Nature Communications

Understanding the structural origin of the anomalous properties of SiO2 liquid and glass is of great interest in a wide range of scientific fields. The fraction of the S state with tetrahedral symmetry structure is considered to be the controlling parameter of the anomalous properties of SiO2 liquid in theoretical studies. However, it has not been well identified in experiments. In this work, we find experimental evidence of tetrahedral symmetry breaking in SiO2 glass under pressure.

Tetraphenylammonium, with all four hydrogens of ammonium (NH4+) replaced with benzene rings, has neither been discovered in nature nor chemically synthesized, calling into question whether it could exist. Here, we succeeded in synthesizing tetraphenylammonium for the first time, demonstrating its stable existence. The synthetic strategy used in this study, radical coupling, may be applicable to the synthesis of various related ammoniums with high structural novelty.

Structural color printing creates new pathways for medical diagnostics and miniaturized sensors

A Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) collaborative research study has revealed that certain gut microbial enzymes mediate the reactivation of triclosan (TCS) from its inactive glucuronide metabolite. TCS is an antimicrobial agent commonly used in a wide range of consumer products, and it is associated with the development of colitis.

Osaka City University* study suggests memories are formed through an integration across brain regions via burst activity in amygdala-prefrontal neuronal ensembles during memory acquisition, and then hippocampal-prefrontal synchrony during post-experience sleep. (Osaka City University has now changed its name as Osaka Metropolitan University)

Scientists have found a common substance that can reversibly and rapidly store and release relatively large amounts of low-grade heat without decomposing. The research could lead to more efficient reuse of industrial waste heat.

An analysis method for protein–protein interactions using proximity-dependent biotinylation for next-generation drugs

A prototype MRI machine that can be built at low cost and produces high quality neuroimaging is reported in Nature Communications. The machine can help provide access to MRI across low- and middle-income countries, as well as at the point of care.

Scientists at Hokkaido University and Texas A&M University have identified a key mechanism used by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to evade host immune systems.

A new method for creating one of chemistry’s most widely used class of compounds could revolutionize industrial processes, making them cheaper, simpler and more environmentally friendly.

An international research team has discovered a monolayer Mott insulator that has strong heat and light resistance. The breakthrough potentially paves the way for realizing the control needed to induce superconductivity at room temperature.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) could impact child nutrition in many countries in the tropics, a new study in Nature Communications suggests.

A previously unknown virus that can infect humans and cause disease has been identified by scientists in Japan. The novel infectious virus, named Yezo virus and transmitted by tick bites, causes a disease characterized by fever and a reduction in blood platelets and leucocytes.

The missing link isn’t a not-yet-discovered fossil, after all. It’s a tiny, self-replicating globule called a coacervate droplet, developed by two researchers in Japan to represent the evolution of chemistry into biology.

Energetic particles are ubiquitous across the universe but their origins are unexplained. Now, a research team has proposed that mellow black holes act as the source of high-energy cosmic particles.

Genetic and epigenetic profiling of hundreds of hepatoblastoma tumors have revealed many of its secrets, long unknown to those researching and treating what is the most common type of liver tumor in children.

Similar to a magnet that always has both south and north poles, a kind of special quasiparticles in condensed matter called “Weyl Fermions” always appear in pairs with opposite chirality. There had been no experimental report that unpaired Weyl points exist in condensed matter until recently, a City University of Hong Kong (CityU) physicist observed the first unpaired singular Weyl magnetic monopole in a specific kind of single crystalline solid.

Scientists in Singapore are calling for revisions in planned hydropower expansions in light of the rapidly decreasing cost of solar photovoltaic systems

We have developed a groundbreaking chemical reaction using an N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst that has a low environmental impact to cleave the bond between the benzene ring of an aryl halide and a halogen atom to generate an aryl radical. Since aryl radicals can thus be easily generated from aryl halides that are widely used in organic synthesis, this is expected to be a powerful technology for precisely synthesizing medical and agricultural drugs and chemical materials.

Scientists used digital circuitry to manipulate and store label-free matters in order to study their unique characteristics

Scientists show that an ocean-bottom seismometer deployed close to the calving front of a glacier in Greenland can detect continuous seismic radiation from a glacier sliding, reminiscent of a slow earthquake.

Researchers from The University of Tokyo Institute of Industrial Science and Fudan University experimentally interrogate a phenomenon that bridges diverse fields of science and engineering

Contributing to embryogenesis and pathogenesis through long-term in vivo molecular imaging 1. Development of a two-photon excitation light-sheet microscope which achieves low phototoxicity, an extended field of view, and high resolution for the observation of the growth of living organisms 2. Applications of the microscope demonstrate long-term time-lapse observations for a three-day span of the embryonic development of medaka fish

Schematic illustrations of magnetization control by the injection of phonon angular momentum.

Single-cell gene studies are clarifying the roles of the brain’s specialised immune cell in Alzheimer’s disease and offer new avenues for treatment of this incurable condition.

Researchers at the National University of Singapore and Tohoku University have demonstrated that an array of electrically connected spintronic devices can harvest a 2.4 GHz wireless signal, which can be used to power and charge small electronic devices and sensors.

Printing electronic circuits could soon get easier and cheaper.

Ice is melting at a surprisingly fast rate underneath Shirase Glacier Tongue in East Antarctica due to the continuing influx of warm seawater into the Lützow-Holm Bay.

A mitochondrial peptide called MOCCI has a surprising sidekick, and they work together to regulate inflammation and immunity, Singapore researchers reveal.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive type of breast cancer with a high fatality rate. Currently, chemotherapy is the major treatment option, but the clinical result is unsatisfactory. A research team led by biologists at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has identified and characterised a set of specific super-enhancers that stimulate the activity of the related critical cancer genes. The research has also discovered that the deletion of certain specific super-enhancers could reduce tumour cell growth. The latest findings may help discover new effective drug targets for TNBC patients to improve their survival chance.