Physical sciences Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Transfer learning enhanced water-enabled electricity generation in highly oriented graphene oxide nanochannels Large-scale nanochannel integration and the multi-parameter coupling restrictive influence on electric generation… show more Ce Yang, Haiyan Wang & Liangti Qu Perspective 10 November 2022 | Open Access Statistical inference links data and theory in network science Theoretical models and structures recovered from measured data serve for analysis of complex networks. The… show more Leto Peel, Tiago P. Peixoto & Manlio De Domenico Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Enormous-stiffness-changing polymer networks by glass transition mediated microphase separation The development of flexible electronics and soft robotics demands materials with wide-range switchable stiffness.… show more Lie Chen, Cong Zhao & Mingjie Liu Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Wireless theranostic smart contact lens for monitoring and control of intraocular pressure in glaucoma Glaucoma is an irreversible ocular disease that may lead to vision loss. Here the authors develop a theranostic… show more Tae Yeon Kim, Jee Won Mok & Sei Kwang Hahn Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Mapping global dynamics of benchmark creation and saturation in artificial intelligence Recent studies raised concerns over the state of AI benchmarking, reporting issues such as benchmark overfitting,… show more Simon Ott, Adriano Barbosa-Silva & Matthias Samwald Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access An improved 9 micron thick separator for a 350 Wh/kg lithium metal rechargeable pouch cell Thin separators can improve batteries’ energy densities but increase cell shortcircuit risks. Here, the authors… show more Zhi Chang, Huijun Yang & Haoshen Zhou Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Helicity dependent photoresistance measurement vs. beam-shift thermal gradient Many recent studies have explored the response of magnetic systems to circularly polarised light. To achieve… show more Haozhe Yang, Eva Schmoranzerová & Ioan-Mihai Miron Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Fully-exposed Pt-Fe cluster for efficient preferential oxidation of CO towards hydrogen purification The preferential oxidation of CO (PROX) in hydrogen is a promising solution for hydrogen purification. Here the… show more Zhimin Jia, Xuetao Qin & Ding Ma Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Emergence of distinct electronic states in epitaxially-fused PbSe quantum dot superlattices Self-assembled PbSe quantum dot (QD) superlattices are a class of materials that promises novel mesoscale… show more Mahmut S. Kavrik, Jordan A. Hachtel & Matt Law Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Formation of synthetic RNA protein granules using engineered phage-coat-protein -RNA complexes Condensates composed of RNA and proteins are biologically vital but generally poorly understood. Here, the… show more Naor Granik, Noa Katz & Roee Amit Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Low cost and massively parallel force spectroscopy with fluid loading on a chip Single molecule force spectroscopy methods are often low throughput and have high instrument cost. Here the… show more Ehsan Akbari, Melika Shahhosseini & Carlos E. Castro Article 10 November 2022 | Open Access Development and validation of self-monitoring auto-updating prognostic models of survival for hospitalized COVID-19 patients Despite rapid and significant changes during the pandemic, prognostic models for COVID-19 patients do not… show more Todd J. Levy, Kevin Coppa & Theodoros P. Zanos Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access Simultaneous atmospheric water production and 24-hour power generation enabled by moisture-induced energy harvesting Collecting water directly from air provides one sustainable solution to water scarcity. Li et al. combine… show more Tingxian Li, Minqiang Wu & Siqi Wang Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access Photothermal modulated dielectric elastomer actuator for resilient soft robots Tough and healable elastomers are promising materials to realize resilient soft robots but mechanical… show more Matthew Wei Ming Tan, Hyunwoo Bark & Pooi See Lee Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access The composition and structure of the ubiquitous hydrocarbon contamination on van der Waals materials Here, the authors attribute the ambient surface contamination of van der Waals materials to a self-organized… show more András Pálinkás, György Kálvin & Péter Nemes-Incze Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access Symmetry-breaking in patch formation on triangular gold nanoparticles by asymmetric polymer grafting Patchy nanoparticles are desirable building blocks for the guided assembly of functional superstructures. Here,… show more Ahyoung Kim, Thi Vo & Qian Chen Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access Regiospecific α-methylene functionalisation of tertiary amines with alkynes via Au-catalysed concerted one-proton/two-electron transfer to O2 The selective α-methylene functionalization of tertiary amines is challenging. Here, the authors report the gold… show more Takafumi Yatabe & Kazuya Yamaguchi Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access Mechanically derived short-range order and its impact on the multi-principal-element alloys Unlike diffusion-mediated chemical short-range orders (SROs) in multi-principal element alloys, diffusionless… show more Jae Bok Seol, Won-Seok Ko & Hyoung Seop Kim Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access Giant gate-controlled odd-parity magnetoresistance in one-dimensional channels with a magnetic proximity effect Magnetoresistance, where the electric resistance of a material changes under an applied magnetic field, is… show more Kosuke Takiguchi, Le Duc Anh & Masaaki Tanaka Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access A biomimetic ocular prosthesis system: emulating autonomic pupil and corneal reflections The adoption of photonic synapses with biosimilarity to realize analog signal transmission is of significance in… show more Seongchan Kim, Yoon Young Choi & Jeong Ho Cho Article 09 November 2022 | Open Access Nanozyme-reinforced hydrogel as a H2O2-driven oxygenerator for enhancing prosthetic interface osseointegration in rheumatoid arthritis therapy Stem cell transplantation has huge potential but can suffer from effects caused by disease state… show more Yue Zhao, Shanliang Song & Yanli Zhao Article 08 November 2022 | Open Access Carbon nanotube-based flexible high-speed circuits with sub-nanosecond stage delays High-speed flexible circuits are essential in flexible systems for real-time information analysis and wireless… show more Guanhua Long, Wanlin Jin & Youfan Hu Article 08 November 2022 | Open Access Flexomagnetism and vertically graded Néel temperature of antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 thin films Flexomagnetism refers to the modification of the magnetic properties of a material due to inhomogeneous strain,… show more Pavlo Makushko, Tobias Kosub & Denys Makarov Article 08 November 2022 | Open Access Simultaneously tuning interlayer spacing and termination of MXenes by Lewis-basic halides Interlayer spacing and termination are important for controlling the physical and chemical properties of MXenes,… show more Tianze Zhang, Libo Chang & Xu Xiao Article 08 November 2022 | Open Access Multimodal collective swimming of magnetically articulated modular nanocomposite robots The collective actuation of miniaturized robots is highly desirable for executing cooperative tasks. Won et al.… show more Sukyoung Won, Hee Eun Lee & Jeong Jae Wie Article 08 November 2022 | Open Access Two-dimensional Thouless pumping of light in photonic moiré lattices Vibrational strong coupling (VSC) promises ultrasensitive IR spectroscopy and modification of material… show more Peng Wang, Qidong Fu & Fangwei Ye Article 08 November 2022 | Open Access Deep autoencoder for interpretable tissue-adaptive deconvolution and cell-type-specific gene analysis Traditional bulk sequencing data lack information about cell-type-specific gene expression. Here, the authors… show more Yanshuo Chen, Yixuan Wang & Yu Li Article 08 November 2022 | Open Access Generalizable spelling using a speech neuroprosthesis in an individual with severe limb and vocal paralysis Previous work has described a neuroprosthesis to directly decode full words in real time during attempts to… show more Sean L. Metzger, Jessie R. Liu & Edward F. Chang Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access An integrated platinum-nanocarbon electrocatalyst for efficient oxygen reduction Improving fuel cell technologies based on Pt-based alloys is important for efficient fuel cells. Here, the… show more Lei Huang, Min Wei & Bao Yu Xia Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Gate-tunable Veselago interference in a bipolar graphene microcavity Charge carriers in graphene can be manipulated, e.g., collimated or focused, as in conventional optics but the… show more Xi Zhang, Wei Ren & Ke Wang Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Boosting CO hydrogenation towards C2+ hydrocarbons over interfacial TiO2−x/Ni catalysts Considerable attention has been drawn to tune the geometric and electronic structure of interfacial catalysts via… show more Ming Xu, Xuetao Qin & Ding Ma Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Polarization-controlled tunable directional spin-driven photocurrents in a magnetic metamaterial with threefold rotational symmetry By carefully structuring and patterning a material, it is possible to introduce emergent properties that would… show more Masakazu Matsubara, Takatsugu Kobayashi & Takeshi Kato Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Social interactions lead to motility-induced phase separation in fire ants Some active matter systems as they evolve, can be characterized by spatially varying density, with some regions… show more Caleb Anderson & Alberto Fernandez-Nieves Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Multi-scale organization in communicating active matter The communication in active systems plays an important role in their self-organization, yet the detail is not… show more Alexander Ziepke, Ivan Maryshev & Erwin Frey Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Direct in situ photolithography of perovskite quantum dots based on photocatalysis of lead bromide complexes Perovskite nanomaterials may suffer degradation during conventional photolithography. Here, the authors report a… show more Pingping Zhang, Gaoling Yang & Haizheng Zhong Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Bayesian deep learning for error estimation in the analysis of anomalous diffusion Diffusive motions in complex environments such as living biological cells or soft matter systems can be analyzed… show more Henrik Seckler & Ralf Metzler Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access An epifluidic electronic patch with spiking sweat clearance for event-driven perspiration monitoring Sensory neurons convert external stimuli into spike signals, enabling energy-efficient information processing.… show more Sangha Kim, Seongjin Park & Rhokyun Kwak Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Robust replication initiation from coupled homeostatic mechanisms Homeostasis of DNA density is a hallmark of living cells. The authors show via mathematical modelling how two… show more Mareike Berger & Pieter Rein ten Wolde Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Differences in water and vapor transport through angstrom-scale pores in atomically thin membranes Understanding water transport through nanochannels is central to biology, separations and clean water. Here, the… show more Peifu Cheng, Francesco Fornasiero & Piran R. Kidambi Article 07 November 2022 | Open Access Ultrahigh-temperature melt printing of multi-principal element alloys Multi-principal element alloy (MPEA) 3D printing is challenging due to the tradeoff between achieving… show more Xizheng Wang, Yunhao Zhao & Liangbing Hu