2026年10月2日

A medical mystery unfolds in middle America

Nancy Berlinger

As a rare form of dementia claims one sibling after another, a journalist captures the profound costs of caregiving

Walden and the wild roots of conservation science

Renée Bergland

The famous work of transcendentalism holds lessons for modern ecologists, maintains a Thoreau scholar

Mitochondrial carrier SLC25A34 links clock, diet, and temperature control of adipocyte lipid cycling

Iuliia Karavaeva, Astrid Linde Basse, Samuel A. J. Trammell, Mohammed Faiz Hussain, Lasse Kruse Markussen, Jesper F. Havelund, Marie Sophie Isidor, Adam Chatoff, Andrea Andress Huacachino, Hannah J. Richter, Meghna Birla, Sabina Chubanava, Yann Deleye, Rini Arianti, David Tandio, Sarah E. Utzon, Zafir Kaiser, Yachen Shen, Ditte Neess, Hannes Embring, Dilip Menon, Olivia J. Conway, Frederike Sass, Fabian Finger, Lidia Argemi-Muntadas, Tao Ma, Elahu G. Sustarsic, Cecilie Kynding Kristensen, Rebecca L. McIntyre, Genesee J. Martinez, Anna Sofie Husted, Matthew J. Emmett, Zachary A. Kipp, Mikkel Frost, Mark P. Jedrychowski, Michel van Weeghel, Homa Majd, Ekaterina Zhuravleva, Robert W. McGarrah, Kaja Plucińska, Mohit K. Midha, Andreas Prokesch, Paul Cohen, James G. Granneman, Patrick Seale, Riekelt H. Houtkooper, Jacob B. Hansen, Steven P. Gygi, Thue W. Schwartz, Matthew P. Gillum, Terry D. Hinds, Raymond E. Soccio, Phillip J. White, Edmund R. S. Kunji, Thomas Moritz, Jonas T. Treebak, Endre Kristóf, Susanne Mandrup, Brice Emanuelli, Nathaniel W. Snyder, Daniel J. Fazakerley, Lawrence Kazak, Nils J. Færgeman, Mitchell A. Lazar, Zachary Gerhart-Hines

Adipocyte lipid metabolism is coordinated by circadian rhythms, diet, and environmental temperature, but how these diverse signals are molecularly integrated remains unknown. We showed that these cues converge on the orphan mitochondrial transporter SLC25A34 to orchestrate lipid cycling. During the sleep phase, the adipocyte clock suppresses Slc25a34 expression through the REV-ERB transcriptional repressors. Entering the active phase, consuming lipid-rich diets, or exposure to cold abolishes REV-ERB repression, and lipolytic signals stimulate Slc25a34 transcription through the peroxisome proliferator–activated receptors. SLC25A34 is proposed to import oxaloacetate into mitochondria, dually supporting the tricarboxylic acid cycle and cytosolic acetyl–coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) production. Ele…

Quadrupolar sea level fluctuations reveal episodes of rapid polar wander

Mathew Domeier, Leandro C. Gallo, Chloé M. Marcilly, Trond H. Torsvik

True polar wander (TPW) is presently occurring at a rate of ~10 centimeters per year, exceeding the mean rate of differential plate motion. Whether this rate is transient and negligible on geological timescales or whether Earth has experienced rapid TPW lasting millions of years is unclear. Paleomagnetic evidence has been used to propose fast episodes of TPW, but limitations of the paleomagnetic record have precluded definitive results. Rapid TPW will induce global sea level fluctuations associated with relative changes in centrifugal potential, offering an independent test. We evaluated this prediction using continental flooding reconstructions and identified multiple robust quadrupolar patterns since 320 million years ago, confirming that protracted rapid TPW has occurred on Earth and t…

Loss of the tumor suppressor p53 generates a signaling gradient that drives epithelial clonal expansion

Qiwen Gan, Wei Li, Rachel K. Lex, Zhe Ying, Slobodan Beronja

Although tumor protein p53 ( TP53 ) mutations are among the most common lesions in epithelial cancers, how p53 loss drives unrestrained clonal expansion remains unclear. Working with mouse epidermis, we found that p53 suppresses clonal expansion by limiting progenitor self-renewal. Integrating chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, transcriptional analyses, and genetic screens, we identified a p53-dependent network controlling progenitor renewal and differentiation, in which secreted frizzled-related protein 1 ( Sfrp1 ), low-density lipoprotein receptor–related protein 1 ( Lrp1 ), and ubiquitin-specific peptidase 22 ( Usp22 ) were direct targets of p53 and the most genetically upstream components. Their suppression after p53 loss generated a radial gradient of Wnt activity across mutan…

Hypertension fuels osteoarthritis through neuroendocrine signaling

Su-Jin Kim, Hyo-Eun Kim, Ki-Ho Chung, Gyuseok Lee, Ka Hyon Park, Young-Gwon Kim, Mangeun Kim, Weon-Young Choi, Soo-Chang Joo, Hae Jin Kee, Seung-Hee Kwon, Jong-Keun Seon, Gun-Woo Lee, Yoonkyung Won, Jeong-Tae Koh, Jin Han, Jang-Soo Chun, Je-Hwang Ryu

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease, the progression of which is accelerated by systemic metabolic stress. Here, we identified a neuroendocrine pathway through which hypertension accelerates OA pathogenesis in joints predisposed by mechanical injury or aging. Nationwide cohort analyses and hypertensive mouse models demonstrated that elevated blood pressure exacerbates OA pathogenesis. OA-primed chondrocytes up-regulated arginine vasopressin (AVP) receptor 1A (AVPR1A), rendering them responsive to hypertension-associated circulating AVP. AVP-AVPR1A signaling enhanced catabolic signaling while suppressing anabolic regulators, thereby promoting cartilage catabolism. Genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of AVPR1A protected against hypertension-driven OA acceleration.…

Incorporation of atmospheric components in planetary magma oceans through bubble–metal compounds

Fabrice Gaillard, Luiz Pereira, Laurent Arbaret, Giada Iacono-Marziano, Emmanuel Le Trong, Fabien Bernadou, Yves Marrocchi

Atmophile elements (carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen) were thought to accrete late during planetary formation, yet cosmochemical and astrophysical evidence suggests that they were already present while small bodies, such as Vesta, were forming. High-temperature magmatic events on small bodies, however, should have outgassed these ultravolatile elements because gravity would have been insufficient to retain them. In this study, experiments reveal that gas bubbles strongly attach to metal droplets in magma ocean–like mixtures, forming compounds that resist segregation. Early flotation of such compounds would have enhanced mantle siderophile endowment, eliminating the need for late accretion. On small bodies, low gravity would have enabled millimeter- to centimeter-sized compounds to sink, tra…

Dynamic multimodal cation-carbon interaction for efficient adiponitrile electrosynthesis

Wei Du, Chun-Chieh Yu, Jipeng Xu, Rusheng Wang, Yuancheng Jing, Chenglai Wang, Shuangshuang Cha, Tianyu Sheng, Mengxin Qu, Jianyu Ren, Ran Wang, Zhongqiang Deng, Junze Wang, Chang Yan, Xinsheng Zhang, Cheng Lian, Honglai Liu, Wei Xiong, Ming Gong

Adiponitrile electrosynthesis from acrylonitrile hydrodimerization is critical for the nylon industry. However, the key step of single-electron acrylonitrile reduction demands toxic heavy-metal electrodes and leads to low energy efficiency. We developed a dynamic multimodal cation-electrode interaction strategy to enable efficient synthesis with environmentally friendly carbon electrodes. Optimal benzyltrihexylammonium cations create a water-depleted interface in aqueous electrolytes by squeezing the electric double layer through multimodal noncovalent interactions between the benzyl moieties of the cations and carbon electrodes. This strategy achieves selectivity comparable to the standard lead-based system but at substantially lower overpotentials, as demonstrated from the laboratory sc…

Hierarchical crystalline organic-inorganic framework enabling high-modulus toughening in nacre

Hang Chen, Hao Yan, Chuangqi Zhao, Guangze Yang, Chunyi Peng, Jin Huang, Tianyi Zhao, Xuanze Li, Li-Dong Zhao, Lei Jiang, Mingjie Liu

Enhancing toughness in nanocomposites often involves viscoelastic organic phases, but this typically reduces stiffness. We describe a high-modulus toughening mechanism in mature Cristaria plicata nacre arising from a crystalline organic-inorganic framework composed of aragonite nanorods alternately integrated with intratabular biomolecular crystallites. Due to the critical slip-length effect, these crystalline units approach the theoretical limits of modulus and strength. The nanoconfined biomolecular crystallites function as nanopins at interlamellar interphases, alleviating stress concentrations and enabling cross-scale synchronized deformation, thereby conferring high fracture toughness. Inspired by this mechanism, reconstituted nacre fabricated from regenerated aragonite flakes simult…

Phage proteases activate CBASS antiphage immunity

Samuel J. Hobbs, Philip J. Kranzusch

Cyclic oligonucleotide–based antiphage signaling systems (CBASS) are bacterial immune pathways evolutionarily related to cGAS-STING (cyclic GMP-AMP synthase–stimulator of interferon genes) in humans. In CBASS, cGAS/DncV-like nucleotidyltransferase (CD-NTase) enzymes sense phage infection and synthesize nucleotide signals to initiate antiviral defense. Here, we reveal phage prohead protease activity as a widespread mechanism of CD-NTase activation. We reconstitute CBASS recognition of phage T4 in vitro and identify proteolytic cleavage of a CD-NTase activation loop as a trigger of immune signal synthesis. Phage prohead proteases directly activate CBASS in vivo, explaining how immunity is initiated late during infection. Structure-based phylogenetic analyses identify activation loops in cla…

Ultrahigh piezoelectricity by polaron-defect complexes

Liang Shu, Guyang Peng, Xiaoming Shi, Yang Zhang, Sixu Wang, Haijun Wu, Qian Li, Hangren Li, Xin Zhang, Zhen Wang, Huanhua Wang, Yongbo Fan, Chenguang Deng, Yunpeng Ma, Jiazhang Li, Limin Guo, Ke Bi, Yue-Yu-Shan Cheng, Ziqi Yang, Yue-Yao Dai, Liyu Wei, Lei Zhao, Lisha Liu, Yi-Xuan Liu, Kun Xu, Xiangdong Ding, Jun Sun, Shujun Zhang, Houbing Huang, Jing-Feng Li

Materials capable of delivering giant and rapid piezoelectric responses at kilohertz frequencies are pivotal for advanced electromechanical technologies. However, their development has been constrained by a long-standing magnitude–speed trade-off: Ferroelectrics with intrinsic electric dipoles offer fast response but limited polarization, whereas ionic defect motion generates highly polarizable defect dipoles but responds slowly, limiting kilohertz-rate applications. We overcame this fundamental limitation by devising 8 mole % K-doped AgNbO 3 (Ag 0.92 K 0.08 NbO 3 ) thin films engineered to host dynamically reconfigurable polaron-defect complexes through electro-elastic interactions between small electron polarons and lattice defects. Field-driven multi–unit-cell polaron hopping reconfigu…

Synergistic polar states by selective atomic gradients

Sanghyeon Kim, Gi-Jeong Han, Soo-Yoon Hwang, Gahee Noh, P. Karuna Kumari, Kihwan Lee, Min Seop Kim, Jiyong Yoon, Jong Seok Lee, Se Young Park, Si-Young Choi, Gil-Ho Lee, Daesu Lee

Materials that combine distinct properties within a single phase are of fundamental and technological interest. Here, we present a broadly applicable strategy to achieve strong bulk polarity that not only coexists with its originally incompatible properties, such as metallicity, but also synergistically enables exceptional functionalities. A combination of thin-film synthesis, atomic-scale imaging, and theoretical calculations reveals that A-site selective atomic gradients induce strong polar states in otherwise centrosymmetric perovskite oxides ABO 3 . These polar states unconventionally coexist with various preexisting properties, leading to bulk polar metallicity with tunable nonreciprocal transport; high-κ, low-loss dielectricity with an equivalent oxide thickness below 0.1 nanometer;…

Precise length and charge segmentation of billion-dalton supramolecular polymers

Michael D. Dore, Madison Strong, Simon A. Egner, Hiroaki Sai, Kyle Gray, Nozomu Takata, Alexie Nyambi, Zhiwei Li, Liam C. Palmer, Samuel I. Stupp

Supramolecular polymers with precise micrometer-scale segments of opposite charge are challenging to synthesize as discrete assemblies in water. These systems could be used to pattern charged surfaces, interact with the membranes of cells, or form hierarchical structures. We report a living polymerization of fibrillar peptide assemblies with a central positively charged segment flanked by negative ones that can have a collective molar mass on the order of billions of daltons. The self-capping supramolecular polymerization required an untwisted β sheet core persisting along the entire length of the assembly as well as dormant ends in the absence of a monomer source. The positive domains of the segmented structures were anchored to the membranes of neurons, leaving the connected negative se…

Stationary entanglement of a levitated oscillator with an optical field

Q. Deplano, A. Pontin, F. Marino, F. Marin

Stationary entanglement between the motion of macroscopic objects and light is a long-standing goal of quantum optomechanics, with implications for both fundamental tests of quantum physics and emerging quantum technologies. We report the generation of quantum entanglement between the center-of-mass motion of a nanosphere levitated in an optical tweezer inside an optical cavity and the electromagnetic field. Using heterodyne detection, we reconstructed the full set of optomechanical correlations and observed a violation of separability bounds between the mechanical motion and a propagating optical mode, demonstrating the distribution of nonclassical correlations beyond the interaction region. The entanglement was generated at room temperature and remained robust over a broad range of para…

A Lifelong Focus on Women’s Health

Yevgeniya Nusinovich, Sacha Vignieri, Sarah Ross, and Joana Osório

Retraction Note: Ribosomal frameshifting in the CCR5 mRNA is regulated by miRNAs and the NMD pathway

Jonathan D. Dinman

A black hole’s jets have a halo effect

Can pancreatic cancer be stopped in its tracks? Radical tactic raises hopes

Heidi Ledford

Sign of the times: AI lingo muscles into esteemed dictionary

Kaia Glickman

The ‘missed disease’ that affects 190 million: endometriosis drug shows early promise

Freda Kreier

Gaze into the cosmos and through the eyes of a bee — September’s best science images

Davide Castelvecchi

Battle of the Anthropocene: allegations re-ignite row over proposed geologic epoch

James Dinneen

Daily briefing: How to save corals from the El Niño

Flora Graham

Daily briefing: Vaping has ‘alarming’ risks for children

Flora Graham

Using Rock-Eval pyrolysis to measure biochar carbon stability

Monica McCall

Geothermal gradient change during subduction recorded by ultrahigh-pressure eclogite

Adam F. Holt

Abstract The subduction of crustal rocks to, and exhumation from, depths greater than 90 km in the stability field of the mineral coesite is known as ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism, widely regarded as evidence for cold subduction. This assumption stems from peak metamorphic conditions of ultrahigh-pressure rocks, which indicate low subduction gradients of less than 330 °C GPa −1 , but direct evidence for such a cold prograde evolution is lacking. Here we report the discovery of a young ultrahigh-pressure eclogite in eastern Papua New Guinea. We find (sub)micrometre-sized inclusions of coesite in intermediate growth zones of garnet crystals and zircon inclusions revealing a U–Pb age of approximately 4.4 million years. Petrographic observations and thermo-barometric methods show that the p…