Volume 20 Issue 2, February 2021

Linking π-conjugated, electron-deficient ligands into atomically precise large single crystals of conducting 2D metal–organic frameworks can allow the determination of intrinsic electrical conductivity and charge transport mechanism.

An immune cell population enriched in inflamed gut tissue is shown to play a role in driving CD44⁺ intestinal organoid proliferation, while also regulating extracellular matrix deposition and remodelling in a synthetic hydrogel platform.

Using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering, a new experimental window is opened on fundamental magnetic excitations in mesoscopic ferromagnets.

Automated extrusion-based bioprinting has been shown to enable human kidney organoid generation with improved throughput, quality control and scale, representing an important step towards macro-scale kidney tissue engineering.

Two-dimensional superconductors have been produced via a mild intercalation-assisted, exfoliation approach, providing large-size, high-quality single layers with the ease and versatility of liquid-phase processing.

This Review highlights the recent emergence of stem-cell-derived embryo models for the purpose of advancing our understanding of mammalian embryology as well as their potential uses in regenerative and reproductive medicine.

This Review provides an overview of bioengineering technologies that can be harnessed to facilitate the culture, self-organization and functionality of human pluripotent stem cell-derived organoids.

This Review highlights approaches used to generate somatic cell-derived organoids for modelling epithelial tissue to understand disease progression and how they are employed in preclinical drug screening.

Two adjacent quantum time crystals implemented by two magnon condensates in the superfluid B-phase of helium-3 are observed to coherently exchange magnons as a manifestation of the AC Josephson effect, offering insights on the dynamics and interactions between these phases of matter.

A carbazole isomer, typically present as an impurity in commercially produced carbazole batches, is shown to be responsible for the ultralong phosphorescence observed in these compounds and their derivatives.

A mild electrochemical exfoliation method has been developed to obtain large-size two-dimensional superconductor monolayers with high crystallinity and production yield, which enables the easy fabrication of twisted van der Waals heterostructures and printed films.

The thickness dependence of the dispersion of spin waves in mesoscopic iron films is measured and found to be renormalized in the out-of-plane direction as the thickness is reduced. The results are captured by a Heisenberg model that accounts for the confinement in the out-of-plane direction through the loss of Fe bonds.

Polar skyrmions are topologically protected structures that can exist in (PbTiO₃)_n/(SrTiO₃)_n superlattices. Here, it is shown that they have negative permittivity at the surface, and that they can undergo a reversible phase transition with large dielectric tunability under an electric field.

Oriented trenches are created in h-BN using different catalysts, and used as templates to grow seamlessly integrated armchair and zigzag graphene nanoribbons with chirality-dependent electrical and magnetic conductance properties.

A high oxygen reduction reaction activity can usually be realized by increasing platinum specific activity at the expense of active surface area. Self-supported platinum–cobalt-oxide networks combining high activity and surface area now promise a stable fuel-cell operation.

High-entropy ceramics are solid solutions offering compositional flexibility and wide variety of applicability. High-entropy concepts are shown to lead to substantial performance improvement in cation-disordered rocksalt-type cathodes for Li-ion batteries.

Two-dimensional MOFs can possess porosity and electrical conductivity but are difficult to grow as single crystals. Here, by balancing in-plane and out-of-plane interactions, single crystals of sizes up to 200 µm are grown, allowing in-plane transport measurements and atomic-resolution analysis.

A graphene nanocomposite hydrogel showing anisotropic swelling is used to realize an electrically conducting and removable bioadhesive that improves the mechanical and electrical integration of bioelectronics devices with wet dynamic tissues.

Computational analysis and mechanical testing demonstrate that the skeletal system of a marine sponge has, through the course of evolution, achieved a near-optimal resistance to buckling.

Shear-aligned keratin protofibres are used to fabricate shape-memory fibres and three-dimensional scaffolds that respond to water.

Type-1 innate lymphoid cells have been shown to drive intestinal epithelial proliferation and extracellular matrix remodelling through TGF-β1 secretion, which could exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease comorbidities such as cancer and fibrosis.

Extrusion-based bioprinting has been shown to rapidly and reproducibly generate kidney organoids from a cell-only paste, with the number and maturation of functional units within the kidney tissue capable of being further improved by bioprinting tissue sheets.

Scientists can provide governments with essential knowledge to take informed decisions, but cannot decide on their behalf, according to Carlo Rovelli.