The transition-metal-catalysed cross-coupling reaction between an organo(pseudo)halide and a nucleophile is important in organic synthesis for carbon-carbon (C–C) and carbon-heteroatom (C–E, where E indicates p-block elements other than carbon) bond formations, in both industrial and academic settings (Fig. 1a).

Spin polarization is the basic concept of spintronics. In the last decade, the spin-orbital coupling effect in noncentrosymmetric crystal material-induced spin-momentum locking polarization, such as the Rashba effect, has promoted the development of a new generation of spintronics devices. While in the class of centrosymmetric material, the spin-orbital coupling effect cooperating with the local inversion symmetry breaking also induced the odd-spatially distributed spin polarization, named “Hidden Spin Polarization”, which has promised an expanded material pool for future spintronics. However, such an exotic hidden effect is difficult to be detected and thus be utilized for a device.

The impact of the direction of the chemical bond of colliding molecules on their chemical reactions has been observed in collisions of non-polar molecules for the first time. This observation and its theoretical underpinnings potentially offer a new way to control chemical reactions beyond the traditional chemical-reaction parameters of temperature, pressure, and the addition of catalysts.

Natural faults are rough due to wearing, erosion, non-uniform stress loading, and other conditions. Understanding the impacts of fault surface roughness on fault strength and earthquake hazard is always at the forefront of earthquake science.

On December 20, 2022, the American Physical Society’s (APS) Physics website reviewed the year’s major advances in international physics. They released ten of the most representative important works of 2022 as the “Highlights of the Year”.

The field of topological physics has seen a significant uptake in research efforts and interest in recent years. Kagome lattice materials have fascinated scientists for a long time because they provide a window into quantum phenomena such as geometrical frustration, topology, and strong correlations.