Could the discovery of a catalyst in which aluminium shifts easily between oxidation states be the beginning of the end for costly transition-metal catalysts?

The study of the gut microbiome of infants in nurseries revealed that peer-to-peer interaction during the first years of life is a prominent route of acquisition of microbial strain diversity. The impact of nursery-acquired microorganisms is comparable to that of microorganisms sourced, starting at birth, from family members.

In early embryos, the first cell divisions must be extremely rapid and precisely controlled to ensure successful development. This balance is found to arise from a tight coupling between the clock that drives the cell-division cycle and a physical instability in the cell skeleton. This coupling robustly partitions cell contents and drives development.

In 2016, the first direct observation of gravitational waves was reported. The measurements by the LIGO detectors gave astronomers a new way to observe the Universe.