Nature Materials

1 day ago | nature.com | Robert Leech |Rodrigo M. Braga |David Haydock |Elizabeth Jefferies |Boris C. Bernhardt |Federico Turkheimer | +4 more

AbstractBrain activity emerges in a dynamic landscape of regional increases and decreases that span the cortex. Increases in activity during a cognitive task are often assumed to reflect the processing of task-relevant information, while reductions can be interpreted as suppression of irrelevant activity to facilitate task goals. Here, we explore the relationship between task-induced increases and decreases in activity from a geometric perspective.

1 day ago | nature.com | Elizabeth Gibney

Africa’s first continent-wide space agency, the African Space Agency (AfSA), which was inaugurated in April, is looking to secure funding as its first projects get underway. AfSA is an initiative of the 55-member African Union (AU) and is headquartered in Cairo.It was established to coordinate the work of Africa’s existing efforts in space — more than 20 African countries have space programmes.

1 day ago | nature.com | Elizabeth Gibney

Europe’s beleaguered ExoMars rover is one of several international missions whose future looks bleak owing to unprecedented cuts to US science funding proposed by US President Donald Trump’s administration. Last year, NASA agreed to provide both launch and landing gear for ExoMars’s Rosalind Franklin rover after the European Space Agency (ESA) cut ties with its former partner, the Russian space agency Roscosmos, over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

1 day ago | nature.com | Chenglin Yang |Bitao Dong |Omar Mohammed

AbstractDefective and mechanically weak interfaces substantially undermine both the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here we introduce a linear polymer, heparin sodium, as a multifunctional interface bridge layer in n–i–p PSCs. Unlike commonly employed small-molecule interface modification/passivation materials, heparin sodium features functional groups and ions including COO−, SO3− and Na+ distributed along the top and bottom sides of its backbone.

2 days ago | nature.com | Lili Tan

AbstractSocial identity differences are crucial for gregarious animals, impacting survival and social development. This is particularly evident in humans, where social stratification, cultural divides, and ethnic differences influence societal dynamics. Social recognition memory plays a central role in this process, maintaining social order by allowing individuals to distinguish familiar members within their group.