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<jats:title>Fueling outbreaks</jats:title> <jats:p> The B.1.1.7 lineage of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused fast-spreading outbreaks globally. Intrinsically, this variant has greater transmissibility than its predecessors, but this capacity has been amplified in some circumstances to tragic effect by a combination of human behavior and local immunity. What are the extrinsic factors that help or hinder the rapid dissemination of variants? Kraemer <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . explored the invasion dynamics of B.1.1.7. in fine detail, from its location of origin in Kent, UK, to its heterogenous spread around the country. A combination of mobile phone and virus data including more than 17,000 genomes shows how distinct phases of dispersal were related to intensity of mobility and the timing of lockdowns. As the local outbreaks grew, importation from the London source area became less important. Had B.1.1.7. emerged at a slightly different time of year, its impact might have been different. —CA </jats:p>

<jats:title>Lightly salted surface waters</jats:title> <jats:p> Hydraulic fracturing uses a water-based mixture to open up tight oil and gas formations. The process is mostly contained, but concerns remain about the potential for surface water contamination. Bonetti <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . found a small increase in certain ions associated with hydraulic fracturing across several locations in the United States (see the Perspective by Hill and Ma). These small increases appeared 90 to 180 days after new wells were put in and suggest some surface water contamination. The magnitude appears small but may require that more attention be paid to monitoring near-well surface waters. —BG </jats:p>

<jats:title>Avoiding buried voids</jats:title> <jats:p> The buried interfaces of perovskite solar cells are difficult to alter after synthesis. During manufacture, Chen <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . removed perovskite films with dimethyl sulfoxide solvent from the hole-transfer layer and observed a substantial void fraction that degraded film performance. Replacing most of the dimethyl sulfoxide with carbohydrazide, a lead-coordinating compound with a much higher boiling point, eliminated voids. Such solar cells maintained high power conversion efficiency after 550 hours of operation at 60°C. —PDS </jats:p>

<jats:title>Watching a metal filament grow</jats:title> <jats:p> Resistive switching is a process in which the electrical resistance of a sample changes abruptly in response to a voltage pulse, often by orders of magnitude. This process is at the heart of many neuromorphic computing approaches but visualizing it in both space and time is tricky. del Valle <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . monitored the resistive switching in three different vanadium oxide compounds by measuring time- and space-resolved optical reflectivity (see the Perspective by Hilgenkamp and Gao). A characteristic conducting filament was quickly nucleated on the inhomogeneities in the sample and then propagated due to Joule heating. —JS </jats:p>

<jats:title>High-entropy herringbone alloy</jats:title> <jats:p> Eutectic high-entropy alloys have a dual phase structure that could be useful for optimizing a material’s properties. Shi <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . found that directional solidification of an aluminum-iron-cobalt-nickel eutectic high-entropy alloy created a herringbone-patterned microstructure that was extremely resistant to fracture (see the Perspective by An). The structure contained lamellae of hard and soft phases, and the cracks that formed in the hard phase were arrested at the boundary of the soft phase. This, along with stress transfer, allowed a tripling of the maximal elongation while retaining high strength. —BG </jats:p>

<jats:title>Poultry passport to pandemic</jats:title> <jats:p> What conditions are required to nurture the seeds of a pandemic? The avian influenza virus H7N9 rarely spills over into humans, but when it does, mortality exceeds 30%, far in excess of that of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Chen <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the contribution of rare mutations among poultry workers who can be exposed to high levels of H7N9. Multiple defective single-nucleotide variants in the myxovirus resistance Mx1 locus were prevalent in H7N9 patients. In vitro infection experiments and influenza polymerase activity assays showed that 14 of the 17 MxA protein variants had no antiviral activity. Thus, individuals with such genetic vulnerabilities, when exposed to high virus loads, may act as crucibles for transmission of virulent new influenza subtypes. —CA </jats:p>

<jats:title>Babbling bats</jats:title> <jats:p> A notable aspect of language development in humans is the babbling stage. During this time, toddlers make a range of specific sounds as they practice and imitate adult speech. Humans are not the only vocal learners, however, so might we expect such babbling among others? Fernandez <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . recorded the vocalizations of sac-winged bat pups in the wild and found clear evidence of babbling that was consistent with that seen in humans. The shared babbling components suggest that vocal learning may have similar specific mechanisms across a wide array of mammalian species. —SNV </jats:p>

<jats:title>Childhood malaria</jats:title> <jats:p> Understanding how changes in community parasite prevalence alter the rate and age distribution of severe malaria is essential for optimizing control efforts. Paton <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . assessed the incidence of pediatric severe malaria admissions from 13 hospitals in East Africa from 2006 to 2020 (see the Perspective by Taylor and Slutsker). Each 25% increase in community parasite prevalence shifted hospital admissions toward younger children. Low rates of lifetime infections appeared to confer some immunity to severe malaria in very young children. Children under the age of 5 years thus need to remain a focus of disease prevention for malaria control. —CA </jats:p>

<jats:title>Targeting the main protease of SARS-CoV-2</jats:title> <jats:p> Inside host cells, the RNA genome of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is translated into two polyproteins that are cleaved to give the individual viral proteins. The main viral protease, known as Mpro or 3CLpro, plays a key role in these cleavages, making it an important drug target. Drayman <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . identified eight drugs that target 3CLpro from a library of 1900 clinically safe drugs. Because of the challenge of working with SARS-CoV-2, they started by screening for drugs that inhibit the replication of a human coronavirus that causes the common cold. They then evaluated the top hits for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 replication and for inhibiting 3CLpro. Masitinib, a broad antiviral, inhibited the main proteases of coronaviruses and picornaviruses and was effective in reducing SARS-CoV-2 replication in mice. —VV </jats:p>