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Article |
Electrical switching of magnetic order in an orbital Chern insulator
Non-volatile electrical switching of magnetic order in an orbital Chern insulator is experimentally demonstrated using a moiré heterostructure and analysis shows that the effect is driven by topological edge states.
- H. Polshyn
- , J. Zhu
- & A. F. Young
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Article |
Unconventional ferroelectricity in moiré heterostructures
Electronic ferroelectricity is observed in a graphene-based moiré heterostructure, which is explained using a spontaneous interlayer charge-transfer model driven by layer-specific on-site Coulomb repulsion.
- Zhiren Zheng
- , Qiong Ma
- & Pablo Jarillo-Herrero
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Article |
Key role of chemistry versus bias in electrocatalytic oxygen evolution
Spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations of the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction establish that reaction rates depend on the amount of charge stored in the electrocatalyst, and not on the applied potential.
- Hong Nhan Nong
- , Lorenz J. Falling
- & Travis E. Jones
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Article |
Ultra-sensitive and resilient compliant strain gauges for soft machines
Strain gauges with both high sensitivity and high mechanical resilience, based on strain-mediated contact in anisotropically resistive structures, are demonstrated within a sensor-integrated, textile-based sleeve that can recognize human hand motions via muscle deformations.
- Oluwaseun A. Araromi
- , Moritz A. Graule
- & Robert J. Wood
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News |
Astronauts have conducted nearly 3,000 science experiments aboard the ISS
A graphical guide to the research carried out on the International Space Station — and who did it.
- Alexandra Witze
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Research Highlight |
How to make violently reactive metals and watch them grow
A standard laboratory tool allows researchers to produce two potentially dangerous metals and to observe them as they form.
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News & Views |
Eye of a skull reveals details of cometary materials
The Philae spacecraft was meant to anchor itself to the surface of the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, but instead bounced into a hidden grotto. The telltale markings of its passage reveal details of the comet’s fragile boulders.
- Erik Asphaug
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Article |
High-throughput calculations of magnetic topological materials
High-throughput calculations are performed to predict approximately 130 magnetic topological materials, with complete electronic structure calculations and topological phase diagrams.
- Yuanfeng Xu
- , Luis Elcoro
- & B. Andrei Bernevig
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Article |
The Philae lander reveals low-strength primitive ice inside cometary boulders
When the Philae lander bounced on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, it exposed primitive icy-dust material within cometary boulders; the intrinsic strength and porosity of this material is reported.
- Laurence O’Rourke
- , Philip Heinisch
- & Holger Sierks
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Article |
Bennu’s near-Earth lifetime of 1.75 million years inferred from craters on its boulders
Analysis of the size and depth of craters on boulders on the asteroid (101955) Bennu indicates that Bennu has been in near-Earth space for 1.75 ± 0.75 million years.
- R.-L. Ballouz
- , K. J. Walsh
- & D. S. Lauretta
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News & Views |
Diabolical ironclad beetles inspire tougher joints for engineering applications
Intriguing structures have been observed that link sections of the diabolical ironclad beetle’s amazingly crush-resistant armour. These findings suggest fresh approaches for making tough, reliable joints for use in engineering.
- Po-Yu Chen
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Article |
Toughening mechanisms of the elytra of the diabolical ironclad beetle
A jigsaw-style configuration of interlocking structures identified in the elytra of the remarkably tough diabolical ironclad beetle, Phloeodes diabolicus, is used to inspire crush-resistant multilayer composites for engineering joints.
- Jesus Rivera
- , Maryam Sadat Hosseini
- & David Kisailus
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Nature Podcast |
The science behind an 'uncrushable' beetle’s exoskeleton
The structure of a beetle’s super-strong exoskeleton could open up new engineering applications, and efforts to address diversity and equality imbalances in academia.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
First room-temperature superconductor excites — and baffles — scientists
A compound of hydrogen, carbon and sulfur has broken a symbolic barrier — but its high pressure conditions make it difficult to analyse.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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Article |
Efficient and stable blue quantum dot light-emitting diode
Cadmium-free blue quantum dot light-emitting diodes are constructed with a quantum yield of unity, an efficiency at the theoretical limit, high brightness and long operational lifetime.
- Taehyung Kim
- , Kwang-Hee Kim
- & Eunjoo Jang
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Research Highlight |
A promising 3D-printing method gets flexible
New ingredients allow a printing technique that once produced only brittle objects to turn out items that are pliable or sturdy.
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Obituary |
Berni Alder (1925–2020)
Theoretical physicist who pioneered the computer modelling of matter.
- David Ceperley
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News & Views |
Inductors enter the world of quantum mechanics
Electronic devices called inductors are hard to miniaturize because their effectiveness is proportional to their size. An approach based on quantum mechanics could overcome this issue, offering many potential applications.
- Seonghoon Woo
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Article |
Emergent electromagnetic induction in a helical-spin magnet
Microscale magnetic devices containing nanoscale spin helices produce an inductance comparable in magnitude to that of a commercial inductor, in a volume about a million times smaller.
- Tomoyuki Yokouchi
- , Fumitaka Kagawa
- & Yoshinori Tokura
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Article |
Active particles induce large shape deformations in giant lipid vesicles
Experiments and simulations show that local non-equilibrium forces exerted by self-propelled particles trapped inside a giant unilamellar lipid vesicle induce dramatic shape changes in the vesicle.
- Hanumantha Rao Vutukuri
- , Masoud Hoore
- & Jan Vermant
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Article |
Graphene-based Josephson junction microwave bolometer
An ultimately thin microwave bolometric sensor based on a superconductor–graphene–superconductor Josephson junction with monolayer graphene has a sensitivity approaching the fundamental limit imposed by intrinsic thermal fluctuations.
- Gil-Ho Lee
- , Dmitri K. Efetov
- & Kin Chung Fong
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News & Views |
Elusive photonic crystals come a step closer
Researchers have long sought materials in which light behaves the way electrons do in semiconductors. A workable approach for growing such materials in bulk now seems at hand, and could lead to advances in computing.
- John C. Crocker
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Article |
Colloidal diamond
Self-assembly of cubic diamond crystals is demonstrated, by using precursor clusters of particles with carefully placed ‘sticky’ patches that attract and bind adjacent clusters in specific geometries.
- Mingxin He
- , Johnathon P. Gales
- & David J. Pine
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Nature Podcast |
After decades of trying, scientists coax plastic particles into a diamond-like structure
Coaxing tiny colloid particles into a diamond structure, and manipulating cell death and homeostasis in neurodegenerative disease.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Nick Howe
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Article |
Fractional antiferromagnetic skyrmion lattice induced by anisotropic couplings
Theoretically predicted fractional antiferromagnetic skyrmions are experimentally realized in MnSc2S4 and are found to originate from anisotropic couplings over nearest neighbours in the crystal lattice.
- Shang Gao
- , H. Diego Rosales
- & Oksana Zaharko
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Article |
Near-perfect photon utilization in an air-bridge thermophotovoltaic cell
An air gap embedded within the structure of a thermophotovoltaic device acts as a near-perfect reflector of low-energy photons, resulting in their recovery and recycling by the thermal source, enabling excellent power-conversion efficiency.
- Dejiu Fan
- , Tobias Burger
- & Stephen R. Forrest
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Matters Arising |
Slow compression of crystalline ice at low temperature
- R. Bauer
- , J. S. Tse
- & T. Hattori
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Article |
Reverse and forward engineering of Drosophila corneal nanocoatings
The building blocks of the nanostructures observed on Drosophila corneas are determined, and then used to create artificial nanostructures with anti-reflective and anti-adhesive properties.
- Mikhail Kryuchkov
- , Oleksii Bilousov
- & Vladimir L. Katanaev
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Article |
Homeostatic mini-intestines through scaffold-guided organoid morphogenesis
Miniature gut tubes grown in vitro from mouse intestinal stem cells are perfusable, can be colonized with microorganisms and exhibit a similar arrangement and diversity of specialized cell types to intestines in vivo.
- Mikhail Nikolaev
- , Olga Mitrofanova
- & Matthias P. Lutolf
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Article |
Evidence for supercritical behaviour of high-pressure liquid hydrogen
Simulations using machine-learning-based interatomic potentials in dense hydrogen overcome system size and timescale limitations, providing evidence of a supercritical behaviour of high-pressure liquid hydrogen and reconciling theoretical and experimental discrepancies.
- Bingqing Cheng
- , Guglielmo Mazzola
- & Michele Ceriotti
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Article |
Filling metal–organic framework mesopores with TiO2 for CO2 photoreduction
Investigation of a chromium-based metal–organic framework shows that the location of added TiO2 inside specific mesopores strongly affects the ability of the material to catalyse photoreduction of CO2.
- Zhuo Jiang
- , Xiaohui Xu
- & Hexiang Deng
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Where I Work |
Putting the charge back into face-mask filters
Peter Tsai, inventor of the electrostatically charged filter used in face masks, emerges from retirement to help boost filter production and reuse.
- Amber Dance
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Article |
Stable room-temperature continuous-wave lasing in quasi-2D perovskite films
Lead halide-based quasi-two-dimensional perovskite films with different organic cations are used to create stable green lasers under continuous-wave optical pumping in air at room temperature.
- Chuanjiang Qin
- , Atula S. D. Sandanayaka
- & Chihaya Adachi
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Article |
A disordered rock salt anode for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries
A vanadium-based lithium-rich disordered rock salt oxide is shown to work as a low-potential anode with rapid intercalation kinetics for lithium-ion batteries.
- Haodong Liu
- , Zhuoying Zhu
- & Ping Liu
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Article |
Additive manufacturing of silica aerogels
A direct ink writing protocol for silica aerogels enables 3D printing of lightweight, miniaturized objects with complex shapes, with the possibility to easily add functionality by incorporating nanoparticles.
- Shanyu Zhao
- , Gilberto Siqueira
- & Wim J. Malfait
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News & Views |
One-way supercurrent achieved in an electrically polar film
Diodes are devices that conduct electric current mainly in one direction. An electrically polar film that acts as a diode for superconducting current could lead to electronic devices that have ultralow power consumption.
- Toshiya Ideue
- & Yoshihiro Iwasa
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Article |
Observation of superconducting diode effect
A superconducting diode that has zero resistance in only one direction is realized in an artificially engineered superlattice without inversion symmetry, enabling directional charge transport without energy loss.
- Fuyuki Ando
- , Yuta Miyasaka
- & Teruo Ono
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Article |
Liquid–liquid transition and critical point in sulfur
Under high pressure, elemental sulfur shows a sharp density discontinuity that evolves with pressure and temperature and terminates at a critical point, indicating a first-order liquid–liquid phase transition.
- Laura Henry
- , Mohamed Mezouar
- & Frédéric Datchi
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Nature Podcast |
3D printing some of the world’s lightest materials
A new way to shape aerogels opens up their use, and understanding how sulfur can change state between two liquids.
- Nick Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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Article |
Piezoelectric and pyroelectric effects induced by interface polar symmetry
A built-in electric field at the interface of metals and centrosymmetric semiconductors is shown to induce polar structures in the semiconductors and generate substantial piezoelectric and pyroelectric effects.
- Ming-Min Yang
- , Zheng-Dong Luo
- & Marin Alexe
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Research Highlight |
Ultra-fluorescent dyes give objects an eye-popping glow
Crystals of physically distanced dye molecules fluoresce brilliantly in a rainbow of colours.
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Research Highlight |
This super ‘sponge’ releases steam when the Sun shines
A curious gel can soak up water vapour from the air and swell to enormous size without bursting.
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Editorial |
The quantum Hall effect continues to reveal its secrets to mathematicians and physicists
A transformative experiment is yielding fresh insights 40 years after the effect’s discovery — and energizing transdisciplinary collaborations.
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Article |
Deep strong light–matter coupling in plasmonic nanoparticle crystals
Photons and plasmons hybridize into polaritons in three-dimensional crystals of plasmonic nanoparticles, leading to deep strong light–matter coupling and the breakdown of the Purcell effect.
- Niclas S. Mueller
- , Yu Okamura
- & Stephanie Reich
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Article |
Cleavable comonomers enable degradable, recyclable thermoset plastics
A method of endowing thermoset plastics with a degree of recyclability and reprocessability by incorporating cleavable chemical linkages in the strands of the polymer, rather than in the crosslinks, is presented.
- Peyton Shieh
- , Wenxu Zhang
- & Jeremiah A. Johnson
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Article |
Coherent many-body exciton in van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS3
A spin–orbit-entangled exciton state in the van der Waals material NiPS3 is observed, and found to arise from many-body states of a Zhang–Rice singlet.
- Soonmin Kang
- , Kangwon Kim
- & Je-Geun Park
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News & Views |
Electronics tuned in twisted bilayer graphene
The strength of the interactions between electrons in a structure called twisted bilayer graphene has been tuned by adjusting the immediate environment — a major advance for tunable electronic quantum matter.
- Ronny Thomale
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Article |
Vacancy-enabled N2 activation for ammonia synthesis on an Ni-loaded catalyst
Ammonia is synthesized using a dual-site approach, whereby nitrogen vacancies on LaN activate N2, which then reacts with hydrogen atoms produced over the Ni metal to give ammonia.
- Tian-Nan Ye
- , Sang-Won Park
- & Hideo Hosono
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Research Highlight |
This material is almost as hard as diamond — but as light as graphite
A theoretical form of carbon called pentadiamond becomes thicker when stretched.