In a new study published in Nature Physics, researchers have achieved the first experimental observation of a fragile-to-strong transition in deeply supercooled water, resolving a scientific puzzle that has persisted for nearly three decades.

Water has anomalous properties when cooled below freezing without crystallization. Previous studies have tracked how water’s viscosity changes with temperature, predicting it would diverge to infinity around ~227 K (−46°C), meaning liquid water’s motion would essentially freeze.

However, this prediction conflicted with other known properties of water. As a result, scientists proposed that the viscosity trend must undergo a change at a specific low temperature—the so-called fragile-to-strong transition (FST).

Placenta accreta is a major complication of pregnancy that occurs when part of the placenta fails to separate normally from the uterus at delivery. In this Primer, Jauniaux et al. discuss the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, current management options and future research areas.

Using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, Payr et al. reveal how multiple RNA-binding proteins synergize to repress translation. One RNA-binding protein binds via facilitated diffusion, recruits other proteins with highly accelerated on rate, and gets stabilized by several co-factors. The findings highlight various mRNP assembly mechanism as key to efficient translational control.

Lamb et al. show that the circadian clock rhythmically remodels ribosome composition in Neurospora crassa. Clock-regulated incorporation of the ribosomal protein eL31 is required for rhythmic translation and translation fidelity, linking temporal ribosome remodeling to daily changes in proteome diversity.

Data collected from zoos and aquariums worldwide show that hormonal contraception or permanent surgical sterilization in mammals increase life expectancy, with different mechanisms in males and females.

PhysX matters, ya know.

Imagine holding a narrow tube filled with salty water and watching it begin to freeze from one end. You might expect the ice to advance steadily and push the salt aside in a simple and predictable way. Yet the scene that unfolded was unexpectedly vivid.

Based on X-ray computed tomography (Micro-CT), our study, published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, realized the 4D (3D + time) dynamic observation and modeling of the whole process of ice crystal growth and salt exclusion.

When we monitored brine as it froze, the microstructure evolved far more dynamically than expected. Immediately after nucleation, ice crystals (dark areas) formed rapidly and trapped brine (bright areas) within a porous network. As freezing progressed, this network reorganized into striped patterns that moved either downward or upward depending on boundary conditions.

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