Nature, Published online: 15 July 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10804-0

Elastic instabilities in mechanical metamaterials can be harnessed to programme fracture behaviour, transforming instability from a failure mechanism into a design principle that increases fracture energy by up to tenfold.

Nature Energy, Published online: 27 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41560-026-02078-7

Converting plastic waste into jet fuel could support aviation decarbonization, but current approaches are limited by high-pressure requirements and low efficiency. Here the authors present a tandem hydropyrolysis and vapour-phase hydrogenation strategy that uses a Ru/Co-Al oxide catalyst, achieving promising rates and yields at low pressures.