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Materials Chemistry Group

 

An origami design for metamaterial robots

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01284-9

Bendy, twisty and collapsable origami towers could make temperature controlling panels, or, dancing robots.

Ancient DNA reveals Phoenicians’ surprising genetic complexity

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01283-w

Phoenician civilization thrived across the Mediterranean for more than 1,000 years.

A brand-new colour created by lasers, a pig-liver transplant trial gets the green light, and a nugget-sized chunk of lab-grown meat

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01288-5

We round up some recent stories from the Nature Briefing.

China overtakes the United States in cancer research output

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01154-4

China takes pole position in cancer-related research in the Nature Index, with a massive jump in output.

Psychedelic control of neuroimmune interactions governing fear

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08880-9

Inflammatory monocytes in the brain meninges promote stress-induced fear behaviour, and the pathways involved can be modulated using psychedelic compounds.

Superconducting gap of H<sub>3</sub>S measured by tunnelling spectroscopy

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08895-2

Characterizing the superconducting gap structure in the high-temperature superconductor H3S by means of tunnelling spectroscopy reveals that it, as well as D3S, has a fully gapped structure, confirming the phonon-mediated mechanism of superconducting pairing.

Carbon majors and the scientific case for climate liability

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08751-3

A transparent and reproducible scientific framework is introduced to formalize how trillions in economic losses are attributable to the extreme heat caused by emissions from fossil fuel companies, which could inform climate liability claims.

Deciphering disordered regions controlling mRNA decay in high-throughput

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08919-x

Using high-throughput functional profiling, how disordered regions control mRNA stability and translation is explored.

Cold memories control whole-body thermoregulatory responses

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08902-6

Cold-sensitive engrams contribute to learned thermoregulation in mice that are returned to an environment in which they previously experienced a cold challenge, through a network formed between the hippocampus and hypothalamus that enables the recall of cold-related memories.

Atomic lift-off of epitaxial membranes for cooling-free infrared detection

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08874-7

Atomic precision lift-off of ultrathin membranes without artificial release layers can be achieved to facilitate the high-throughput production of scalable, ultrathin, single-crystalline, freestanding perovskite systems.

Effects of glacial forcing on lithospheric motion and ridge spreading

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08846-x

Realistic-lithosphere numerical models suggest glacial forcing in the last glacial cycle notably affected plate motions and mid-ocean-ridge spreading rates near major ice sheets, with implications for modern polar deglaciation enhancing magmatism and markedly impacting climate.

Long-distance coherent quantum communications in deployed telecom networks

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08801-w

A twin-field quantum key distribution protocol based on optical coherence is deployed over a 254-kilometre commercial telecom network, demonstrating that coherence-based quantum communication can be aligned with existing telecommunication infrastructure.

BMAL1–HIF2A heterodimer modulates circadian variations of myocardial injury

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08898-z

The core circadian transcription factor BMAL1 regulates circadian-dependent myocardial injury.

Quantum twisting microscopy of phonons in twisted bilayer graphene

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08881-8

Generalization of a quantum twisting microscope to cryogenic temperatures in twisted bilayer graphene shows the ability to map phononic dispersions through inelastic momentum-conserving tunnelling and reveals an angle-dependent coupling between electrons and phonons.

Microbial metabolite drives ageing-related clonal haematopoiesis via ALPK1

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08938-8

ADP-heptose binds to ALPK1, triggering transcriptional reprogramming and NF-κB activation, endowing pre-leukaemic cells with a competitive advantage due to excessive clonal proliferation.

Modular chiral origami metamaterials

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08851-0

A versatile origami-inspired modular chiral mechanical metamaterial structure facilitates dual-mode actuation, converting compression into rotational motion and torsion into extension or compression.

Melt focusing along lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary below Axial volcano

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08865-8

3D seismic reflection images of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary beneath Axial volcano show a magma assimilation front that focuses magmatism towards the centre of the volcano, controlling both eruption and hydrothermal processes.

Targeting PIKfyve-driven lipid metabolism in pancreatic cancer

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08917-z

A study of human and mouse models of pancreatic cancer finds that inhibiting the lipid kinase PIKfyve interferes with the cancer’s lipid homeostasis, making it a potential target for drug development.

Genomic and genetic insights into Mendel’s pea genes

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08891-6

Characterization of the genetic architecture underlying the 7 pairs of contrasting traits studied by Mendel and the over 70 additional agronomic traits in pea (Pisum sativum) reveals their molecular details and provides tools for further studies in pea genetics, functional genomics and crop improvement.

Human de novo mutation rates from a four-generation pedigree reference

Nature Updates - Wed, 23/04/2025 - 00:00

Nature, Published online: 23 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08922-2

Analysis of more than 95% of each diploid human genome of a four-generation, twenty-eight-member family using five complementary short-read and long-read sequencing technologies provides a truth set to understand the most fundamental processes underlying human genetic variation.