Electric dipoles go sideways in thin ferroelectric film

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02127-xCoupling between horizontal and vertical electric polarization enables an unconventional ferroelectric material to be controlled using standard device geometry.

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02127-x

Coupling between horizontal and vertical electric polarization enables an unconventional ferroelectric material to be controlled using standard device geometry.

Alternating CO<sub>2</sub> and bicycloalkane copolymerization to circular polyesters

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10848-2A simple organic catalyst enables direct alternating copolymerization of CO2 with bicycloalkanes to produce high-performance polyesters that can be selectively depol…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10848-2

A simple organic catalyst enables direct alternating copolymerization of CO2 with bicycloalkanes to produce high-performance polyesters that can be selectively depolymerized and recycled in a closed-loop lifecycle.

The first known cephalopod was only a millimetre long and lived about 520 million years ago

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02319-5The locomotion of modern cephalopods, such as squid and cuttlefish, relies on buoyancy control achieved mainly by a specialized structure called a siphuncle. The dis…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02319-5

The locomotion of modern cephalopods, such as squid and cuttlefish, relies on buoyancy control achieved mainly by a specialized structure called a siphuncle. The discovery of fossils of Eoceras — a millimetre-sized cephalopod with a siphuncle — suggests that the group had already emerged in the early Cambrian, around 520 million years ago.

Relapsed childhood cancers show genomic scars left by previous therapy

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02329-3Whole-genome sequencing of hundreds of childhood tumours, enriched for pretreated, relapsed and metastatic samples, shows that cancer therapies, especially platinum-…

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02329-3

Whole-genome sequencing of hundreds of childhood tumours, enriched for pretreated, relapsed and metastatic samples, shows that cancer therapies, especially platinum-based ones, are associated with rapid acquisition of distinctive patterns of DNA damage. These mutational signatures are linked with worse outcomes and could be used to track relapses and guide treatment decisions.

How silicon-chip technology is being re-engineered for quantum computing

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02124-0Two demonstrations of silicon-based quantum processors tackle the engineering challenges of building scalable quantum computers.

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-02124-0

Two demonstrations of silicon-based quantum processors tackle the engineering challenges of building scalable quantum computers.

Intestinal stem cells count self-renewal divisions to switch multipotency

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10814-yIn Drosophila, cell fate switching in adult intestinal stem cells is determined through an epigenetic mechanism in which these cells count divisions, switching from …

Nature, Published online: 29 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10814-y

In Drosophila, cell fate switching in adult intestinal stem cells is determined through an epigenetic mechanism in which these cells count divisions, switching from producing enterocytes to producing an enteroendocrine mother cell every ninth division.