Artificial DNA photofluids exhibit dissipative life-like motion when fuelled by light in space and time, converting photoenergy into out-of-equilibrium structures on the macroscale.

The authors report that the metallic spin-1/2 chain compound Ti₄MnBi₂ forms near a quantum critical point with inherent frustration. They identify strong 1D spin and 3D electron coupling that should stimulate the search for materials exhibiting a 1D Kondo effect and heavy fermions.

A bioinspired microneedle patch mimics the natural rhythm of human growth hormone secretion by combining burst-release and delayed-release modules to promote improved bone growth in mice and rats.

The precise synthesis of functional polyarylamines based on a reactivity-regulated sequent cross-coupling carbon–nitrogen polycondensation method has been reported, with excellent batch-to-batch uniformity for perovskite solar cells.

Polariton probing of high-frequency acoustic pulses enables the detection of coherent acoustic phonons, allowing the authors to monitor atomic motions in the 100 attometre range relative to their lattice position.

Hot carrier transport in organic systems has remained elusive due to rapid energy relaxation and limited transport properties. Here highly mobile hot carriers and their relaxation dynamics are reported in a crystalline two-dimensional conjugated coordination polymer, revealing two distinct transport regimes.

Epithelial cell–cell contact resistance to mechanical stress is defined by a regulated viscous dissipation through the cytoskeleton, where the toughness of the cell junction is set by the balance between cortical tension and cell shape recovery time.

The orbital-to-spin moments ratio for individual atomic planes of an iron crystal is studied, revealing local variations at subatomic scales.

Ultrasound-induced differentiation of neural stem cells into neurons using piezoelectric nanostickers achieves injury repair and effective restoration of physiological functions of rats with traumatic brain injury.

A class of moiré quasiperiodic crystals with unexpected electronic properties is presented, exhibiting flat bands and correlation-induced gaps that signal the emergence of correlated quantum states.

One-dimensional magnetism gets the attention it deserves.

Metamaterials are advancing with intricate structure designs and material combinations, with the support of computational methods and scalable fabrication techniques. These advancements enable the creation of multifunctional and smart devices, with growing presence in commercial devices.

Non-fullerene acceptors help organic solar cells achieve high performance, transforming organic photovoltaics into a useful technology.

Derya Baran, an associate professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Department of Materials Science and Engineering), talks to Nature Materials about the progress of laboratory-to-fabrication for organic photovoltaics

Jenny Nelson, a professor at Imperial College London (Department of Physics), talks to Nature Materials about recent research advances in organic photovoltaics.

The sorption and storage properties of metal–organic frameworks are extensively reported but their commercialization has been slow. Collaborative efforts from scientists, engineers and investors are needed to accelerate the transition from laboratory to the marketplace.