@article{20191, abstract = {High-entropy alloys (HEAs) show great potential for catalyzing complex multi-step reactions, but optimizing their parameters, i.e., composition, but also their crystallinity and morphology, remains a significant challenge. In this study, FeCoNiMoW HEAs are synthesized into either amorphous nanosheets (HEANS) or crystalline nanoparticles (HEANP), which are then used to catalyze the lithium–sulfur (Li–S) reaction of Li–S batteries (LSBs). Evaluations in symmetric cells, coin cells, and pouch cells reveal that HEANS significantly enhance LSB performance, achieving initial discharge capacities up to 1632 mAh g−1. The batteries also exhibit excellent cycling stability over 1000 cycles at 3Cand maintain high-rate performance up to 10C with a capacity of 614 mAh g−1. Comprehensive in situ analyses and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that amorphous HEANS provide more active sites, better ionic conductivity and stronger chemical interactions with lithium polysulfides (LiPS). These properties effectively suppress the shuttle effect, promote the complete S8 → Li2S conversion by reducing the impedance of the solid-electrolyte interphase, and accelerate the Li2S4 → Li2S2 step by lowering the nucleation energy barrier. Overall, this study highlights the superior catalytic properties of amorphous 2D HEAs in LSBs and offers new insights into the mechanisms of LiPS conversion.}, author = {He, Ren and Lee, Seungho and Ding, Yang and Huang, Chen and Lu, Xuan and Zheng, Lirong and Yu, Ao and Zhang, Chaoyue and Li, Canhuang and Bi, Xiaoyu and Li, Yaqiang and Liao, Yaqi and Li, Junshan and Ostovari Moghaddam, Ahmad and Yernar, Salimov and Xu, Ying and Ibáñez, Maria and Zhang, Chaoqi and Yang, Linlin and Zhou, Yingtang and Cabot, Andreu}, issn = {1616-3028}, journal = {Advanced Functional Materials}, keywords = {amorphous, high entropy alloy, in situ electrochemical impedance spec-troscopy, in situ Raman, Li–S batteries}, number = {5}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Amorphous high entropy alloy nanosheets enabling robust Li–S batteries}}, doi = {10.1002/adfm.202513859}, volume = {36}, year = {2026}, } @article{20590, abstract = {Moist convection is a fundamental process occurring in the Earth's atmosphere. It plays a central role in the weather and climate of the Tropics, where, to first order, the heating of the atmosphere by convection is in balance with the cooling of the atmosphere by the emission of radiation to outer space. In this study, we use a cloud-resolving model in radiative–convective equilibrium with an imposed constant rate of radiative cooling and study the response of moist convection to varying this rate of radiative cooling. In particular, we study two types of simulation: varying air temperature (VAT) simulations, where the air temperature is allowed to adjust to the imposed radiative cooling, and constant air temperature (CAT) simulations, where the surface temperature is tuned to ensure that the atmospheric temperature profile in the domain is constant. We recover the previously known result that, in response to increasing radiative cooling, the area of convection expands rapidly, while the intensity of convection does not change. We find that this response is explained by the increased boundary-layer variability in simulations with greater radiative cooling, which compensates for the decreasing temperature by adding a larger initial velocity close to the cloud base. We also propose a fundamental scaling of the non-dimensional cumulus mass flux in moist convection, which is robust across models of different complexity. We aim to bridge the gap between highly idealised prototypes of moist convection, such as the “Rainy–Bénard convection” introduced by Vallis et al., and comprehensive cloud-resolving models.}, author = {Agasthya, Lokahith N and Muller, Caroline J}, issn = {1477-870X}, journal = {Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society}, number = {775}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Moist convection and radiative cooling: Dynamical response and scaling}}, doi = {10.1002/qj.70044}, volume = {152}, year = {2026}, } @article{20585, abstract = {Motivated by applications in medical sciences, we study finite chromatic sets in Euclidean space from a topological perspective. Based on the persistent homology for images, kernels and cokernels, we design provably stable homological quantifiers that describe the geometric micro- and macro-structure of how the color classes mingle. These can be efficiently computed using chromatic variants of Delaunay and alpha complexes, and code that does these computations is provided.}, author = {Cultrera di Montesano, Sebastiano and Draganov, Ondrej and Edelsbrunner, Herbert and Saghafian, Morteza}, issn = {2639-8001}, journal = {Foundations of Data Science}, keywords = {Topological data analysis, Delaunay mosaic, alpha complex, chromatic sets, persistent homology, kernel/image/cokernel persistent homology, radius function, discrete Morse theory, exact sequences}, pages = {30--62}, publisher = {American Institute of Mathematical Sciences}, title = {{Chromatic alpha complexes}}, doi = {10.3934/fods.2025003}, volume = {8}, year = {2026}, } @article{20490, abstract = {We study flips in hypertriangulations of planar points sets. Here a level-k hypertriangulation of n points in the plane is a subdivision induced by the projection of a k-hypersimplex, which is the convex hull of the barycenters of the (k-1)-dimensional faces of the standard (n-1)-simplex. In particular, we introduce four types of flips and prove that the level-2 hypertriangulations are connected by these flips. }, author = {Edelsbrunner, Herbert and Garber, Alexey and Ghafari, Mohadese and Heiss, Teresa and Saghafian, Morteza}, issn = {0195-6698}, journal = {European Journal of Combinatorics}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Flips in two-dimensional hypertriangulations}}, doi = {10.1016/j.ejc.2025.104248}, volume = {132}, year = {2026}, } @article{20081, abstract = {Information measures can be constructed from Rényi divergences much like mutual information from Kullback-Leibler divergence. One such information measure is known as Sibson α-mutual information and has received renewed attention recently in several contexts: concentration of measure under dependence, statistical learning, hypothesis testing, and estimation theory. In this paper, we survey and extend the state of the art. In particular, we introduce variational representations for Sibson α-mutual information and employ them in each described context to derive novel results. Namely, we produce generalized Transportation-Cost inequalities and Fano-type inequalities. We also present an overview of known applications, spanning from learning theory and Bayesian risk to universal prediction.}, author = {Esposito, Amedeo Roberto and Gastpar, Michael and Issa, Ibrahim}, issn = {1557-9654}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Information Theory}, number = {7}, pages = {4434--4467}, publisher = {IEEE}, title = {{Sibson α-mutual information and its variational representations}}, doi = {10.1109/TIT.2025.3587340}, volume = {72}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{22281, abstract = {In this thesis, we took a look at networks, and more specifically, at networks that change over time, whether those are networks in the distributed algorithms sense of the word, or the graph algorithm sense. In distributed algorithms, we looked at two main problems. First, the broadcast problem: given n agents, each agent is tasked to forward a (unique) message to every other agent. Agents collaborate and can copy and forward all messages they have received up until that point. Broadcast is achieved when one agent has successfully broadcast its message to everyone else. We studied the case where the communication network is controlled by an adversary, under the condition that the graph is rooted in every round of communication. We show that the adversary can delay broadcast for at most l (1 + √ 2)n m rounds, improving on the $O(n\log\log n)$ previous upper bound~\cite{fugger2020radius}, and asymptotically matching the $\sim 1.5n$ lower bound~\cite{schwarz2017linear}. We then looked at the stochastic version of the problem: here, the adversary -- parametrized by $k$ where $k=0$ signifies that the adversary has no control, and $k=n$ that the adversary has full control -- can choose parts of the graph, and the graph is then completed stochastically. Here, we are able to look at a stronger version of broadcast: instead of having $n$ messages trying to be broadcast in parallel, we can assume that only one message needs to be broadcasted. We show the bound $\Theta(k+\log n)$. Then, we looked at undecided states dynamics in population protocols: given a population of $n$ agents, where each initially holds an opinion among $k$ different ones. In each round, two agents are chosen uniformly at random, and can interact. If they have different opinions, they forget their opinions and become undecided. If one of them is undecided while the other has an opinion, they undecided agent copies they opinion of the decided one. The question is then, how many interactions does it take for the whole population to share the same opinion? We show a $\Omega(kn\log \frac {\sqrt n} {k \log n})$ lower bound for any $k = o\left(\frac {\sqrt n}{\log n}\right)$. This is tight for any $ k \le n^{\frac 1 2 - \epsilon}$, where $\epsilon >0$ can be any small constant, matching the known $O(kn\log n)$ upper bound for $k = O\left(\frac {\sqrt n} {\log ^2 n}\right)$~\cite{DBLP:conf/podc/AmirABBHKL23}. Finally, in dynamic algorithms, we study the minimum cut problem: we are given a graph, whose vertex set we want to partition into two subsets such that the number of edges crossing from one subset to the other is minimized. Then, the graph can be updated via edge insertions or deletions, and we must update the solution without recomputing everything from scratch. We present an exact fully-dynamic minimum cut algorithm that runs in $n^{o(1)}$ deterministic update time when the minimum cut size is at most $2^{\Theta(\log^{3/4-c}n)}$ for any $c>0$, improving on the previous algorithm~\cite{DBLP:conf/soda/JinST24} whose minimum cut size limit is $(\log n)^{o(1)}$. Using sparsification and randomization techniques, we are able to extend this to all values of the minimum cut in weighted graphs, at the cost of a $(1+o(1))$-approximation ratio.}, author = {El-Hayek, Antoine}, issn = {2663-337X}, pages = {244}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{Handling updates and failures: Dynamic graph algorithms and distributed computing on dynamic networks}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-22281}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{21720, abstract = {We present an exact fully-dynamic minimum cut algorithm that runs in 𝑛𝑜⁡(1) deterministic update time when the minimum cut size is at most 2Θ⁡(log3/4−𝑐⁡𝑛) for any 𝑐 >0, improving on the previous algorithm of Jin, Sun, and Thorup (SODA 2024) whose minimum cut size limit is (log⁡𝑛)𝑜⁡(1). Combined with graph sparsification, we obtain the first (1 +𝜖)-approximate fully-dynamic minimum cut algorithm on weighted graphs, for any 𝜖 ≥2−Θ⁡(log3/4−𝑐⁡𝑛), in 𝑛𝑜⁡(1) randomized update time. Our main technical contribution is a deterministic local minimum cut algorithm, which replaces the randomized LocalKCut procedure from El-Hayek, Henzinger, and Li (SODA 2025).}, author = {El-Hayek, Antoine and Henzinger, Monika H and Li, Jason}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the Annual ACM SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms}, issn = {1557-9468}, location = {Vancouver, Canada}, pages = {613--663}, publisher = {Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics}, title = {{Deterministic and exact fully-dynamic minimum cut of superpolylogarithmic size in subpolynomial time}}, doi = {10.1137/1.9781611978971.25}, volume = {2026}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{22405, abstract = {Computing the diameter of the intersection graphs of objects is a basic problem in computational geometry. Previous works showed that the complexity of computing the diameter mainly depends on the object types: for unit disks and squares in 2D, the problem is solvable in truly subquadratic time [Chan et al., 2025], while for other objects, including unit segments and equilateral triangles in 2D or unit balls and axis-parallel unit cubes in 3D, there is no truly subquadratic time algorithm under the Orthogonal Vector (OV) hypothesis [Bringmann et al., 2022]. We undertake a comprehensive study of computing the diameter of geometric intersection graphs for various types of objects. We discover many new irregularities, showing that the landscape is extremely nuanced: the source of hardness is a combination of the object type, the true diameter value, and how the objects intersect with each other. Our highlighted results for the 2D case include: 1) The diameter of non-degenerate, axis-aligned line segments can be computed in truly subquadratic time. Previous hardness result [Bringmann et al., 2022] for line segments applies only to degenerate instances. On the other hand, for the degenerate case, we show that a truly subquadratic time algorithm exists when the true diameter is constant. 2) An almost-linear-time algorithm for unit-square graphs of constant diameter. Previous algorithms [Duraj et al., 2024; Chan et al., 2025] rely on succinct representation assuming bounded VC-dimension; for such a strategy Ω(n^{7/4}) time is an inherent barrier. 3) An Õ(n^{4/3})-time algorithm to decide if the diameter of a unit-disk graph is at most 2. This improves upon the recent algorithm with running time Õ(n^{2-1/9}) [Chan et al., 2025]. 4) Deciding if the diameter of intersection graphs of fat triangles or line segments is at most 2 is truly subquadratic-hard under fine-grained complexity assumptions. Previous lower bounds [Bringmann et al., 2022] only hold when deciding if diameter is at most 3. Our findings are presented in a pair of papers. This paper focuses solely on the 2D case, while the companion paper is devoted to higher-dimensional cases.}, author = {Chan, Timothy M. and Chang, Hsien-Chih and Gao, Jie and Kisfaludi-Bak, Sándor and Le, Hung and Zheng, Da Wei}, booktitle = {53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming}, issn = {1868-8969}, keywords = {String graphs, Fine-grained complexity, Theory of computation → Computational geometry}, location = {Egham, United Kingdom}, publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik}, title = {{Charting the landscape of diameter computation on geometric intersection graphs in the plane}}, doi = {10.4230/LIPICS.ICALP.2026.54}, volume = {374}, year = {2026}, } @article{22403, abstract = {Linear phase‐contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) techniques compatible with high‐throughput 4D‐STEM acquisition are widely used to enhance phase contrast in weakly scattering and beam‐sensitive materials. In these modalities, contrast transfer is often suppressed at low spatial frequencies, resulting in a characteristic contrast gap that limits contrast. Approaches that retain low‐frequency phase contrast exist but typically require substantially increased experimental complexity, restricting routine use. Dark‐field STEM imaging captures this missing low‐frequency information through electrons scattered outside the bright‐field disk, but discards a large fraction of the scattered signal and is therefore dose‐inefficient. Fused Full‐field STEM (FF‐STEM) is introduced as a 4D‐STEM imaging modality that overcomes these limitations by combining ptychographic phase reconstruction with tilt‐corrected dark‐field imaging within a single acquisition. Bright‐field data are used to estimate probe aberrations and reconstruct a high‐resolution phase image, while dark‐field data provide complementary low‐frequency contrast. The two channels are fused in Fourier space using Wiener‐band weighting based on the spectral signal‐to‐noise ratio, yielding transfer‐gap‐free images with high contrast. FF‐STEM preserves the upsampling and depth‐sectioning capabilities of ptychography, adds robust low‐frequency contrast characteristic of dark‐field imaging, and enables dose‐efficient, near–real‐time reconstruction.}, author = {You, Shengbo and Varnavides, Georgios and Khavnekar, Sagar and Palatkin, Nikita and Shao, Sihan and Wu, Mingjian and Stroppa, Daniel and Chernikova, Darya and Zhu, Baixu and Egoavil, Ricardo and Vespucci, Stefano and Krishnan, Dileep and Ye, Xingchen and Schur, Florian KM and Spiecker, Erdmann and Pelz, Philipp}, issn = {2198-3844}, journal = {Advanced Science}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Gap‐free information transfer in 4D‐STEM via fusion of complementary scattering channels}}, doi = {10.1002/advs.76620}, year = {2026}, } @article{20655, abstract = {Traits that affect organismal fitness are often highly genetically variable. This genetic variation is vital for populations to adapt to their environments, but it is also surprising given that nature – after all – ‘selects’ the best genotypes at the expense of those that fall short. Explaining the extensive genetic variation of fitness‐related traits is thus a longstanding puzzle in evolutionary biology, with cascading implications for ecology, conservation, and human health. Balancing selection – an umbrella term for scenarios in which natural selection maintains genetic variation – is a century‐old explanation to resolve this puzzle that has gained recent momentum from genome‐scale methods for detecting it. Yet evaluating whether balancing selection can, in fact, resolve the puzzle is challenging, given the logistical constraints of distinguishing balancing selection from alternative hypotheses and the daunting collection of theoretical models that formally underpin this debate. Here, we track the development of balancing selection theory over the last century and provide an accessible review of this rich collection of models. We first outline the range of biological scenarios that can generate balancing selection. We then examine how fundamental features of genetic systems – non‐random mating between individuals, ploidy levels, genetic drift, linkage, and genetic architectures of traits – have been progressively incorporated into the theory. We end by linking these theoretical predictions to ongoing empirical efforts to understand the evolutionary processes that explain genetic variation.}, author = {Ruzicka, Filip and Zwoinska, Martyna K. and Goedert, Debora and Kokko, Hanna and Li Richter, Xiang‐Yi and Moodie, Iain R. and Nilén, Sofie and Olito, Colin and Svensson, Erik I. and Czuppon, Peter and Connallon, Tim}, issn = {1469-185X}, journal = {Biological Reviews}, keywords = {evolutionary theory, population genetics, balancing selection, heterozygote advantage, trade-offs, negative frequency-dependent selection, fitness variation, mathematical modelling}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{A century of theories of balancing selection}}, doi = {10.1111/brv.70103}, volume = {101}, year = {2026}, } @article{20670, abstract = {β-Barrel nanopores are involved in crucial biological processes, from ATP export in mitochondria to bacterial resistance, and represent a promising platform for emerging sequencing technologies. However, in contrast to ion channels, the understanding of the fundamental principles governing ion transport through these nanopores remains largely unexplored. Here we integrate experimental, numerical and theoretical approaches to elucidate ion transport mechanisms in β-barrel nanopores. We identify and characterize two distinct nonlinear phenomena: open-pore rectification and gating. Through extensive mutation analysis of aerolysin nanopores, we demonstrate that open-pore rectification is caused by ionic accumulation driven by the distribution of lumen charges. In addition, we provide converging evidence suggesting that gating is controlled by electric fields dissociating counterions from lumen charges, promoting local structural deformations. Our findings establish a rigorous framework for characterizing and understanding ion transport processes in protein-based nanopores, enabling the design of adaptable nanofluidic biotechnologies. We illustrate this by optimizing an aerolysin mutant for computing applications.}, author = {Mayer, Simon and Mitsioni, Marianna Fanouria and Robin, Paul and Van Den Heuvel, Lukas and Ronceray, Nathan and Marcaida, Maria Jose and Abriata, Luciano A. and Krapp, Lucien F. and Anton, Jana S. and Soussou, Sarah and Jeanneret-Grosjean, Justin and Fulciniti, Alessandro and Möller, Alexia and Vacle, Sarah and Feletti, Lely and Brinkerhoff, Henry and Laszlo, Andrew H. and Gundlach, Jens H. and Emmerich, Theo and Dal Peraro, Matteo and Radenovic, Aleksandra}, issn = {1748-3395}, journal = {Nature Nanotechnology}, pages = {116--124}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Lumen charge governs gated ion transport in β-barrel nanopores}}, doi = {10.1038/s41565-025-02052-6}, volume = {21}, year = {2026}, } @article{20814, abstract = {We characterize all semigroups sandwiched between the semigroup of a Dirichlet form and the semigroup of its active main part. In case the Dirichlet form is regular, we give a more explicit description of the quadratic forms of the sandwiched semigroups in terms of pairs consisting of an open set and a measure on an abstract boundary.}, author = {Keller, Matthias and Lenz, Daniel and Schmidt, Marcel and Schwarz, Michael and Wirth, Melchior}, issn = {1572-929X}, journal = {Potential Analysis}, keywords = {Dirichlet forms, Domination of semigroups, Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin boundary conditions}, number = {1}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Boundary representations of intermediate forms between a regular Dirichlet form and its active main part}}, doi = {10.1007/s11118-025-10251-y}, volume = {64}, year = {2026}, } @article{20657, abstract = {The Upper Bound Theorem for convex polytopes implies that the p-th Betti number of the Čech complex of any set of N points in ℝ^d and any radius satisfies β_p = O(N^m), with m = min{p+1, ⌈d/2⌉}. We construct sets in even and odd dimensions, which prove that this upper bound is asymptotically tight. For example, we describe a set of N = 2(n+1) points in ℝ³ and two radii such that the first Betti number of the Čech complex at one radius is (n+1)² - 1, and the second Betti number of the Čech complex at the other radius is n². }, author = {Edelsbrunner, Herbert and Pach, János}, issn = {1432-0444}, journal = {Discrete & Computational Geometry}, pages = {597--624}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Maximum Betti numbers of Čech complexes}}, doi = {10.1007/s00454-025-00796-5}, volume = {75}, year = {2026}, } @article{20725, abstract = {The canonical mechanism by which the phytohormone auxin regulates transcription has been one of the cornerstones of plant signaling. The recent unexpected discovery of cyclic AMP (cAMP) as a second messenger in this pathway has revised its foundations while leaving many open questions and gaps in our understanding; these will be discussed in this forum article.}, author = {Friml, Jiří}, issn = {1878-4372}, journal = {Trends in Plant Science}, number = {2}, pages = {136--138}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Role of cAMP in TIR1/AFB auxin signaling: Open issues}}, doi = {10.1016/j.tplants.2025.10.018}, volume = {31}, year = {2026}, } @article{20636, abstract = {The versatile and pivotal roles of the phytohormone auxin in regulating plant growth and development are typically linked to its directional transport, relying on the polarized PIN-FORMED (PIN) auxin exporters at the plasma membrane (PM). For decades, auxin has been proposed to promote PIN polarization, generating self-regulatory feedback mediating much of plant development, but mechanistic insight into this regulation is lacking. Here, we uncover an auxin-induced protein complex at the PM, containing auxin co-receptors transmembrane kinases (TMKs) and PIN1 auxin exporter, as the core machinery that underlies this feedback regulation. Auxin promotes PIN1 phosphorylation by TMKs, modulating PIN1 polarization and transport activity. We also provide evidence that PIN1-exported extracellular auxin is crucial for TMK activation and cell elongation, thus forming the simplest two-element self-regulatory feedback circuit. Thus, these findings offer direct mechanistic insights into a potential self-organizing circuit for auxin signaling and transport to ensure proper plant development in Arabidopsis.}, author = {Huang, R and Wang, J and Chang, M and Tang, W and Yu, Y and Zhang, Y and Peng, Y and Wang, Y and Guo, Y and Lu, T and Cao, Y and Zhou, Y and Zhang, Q and Huang, Y and Wu, A and Ren, L and Gallei, Michelle C and Dong, J and Chen, H and He, J and Wen, M and Friml, Jiří and Sun, L and Xiong, Y and Yang, Z and Xu, T}, issn = {1878-1551}, journal = {Developmental Cell}, number = {1}, pages = {73--84}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{TMK-PIN1 drives a short self-organizing circuit for auxin export and signaling in Arabidopsis}}, doi = {10.1016/j.devcel.2025.09.009}, volume = {61}, year = {2026}, } @article{20963, abstract = {In all domains of life, tRNAs mediate the transfer of genetic information from mRNAs to proteins. As their depletion suppresses translation and, consequently, viral replication, tRNAs represent long-standing and increasingly recognized targets of innate immunity1,2,3,4,5. Here we report Cas12a3 effector nucleases from type V CRISPR–Cas adaptive immune systems in bacteria that preferentially cleave tRNAs after recognition of target RNA. Cas12a3 orthologues belong to one of two previously unreported nuclease clades that exhibit RNA-mediated cleavage of non-target RNA, and are distinct from all other known type V systems. Through cell-based and biochemical assays and direct RNA sequencing, we demonstrate that recognition of a complementary target RNA by the CRISPR RNA triggers Cas12a3 to cleave the conserved 5′-CCA-3′ tail of diverse tRNAs to drive growth arrest and anti-phage defence. Cryogenic electron microscopy structures further revealed a distinct tRNA-loading domain that positions the tRNA tail in the RuvC active site of the nuclease. By designing synthetic reporters that mimic the tRNA acceptor stem and tail, we expanded the capacity of current CRISPR-based diagnostics for multiplexed RNA detection. Overall, these findings reveal widespread tRNA inactivation as a previously unrecognized CRISPR-based immune strategy that broadens the application space of the existing CRISPR toolbox.}, author = {Dmytrenko, Oleg and Yuan, Biao and Crosby, Kadin T. and Krebel, Max and Chen, Xiye and Nowak, Jakub S. and Chramiec-Głąbik, Andrzej and Filani, Bamidele and Gribling-Burrer, Anne-Sophie and van der Toorn, Wiep and von Kleist, Max and Achmedov, Tatjana and Smyth, Redmond P. and Glatt, Sebastian and Bravo, Jack Peter Kelly and Heinz, Dirk W. and Jackson, Ryan N. and Beisel, Chase L.}, issn = {1476-4687}, journal = {Nature}, pages = {1312--1321}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{RNA-triggered Cas12a3 cleaves tRNA tails to execute bacterial immunity}}, doi = {10.1038/s41586-025-09852-9}, volume = {649}, year = {2026}, } @article{21217, abstract = {This study investigates the mechanisms driving clustered convection and the breakdown of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the Western Pacific Warm Pool using high‐resolution cloud‐resolving simulations and machine‐learning sensitivity experiments. Results show that ITCZ breakdown episodes, marked by spatially homogeneous convection and weakened meridional moisture gradients, are triggered primarily by anomalous moisture advection linked to the equatorial Rossby‐wave activity. While large‐scale moisture advection regulates the background convective state strongly, it is the surface and low‐level meridional winds that dominate transitions between clustered and random convection. Simulations demonstrate that moisture alone can sustain convective clustering, but breakdown episodes are more persistent and widespread when coupled with southerly meridional advection. These findings confirm that wave‐driven advection acts as a regulatory mechanism, periodically disrupting convective clustering and reshaping the meridional moisture gradient. This modulation of organization by wave‐induced breakdown events is critical for understanding tropical convection variability and its implications for the climate system.}, author = {Casallas Garcia, Alejandro and Mark Tompkins, Adrian and Muller, Caroline J}, issn = {1477-870X}, journal = {Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society}, number = {777}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Moisture and wind effects of Rossby waves on Western Pacific Intertropical Convergence Zone breakdown events}}, doi = {10.1002/qj.70131}, volume = {152}, year = {2026}, } @article{20986, abstract = {During complex vocal interactions, different features of acoustic stimuli are integrated to produce appropriate vocal responses,1 such as copying sounds during vocal matching behavior in some animals.2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 However, little is known about the interplay and possible trade-offs between the different temporal and spectral acoustic features during these vocal exchanges.2,13,14 Nightingales can flexibly match the pitch of their tonal “whistle songs” in real time during counter-singing duels.15,16 Here, we show that the syllable duration of whistle playbacks could alter the song responses of wild nightingales, causing their whistle duration distribution to shift toward the presented stimulus duration. When exposed to whistle playbacks featuring unnatural combinations of pitch and duration, nightingales demonstrate a flexible trade-off between pitch matching and temporal imitation, yet they are constrained by their vocal repertoire. They selectively adapted their vocal responses to approximate these novel stimuli, aligning them with their natural whistle repertoire. We developed a computational model of nightingale whistle-matching behavior that revealed a hierarchical organization of acoustic feature production. During whistle matching, the feature integration process is constrained by the duration of syllables, and pitch matching follows within this temporal framework, forcing a trade-off between the two features. Our findings reveal a complex interplay between the spectral and temporal domains that shapes song-matching behavior.}, author = {Calderon Garcia, Juan Sebastian and Costalunga, Giacomo and Vogels, Tim P and Vallentin, Daniela}, issn = {1879-0445}, journal = {Current Biology}, number = {3}, pages = {791--798.e6}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Interplay between syllable duration and pitch during whistle matching in wild nightingales}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2025.12.025}, volume = {36}, year = {2026}, } @article{21037, abstract = {The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) remains a critical bottleneck in fuel cells and metal-air batteries due to the lack of highly efficient electrocatalysts. Here, we report a simple strategy for synthesizing a palladium-based heterostructured electrocatalyst supported on a carbon nitride matrix (PdH-Pd@CN), which exhibits remarkable ORR activity with a half-wave potential of 0.91 V and excellent durability in 0.1 M KOH. Within the heterostructure, hydrogen intercalation expands the Pd lattice, while interstitial hydrogen doping facilitates charge transfer from Pd to H owing to their electronegativity difference. These synergistic effects modulate the electronic structure, thereby enhancing both activity and stability. When employed in Zn-air batteries, PdH-Pd@CN delivers a maximum power density of 176 mW cm− (Liu et al., 2025) and capacity of 805 mAh g− (Sun et al., 2021) Zn. These findings demonstrate the strong potential of PdH-Pd@CN as an efficient ORR electrocatalyst for next-generation metal-air batteries and related energy technologies.}, author = {Shi, Changwei and Horta, Sharona and Ibáñez, Maria and Kallio, Tanja and Martínez-Alanis, Paulina R. and Wang, Xiang and Cabot, Andreu}, issn = {0009-2509}, journal = {Chemical Engineering Science}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Hydrogen induced palladium-based heterojunction electrocatalysts to enhance the oxygen reduction reaction performance}}, doi = {10.1016/j.ces.2026.123348}, volume = {324}, year = {2026}, } @article{21006, abstract = {Modern experimental methods in programmable self-assembly make it possible to precisely design particle concentrations, shapes and interactions. However, more physical insight is needed before we can take full advantage of this vast design space to assemble nanostructures with complex form and function. Here we show how a substantial part of this design space can be quickly and comprehensively understood by identifying a class of thermodynamic constraints that act on it. These thermodynamic constraints form a high-dimensional convex polyhedron that determines which nanostructures can be assembled at high equilibrium yield and reveals limitations that govern the coexistence of structures. We validate our predictions through detailed, quantitative assembly experiments of nanoscale particles synthesized using DNA origami. Our results uncover physical relationships underpinning many-component programmable self-assembly in equilibrium and form the basis for robust inverse design, applicable to various systems from biological protein complexes to synthetic nanomachines.}, author = {Hübl, Maximilian and Videbæk, Thomas E. and Hayakawa, Daichi and Rogers, W. Benjamin and Goodrich, Carl Peter}, issn = {1745-2481}, journal = {Nature Physics}, pages = {294--301}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{A polyhedral structure controls programmable self-assembly}}, doi = {10.1038/s41567-025-03120-3}, volume = {22}, year = {2026}, }