Detailed and accurate 3D mapping of dynamic environments is essential for machines to interface with their surroundings1-3 and for human-machine interaction4,5. Although considerable effort has been made to create the equivalent of the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor for the 3D world, scalable, high-performance, reliable solutions have proven elusive6-11. Focal plane array (FPA) sensors using frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) have shown potential to meet all of these requirements and also provide direct measurement of radial velocity as a fourth dimension. Previous demonstrations12,13, although promising, have not achieved the simultaneous scale and performance required by commercial applications. Here we present a large-scale, coherent LiDAR FPA enabled by comprehensive chip-scale optoelectronic integration. A 4D imaging camera is built around the FPA and used to acquire point clouds. At the core is a 352 × 176-pixel 2D FMCW LiDAR FPA comprising more than 0.6 million photonic components, all integrated on-chip together with their associated electronics. This represents a five times increase in pixel count with respect to previous demonstrations12. The pixel architecture combines the outbound and inbound optical paths within the pixel in a monostatic configuration, together with coherent detectors and electronics. Frequency-modulated light is directed sequentially to groups of pixels by in-plane thermo-optic switches with integrated electronics for driving and calibration. An integrated serial digital interface controls both optical switching and readout synchronously. Point clouds of objects ranging from 4 to 65 m with per-pixel integration time compatible with frame rates from 3 to 15 frames per second (fps) are shown. This result demonstrates the capabilities of FMCW LiDAR FPA sensors as enablers of ubiquitous, low-cost, compact coherent 4D imaging cameras.

A seamless chip-to-world photonic interface enables broad advancements in optical ranging, display, communication, computation and quantum information science. The ideal solution enables two-dimensional scanning of a diffraction-limited beam from anywhere on a photonic integrated circuit to a large number of resolvable spots. Current beam-scanning technologies are limited by a fundamental trade-off: photonic-integrated-circuits with diffractive optics offer scalability but have poor mode quality1,2, whereas inertially limited micromechanical scanners provide high-quality beams but lack scalable integration3,4. Here we report a photonic ski-jump-a nanoscale waveguide monolithically integrated on a piezoelectric cantilever-to overcome these limitations. It passively curls ~90° out-of-plane within a less-than-0.1 mm2 footprint, emits a submicrometre, broadband diffraction-limited beam, and exhibits kilohertz-rate mechanical resonances with quality factors of over 10,000. Fabricated in a volume complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) foundry, our device enables scalable two-dimensional beam scanning. Driven on-resonance at CMOS-level voltages, it achieves a footprint-adjusted spot rate of 68.6 mega spots s-1 mm-², exceeding state-of-the-art micro-electro-mechanical systems mirrors by more than 50-fold, which is sufficient for one million pixels at 100 Hz from an approximately 1.5 mm diameter footprint. We demonstrate full-colour image and video projection, and single-photon initialization and readout from silicon vacancy centres in diamond. Finally, by demonstrating uniformity across a 64 ski-jump array, we establish a pathway to achieving greater than one gigaspot resolution at kilohertz rates within a sub-5-cm-diameter footprint, creating a seamless optical pipeline between integrated photonic processors and the free-space world.

Bacteria harness diverse defence systems that protect against phage predation1, many of which are encoded on horizontally transmitted mobile genetic elements2. In turn, phages evolve counter-defences3, driving a dynamic arms race that remains underexplored in human disease contexts. For the diarrhoeal pathogen Vibrio cholerae, a higher burden of its lytic phage ICP1 in patient stool correlates with reduced disease severity4. However, direct molecular evidence of lytic phages driving selection of epidemic V. cholerae has not been demonstrated. Here, through clinical surveillance in cholera-endemic Bangladesh, we capture the acquisition of a parasitic anti-phage mobile genetic element, PLE11, that initiated a selective sweep coinciding with the largest cholera outbreak in recent records. PLE11 showed potent anti-phage activity against cocirculating ICP1, explaining its rapid and dominating emergence. We identify PLE11-encoded Rta as the defence responsible and provide evidence that Rta restricts phage tail assembly. Using experimental evolution, we predict phage counteradaptations against PLE11 and document the eventual emergence and selection of clinical ICP1 that achieve a convergent evolutionary outcome. Finally, we discover how PLEs balance their dependence on ICP1 tail proteins for horizontal transmission with the restriction of phage tail assembly by Rta: PLEs construct chimeric tails composed of both mobile genetic element-encoded and phage-encoded proteins to ensure their transmission. Collectively, our findings reveal the molecular basis of the natural selection of a globally important pathogen and its virus in a clinically relevant context.

Plant nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NLR) immune receptors detect pathogen effectors and activate immunity1. Coiled-coil NLRs (CNLs) form resistosomes as Ca2+-permeable channels in the plasma membrane (PM)2-4. However, the mechanism by which resistosomes activate cell death remains unclear. Here we report that the CNL SUPPRESSOR OF mkk1 mkk2 2 (SUMM2), unlike canonical CNLs that use a MADA motif to penetrate the PM5, tethers to the PM through N-myristoylation, a common feature among many CNLs. PM targeting via N-myristoylation is essential for SUMM2-induced cell death. Upon activation, SUMM2 promotes the association of the lipase-like proteins ENHANCED DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY 1 (EDS1) and PHYTOALEXIN DEFICIENT 4 (PAD4) with the helper NLR-ACTIVATED DISEASE RESISTANCE 1-LIKE 1 (ADR1-L1). Furthermore, active SUMM2 induces the clustering of multiple ADR1-L1 resistosomes into a ring-like assembly colocalized with the EDS1-PAD4 complex, and the EDS1-PAD4-ADR1 module is essential for SUMM2-activated cell death. Together, these findings reveal that N-myristoylation-mediated PM targeting of SUMM2 promotes the assembly of higher-order EDS1-PAD4-ADR1-L1 resistosome clusters for cell death initiation.

Halide perovskite light-emitting diodes promise high-efficiency1-3, low-cost optoelectronics, yet their operational instability remains a critical barrier to practical deployment. Here we develop a multimodal in situ electron microscopy approach that integrates four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and atomic-resolution imaging to directly visualize structural and chemical evolution in a working halide perovskite light-emitting diode with nanometre precision. Our in situ biasing measurements uncover nanoscale structural and chemical transformations initiated at transport layer interfaces, including the formation of metallic lead and lead-rich secondary phases, as well as strain-driven grain fragmentation. On biasing, we observe the partial transformation of the metallic Al contact to insulating AlCl3. Crucially, whereas the bulk of the perovskite emitter remains relatively intact, our experiment shows that degradation is localized at interfaces. By comparing in situ and ex situ measurements, these results establish a mechanistic link between interfacial strain, ionic transport and electrochemical reactions in working devices, and provide a broadly applicable framework for nanoscale degradation analysis in complex multilayered optoelectronic systems using multimodal in situ biasing microscopy.

Convective storms can develop rapidly, creating hazards to local populations through intense precipitation, strong winds and lightning1. The large-scale environment in which thunderstorms develop is often well captured in forecast systems, yet predicting where individual storms will initiate remains a fundamental challenge. It is known that differential heating driven by soil moisture (SM) patterns creates atmospheric circulations that favour convective initiation over drier soils2,3, whereas wind shear between low and mid levels can enhance storm growth4,5. Here we show that the most extreme initiations are especially favoured over SM contrasts by means of an interaction with wind shear. Analysing 2.2 million afternoon events across sub-Saharan Africa, we find 68% more initiations classed as extreme given favourable (versus unfavourable) soil conditions, with greatest vertical storm growth occurring where SM-driven circulations oppose the direction of shear-induced cloud displacement. Developing clouds follow the mid-level wind direction and, where this opposes the low-level flow, rainfall is strongly correlated with locally drier soils. Although such shear conditions are particularly common over tropical north Africa, the effect favours negative SM-precipitation feedbacks globally. The combination of SM heterogeneity and wind shear provides a potentially important source of predictability for where deep convection develops, particularly for the most rapidly developing thunderstorms.

Humans and animals can sense the negative states of other individuals and respond with prosocial behaviour to improve their conditions1,2. Although prosocial behaviour is hypothesized to have an evolutionary root in caring for vulnerable newborn offspring1,3, whether the neural substrates underlying parenting may contribute to adult-directed prosocial behaviours remains largely unclear. We show that mice with higher levels of parenting exhibit more prosocial allogrooming toward stressed adults. The medial preoptic area (MPOA), a brain area involved in parenting behaviour, bidirectionally regulates allogrooming toward stressed conspecifics. Allogrooming and parenting behaviours recruit a partially overlapping neuronal ensemble in the MPOA, are both controlled by an MPOA-to-VTA pathway and are associated with dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Using activity-dependent labeling, we demonstrate that MPOA neuronal ensembles engaged during parenting behaviours are functionally required for allogrooming. Conversely, MPOA neurons activated during prosocial behaviour are functionally required for pup grooming. Collectively, these findings uncover a neural circuit mechanism of prosocial behaviour and reveal partially shared neural substrates between parenting and prosocial behaviours, suggesting that the neural systems evolved for offspring care may have provided a scaffold for the emergence of broader prosocial support between adults.

Interactions between diet and the gut microbiota are fundamental to metabolic health, shaping energy balance and disease susceptibility1-5. However, the underlying mechanisms by which dietary and microbial factors converge to regulate host physiology remain unclear. Here we show that protein availability profoundly modulates the functional landscape of the gut microbiota and promotes remodelling of white adipose tissue (WAT). Specifically, low-protein diets (LPDs) robustly induce signature genes of browning in WAT to a similar extent to that seen in response to classical stimuli, such as cold exposure or β-adrenergic receptor activation6-8. LPD-mediated browning was markedly diminished in germ-free mice, and this defect was rescued by colonization with defined bacterial consortia made up of strains that were isolated and down-selected from the faeces of either LPD-fed mice or healthy human volunteers with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)-confirmed brown- or beige-fat activity9-12. Microbiota-induced browning was mediated both by bile acids driving the activation of the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) in adipose progenitor cells, and by nrfA-encoding commensal-derived ammonia driving the expression of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in hepatocytes. The bile acid-FXR and ammonia-FGF21 axes both have non-redundant, essential roles in promoting WAT browning. These findings highlight a mechanistic link between diet, gut microbial metabolism and adipose tissue remodelling, uncovering microbiota-dependent pathways by which the host responds to dietary cues.

Aerosol forecasting is important for air-quality management, health risk assessment and climate change mitigation1,2. However, it is more complex than weather forecasting, owing to the interactions between aerosol physicochemical processes and atmospheric dynamics, resulting in high uncertainty and computational costs3,4. Here we develop a machine-learning-driven Global Aerosol-Meteorology Forecasting System (AI-GAMFS), which provides reliable 5-day, 3-hourly forecasts of aerosol optical components and surface concentrations. AI-GAMFS combines a vision transformer and U-Net in a backbone network, robustly capturing the complex aerosol-meteorology interactions via global attention and spatiotemporal encoding. Trained on 42 years of aerosol reanalysis data and initialized with Global Earth Observing System Forward Processing (GEOS-FP) analyses, AI-GAMFS delivers operational 5-day forecasts in 1 minute. Evaluation with independent ground-based observations suggests improved performance compared with the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service5 and regional dust models6-9 in forecasting aerosol optical depth and dust components. Compared with GEOS-FP10, it has a lower root-mean-square error for global aerosol optical depth, with comparable dust forecasting skill and improved surface aerosol component forecasts over the USA and China. Our results provide a step forward in leveraging machine learning to refine aerosol forecasting and may help warn against aerosol pollution events such as dust storms and wildfires.

Rivers are Earth's most renewable and accessible freshwater resource1, yet global estimates of the magnitude and variability in river water storage have remained few and inconsistent1-9. Previous estimates of variability have relied either on sparse and asynchronous remote-sensing observations10 or on hydrological models constrained by incomplete understanding of surface-water balance and poorly known river channel characteristics2,3. The insufficient knowledge of temporal variations in river water storage across space hinders effective management of this critical freshwater resource11,12. Here we present near-global-scale observations of active river channel geometry and associated monthly changes in water storage at the reach scale derived from the first water year (October 2023 to September 2024) of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission at 126,674 reaches worldwide. Clear patterns of riverbed shape and storage variability expectedly emerge across major basins. SWOT reveals a range of 313.1 ± 129.5 km³ in global annual river storage variability, approximately 28% lower than the lowest previously modelled estimates for the same wide reaches. Although the Amazon's 2024 record drought, the observational challenges in the Arctic and the revisit frequency of SWOT almost certainly contribute to the discrepancy, the observations point to distinct knowledge limitations in surface-water science. These findings highlight key opportunities to improve the fundamental representation of surface-water dynamics in global models and to better inform water resource management and disaster mitigation at scale.

Insects make up the majority of all animal species, with 70% occurring in the tropics1, yet the impacts of warming on tropical insects remain highly uncertain2. This stems from sparse, taxonomically biased data on thermal tolerance of tropical insects and an incomplete understanding of the underlying physiological mechanisms3. Here we compared environmental temperatures with field-measured upper and lower thermal tolerance limits of around 2,300 insect species along Afrotropical and Neotropical elevational gradients and identified genomic signatures of thermal tolerance across the insect tree of life. We show that thermal tolerances do not proportionally track environmental temperatures but approach an asymptote in tropical lowlands. Insects at high elevations utilize plasticity to cope with rising temperatures, whereas lowland species have limited plastic abilities. Heat tolerance showed strong differences among insect orders and families, reflected in the thermal stability of proteins, suggesting that variation in thermal tolerance is founded in the fundamental protein architecture. Up to 52% of future surface temperatures and 38% of air temperatures in the Amazonian lowlands can cause heat mortality in half of the studied community. Our data suggest a limited capacity of insects in the Earth's most biodiverse regions to buffer future warming.

Socioeconomic status (SES) significantly influences mental health outcomes and treatment access, yet its reporting in psychedelic-assisted therapy trials remains underexplored. Here we systematically reviewed 98 articles (49 primary trials and 49 secondary analyses) published between 2006 and 2024 examining classic psychedelics and MDMA for mental health conditions. Only 12% of primary trials reported participant income data, and 31% reported educational attainment. In USA-based trials, participants showed markedly higher SES than the general population: 93% had some college education (versus 62% nationally), and median incomes in major trials substantially exceeded the national median for all workers. Non-US trials showed variable patterns. This widespread underreporting of SES data and evidence of socioeconomic disparities, particularly in US trials, highlights an urgent need for standardized SES reporting and targeted strategies to improve socioeconomic diversity in psychedelic-assisted therapy research, ensuring broader generalizability and access to these emerging treatments.

Is it feasible to alter the ground-state properties of a material by engineering its electromagnetic environment? Inspired by theoretical predictions1-12, experimental realizations of such cavity-controlled properties without optical excitation are beginning to emerge13-19. Here we devised and implemented a new platform to realize cavity-altered materials. Single crystals of hyperbolic van der Waals (vdW) compounds provide a resonant electromagnetic environment with enhanced density of photonic states and prominent mode confinement20-24. We interfaced hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) with the molecular superconductor κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br (κ-ET). The frequencies of infrared hyperbolic modes (HMs) of hBN (refs. 25,26) match the infrared-active carbon-carbon (C=C) stretching molecular resonance of κ-ET implicated in superconductivity27. Nano-optical data supported by first-principles molecular Langevin dynamics simulations confirm the presence of resonant coupling between the hBN hyperbolic cavity modes and the C=C stretching mode in κ-ET. Meissner-effect measurements using magnetic force microscopy (MFM) demonstrate a strong suppression of superfluid density near the hBN/κ-ET interface. Non-resonant control heterostructures, including RuCl3/κ-ET and hBN/Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x (BSCCO), do not show the pronounced superfluid suppression. These observations suggest that hBN/κ-ET realizes a cavity-altered superconducting ground state. Our work highlights the potential of dark cavities devoid of external photons for engineering electronic ground-state properties of complex quantum materials.

The family of nickelate superconductors have long been explored as analogues of the high-temperature cuprates1-6. Nonetheless, the recent discovery that certain stoichiometric nickelates superconduct up to high critical temperatures (Tc) under pressure came as a surprise7-13. The mechanisms underlying the superconducting state remain experimentally unclear. Apart from the practical challenges posed by working in a high-pressure environment, typical samples exhibit anomalously weak diamagnetic responses, which have been conjectured to reflect inhomogeneous 'filamentary' superconducting states7,9,14-17. Here we perform wide-field, high-pressure, optically detected magnetic resonance spectroscopy to image the local diamagnetic responses of as-grown La3Ni2O7 samples in situ, using nitrogen vacancy quantum sensors embedded in the diamond anvil cell18-23. These maps confirm marked inhomogeneity of the functional superconducting responses at the few μm scale. By spatially correlating the diamagnetic Meissner response with both the local tensorial stress environment, also imaged in situ, and stoichiometric composition, we show the dominant mechanisms suppressing and enhancing superconductivity. Our wide-field technique simultaneously provides a broad view of sample behaviour and excellent local sensitivity, enabling the rapid construction of multi-parameter phase diagrams from the local structure-function correlations observed at the sub-μm pixel scale.

The sensitivity of non-local optical measurements at low light intensities, such as those involved in long-baseline telescope arrays1,2, is limited by fundamental quantum noise and photon losses3. Distributed quantum entanglement has been proposed as a route towards overcoming these limitations and accessing new regimes of non-local optical sensing4-6. Here we demonstrate the use of entangled quantum memories in a quantum network of silicon-vacancy centres in diamond nanocavities7-9 to experimentally perform such non-local phase measurements. Specifically, we combine the generation of event-ready remote quantum entanglement, photon mode erasure that hides the 'which-path' information of temporally and spatially separated incoming optical modes and non-local, non-destructive photon heralding enabled by remote entanglement to perform a proof-of-concept entanglement-assisted differential phase measurement of weak incident light between two spatially separate stations. Demonstrating successful operation of the remote phase sensing protocol with a fibre link baseline up to 1.55 km, our results provide an opportunity for a new class of quantum-enhanced optical imaging methods with potential applications ranging from long-baseline interferometry and astronomy to microscopy10,11.

The existence of human hippocampal neurogenesis has long been disputed1-12 and its relevance in cognition remains unknown. Recent studies have established the presence of proliferating progenitors and immature neurons and a reduction in the latter in Alzheimer's disease (AD)11,13. However, their origin and the molecular networks that regulate neurogenesis and function are poorly understood. Here we studied human post-mortem hippocampi obtained from different cohorts: young adults with intact memory, aged adults with no cognitive impairments, aged adults with extraordinary memory capacity (SuperAgers)14,15, adults with preclinical intermediate pathology or adults with AD. Using multiomic single-cell sequencing (single-nucleus RNA sequencing and single-nuclei assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing), we analysed the profiles of 355,997 nuclei isolated from the hippocampus samples and identified neural stem cells, neuroblasts and immature granule neurons. Dysregulated neurogenesis was largely associated with changes in chromatin accessibility. Analyses of transcription factors and target gene signatures that distinguished each of the groups revealed early alterations in chromatin accessibility of neurogenic cells from individuals with preclinical AD, and such changes were even more evident in samples from individuals with AD. We identified a distinct profile of neurogenesis in SuperAgers that may reflect a 'resilience signature'. Finally, alterations in the profile of astrocytes and CA1 neurons govern cognitive function in the ageing hippocampus. Together, our study points to a multiomic molecular signature of the hippocampus that distinguishes cognitive resilience and deterioration with ageing.

Atopic diseases associated with allergens, as well as allergic diseases, frequently arise early in life; however, the age-dependent mechanisms governing immune responses to allergens remain poorly understood1. Here we find that in early life, exposure to common allergens triggers a distinct bifurcated immune response, simultaneously triggering type 17 inflammation in the skin and initiating canonical T helper 2 sensitization in the lymph nodes. This early-life γδ type 17-mediated dermatitis primes the exaggerated allergic lung inflammation upon secondary allergen exposure. Mechanistically, we find dendritic cell (DC)-mediated type 17 activation directly in the skin without requiring migration to lymph nodes; we term this state 'peripheral immune inducer' (pii) DC. CD301b+ conventional type 2 DCs acquire allergen, adopt the pii-DC state, produce IL-23 and activate local γδ type 17 cells independently of lymph-node engagement. The pii-DC state is enabled by the immature hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and physiologically low systemic glucocorticoids characteristic of early life2,3; DC-specific deletion of the glucocorticoid receptor recapitulates the pii-DC phenotype. These findings define a developmental checkpoint, set by neuroendocrine maturation, that enables in situ DC activation and immune induction, thereby shaping age-dependent responses to allergens.

Multicellularity evolved independently multiple times in eukaryotes1-4. Two distinct mechanisms underpin multicellularity5: clonality (serial cell division without sister-cell separation) and aggregation (whereby independent cells assemble into a multicellular entity). Clonal and aggregative multicellularity are traditionally considered to be mutually exclusive1,6-8, with rare exceptions9, and evolutionary hypotheses have addressed why multicellularity might diverge towards one or the other extreme3,4. Both animals and their sister group, the choanoflagellates, are currently known to acquire multicellularity only clonally4,10,11. Here we show that the choanoflagellate Choanoeca flexa12 forms motile and contractile cell monolayers (sheets) through multiple mechanisms-C. flexa sheets can form purely clonally, purely aggregatively or through a combination of both processes. We characterize the life history of C. flexa in its natural environment-ephemeral splash pools on the island of Curaçao-and show that C. flexa undergoes reversible transitions between unicellularity and multicellularity during evaporation-refilling cycles. Different splash pools house genetically distinct strains of C. flexa and kin recognition constrains aggregation between them. We show that clonal-aggregative multicellularity is a versatile strategy for the robust establishment of multicellularity in this variable and fast-fluctuating environment. Our findings challenge former generalizations about choanoflagellates and expand the option space of choanozoan multicellularity.