Reviews & Analysis

Lithium is in increasing demand for energy storage and is abundant in seawater, but its extraction is challenging due to coexistence with similar ions. Here the authors review recent advances in lithium separation strategies, focusing on the development of nanochannel and nanopore based membranes.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and conversion provide an alternative approach to synthesis of useful fuels and chemicals. Here, Ye et al. give a comprehensive perspective on the current state of the art and outlook of CO₂ catalytic hydrogenation to the synthesis of light olefins, dimethyl ether, liquid fuels, and alcohols.

The recent collapses of ice shelves in Antarctica due to warming make it essential to understand past ice shelf conditions and mechanisms. Here Smith and colleagues review the latest progress in deciphering the geological imprint of Antarctic ice shelves via sediments, landforms and proxy indicators.

Diamond colour centres have applications in quantum sensing, quantum communication and other important technologies. Bradac et al. survey the progress made in using group IV defect centres, which are anticipated to have practical advantages over the more commonly-used nitrogen vacancy centres.

High entropy alloys are a departure from conventional alloy design. In this review, the authors examine how combinations of hetererogeneities specific to high entropy alloys can overcome the strength–ductility trade-off inherent to traditional alloys.

Recent research in motor neuroscience has focused on optimal feedback control of single, simple tasks while robotics and AI are making progress towards flexible movement control in complex environments employing hierarchical control strategies. Here, the authors argue for a return to hierarchical models of motor control in neuroscience.

Dendritic cells (DCs) have been explored as a promising strategy for cancer immunotherapy. In this Perspective, the authors discuss the different types of DCs and their therapeutic potential in the context of vaccines for personalized cancer therapy.

Synthetic biology uses cells as its computing substrate, often based on the genetic circuit concept. In this Perspective, the authors argue that existing synthetic biology approaches based on classical models of computation limit the potential of biocomputing, and propose that living organisms have under-exploited capabilities.

Perception of red and far-red light by photosensory phytochromes regulates plant development and adaptive responses to light. Here, Legris et al. review current models of phytochrome function connecting light-induced conformational changes to physiological outputs and highlight open questions for future research.

The pursuit of topological qubits based on Majorana zero mode within nanowires is highly desired. Here, Zhang et al. summarize the current achievements and discuss the opportunities and challenges of several key next-step experiments.

Parks have a previously unquantified economic value attributable to mental health, a health services value. Here, the authors proposed three methods to estimate this, and applied one of these methods to show that this value is at least US$6 trillion per annum worldwide.

The auditory frequency-following response (FFR) indexes the quality of neural sound encoding in the brain. In this Perspective, the authors discuss the potential of the FFR to provide a better understanding of sound encoding in the auditory system and its relationship to behavior.

Swarms of crustaceans called krill dominate Antarctic ecosystems, yet their influence on biogeochemical cycles remains a mystery. Here Cavan and colleagues review the role of krill in the Southern Ocean, and the impact of the krill fishery on ocean fertilisation and the carbon sink.

Existing approaches to research impact assessment fail to include a range of soft impacts. The authors present a 3-part impact mapping approach and apply it to an environmental initiative. They highlight that support for realising research impact is vital, and call on researchers to be open to new ideas and avenues for creating impact from their work.

The role of Blue Carbon in climate change mitigation and adaptation has now reached international prominence. Here the authors identified the top-ten unresolved questions in the field and find that most questions relate to the precise role blue carbon can play in mitigating climate change and the most effective management actions in maximising this.

The scar formation that occurs following spinal cord injury has properties that are distinct to scars seen in other areas of the CNS, and in other tissues. Here the authors discuss the components of the spinal cord injury scar and how it can have both detrimental and positive roles in relation to recovery.

In pancreatic cancer, the epigenomic landscape can strongly impact the disease phenotype. Here, the authors discuss recent advances in our understanding of pancreatic cancer epigenomics, and how this knowledge can integrate with precision medicine approaches in this lethal disease.

The mechanism by which macromolecular catalysts use energy from exergonic reactions to move, adapt, and assemble has been unclear. In this Perspective article, R. Dean Astumian shows that in addition to disequilibrium of the catalyzed reaction, kinetic asymmetry is the essential feature required to drive non-equilibrium response by an information ratchet mechanism.

Recent gains in artificial neural networks rely heavily on large amounts of training data. Here, the author suggests that for AI to learn from animal brains, it is important to consider that animal behaviour results from brain connectivity specified in the genome through evolution, and not due to unique learning algorithms.

Ice sheets have long been overlooked as regulators of the global carbon cycle. In this Review, Wadham and colleagues show how the growth and retreat of ice sheets support the productivity of the oceans and variably store or release organic carbon–in effect, these frozen landscapes must be considered in future assessments of climate impacts on biogeochemical cycling.