Volume 632 Issue 8025, 15 August 2024

The International Court of Justice is set to clarify the responsibilities of states to act on global warming. Governments must step up in support — before it’s too late.

A snake family that includes many venomous species arose in Asia, despite fossil evidence pointing to an African origin.

Athletes can achieve greater speed with just the right ‘pumping’ motion, modelling shows.

Microbe found in cat poo could be harnessed to deliver large, complex proteins across the blood–brain barrier.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser is accompanied by a dam-like structure and a moat.

Device allowing the user to control a computer cursor using their thoughts has been adjusted in a bid to prevent glitches with the first implant.

Scientists hope the discovery will inspire more palaeontologists from southeast Asia to explore the region’s fossil history.

A player wins by racking up more citations than the competition, even if that means engaging in a little light plagiarism.

By assessing the age of ancient crystals, researchers have traced the monument’s greenish Altar Stone to a northern rock basin.

A working group’s recommendation, meant to help to advance the careers of postdoctoral researchers, could discourage people from staying in academia, some researchers say.

US and Chinese firms dominate the list of companies that are producing the most research and patents in artificial intelligence.

The World Health Organization has updated its list of most dangerous viruses and bacteria.

Researchers have spent decades hunting for clues about the origins of the process that moves the continents around. Its deep history is finally starting to come into focus.

Humans are locked in an arms race with microbes, but scientists are pursuing diverse approaches to keep one step ahead or slow down the competition.

A pseudo-religion dressed up as technoscience promises human transcendence at the cost of extinction.

Almost 80 years after it was created, the international whaling convention has outlived its usefulness. Ending it could set an example for other organizations.

To cope with the emotional toll of working in the field, researchers have developed strategies to help themselves and others.

Guillermo Galván García aims to increase the island’s dependency on clean energy, while mitigating the environmental impact of turbine installations.

Observations might have uncovered star clusters that existed when the Universe was just 460 million years old. If this timing is accurate, the discovery provides valuable clues about how and when the first stars formed.

Cells that form tissue barriers rely on cell–cell contacts called tight junctions. These structures assemble from protein condensates that spread along the cell membrane like a water droplet spreading over glass.

A fresh approach to breaking chemical bonds combines the energy of heat and light, and could drive previously inaccessible chemical reactions — opening up synthetic routes to compounds that have not yet been made.

Three studies of the human dopamine transporter reveal how it binds to molecules such as dopamine and cocaine. Dopamine imbalances underlie some brain conditions and these data will aid targeted drug design.

JWST observations of the Cosmic Gems arc resolve the light of an infant galaxy into five gravitationally bound star clusters located in a region smaller than 70 pc.

The scaling dimension of fractional quantum Hall anyons shows agreement with expectations following examination of thermal-to-shot-noise crossover measurements by fitting to the predicted finite-temperature expression involving both the scaling dimension of quasiparticles and their charge.

An on-chip topological beamformer for multi-link terahertz 6G to XG wireless communication achieves complete 360° azimuthal beamforming with gains of up to 20 dBi, radiating THz signals into free space with neural-network-driven customizable beams enabling up to eight simultaneous 40-Gbps wireless links.

Thermoelectric plastics with a high figure of merit, suppressed thermal conductivity and an enhanced power factor are realized by combining layered and bulk heterojunctions to create a polymeric multi-heterojunction.

High efficiency in perovskite solar cells is achieved by using a molecular hybrid of a self-assembled monolayer with nitrilotribenzoic acid.

We describe a versatile synthetic strategy for making a range of taxanes belonging to the family of anticancer drug taxol using a single precursor.

Net heterolysis of symmetric and homopolar σ-bonds by stimulated doublet–doublet electron transfer is reported in a series of atypical S_N1 reactions, in which selenides show SDET-induced nucleofugalities rivalling those of more electronegative halides or diazoniums.

A comprehensive model framework is used to estimate the global net direct radiative forcing of anthropogenic reactive nitrogen as being about −0.34 W m⁻², which has a cooling effect on the climate.

Using osmium isotopes, the 2021 Fagradalsfjall lavas in Iceland are shown to be both fractionally crystallized and strongly crustally contaminated, probably by mid-ocean-ridge gabbros and older basalts underlying the Reykjanes Peninsula.

Mineral ages and chemical analysis of fragments of the Altar Stone from the Neolithic stone circle at Stonehenge suggest that it was transported from northeast Scotland, more than 750 km away, probably by sea.

A natural mutant of maize exhibits leaf characteristics in line with the ‘smart canopy’ ideotype for high-density planting and boosts yields in large-scale field trials.

The neural circuits in the hindbrain that link satiety and aversion are shown to be separate, raising the possibility of developing obesity drugs without the common side effects of nausea and vomiting.

We built an artificial neural network to control a biomechanically realistic virtual rodent, which, when trained to imitate real rats, predicts neural activity and variability across natural behaviours.

Endothelial cells from vascular-dependent central nervous system (CNS) diseases reveal reactivated fetal pathways, display common hallmarks of disease — including a partial loss of arteriovenous specification and CNS-specific properties as well as an upregulation of MHC class II receptors — and play a key role in the human brain neurovascular unit across development, adulthood and disease.

Knockout studies using CRISPR–Cas9 identify PCDH10 as a selective host cellular receptor for western equine encephalitis virus.

A cross-reactive antibody and T cell response is identified in a large portion of patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

This study of immunological memory diversity in the human upper airway provides new understanding of immune memory at a major mucosal barrier tissue in humans.

Nasal vaccination induces B cell expansion in the nasal-associated lymphoid tissues, followed by homing to the nasal turbinates and glandular acinar structures.

Experimental and theoretical results demonstrate that tight-junction formation depends on the growth of a condensed layer of ZO-1 proteins at the interface of the apical and lateral membrane, providing insight into self-assembly of complex mesoscale structures in cells.

The lysine methyltransferase SMYD5 and its newly identified substrate ribosomal protein L40 are implicated in the progression of gastric adenocarcinoma, and ablation of SMYD5 prevents metastatic disease in mouse models of this cancer.

Cryo-electron microscopy, in vitro reconstitution and molecular dynamics simulations provide insight into the architecture of a plasma membrane microdomain in yeast, the organization and dynamics of the membrane lipids within this microdomain and how it responds to mechanical stress.

Cryo-electron microscopy structure of the human dopamine transporter in complex with multiple inhibitors illuminates mechanisms of allosteric inhibition.

A study using cryo-electron microscopy has determined the structure of the human dopamine transporter with bound cocaine, revealing molecular details about neurotransmitter transport and how it is affected by neuropsychiatric drugs.

Structural analyses of the human dopamine transporter in apo and substrate-bound states and in complex with drugs and inhibitors reveal key binding residues and conformational transitions that occur during substrate transport.