Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 27 October 2026 · From issue 58

Mechanically driven grain refinement in Mo by nanoindentation pop-ins: A case of transient instability

A tiny needle pressed into pure metal briefly creates new crystal grains, then erases them.

Feitao Li, Afnan Mostafa et al.

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Also in issue 58 15 papers

In mice, a stress protein weakens brain energy use and hurts memory and learning.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Fixing homes and giving steady cash aid helped poor households stay warm and healthy.
Nature Energy
In lab tests, one antibody type killed most germ strains that cause newborn blood infections.
Nature Communications
In mice, engineered immune cells delayed HIV's return and shrank the variety of virus that came back.
Nature Communications
In a black hole system, extra high-energy light came from fast-kicked electrons, not just heat.
The Astrophysical Journal
Chemists built boron to oxygen molecules that survive as stable crystals at room temperature.
Nature Chemistry
Charges on tiny helium droplets form neat patterns when few, messy patterns when many.
Physical Review Letters
Calves grow a changing mix of nose and throat viruses soon after birth, some linked to human virus types.
Nature Communications
In a lab plant, two paired defense proteins activate only after sensing a germ.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In ALS patients, immune cells near the brain slow disease, but the same cells in blood speed it up.
Nature Medicine
A new chemical turns on a broken lung-disease protein without needing its usual helper.
eLife
In sponge larvae, sunset primes the genome so metamorphosis can happen fast once triggered.
eLife
In mice, middle zone liver cells pause growth to survive injury, then repair later.
eLife
In clams, surviving acidic water as larvae predicted failing at it as young adults.
PLOS Biology

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