Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences

Highlights from the Science family of journals

Satellite data can be used to increase yields and improve sustainability in smallholder agricultural systems

A pair of authors see satisfying relationships as achievable with a little science and some wishful thinking

As the political landscape continues to shift, scientific societies worry about future annual meetings

Device-independent quantum key distribution (DI-QKD) is a key application of the quantum internet. We report the realization of DI-QKD between two single-atom nodes linked by 100–kilometer (km) fibers. To improve the entangling rate, single-photon interference is leveraged for entanglement heralding, and quantum frequency conversion is used to reduce fiber loss. A tailored Rydberg-based emission scheme suppresses the photon recoil effect on the atom without introducing noise. We achieved high-fidelity atom-atom entanglement and positive asymptotic key rates for fiber lengths up to 100 km. At 11 km, 1.2 million heralded Bell pairs were prepared over 624 hours, yielding an estimated extractable finite-size secure key rate of 0.112 bits per event against general attacks. Our results close the gap between proof-of-principle quantum network experiments and real-world applications.

For the American scientific enterprise, the past year has seemed awash in contradiction. On the one hand, it has produced great upheavals and losses for US science. Many universities experienced some degree of federal funding cuts for research; public, government, and private programs for building the scientific workforce were slashed or eliminated; the reimbursement of overhead costs in government grants for research (indirect costs) was threatened; and immigration for international students was curtailed. Yet for all of that, things now are better than might have been expected a year ago. Just last month, congressional budget bills for science had their funding restored from the Trump administration’s original draconian cuts; legal challenges attempting to change indirect cost regulations were unsuccessful; and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation disbursed all the funds they had appropriated in 2025 to universities and research institutions before the money expired. Both sides of this paradox are true, and it’s difficult to understand the current moment of negative actions coexisting with positive headway without considering them both together.

Tennyson showed Victorian scientists how to embrace empiricism without abandoning faith, argues a biographer

Aromatic rings such as the ubiquitous π-ligand cyclopentadienide (C 5 H 5 − ) adhere to the famous Hückel rule with their 4n+2 π cyclically delocalized electrons. Since the advent of stable Si–Si π-bonds in 1981, all-silicon aromatics have been targeted, yet only a three-membered cyclopropenium analog (Si 3 R 3 + ; R, silyl) has been experimentally realized. We report a stable persilacyclopentadienide (Si 5 R 5 − ; R, aryl), which is essentially planar and decidedly aromatic, although experimental and computational data suggest an ultrarapid equilibrium between nonplanar isomers. With trimethylchlorostannane, Si 5 R 5 − rearranges the Si 5 core to a tricyclic isomer confirming the pivotal role of the lithium cation for stability. The persilacyclopentadienide promises a rich chemistry akin to carbon-based cyclopentadienides. Its structural flexibility questions the paradigm of a clear-cut distinction between resonance and equilibrium.

Recent winter storm traced the path of an emerging ice corridor

Control over the nucleation and growth of two-dimensional (2D) materials is essential for their scalable manufacturing. We report in situ atomic-scale observations of molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) nucleation and growth through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using environmental transmission electron microscopy. Coupled with molecular dynamics simulations, our observations reveal the formation of a 2D amorphous structure at the initial nucleation stage, which undergoes an in-plane structural ordering transition into a crystalline nucleus once a critical size is reached. We further captured nuclei merging and oriented attachment processes in the early growth stage, which likely contributed to 2D single-crystal fabrication. These findings unveil the atomistic structural evolution in MoS 2 nucleation and growth under CVD condition, providing mechanistic insight for the controlled synthesis of high-quality 2D crystals and informing broader strategies for covalently bonded material systems.

Pangenomes identify genetic variants that inform plant breeding and evolution

GGGGCC (G 4 C 2 ) repeat expansion in C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Toxicity is thought to result from the accumulation of either repeat RNAs and/or dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) translated from repeat-containing transcripts through repeat-associated non-AUG (RAN) translation. To disentangle RNA from DPR toxicity, we mutated a CUG codon predominantly used to initiate DPR translation from all three reading frames. This mutation disrupted DPR synthesis while preserving the expression of repeat-containing RNAs. Despite the accumulation of RNA foci, behavioral deficits and pathological abnormalities, including p-TDP-43 inclusions, STING activation, motor neuron loss, neuroinflammation, and increased plasma neurofilament concentration, were alleviated in C9ORF72 mice. Base editing of the CUG codon also improved molecular phenotypes and survival in patient induced pluripotent stem cell–derived neurons, which highlights the potential of therapeutically targeting DPR production rather than repeat RNAs.

Scalable artificial intelligence is harnessed for investigative search

Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature

Atmospheric methane’s recent growth has been driven by biogenic sources and COVID-19 impacts

Entangled atoms send data securely—neutralizing backdoor hardware threat

A drug with antifibrotic properties may improve fertility

Compared with the wide variety of reports on carbon π-electron compounds, the silicon counterparts remain scarce because of the intrinsic preference of silicon to form σ-bonded compounds. In particular, silicon compounds in which π-electrons are delocalized over five or more silicon atoms have been elusive. We report the synthesis of pentasilicon analogs of cyclopentadienides (pentasilacyclopentadienides). These compounds contain nonplanar five-membered silicon rings with some pyramidalized silicon atoms and uneven silicon-silicon distances. The highly shielded 7 Li nuclear magnetic resonance signal of a lithium pentasilacyclopentadienide corroborates the presence of a diamagnetic ring current in the five-membered ring, which is indicative of at least some degree of aromaticity. Furthermore, a computational study revealed that bulky substituents and the delocalization of π-electrons stabilize the pentasilacyclopentadienide structure.

Site-specific insertion of gene-sized DNA fragments remains an unmet need in the genome editing field. IS110-family serine recombinases have recently been shown to mediate programmable DNA recombination in bacteria using a bispecific RNA guide (bridge RNA) that simultaneously recognizes target and donor sites. Here, we show that the bridge recombinase ISCro4 is highly active in human cells, and provide structural insights into its enhanced activity. Using plasmid- or all-RNA-based delivery, ISCro4 supports programmable multi-kilobase exisions and inversions, and facilitates donor DNA insertion at genomic sites with efficiencies exceeding 6%. Finally, we assess ISCro4 specificity and off-target activity. These results establish a framework for the development of bridge recombinases as next-generation tools for editing modalities that are beyond the capabilities of current technologies.

Continental mantle earthquakes (CMEs) and their implications for the rheological structure of continents have fascinated geophysicists for more than half a century. Existence of these earthquakes is no longer debated, but their identification remains sparse across the globe. Comparing the Sn and Lg seismic wave amplitude ratio ( Sn/Lg ) of an earthquake with that of nearby earthquakes distinguishes CMEs and, unlike previous methods, can be applied globally. We present a global distribution of CMEs that extends well beyond previous individual detections and areas of speculation. CME occurrence is widespread globally yet patterned regionally, reflecting local lithospheric structure and tectonic history. Our results highlight the value of CMEs for understanding continents and global tectonics.

A genetic repeat expansion linked to two neurodegenerative disorders harms neurons through toxic proteins, not RNA

Eukaryotic gene expression is orchestrated by RNA polymerases (RNAPI, II, and III) and associated factors, yet their real-time dynamics remain obscure. Using single-molecule tracking in living yeast, we quantified the kinetics of 58 proteins encompassing three RNAP machineries. RNAPI and RNAPIII pre-initiation complexes (PICs) engage in long-lived chromatin interactions, contrasting with transient RNAPII PIC. We further report kinetics of RNAPII-associated factors for elongation, histone modification, C-terminal domain (CTD) modification, RNA processing, and termination. Many elongation factors show brief rather than persistent association, suggesting dynamic interactions with factor exchange, allowing a potential repertoire of regulatory events. CTD truncation reduces U1 snRNP residence time and intron retention in ribosomal protein genes, providing insights into co-transcriptional splicing. Our findings establish a framework of dynamic interactions of RNAP machineries.