Article 15 December 2023 | Open Access Global transcontinental power pools for low-carbon electricity By building transcontinental power pools, Yang and colleagues find global electricity demand can be 100% met by renewables, at an affordable cost. Haozhe Yang, Ranjit Deshmukh & Sangwon Suh Article 15 December 2023 | Open Access Discovery of fast and stable proton storage in bulk hexagonal molybdenum oxide Nanostructured electrode materials pose several challenges, including poor volumetric performance, severe side reactions, high costs, and complexity. Here, the authors develop a micrometer-sized bulk hexagonal molybdenum oxide with unconventional charge storage mechanism for fast and stable proton storage. Tiezhu Xu, Zhenming Xu & Laifa Shen Article 15 December 2023 | Open Access All-optical geometric image transformations enabled by ultrathin metasurfaces Metasurfaces enable all-optical geometric coordinate transformations, converting images with altered pixel spatial relations, which can facilitate fast, energy-efficient preprocessing for tasks like object tracking, or aid in laser manufacturing. Xingwang Zhang, Xiaojie Zhang & Xingjie Ni Article 15 December 2023 | Open Access Tetrahedral triple-Q magnetic ordering and large spontaneous Hall conductivity in the metallic triangular antiferromagnet Co1/3TaS2 Skyrmion crystals, where skyrmions are arranged close packed in a triangular lattice arise due to the superposition of three magnetic spin spirals, each with a distinct wave vector, Q. Such skrymion crystals have been found in a diverse array of materials. Here, Park et al find a short wavelength (or dense skyrmion) limit of this skyrmion crystal structure in Co1/3TaS2, a metallic triangular lattice antiferromagnet, in the form of a triple Q magnetic ordering, with four magnetic sublattices.’ Pyeongjae Park, Woonghee Cho & Je-Geun Park Article 15 December 2023 | Open Access Coherent light scattering from a telecom C-band quantum dot Developing quantum networks would require reliable sources of coherent quantum light at telecom wavelengths. Here, the authors employ elastic scattering of excitation laser photons on InAs/InP quantum dots to demonstrate the emission of telecom photons with coherence times longer than the Fourier limit. L. Wells, T. Müller & A. J. Shields Article 15 December 2023 | Open Access Synergistic pretraining of parametrized quantum circuits via tensor networks Scalable training of parametrised quantum circuit approaches is usually hindered by the barren plateau issue. Here, the authors show how initializing parametrised quantum circuits starting from scalable tensor-network based algorithms could ameliorate the problem. Manuel S. Rudolph, Jacob Miller & Alejandro Perdomo-Ortiz Article 15 December 2023 | Open Access Uncertainties in critical slowing down indicators of observation-based fingerprints of the Atlantic Overturning Circulation Ben-Yami et al. present methods to quantify uncertainties and address biases in indicators for detecting stability changes in key Earth system components. Data gap filling introduces biases, but the stability decline in the North Atlantic remains significant. Maya Ben-Yami, Vanessa Skiba & Niklas Boers Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Bioinspired mechanical mineralization of organogels Mineralization is common in biological materials for selective strengthening, but similar toughening in polymer composites is challenging. Here, the authors report a mechanically-mediated reaction for formation of mineralized microrods within a synthetic material. Jorge Ayarza, Jun Wang & Aaron P. Esser-Kahn Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Site-selective chemical reactions by on-water surface sequential assembly Controlling site-selectivity and reactivity in chemical reactions continues to be a key challenge in modern synthetic chemistry. Here, the authors demonstrate the assembly of amino-substituted porphyrins on a water surface into J-aggregate structures in the presence of charged surfactants. Anupam Prasoon, Xiaoqing Yu & Xinliang Feng Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Visible light-induced switching of soft matter materials properties based on thioindigo photoswitches Thioindigos are reversible photoswitches with spatial control over the conformational change, yet have very limited solubility in most solvents. Here, the authors report a method for the insertion of thioindigos into polymer chains, allowing the formation of visible light responsive hydrogels. Sarah L. Walden, Phuong H. D. Nguyen & Vinh X. TruongArticle 14 December 2023 | Open Access C5 methylation confers accessibility, stability and selectivity to picrotoxinin Minor changes to complex structures can exert major influences on synthesis strategy and functional properties but synthetic difficulties can obstruct the exploration of natural product function. Here the authors explore two parallel series of picrotoxinin analogs and identify leads with selectivity between mammalian and insect ion channels. Guanghu Tong, Samantha Griffin & Ryan A. Shenvi Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Tracking exceptional points above the lasing threshold The authors report on the experimental observation and characterization of exceptional points above the lasing threshold in photonic crystal nanocavities. Kaiwen Ji, Qi Zhong & Alejandro M. Yacomotti Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access On-chip phonon-magnon reservoir for neuromorphic computing Developing efficient reservoir computing hardware that combines optically excited acoustic and spin waves with high spatial density remains a challenge. In this work, the authors propose a design capable of recognizing visual shapes drawn by a laser within remarkably confined spaces, down to 10 square microns. Dmytro D. Yaremkevich, Alexey V. Scherbakov & Manfred Bayer Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Photoinduced copper-catalyzed C–N coupling with trifluoromethylated arenes Selective defluorinative functionalization is a synthetic route to pharmaceutically important fluorine-containing compounds but activation of inert C–F bonds remains challenging. Here the authors report activation of di-or trifluoromethylated arenes for radical C–N coupling with carbazoles and aromatic amines using photoexcited copper catalysis. Jun Huang, Qi Gao & Jin Xie Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Breaking solvation dominance of ethylene carbonate via molecular charge engineering enables lower temperature battery Low-temperature operation remains challenging for batteries. Here, the authors report an electrolyte solvation structure design strategy to break solvation dominance of ethylene carbonate to facilitate the desolvation process that improves the low-temperature performance of lithium-ion batteries even below −100 °C. Yuqing Chen, Qiu He & Jilei Liu Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access How frictional slip evolves Conventionally, a continuous motion or “dynamic friction” is expected to take place after the initial rupture under friction. Here, the authors perform direct measurement of real contact and slip at the frictional interface and show that the secondary rupture takes place after each initial rupture. Songlin Shi, Meng Wang & Jay Fineberg Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Mechanically tunable organogels from highly charged polyoxometalate clusters loaded with fluorescent dyes Functionalizing inorganic organogels is a challenge and can have a negative impact on their mechanical properties. Here, the authors present nanowire-based organogels based on highly charged polyoxometalate cluster units that are mechanically tuned and loaded with fluorescent dyes. Fenghua Zhang, Zhong Li & Xun Wang Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access PolyMOF nanoparticles constructed from intrinsically microporous polymer ligand towards scalable composite membranes for CO2 separation Microporous polymer ligand provides particle size reduction, enhanced ultramicroporosity (3–4 Å), and better colloidal stability in the polymer–metal–organic framework (polyMOF) system. This leads to defect-free and scalable composite membranes for efficient CO2 separation. Tae Hoon Lee, Byung Kwan Lee & Ho Bum Park Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Fragment-based drug nanoaggregation reveals drivers of self-assembly Drug nanoaggregates could be used to improve drug pharmacokinetics when developed for drug delivery, however, the structural features of molecules that drive nanoaggregate formation remain elusive. Here, the authors investigate nanoaggregate self-assembly mechanisms using small molecule fragments to identify the critical molecular forces that contribute to self-assembly, namely aromatic groups and hydrogen bond acceptors/donors. Chen Chen, You Wu & Daniel A. Heller Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Directing polymorph specific calcium carbonate formation with de novo protein templates Most proteins mediating biomineralization in nature are not well structured, and the structures of the relevant protein-mineral interfaces regulating mineralization are elusive. Here, the authors computationally design proteins that modulate calcium carbonate mineralization to generate hybrid materials and elucidate the roles of designed proteins in controlling mineralization. Fatima A. Davila-Hernandez, Biao Jin & David Baker Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Revealing the room temperature superplasticity in bulk recrystallized molybdenum Body-centered cubic refractory metals are known to exhibit excellent high-temperature strength, but often suffer from brittle fracture. Here, the authors produce a bulk pure Mo with stable fine-grain structure after powder metallurgy, Y-type hot rolling and ultra-high temperature annealing (1000~1700 °C) that exhibits room temperature superplasticity. Wenshuai Chen, Xiyao Li & Zenglin Zhou Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access High monoclonal neutralization titers reduced breakthrough HIV-1 viral loads in the Antibody Mediated Prevention trials Antibody Mediated Prevention (AMP) trials showed that the broadly neutralizing antibody VRC01 could prevent some HIV-1 acquisitions. Here the authors use VRC01 levels and the sensitivity of each acquired HIV virus to predict viral loads in the AMP studies and show that VRC01 influenced viral loads, though potency was lower in vivo than expected. Daniel B. Reeves, Bryan T. Mayer & Srilatha Edupuganti Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Elucidating the structure-stability relationship of Cu single-atom catalysts using operando surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy Understanding the structure-stability relationship of catalysts is imperative for the development of high performance electrocatalytic devices. Here the authors use operando attenuated total reflectance surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy to quantitatively monitor the evolution of Cu single-atom catalysts in electrochemical CO2 reduction. Li Zhang, Xiaoju Yang & Xuan Yang Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Molecular sensitised probe for amino acid recognition within peptide sequences Chemical identification of the building blocks of biopolymers often considerably relies on the presence of markers, extensive simulations, or is not possible at all. Here, the authors report a molecular probe-sensitisation approach addressing the identification of a specific amino acid within different peptides. Xu Wu, Bogdana Borca & Uta Schlickum Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Deep learning-based phenotyping reclassifies combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma Combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinomas (cHCC-CCA) are challenging to diagnose, as they exhibit features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICCA). Here, the authors use deep learning to re-classify cHCC-CCA tumours into HCC or ICCA based on histopathology images. Julien Calderaro, Narmin Ghaffari Laleh & Jakob Nikolas Kather Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access Hydrogels with tunable mechanical plasticity regulate endothelial cell outgrowth in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis It is vital to unveil the effects of extracellular matrix cues on endothelial cell (EC) outgrowth for desirably governing vasculature formation, but the role of matrix plasticity on EC outgrowth is elusive. Here, the authors develop hydrogels with tunable mechanical plasticity independent of stiffness, and elucidate the plasticity-mediated responses of ECs during vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. Zhao Wei, Meng Lei & Feng Xu Article 14 December 2023 | Open Access A computational toolbox for the assembly yield of complex and heterogeneous structures Predicting the effective assembly of a set of proteins into a desired structure has traditionally been a challenging task. Here, authors demonstrate that advancements in automatic differentiation make it possible to address this problem using classical statistical mechanics. Agnese I. Curatolo, Ofer Kimchi & Michael P. Brenner Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Hyperbolic exciton polaritons in a van der Waals magnet Hyperbolic exciton polaritons (HEPs) are anisotropic light-matter excitations with promising applications, but their steady-state observation is challenging. Here, the authors report experimental evidence of HEPs in a van der Waals magnet, CrSBr, via cryogenic infrared near-field microscopy. Francesco L. Ruta, Shuai Zhang & D. N. Basov Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Embedding security into ferroelectric FET array via in situ memory operation Existing solutions based Advanced Encryption Standard to address the security issues of nonvolatile memories incurs significant performance and power overhead. Here, the authors propose a lightweight XOR-gate based encryption/decryption technique by exploiting in-situ array operations, which achieves significant area/latency/power reduction compared to conventional designs. Yixin Xu, Yi Xiao & Kai Ni Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Accessing gold p-acid reactivity under electrochemical anode oxidation (EAO) through oxidation relay The combination of gold redox chemistry with electrochemistry is of interest but has limited examples. Here, the authors report an approach for the efficient pi-activation of alkene/alkyne substrates via room temperature gold catalysis under electrochemical conditions. Shuyao Zhang, Jingwen Wei & Xiaodong Shi Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Electroreductive hydroxy fluorosulfonylation of alkenes As sulfonyl fluorides have found wide applications, synthetic access to β-hydroxy sulfonyl fluorides is desirable. Here, the authors report an electroreductive strategy for radical hydroxyl fluorosulfonylation of alkenes with sulfuryl chlorofluoride and molecular oxygen from air. Qingyuan Feng, Tianyu He & Shenlin Huang Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Crystal-facet-dependent surface transformation dictates the oxygen evolution reaction activity in lanthanum nickelate The development of active and stable catalysts for water splitting requires understanding of the surface transformations that occur during the reaction. Here, the authors report how the transformations and the activity depend on the exposed crystal facet using spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. Achim Füngerlings, Marcus Wohlgemuth & Christoph Baeumer Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Quantum transport of high-dimensional spatial information with a nonlinear detector High-dimensional quantum states allow for several advantages in quantum communication, but protocols such as teleportation require additional entangled photons as the dimension increases. Here, the authors show how to transport a high-dimensional quantum state from a bright coherent laser field to a single photon, using two entangled photons as the quantum channel. Bereneice Sephton, Adam Vallés & Andrew Forbes Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Thermodynamic behavior of correlated electron-hole fluids in van der Waals heterostructures Transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers offer a novel platform for studying correlated electron-hole fluids. Here the authors use optical spectroscopy to probe thermodynamic properties of coupled electron-hole states in MoSe2/hBN/WSe2 heterostructures, providing evidence for an excitonic insulator ground state. Ruishi Qi, Andrew Y. Joe & Feng Wang Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Remote transport of high-dimensional orbital angular momentum states and ghost images via spatial-mode-engineered frequency conversion Remote transport of high-dimensional-encoded photonic states could in principle be achieved via quantum teleportation, but with considerable experimental effort. Here, instead, the authors exploit spatial-mode engineered frequency conversion between a coherent wave packet and a single photon to remotely transfer the HD OAM states, also providing a strategy for quantum imaging. Xiaodong Qiu, Haoxu Guo & Lixiang Chen Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Phase-dependent Andreev molecules and superconducting gap closing in coherently-coupled Josephson junctions S. Matsuo et al. report tunneling spectroscopy measurements on a device consisting of two Josephson junctions (JJ) sharing a single superconducting electrode. In isolation, each JJ would host an Andreev bound state (ABS). In their coherently-coupled JJs, the authors report the formation of an Andreev molecule due to hybridization of the two ABSs. Sadashige Matsuo, Takaya Imoto & Seigo Tarucha Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access A corrosion inhibiting layer to tackle the irreversible lithium loss in lithium metal batteries Lithium metal electrodes suffer from both chemical and electrochemical corrosion during battery storage and operation. Here, the authors show that lithium corrosion is due to dissolution of the solid-electrolyte interphase and suppress this by utilizing a multifunctional passivation layer. Chengbin Jin, Yiyu Huang & Xinyong Tao Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access A coherent phonon-induced hidden quadrupolar ordered state in Ca2RuO4 Ultrafast laser excitation can generate metastable states in quantum materials, with no counterpart in equilibrium. Here the authors demonstrate a transient quadrupolar ordered state in Ca2RuO4 single crystals via excitation of a phonon mode coupled to the order parameter. Honglie Ning, Omar Mehio & David Hsieh Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access A resilient battery electric bus transit system configuration A resilient battery electric bus transit system design and configuration is proposed. The model is robust against simultaneous charging disruptions without interrupting daily operation. Indeed, additional marginal cost is required, yet it prevents significant service reductions. Ahmed Foda, Moataz Mohamed & Ehab El-Saadany Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Global distribution and dynamics of muddy coasts 14% of the world’s coastlines are muddy and the majority of them are eroding at rates exceeding 1 m per year over the last three decades, according to an automated classification method that identifies global coastlines. Romy Hulskamp, Arjen Luijendijk & Stefan Aarninkhof Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access Cell geometry regulates tissue fracture The epidermal surface of leaves and flower petals often display cells with wavy geometries. Here the authors provide evidence that this pattern represents an energy-efficient mechanism to protect plants from deleterious surface fissures and toughen the plants’ protective surface. Amir J. Bidhendi, Olivier Lampron & Anja Geitmann Article 13 December 2023 | Open Access The ALS/FTD-related C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion forms RNA condensates through multimolecular G-quadruplexes A common genetic cause of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is expansion of the intronic hexanucleotide repeat (GGGGCC)n in C9orf72. Here the authors reveal that the RNA (GGGGCC)n expansion repeat associated with ALS/FTD can generate condensates in the absence of proteins, highlighting the potential relevance of targeting RNA-structures to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Federica Raguseo, Yiran Wang & Marco Di Antonio