- A new phase diagram of water under negative pressure: The rise of the lowest-density clathrate s-III
Researchers predict a new ice clathrate structure as the most stable ice polymorph with the lowest density in a negative-pressure region.
- Darwinian sex roles confirmed across the animal kingdom
Consistent with Darwin’s ideas, this meta-analysis reveals that males experience stronger sexual selection than females.
- Spontaneous structural transition and crystal formation in minimal supramolecular polymer model
A comprehensive minimalistic model for spontaneous structural transition that is governed by distinct molecular interactions.
- Four billion people facing severe water scarcity
Global water scarcity assessment at a high spatial and temporal resolution, accounting for environmental flow requirements.
- Hidden in plain sight: Cryptic and endemic malaria parasites in North American white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Findings suggest that North American white-tailed deer commonly harbor cryptic infection with the only known New World mammalian Plasmodium.
- Citrullination-acetylation interplay guides E2F-1 activity during the inflammatory response
PAD4-mediated citrullination of E2F-1 transcription factor and its interplay with acetylation affects inflammatory gene expression.
- Dramatic performance of Clostridium thermocellum explained by its wide range of cellulase modalities
The multi–length scale nature of its glycoside hydrolase system explains the remarkable ability demonstrated by Clostridium thermocellum.
- Subtle balance of tropoelastin molecular shape and flexibility regulates dynamics and hierarchical assembly
Tropoelastin’s local and global structures dictate molecular dynamics and are essential for efficient assembly into elastin.
- Toughness of carbon nanotubes conforms to classic fracture mechanics
The classic theory of fracture mechanics is found to be valid at the scale of single-walled carbon nanotubes.
- Reorganization of chromosome architecture in replicative cellular senescence
Senescent cells acquire a unique chromosome architecture characterized by a genome-wide shrinkage of chromosome arms.
- Circumstellar disks of the most vigorously accreting young stars
Subaru-HiCIAO observations on FU Orionis objects revealed asymmetric structures on 102 to 103 AU scales of circumstellar disks and envelopes.
- HOXs and lincRNAs: Two sides of the same coin
The Hox complexes: Domains of dynamic interplay between coding and noncoding transcripts.
- Block copolymer self-assembly–directed synthesis of mesoporous gyroidal superconductors
Block copolymer self-assembly is used to synthesize three-dimensionally continuous gyroidal mesoporous superconductors of niobium nitride.
- Quantum Hall effect in a bulk antiferromagnet EuMnBi2 with magnetically confined two-dimensional Dirac fermions
Quantum transport of quasi–two-dimensional Dirac fermions is largely controlled by magnetic order in a layered magnet.
About The Cover
COVER Lingering questions about the evolutionary history of baleen whales are finding answers, thanks to a new genomics study. To date, baleen whales' evolutionary history has been difficult to decipher, in part because of conflicting evidence from genes and morphology. Ulfur Arnason et al. conducted whole genome sequencing of six baleen whale species, several of which had not been sequenced before. The researchers then produced a phylogenetic tree and analyzed "conflicts" in it; formation of new baleen species, they conclude, occurred not via classical Darwinian patterns but instead by a more gradual process. It involved new species evolving from a single ancestral species while still inhabiting the same geographic region. [CREDIT: MEGAN WHITTAKER/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO]