Reviews & Analysis

Water has extraordinary electrical properties when trapped in tiny channels — a finding that calls for a re-think about key processes in biology, climate and nanotechnology.

Synthetic DNA circuits and neural networks have previously been developed to process molecular information while consuming energy stored in kinetic traps. Now they have been re-engineered to take in energy from heat when the temperature increases, and to recharge themselves by restoring kinetic traps for subsequent computation.

Hand bones from a human relative, found in Kenya, reveal features similar to those of living gorillas, complicating the evolutionary history of hand and tool manipulation.

Almost-complete genomes of more than 1,000 strains of the single-celled yeast species Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been assembled and integrated with phenotypic (trait) measures of growth and of RNA and protein expression. The analysis shows how large genomic variations called structural variants disproportionately shape traits.

Metal nanoparticles have been made with polymer patches accurately placed on their surfaces — enabling them to self-assemble into otherwise inaccessible 3D structures.

Nature’s pages feature evidence that rodents reach refreshment through wily means, and a review of a book that celebrates everything honey.

Diverse bird species recognize the same vocalization to rally neighbours against invading cuckoos. The finding plays into a broader debate about the emergence of language.

The genetic ancestry of domesticated barley has been mapped at high resolution, with each genome segment traced to its wild origins and the date estimated for when it entered the domesticated lineage. The findings reveal a mosaic of contributions from across western and central Asia, shaped by early cultivation and later gene flow.

Scientists have used low-error genome-sequencing methods in normal tissues from large cohorts of individuals to scan for mutations that set the stage for cancer.

The light frequency associated with changes in the energy state of atoms can be used to define the ticking of high-precision optical clocks. Experiments with ytterbium atoms have further enhanced the clocks’ precision by using a quantum amplification technique.

An approach for making nanoscale high-entropy alloys using liquid metal provides much-needed control over the structure and composition of these remarkable materials.

Close cooperation in flight between vertically stacked multirotor drones is widely regarded as dangerous, because there is persistent and intense ‘downwash’ interference. A ‘flying toolbox’ has been developed that achieves high-accuracy docking despite the downwash, enabling mid-air tool exchanges and unlocking diverse aerial manipulation tasks.

Analyses of RNA expression reveal molecules underpinning the cancer-associated process of skeletal-muscle wasting, a condition called cachexia.

A big-data analysis shows that online content represents men as older than women in the same occupations and social roles, and that AI reproduces these warped presentations.

Lively scientific debates found in correspondence from 1916 to 1918, and Saint Patrick’s snake-banishment skills are called into question in this week’s pick from the Nature archive.

After an initial treatment response, most ovarian cancers recur because of drug-resistant cell populations. Blood-based tracking, used to monitor clonal evolution in 18 patients, shows that drug-resistant clones are already present at diagnosis, expand during therapy and contain distinctive genomic alterations that have potential therapeutic relevance.

Bacteria insert proteins into their outer membrane using a highly conserved apparatus known as the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM). A large group of bacteria with particularly complex outer-membrane proteins is now shown to have a BAM apparatus with a highly unusual composition.

The amino acid cysteine is crucial for life but is toxic at high concentrations. Cells and tissues are exposed to high cysteine levels but maintain low intracellular concentrations through unknown mechanisms. A new technology platform has enabled the discovery of a protein that responds to cysteine fluctuations and regulates its breakdown.

Little is known about the early history of lizards, snakes and their kin. New fossil discoveries reveal a complex evolutionary journey.

An approach that identifies, and predicts compatibility between, chemical and enzyme-sequence spaces can streamline and reduce risk in the discovery of enzymes that can catalyse a desired reaction. The strategy uses high-throughput experiments to generate data about enzyme-mediated reactions, and there is a tool that can predict compatible substrate–enzyme pairs.