Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Articles in this Issue
Record-low 2025 and 2026 ice extents restore Arctic winter sea-ice decline
Recent analyses have suggested that the decadal rate of Arctic winter sea-ice extent decline weakened in the early 2020s, with 20-y trends becoming statistically insignificant. Here we show from more...
Severe floods increase long-term opioid overdose mortality
The relationship between climate disasters and substance use-related harms has been understudied. This study employed a mixed methods research design to assess the impact of severe floods on opioid ov...
The 2026 western US snow drought was about four times more likely due to climate change
In the spring of 2026, anomalously low snow conditions in the western United States threatened winter recreation and water supplies. Here, we investigate: to what extent was this snow drought attribut...
Particles of echovirus 18 open to release their genomes in vivo
Enteroviruses cause a broad spectrum of human diseases, ranging from mild respiratory or gastrointestinal infections to severe neurological disorders such as aseptic meningitis and encephalitis. Enter...
Guanidine fuels rapid resurrection of desert cyanobacteria
In desert ecosystems, microbial activity is driven by brief hydration pulses but is severely limited by persistent nutrient scarcity. Cyanobacteria serve as essential pioneer photoautotrophs, maintain...
α-fluoro-β-alanine functions as a β-arrestin1-biased ligand of S1PR2 to upregulate DPD expression in cancer cells
α-fluoro-β-alanine (FBAL), a catabolite of the chemotherapeutic agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), has attracted significant attention due to its cardiotoxicity and neurotoxicity. However, its association w...
Electrochemical lateral flow assay with ELISA-level performance for detecting plant diseases in East Africa
Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) threatens food security for millions in East Africa, yet its control remains limited by the absence of field-deployable molecular diagnostics. Here, we introduce EL...
One step forward, two steps back: A first look at the planetary health implications of the 2025–2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Active linking through narratives facilitates associative inference
In daily life, we often draw inferences about novel associations from prior experiences. This ability, associative inference, is thought to be a key process by which memory guides future behavior. Pri...
Race-conscious admissions algorithms and the law
In recent years, colleges and universities have begun to use machine learning (ML) systems to inform admissions decisions. Meanwhile, in the 2023 case Students for Fair Admissions,...
When does exercise hinder rather than halt tumor progression? The decisive role of immunotherapy responsiveness
Catalysis does not explain expansin-mediated wall creep: Distinguishing catalytic ERPs from creep-active expansins
Reply to Cosgrove: Catalytic activity in expansin-like proteins does not explain wall creep but raises a flag
Reply to Zhou et al.: Exercise, caloric restriction, and immunotherapy responsiveness in 4T1 breast cancer progression
Geometry controls momentum flux in the sprinkler problem
Hydro- and aero-mechanical devices convert fluid flows into useful motions, force, and power. The operating principles can involve subtle and poorly understood physics, as epitomized by open questions...
Mechanostereochemical modulation of polymer mechanical properties
Stereochemistry profoundly affects the physical and mechanical properties of polymers, illustrated by the contrast between elastic natural rubber ( cis -polyiso...
Antimalarial cytoskeletal targeting with broad apicomplexan activity
Malaria is a devastating disease that resulted in an estimated 610,000 deaths in 2024, the majority being children under the age of five. Here, we use KNX-115 to illustrate multistage antiparasitic ac...
Resolving weak moments in canted antiferromagnets via time-domain terahertz emission spectroscopy
Canted antiferromagnets host weak net magnetization arising from spin canting while preserving the ultrafast response of antiferromagnetic order. Probing such minute moments—especially in thin films—r...
A unified machine-learning framework for ab initio multiscale modeling of liquids
Understanding and predicting the behavior of liquid matter across length scales—using only the microscopic interactions encoded in the Schrödinger equation—remains a central challenge in the physical...
Context-aware multimodal AI navigates hidden pathways in five centuries of art evolution
The rise of multimodal generative AI transforms the intersection of technology and art, offering richer insights into large-scale artworks. While significant research has focused on their creative pot...
VAMP7-dependent mitochondria–lysosome contacts contribute to glial mitochondrial dynamics and dopaminergic neuron survival
Although disrupted mitochondrial dynamics in neurons are closely linked to neurodegenerative diseases, far less is known about how mitochondrial dynamics are regulated in glia or whether glial mitocho...
The social-class gap in negotiation: Lower-class individuals negotiate less and face more backlash
Economic inequality has widened considerably in the United States and globally, raising pressing questions about the mechanisms that reproduce social stratification. One prominent manifestation of thi...
Structural and mechanistic basis for membrane recognition and activation of the vacuolar lipase Atg15
Atg15 is a vacuolar phospholipase B essential for the degradation of intravacuolar vesicles such as autophagic bodies. Despite its central role in cellular membrane turnover, the molecular basis of ho...
HUWE1 targets mitochondria via RMC1 to promote neurodevelopment
The HECT-type E3 ubiquitin ligase HUWE1 is a critical regulator of protein homeostasis, genome stability, and neurodevelopment. Variants in HUWE1 are linked to X-linked intellectual disability (XLID),...
High-coverage ancient genomes reveal divergent population histories and prehistoric starch-related genetic variation in Japan
Prehistoric population movements played a central role in shaping the genetic diversity across Eurasia. As the eastern terminus of the Eurasian continent, the Japanese archipelago provides a pivotal c...