Reviews & Analysis

A combination of standard and new observational techniques has been used to detect the magnetic field of a molecular cloud — a region of the interstellar medium that collapses during star formation. The results suggest that such clouds are primed for collapse earlier than was typically assumed.

A molecular barcoding tool has been developed to trace the developmental descendants of radial glial cells — the neural progenitors of the human cerebral cortex. The technique shows that these cortical progenitors give rise to both excitatory neurons and interneurons in the human brain.

Researchers performed the largest genetic study of cholesterol levels so far by combining data from 201 studies in 35 countries involving 1.65 million people. Diversifying research participants improved the ability to identify genes controlling cholesterol levels and to predict levels across all ancestries.

Armoured dinosaurs are widely recognized for their tail weapons, which include paired spikes in stegosaurs and tail clubs in ankylosaurs. The discovery of Stegouros in Chile reveals a new kind of tail weapon, resembling an Aztec war club, and a lineage that split early from northern armoured dinosaurs.

Communication between neurons in the brain is generally associated with electrochemical signalling. Here we reveal that neurons can also communicate through the force generated by the enlargement of dendritic spines. This force is comparable to that of muscle contraction and might underlie learning and memory, suggesting that brain function is more mechanical than was previously thought.

Chemical synthesis, guided by crystal structures of antibiotics bound to the bacterial ribosome, has been used to discover a class of broad-spectrum antibiotics that overcomes bacterial multidrug resistance. Biochemical and crystallographic studies reveal the mechanism of action, including how one mode of resistance is circumvented.