Multisensory information improves subsequent memory performance. InDrosophilaflies, learning re-routes activity through neuronal networks in the brain such that individual components of a multisensory experience can trigger retrieval of the memory of the whole event. As a result, memory performance for both the combined and individual components of the experience is improved.

Biodiversity experiments show that a high diversity of plants increases the accumulation of soil carbon and nitrogen, but whether such conclusions hold in natural ecosystems is debated. An analysis of Canada’s National Forest Inventory provides strong evidence that the build-up of soil carbon and nitrogen on a decadal timescale increased with improved tree diversity in natural forest ecosystems.

Creating protein interactions through computational design is a key challenge in the fields of both basic and translational biology. An approach that uses the machine-learned fingerprints of protein-surface features was used to produce synthetic proteins that engage immunotherapeutic or viral targets with binding affinities comparable to those of naturally occurring proteins.

Waste plastics contain immiscible polymers, making recycling challenging. A new additive enables the thermal reprocessing of mixed plastics into recyclable, high-performance materials.