This Review highlights the current potential for colloidal quantum dots for applications in quantum sensing and quantum circuits.

This Review discusses advances in engineering high-quality-factor strained nanomechanical resonators with applications in precision measurements.

This Review highlights the current understanding of mechanisms underlying the mechanical changes occurring in diseased and immune cells and discusses new approaches to leverage and target biomechanical cues for immune engineering at various length scales for therapeutic interventions.

The Review discusses the state-of-the-art polymer nanocomposites from three key aspects: dipole activity, breakdown resistance and heat tolerance for capacitive energy storage applications.

Engineering the tunability of protein assembly in response to pH changes within a narrow range is challenging. Here the authors report the de novo computational design of pH-responsive protein filaments that exhibit rapid, precise, tunable and reversible assembly and disassembly triggered by small pH changes.

A metasurface consisting of merely four nanopillars at the wavelength scale is sufficient to generate a high-quality vortex beam.

An experimental demonstration of how destructive quantum interference effects can increase the performance of single-molecule field-effect transistors to reach levels similar to those of nanoelectronic transistors.

Operando transmission electron microscopy imaging reveals that modifying interlayer rotations alters both the spatial arrangement and switching dynamics of polar domains in artificially stacked trilayers of WSe₂.

Understanding how cells process nanoparticles is crucial to improve nanomedicine efficacy. Here a genome-wide screening is used to discover proteins that are involved in silica nanoparticle accumulation by cells and shows that different apolipoprotein receptors and proteoglycans mediate their internalization.

Tumour cell behaviour is an underdeveloped target for cancer intervention. Here the authors report on a spatiotemporal interaction between tumour cells and osteoclasts in initial bone metastases and propose a behaviour-targeting therapy with an in situ physical killing strategy.

A panel discussion at a recent Nature Conference highlighted the role of mentorship programmes to tackle gender disparity in Indian universities.

Programmes to inspire the next generation of researchers can have a huge impact, as Rachel Lou explains in the recounting of her own experience.

Nanotechnology is intimately intertwined with efforts to bring bottom-up synthetic cell research to the forefront, and only strengthening these bonds will expand the scope of what this might achieve.

Scientists encounter pressure to validate their research work, leading to varied benchmarks and methods for performance assessment in the broad energy research field. Interlaboratory studies help highlight discrepancies in reported figures of merit, underscoring the need for standardized protocols, transparent reporting, and detailed analysis for fair comparisons. Here, we discuss this topic, focusing on battery materials.