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Continuous shape morphing for small robots can offer advantages, but it is difficult to perform tasks if they are not stiff enough. Xu et al. present here a design combining liquid crystal elastomers and shape memory polymers to lock morphable elements in place.

Understanding the genetic factors that regulate panicle architecture is important for improving rice yields. In this study, Li et al. demonstrate that the gene PTB1is critical for regulating panicle seed setting rate and pollen tube growth.

Unlike that in plants, fungi, and marine animals, bacteria are vastly underrepresented in the production of terpenoids. Here, the authors report a systematic screening of terpene synthases from bacteria and identify three new skeletons that are not found in other organisms.

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.

Stress shielding, a common cause of orthopedic implant failure, reduces the activity of intracellular mechanotransduction molecules, which are also regulated by nociceptors. Here, Wang et al. develop a small, implantable, wirelessly rechargeable device for optogenetic regulation of mechanosensitive nociceptors to investigate and improve implant osseointegration.

A wax-aided immersion methodology is developed to yield graphene rolls with tunable chiral angles; these graphene rolls exhibit promising chiral electronic properties beyond those of other carbon allotropes.

Stable solid–electrolyte interphases on Li anodes are crucial for reliable Li metal batteries. A suspension electrolyte design that modifies the Li⁺ solvation environment in liquid electrolytes and creates inorganic-rich interphases on Li is now reported.

Light-induced degradation in ambient air hinders the long-term operational stability of tin-lead perovskite solar cells. Here, authors monitor the irreversible phase reconstruction process during perovskite degradation, guiding stability improvements for tin-lead perovskite and tandem solar cells.

In the Li-S battery, a promising next-generation battery chemistry, electrolytes are vital because of solvated polysulfide species. Here, the authors investigate solvation-property relationships via the measurement of solvation free energy of the electrolytes, guiding advanced electrolyte design for Li-S batteries.

The deployment of lithium metal batteries is forestalled by poor control over the deposition morphology of lithium. Here, the authors discover that high electrical resistance can be leveraged for controlling lithium morphology and enabling high-performing lithium metal batteries.

The challenges in reliably reproducing the quantum anomalous Hall effect have emerged as a major bottleneck for MnBi₂Te₄. Here, the authors develop a fabrication method to address this, paving the way for the fabrication of high-quality dissipationless topological transport devices.

Achieving extremely fast charging while maintaining high energy density remains a challenge in the battery field. Here the authors conceptualize a porous current collector that successfully reduces the effective Li⁺ transport distance by half, quadrupling the diffusion-limited C-rate capability without compromising battery energy density.

Electrolyte engineering has proven an effective approach to enhance the performance of lithium metal batteries. Here the authors propose a strategy by using multiple solvents in weakly solvating electrolytes—dubbed as high-entropy electrolytes—to improve the ionic conductivity while maintaining electrochemical stability, leading to high-performance batteries.

Molecular interactions are of great importance in materials science. Here, the authors use the confinement effect and low-dose imaging to reveal the confined molecules and evaluate the strength of host-guest interactions in different material systems.

Batteries keep degrading even when they are not in operation, but their calendar life is rarely studied in advanced batteries that are still in the development stage. Here the authors quantify the calendar ageing of Li metal anodes and report its underlying mechanisms.

NPF1 governs parthenocarpy by activating YUC4 expression in the ovules of cucumber. The selection of a single mutation in the NPF1 gene, along with a SNP in the YUC4 promoter, led to parthenocarpic fruit development during cucumber domestication.

Liver fibrosis is a disease that lacks effective treatments. This study reveals that ATF4 drives fibrosis by activating hepatic stellate cells and that pharmacological inhibition of ATF4 reduces liver fibrosis, offering an opportunity for new therapies.

In contrast to the classical streaming potential relying on downstream ionic diffusion, an upstream proton diffusion within two-dimensional nanochannels is found to continuously generate electricity, advancing hydrovoltaic technology.

Deciphering the features, structure, and functions of the cell niche in tissues remains a major challenge. Here, the authors develop scNiche, a computational framework to identify and characterise cell niches from spatial omics data at single-cell resolution.

The mechanism of ammonia synthesis on traditional iron or ruthenium catalysts features a high energetic span. Here, the authors introduce ternary ruthenium complex hydrides of lithium and barium that can activate dinitrogen via a lower-energy path, resulting in the highly efficient production of ammonia under milder conditions.

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 causes interstitial pneumonia and viral replication in the lungs of transgenic mice that express a human version of ACE2, confirming the pathogenicity of the virus in this model.

Coupling between alkyl halides and alkynes is commonly performed via the Sonogoshira reaction or variants thereof, but unactivated tertiary alkyl halides have proven to be elusive partners. Here, the authors report the metal-free coupling of tertiary alkyl halides and terminal alkynes taking place in water.

Photon-driven dinitrogen reduction to ammonia is a promising but challenging reaction. Now it has been shown that lithium hydride undergoes photolysis upon ultraviolet illumination to yield long-lived photon-generated electrons residing in hydrogen vacancies, favouring the activation of the N≡N bond and achieving photocatalytic ammonia synthesis.

Synthesis of fully π-conjugated covalent organic frameworks (COFs) remains still challenging. Here, the authors propose a versatile synthesis method based on Knoevenagel polycondensation for the synthesis of vinylene-linked benzobisthiazole-based 2D COFs.

Fur farming represents an important hub of cross-species transmission for viral zoonoses.

The integration of stretchable mesh nanoelectronics with stem cells enables the creation of cyborg organoid tissue, which can be longitudinally characterized during development to improve organoid models.

High-speed electrostatic micromotors with low energy consumption are attractive for small-scale electromechanical systems, but applications are limited by power supplies. Here the authors use a triboelectric nanogenerator for actuation of a high-speed micromotor by low-frequency mechanical stimuli.

The authors develop an approach for enhancing the wear resistance and lubricity of metals at elevated temperatures of in oxidative environments, where traditional solid lubricants fail. By engineering surface oxidation in additively manufactured Inconel, they achieve low friction coefficients, between 0.10 and 0.32 at 600-900 °C, through the formation of a spinel-based oxide layer.

Advanced solvents that dissolve both polysulfides and sulfides are developed for intermediate temperature K-Na/S batteries. The innovation enhances cell’s reaction kinetics and energy density, making them attractive for long-duration energy storage.

Self-assembled monolayers are essential for achieving high performance solar cells by minimizing interfacial energy losses. Here, authors the develop a co-adsorb strategy with a small molecule to provide a favorable heterointerface, realizing high efficiency in p-i-n perovskite and organic devices.

It is unclear whether bidirectional non-coding RNAs transcribed from enhancer elements (eRNAs) have any functional role; here, eRNA transcription is shown to be functionally important during the activation of genes by the oestrogen receptor in human breast cancer cells.

Here, Sui et al. use multi-proteomics to analyse tick-borne encephalitis virus-infected cells and identify host cellular pathways perturbed by viral infection.

Unbiasedly benchmarking SRT computational methods remains a pressing challenge. Here, authors develop scCube, a simulation framework enabling scalable, reproducible, and unbiased generation of simulated SRT data, allowing researchers to benchmark and evaluate different methods.

The DAWN study is a phase 3 clinical trial that demonstrates effective glycemic control of dorzagliatin as an add-on therapy to metfomin in patients with type 2 diabetes.

A parity–time symmetric system based on two coupled acoustic resonators in a lithium niobate platform can achieve non-reciprocal propagation of acoustic waves.

Reducing the severity of the conditions required to synthesize ammonia would increase the viability of its use as a carbon-free energy carrier. Here the authors use metal imides to mediate ammonia production via a two-step chemical looping process that operates under mild conditions.

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide receptor 2 (VIP2R) is involved in immunity. Here, the authors report two cryo-EM structures of the VIP2R–G_s in complex with the endogenous peptide ligand PACAP27, revealing a unique interaction mode between PACAP27 and the receptor, stabilized by the N-terminal α-helix of VIP2R.

The existence of linear scaling relations between the adsorption energies of reaction intermediates on transition-metal surfaces prevents their independent optimization and limits catalytic activity. It has now been shown that using a catalytic LiH site alongside a transition-metal catalyst can break these intrinsic scaling relations, leading to unprecedented lower-temperature ammonia-synthesis activity.