Featured
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News Explainer |
How to test a Moon landing from Earth
The world is racing to land on the Moon. How do space agencies and commercial companies test their landers ahead of time?
- Jatan Mehta
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Editorial |
Cyberattacks on knowledge institutions are increasing: what can be done?
For months, ransomware attacks have debilitated research at the British Library in London and Berlin’s natural history museum. They show how vulnerable scientific and educational institutions are to this kind of crime.
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News Feature |
The new car batteries that could power the electric vehicle revolution
Researchers are experimenting with different designs that could lower costs, extend vehicle ranges and offer other improvements.
- Nicola Jones
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News & Views |
Resting restores performance of discharged lithium-metal batteries
In lithium-metal batteries, grains of lithium can become electrically isolated from the anode, lowering battery performance. Experiments reveal that rest periods after battery discharge might help to solve this problem.
- Laura C. Merrill
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Article
| Open AccessLight-driven nanoscale vectorial currents
Vectorial optoelectronic metasurfaces are described, showing that light pulses can be used to drive and direct local charge flows around symmetry-broken plasmonic nanostructures, leading to tunable responses in terahertz emission.
- Jacob Pettine
- , Prashant Padmanabhan
- & Hou-Tong Chen
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Article |
A rechargeable calcium–oxygen battery that operates at room temperature
A Ca–O2 battery that relies on a highly reversible two-electron redox to form chemically reactive calcium peroxide as the discharge product is reported to be stable in air and rechargeable for 700 cycles at room temperature.
- Lei Ye
- , Meng Liao
- & Huisheng Peng
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Article |
Observation and quantification of the pseudogap in unitary Fermi gases
This study describes experiments with ultracold lithium Fermi gases in which many-body pairing leads to the emergence of a pseudogap, and it confirms theoretical predictions relevant to cuprate superconductivity.
- Xi Li
- , Shuai Wang
- & Jian-Wei Pan
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News |
The Solar System has a new ocean — it’s buried in a small Saturn moon
The sea inside Saturn’s satellite Mimas formed in the past 25 million years, a blink of the eye in geological terms.
- Alexandra Witze
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Article
| Open AccessEvidence of superconducting Fermi arcs
We provide evidence for superconducting topological Fermi arcs in PbBi2—a Weyl semimetal previously studied mostly for its bulk properties—from which Marjorama fermions could be derived for research in quantum computers.
- Andrii Kuibarov
- , Oleksandr Suvorov
- & Sergey Borisenko
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Article |
A recently formed ocean inside Saturn’s moon Mimas
An analysis of the orbital motion of Saturn’s moon Mimas shows that a recently formed global subsurface ocean lies beneath its cratered icy shell and that this ocean is probably still evolving.
- V. Lainey
- , N. Rambaux
- & K. Baillié
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Article
| Open AccessSignatures of a surface spin–orbital chiral metal
A spin–orbital- and angular-momentum-sensitive methodology used to study Sr2RuO4 reveals subtle spectroscopic signatures that are consistent with the formation of spin–orbital chiral currents at the surface of the material.
- Federico Mazzola
- , Wojciech Brzezicki
- & Antonio Vecchione
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Article |
Recovery of isolated lithium through discharged state calendar ageing
Calendar ageing of lithium metal batteries in the discharged state improves capacity retention through isolated lithium recovery, which is in contrast with the capacity degradation observed during charged state calendar ageing.
- Wenbo Zhang
- , Philaphon Sayavong
- & Yi Cui
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Nature Podcast |
Cancer’s power harnessed — lymphoma mutations supercharge T cells
Genetic changes that help tumour cells thrive can be co-opted to improve immunotherapy’s effectiveness, and looking at the electric vehicle batteries of the future.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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News & Views |
Active fluids navigate networks by solving sudoku-like problems
Networks filled with self-propelled fluids display meandering patterns that have been shown to follow rules similar to those of sudoku puzzles — offering design principles for microfluidic devices, and the possibility of ‘active fluid’ logic.
- Mathieu Le Verge-Serandour
- & Karen Alim
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News |
CERN’s supercollider plan: $17-billion ‘Higgs factory’ would dwarf LHC
A feasibility study on the Future Circular Collider identifies where and how the machine could be built — but its construction is far from a done deal.
- Elizabeth Gibney
- & Davide Castelvecchi
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News |
AI chatbot shows surprising talent for predicting chemical properties and reactions
Researchers lightly tweak ChatGPT-like system to offer chemistry insight.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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News |
EU unveils controversial climate target: what scientists think
The goal leans heavily on the largely unproven approach of carbon removal, concerning researchers.
- Katharine Sanderson
- & Carissa Wong
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News |
JWST is most in-demand telescope ever — leaving many astronomers in the cold
Reviewers will probably approve only one in every nine research proposals submitted in latest application cycle.
- Rahul Rao
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Research Highlight |
The mystery of Feynman’s sprinkler is solved at last
A puzzle named after the Nobel-prizewinning physicist has been solved by experiments with a submerged sprinkler.
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News |
Israel is flooding Gaza’s tunnel network: scientists assess the risks
The plan to target Hamas involves filling parts of a 500-kilometre-long network of underground tunnels. Researchers warn this could affect Gaza’s water supplies.
- Josie Glausiusz
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News |
Building used by Marie Curie will be dismantled to erect cancer centre
The disused and formerly radioactive Pavillon des Sources in Paris will be rebuilt nearby, after an agreement between scientists and the French culture ministry.
- Nisha Gaind
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Research Briefing |
Bendy silicon solar cells pack a powerful punch
Crystalline silicon solar cells have been brittle, heavy and fragile until now. Highly flexible versions with high power-to-weight ratios and power conversion efficiencies of 26.06–26.81% were produced by improving manufacturing and design technologies and by using thin wafer substrates.
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News & Views |
Flexible fibres take fabrics into the information age
A technique for embedding fibres with semiconductor devices produces defect-free strands that are hundreds of metres long. Garments woven with these threads offer a tantalizing glimpse of the wearable electronics of the future.
- Xiaoting Jia
- & Alex Parrott
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Article |
Establishing reaction networks in the 16-electron sulfur reduction reaction
We investigate the mechanism underlying the sulfur reduction reaction that plays a central role in high-capacity lithium sulfur batteries, highlighting the electrocatalytic approach as a promising strategy for tackling the fundamental challenges associated with these batteries.
- Rongli Liu
- , Ziyang Wei
- & Xiangfeng Duan
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Article |
Durable CO2 conversion in the proton-exchange membrane system
We develop a proton-exchange membrane system that reduces CO2 to formic acid at a catalyst that is derived from waste lead–acid batteries and in which a lattice carbon activation mechanism contributes.
- Wensheng Fang
- , Wei Guo
- & Bao Yu Xia
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Editorial |
How can scientists make the most of the public’s trust in them?
Researchers have a part to play in addressing concerns about government interference in science.
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Article
| Open AccessStereodivergent 1,3-difunctionalization of alkenes by charge relocation
We introduce a method for the direct 1,3-difunctionalization of alkenes, based on a concept termed ‘charge relocation’, which enables stereodivergent access to 1,3-difunctionalized products of either syn- or anti-configuration from unactivated alkenes.
- Bogdan R. Brutiu
- , Giulia Iannelli
- & Nuno Maulide
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Perspective |
Designing a circular carbon and plastics economy for a sustainable future
Four future greenhouse gas emission scenarios for the global plastics system are investigated, with the lead scenario achieving net-zero emissions, and a series of technical, legal and economic interventions recommended.
- Fernando Vidal
- , Eva R. van der Marel
- & Charlotte K. Williams
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Article
| Open AccessUltracold field-linked tetratomic molecules
Ultracold polyatomic molecules can be created by electroassociation in a degenerate Fermi gas of microwave-dressed polar molecules through a field-linked resonance.
- Xing-Yan Chen
- , Shrestha Biswas
- & Xin-Yu Luo
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Article
| Open AccessSingle-photon superradiance in individual caesium lead halide quantum dots
Excitonic single-photon superradiance is reported in individual perovskite quantum dots with a sub-100 ps radiative decay time, almost as short as the reported exciton coherence time.
- Chenglian Zhu
- , Simon C. Boehme
- & Gabriele Rainò
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Article |
Flexible silicon solar cells with high power-to-weight ratios
A study reports a combination of processing, optimization and low-damage deposition methods for the production of silicon heterojunction solar cells exhibiting flexibility and high performance.
- Yang Li
- , Xiaoning Ru
- & Zongping Shao
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Article
| Open AccessHigh-quality semiconductor fibres via mechanical design
A mechanical design is developed for the fabrication of ultralong, fracture-free and perturbation-free semiconductor fibres to address the increasing demand for flexible and wearable optoelectronics.
- Zhixun Wang
- , Zhe Wang
- & Lei Wei
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Article |
Conformational ensembles of the human intrinsically disordered proteome
A computational model generates conformational ensembles of 28,058 intrinsically disordered proteins and regions (IDRs) in the human proteome and sheds light on the relationship between sequence, conformational properties and functions of IDRs.
- Giulio Tesei
- , Anna Ida Trolle
- & Kresten Lindorff-Larsen
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Research Highlight |
Who needs qubits? Physicists make light-based ‘qumodes’ for quantum computing
Careful retooling of laser beams allows scientists to harness photons for performing quantum calculations.
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News & Views |
Mobile atoms enable efficient computation with logical qubits
Small groups of mobile neutral atoms have been manipulated with extraordinary control to form ‘logical’ quantum bits. These qubits can perform quantum computations more reliably than can individual atoms.
- Barbara M. Terhal
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News |
Near death experience — Japan’s Moon lander makes a comeback
After nine days in a state of suspension, the upside-down Moon lander has received enough sunlight to start operating again.
- Gemma Conroy
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Article
| Open AccessA dynamical measure of the black hole mass in a quasar 11 billion years ago
Using the GRAVITY+ instrument, dynamical measurement of the black hole mass in a quasar at a redshift of 2.3 (11 billion years ago) shows how the relationship between galaxies and black holes evolves with time.
- R. Abuter
- , F. Allouche
- & G. Zins
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News |
‘Sci-fi instrument’ will hunt for giant gravitational waves in space
An experiment has been given the go ahead to send lasers to orbit the Sun to hunt for gigantic ripples in space-time.
- Elizabeth Gibney
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News |
Black-hole observations solve cosmic-ray mystery
Data from an African observatory show that jets from a collapsed star are capable of producing some of the Galaxy’s fastest particles.
- Davide Castelvecchi
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News |
Canada’s oil sands spew massive amounts of unmonitored polluting gases
Innovative aircraft-based technique records carbon emissions not tracked before from the industrial region.
- Nicola Jones
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Matters Arising |
Probing supernovae and kicks in post-supernova binaries
- C. Larsen
- , H. C. G. Larsen
- & T. M. Tauris
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Matters Arising |
Replying to: Probing supernovae and kicks in post-supernova binaries
- Noel D. Richardson
- & Jan J. Eldridge
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Article
| Open AccessThe persistence of memory in ionic conduction probed by nonlinear optics
Single-cycle terahertz pumps are used to impulsively trigger ionic hopping in battery solid electrolytes, probing ion transport at its fastest limit and demonstrating the connection between activated transport and the thermodynamics of information.
- Andrey D. Poletayev
- , Matthias C. Hoffmann
- & Aaron M. Lindenberg
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Article |
Nozaki–Bekki solitons in semiconductor lasers
Free-running stable optical dissipative solitons, called Nozaki–Bekki solitons, are created in a ring semiconductor laser; their spontaneous formation with tuning of laser bias eliminates the need for an external optical pump.
- Nikola Opačak
- , Dmitry Kazakov
- & Benedikt Schwarz
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Nature Podcast |
Toxic red mud could be turned into ‘green’ steel
Researchers extract useful metal from industrial waste, and how analysis of blood proteins could help unravel the mystery of long COVID.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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News & Views |
Iron extracted from hazardous waste of aluminium production
Millions of tonnes of ‘red mud’, a hazardous waste of aluminium production, are generated annually. A potentially sustainable process for treating this mud shows that it could become a source of iron for making steel.
- Chenna Rao Borra
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Article |
Observing dynamical phases of BCS superconductors in a cavity QED simulator
The dynamical phases of out-of-equilibrium Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superconductors have been simulated using cold atoms levitated inside an optical cavity.
- Dylan J. Young
- , Anjun Chu
- & James K. Thompson
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News |
Leading US particle-physics lab faces uncertain future
Several organizations are vying for the contract to manage Fermilab, after it received failing grades from the US Department of Energy.
- Dan Garisto