Letter | 26 January 2022 | Open Access Design of inertial fusion implosions reaching the burning plasma regime In burning plasma, alpha particles from fusion reactions are the dominant source of heating. The design choices that resulted in reaching this state in experiments at the National Ignition Facility are reported. A. L. KritcherC. V. YoungG. B. Zimmerman Letter | 20 January 2022 Realizing discontinuous quantum phase transitions in a strongly correlated driven optical lattice Studies of first-order phase transitions in quantum simulators have so far been restricted to the weakly interacting regime. A tunable discontinuous phase transition has now been realized with strongly correlated atoms in a driven optical lattice. Bo SongShovan DuttaUlrich Schneider Letter | 20 January 2022 Rotation symmetry breaking in the normal state of a kagome superconductor KV3Sb5 The precise nature of the charge-density-wave state in kagome superconductors remains unclear. Now, local spectroscopy shows that rotational symmetry in real space is broken, with one direction being distinct from the other two. Hong LiHe ZhaoIlija Zeljkovic Letter | 03 February 2022 | Open Access Sequence-dependent surface condensation of a pioneer transcription factor on DNA A DNA-binding protein condenses on DNA via a switch-like transition. Surface condensation occurs at preferential DNA locations suggesting collective sequence readout and enabling sequence-specificity robustness with respect to protein concentration. Jose A. MorinSina WittmannStephan W. Grill Articles Article | 15 March 2022 | Open Access Test of lepton universality in beauty-quark decays The Large Hadron Collider beauty collaboration reports a test of lepton flavour universality in decays of bottom mesons into strange mesons and a charged lepton pair, finding evidence of a violation of this principle postulated in the standard model. R. AaijC. Abellán BetetaG. Zunica Article | 10 January 2022 Restrictions on realizable unitary operations imposed by symmetry and locality In systems with no symmetry, local operations can combine to make any unitary transformation across a whole quantum system, but if symmetries limit the allowed operations, they cannot all be generated using local transformations. Iman Marvian Article | 23 December 2021 Riemannian geometry of resonant optical responses The modern understanding of quantum transport relies on geometric concepts such as the Berry phase. The geometric approach has now been extended to the theory of optical transitions. Junyeong AhnGuang-Yu GuoAshvin Vishwanath Article | 07 February 2022 Error correction of a logical grid state qubit by dissipative pumping Physical systems with continuous degrees of freedom can be used to implement quantum error correction codes. An autonomous correction protocol has now been used to extend the lifetime of a qubit encoded in the motion of a trapped ion. Brennan de NeeveThanh-Long NguyenJonathan P. Home Article | 13 January 2022 Twofold van Hove singularity and origin of charge order in topological kagome superconductor CsV3Sb5 Spectroscopic measurements show how the features of the band structure related to the kagome lattice in CsV3Sb5 contribute to the observed strongly correlated phases. Mingu KangShiang FangRiccardo Comin Article | 27 January 2022 Depth-targeted energy delivery deep inside scattering media Optimally depositing optical energy into an extended region of a diffusive medium, such as biological tissue, is a challenging task. A matrix that maps the incoming wavefront to the field distribution inside the material can predict the energy enhancement that occurs at a given depth. Nicholas BenderAlexey YamilovHui Cao Article | 14 March 2022 | Open Access Tumour irradiation in mice with a laser-accelerated proton beam A laser–plasma accelerator provides proton beams for the precise irradiation of human tumours in a mouse model. This work advances translational research with ultrahigh proton dose rates at laser-driven sources. Florian KrollFlorian-Emanuel BrackElke Beyreuther Article | 10 February 2022 | Open Access A gelation transition enables the self-organization of bipolar metaphase spindles The activity of molecular motors drives the self-organization of cytoskeleton structures, leading to large-scale active flows. Now, experiments and simulations show how a gelation process enables such long-range transport in spindles. Benjamin A. DaltonDavid OriolaJan Brugués Article | 10 January 2022 | Open Access Ciliary beating patterns map onto a low-dimensional behavioural space The beating of motile cilia arises from the collective action of hundreds of proteins. A study of the dynamics of cilia under different environmental and genetic conditions shows that the space of beating variations is low-dimensional. Veikko F. GeyerJonathon HowardPablo Sartori Article | 20 January 2022 Reviving a failed network through microscopic interventions Perturbations and disturbances can bring complex networks into undesirable states in which global functionality is suppressed. Now, a recovery scheme explains how to revive a damaged network by controlling only a small number of nodes. Hillel SanhedraiJianxi GaoBaruch Barzel Article | 10 January 2022 | Open Access Observation of a reduced-turbulence regime with boron powder injection in a stellarator In stellarators, turbulence is detrimental for the confinement of the plasma. In the Large Helical Device, a confinement regime with reduced turbulence and improved confinement is observed. F. NespoliS. MasuzakiT. Morisaki Article | 10 January 2022 | Open Access Moist convection drives an upscale energy transfer at Jovian high latitudes Infrared images of Jupiter taken by the Juno spacecraft reveal an energy transfer driven by moist convection. This mechanism is expected to enhance heat transfer, which might also be relevant to Earth’s atmosphere. Lia SiegelmanPatrice KleinGiuseppe Sindoni