 is shown to contribute to plant chromatin stability and integrity.
Neuronal organoids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells can be transplanted and integrated into the rodent cortex for the study of brain development and function. Here the authors demonstrate use of transparent graphene microelectrodes and two photon imaging for longitudinal, multimodal monitoring of functional connectivity between human iPSC derived neuronal organoids and the mouse cortex.
Solid-solid interface friction usually becomes the bottleneck at micro/nanoscale. Here, Xiang and Liu show that the nanoscale creep flow rate of crystalline metals can increase by orders of magnitude when the contact metal is in diffusion deformation and the thermally activated boundary slip is active.
Raine syndrome is associated with loss-of-function mutations of FAM20C. Here we show that Raine-originated mutations abrogate the interaction between FAM20C and C4ST-1 to alter chondroitin sulfate sulfation status and impact biomineralization in vitro and bone mineral density in vivo in mouse models, thereby serving clues for Raine syndrome etiology.
The authors present a planar photonic chip, which operate as a multiple-order analog spatial differentiator. It provides a route for designing fast, power-efficient, compact and low-cost devices used in edge detection and optical image processing, thus expanding the functions of standard microscopes.
Solid benzene and other simple organic minerals play important roles in geological processes on Titan-like cold Solar System bodies. Here, the authors discover benzene microcrystals plastically deform via densification enabled by molecule reorientation and shearing.
Traditional learning procedures for artificial intelligence rely on digital methods not suitable for physical hardware. Here, Nakajima et al. demonstrate gradient-free physical deep learning by augmenting a biologically inspired algorithm, accelerating the computation speed on optoelectronic hardware.
The GEMINI consortium sequenced 1,000 cases of idiopathic male infertility and identified a plausible Mendelian cause in 20% of cases. The infertility genes can be grouped by expression pattern, facilitating their interpretation and follow-up.
Although myeloid cell dysfunction has been observed in COVID-19, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Here, the authors demonstrate that monocytes from patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 show a blunted innate immune response and a pro-thrombotic signature following secondary SARS-CoV-2 challenge.
The archetypal supergreenhouse Cretaceous Earth had an active cryosphere with permafrost in plateau deserts. A modern analogue is the aeolian–permafrost system from the Qiongkuai Lebashi Lake area, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
Islet transplantation for type 1 diabetes management is hindered by the life-long need for immunosuppressive medications. Here, the authors report an islet encapsulation device with local anti-rejection drug release that achieves long-term diabetes reversal in male rats and reduces drug-related toxicity.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a well-established non-invasive medical imaging technology. Here, to improve the performance of the technique, the authors describe the design of a pH-responsive T1-T2 dual-modal MRI contrast agent, showing enhanced imaging sensitivity in preclinical cancer models.
The authors show that the Martian crust, ~4300 km from the InSight landing site, has a subsurface interface similar to that beneath the lander, suggesting it is a regional or global feature that may be related to the closure of pore spaces at depth.
The Lin28/let-7 axis regulates metabolic pathways in normal and pathological contexts. Here the authors show that pharmacological inhibition of Lin28 protects against lipid accumulation in multiple preclinical models of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Nucleus accumbens cholinergic interneurons release acetylcholine and glutamate. Here, authors show that acetylcholine, rather than glutamate, is predominantly involved in updating dopamine dynamics mediating Pavlovian approach behaviours.
Experimental microsurgery techniques are powerful for studying embryonic development but require highly trained operators to achieve reproducible results. Here they develop a high precision robotic micromanipulation platform to systematically perturb the physical structure of the developing zebrafish embryo, revealing key insights on the mechanics of body axis morphogenesis.
Heat extremes have been growing at staggering rates with global warming. This study shows that temperature variability is key to explaining the highly heterogeneous trajectories of future extremes and their rapid intensification in many regions.
How glial cells like astrocytes shape complex brain functions remains unclear. Here, the authors identified an astrocyte-mediated excitatory signaling loop between neurons and their own dendritic signal integration that supports spatial memory.
Efferocytosis describes the engulfment and clearance of apoptotic cells by phagocytes. Here the authors identify in primary mouse macrophage WDFY3 as a regulator for efferocytosis, in which c-terminal WDFY3 is sufficient to modulate degradation while full-length WDFY3 is required to modulate the uptake of apoptotic cells.