Yuheng Chen, Yuyao Liu, Zhiwei Wang, Yeqin Zeng, Zitong Chao, Peiqi Jiang, Hao Chen, Jiguang Wang, Jiashun Xiao, Can Yang
{"title":"CellART: a unified framework for extracting single-cell information from high-resolution spatial transcriptomics.","authors":"Yuheng Chen, Yuyao Liu, Zhiwei Wang, Yeqin Zeng, Zitong Chao, Peiqi Jiang, Hao Chen, Jiguang Wang, Jiashun Xiao, Can Yang","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01054-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-026-01054-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Recent advances in spatial transcriptomics (ST) have achieved subcellular spatial resolution, yet existing platforms either capture sparse transcript counts per spot or measure only a limited number of genes, complicating the extraction of comprehensive single-cell information. Here we introduce CellART, a unified framework for extracting single-cell information across diverse high-resolution ST platforms. By leveraging multimodal data, including staining images, ST data and single-cell RNA sequencing references, CellART simultaneously performs cell segmentation and cell-type annotation through integration of deep learning and probabilistic modeling. CellART is efficient, generalizable and robust, and its outputs are compatible with widely used community tools, facilitating a variety of downstream analyses.</p>","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149119654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yutong Cai, Zhaoyue Zhong, Zefeng Zhang, Bo-Wei Qin, Wei Lin
{"title":"Modulatability of complex oscillators.","authors":"Yutong Cai, Zhaoyue Zhong, Zefeng Zhang, Bo-Wei Qin, Wei Lin","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01050-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-026-01050-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Modulating complex oscillators toward simultaneous multiple spatiotemporal properties is essential for sustaining systems' functionalities. Statistical and dynamical-systems approaches have yielded much progress. However, a comprehensive understanding of modulatability problems, namely, existence and uniqueness of modulation parameters targeting desired properties, remains elusive and challenging. An integrative and efficient framework for identifying those parameters concerning as many properties as possible is also lacking. Here we establish rigorous analyses of modulatability showing that its local-uniqueness condition is generally the equal dimension of parameters and properties. It helps us develop a framework for identifying parameters as a property-based inverse problem, providing an alternative perspective to those trajectory-based methods. The efficacy of the framework is validated across various systems including electronic analogs of genetic circuits. In data-driven demonstrations, our framework achieves less runtime and higher accuracy compared with baseline methods. This work therefore provides rigorous analyses in modulating complex oscillators. Our framework is also a useful tool for future computational and experimental studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149119673","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards a chemistry genome.","authors":"Thomas Bligaard, Benjamin Thomas Hinrichsen","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01059-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-026-01059-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149119713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reproducibility in the era of large language models","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01061-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43588-026-01061-2","url":null,"abstract":"Reproducibility has long been a concern in machine learning research. The rise of large language models adds new layers of complexity, underscoring the need for clearer reporting standards and community-wide best practices.","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":"6 9","pages":"907-907"},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-026-01061-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149014820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Computational active materials and embodied intelligence in extreme conditions","authors":"Yifan Yang, Fan Xu","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01051-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43588-026-01051-4","url":null,"abstract":"Embodied intelligence has enabled machines to act autonomously, yet intelligence remains largely confined to digital models, leaving robotic bodies as passive executors. In extreme environments, such as the human brain, where tissues are mechanically and thermally sensitive, conventional electronics can become limiting. Here, we discuss how active materials, which embed intelligence directly within their structure, can expand robotic capabilities in these settings, with a particular focus on the role of computation-aided design.","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":"6 9","pages":"910-912"},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149014822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Homa Hosseinmardi, Upasana Dutta, David Rothschild, Duncan J. Watts
{"title":"Algorithmic systems, human agency and the future of platform research","authors":"Homa Hosseinmardi, Upasana Dutta, David Rothschild, Duncan J. Watts","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01038-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43588-026-01038-1","url":null,"abstract":"As the volume of online content grows exponentially, algorithmic curation has become necessary for delivering content to billions of users daily, such as via recommendation and ranking algorithms. However, there are widespread concerns that these algorithms amplify problematic content or prioritize content that reinforces users’ existing beliefs. Although legitimate, these concerns have overshadowed the role that users’ own preferences play in determining these same outcomes. Here we argue for a more balanced approach to understanding online content consumption and engagement that considers both algorithmic mechanisms and human agency. We review the existing literature on the role of algorithmic recommendation and users’ self-selection in the patterns of users’ online diets and show that evidence linking algorithmic curation to problematic outcomes is inconclusive. We highlight the gaps in the existing literature and call for the need for more large-scale data-driven empirical research and experimentation, with the goal of refining the debate on the societal impact of digital platforms and providing a path for future research. While there are widespread concerns about the potential negative societal impacts of algorithm-driven systems, a more balanced approach to understanding online content consumption and engagement that considers both algorithmic mechanisms and human agency will be crucial moving forward.","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":"6 9","pages":"923-938"},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149014819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Large language models as human proxies.","authors":"Nikita Karetnikov, Iyad Rahwan, Davor Svetinovic","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01060-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-026-01060-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The idea of computationally approximating human behavior is being reshaped by the emergence of large language models (LLMs). Although LLMs do not explain the mechanisms of human behavior, they can potentially stand in for humans-giving rise to new applied and scientific uses. Here we analyze research from multiple disciplines that explicitly or implicitly use LLMs as human proxies and organize them into four roles: believable agents, task agents, experimental subjects and silicon samples. By comparing the roles, we show that similarity to humans is not a single feature: each supports a different scientific claim and requires its own validity criteria.</p>","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149002855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Revisiting molecular descriptors with TDiMS for interpretable intramolecular interactions based on substructure pairs","authors":"Lisa Hamada, Akihiro Kishimoto, Kohei Miyaguchi, Masataka Hirose, Junta Fuchiwaki, Indra Priyadarsini, Seiji Takeda","doi":"10.1038/s43588-026-01036-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s43588-026-01036-3","url":null,"abstract":"Molecular descriptors play a crucial role in representing the structural features of molecules for machine learning-based physical property prediction. However, current descriptors either consider only local aspects of molecular structures or fail to effectively learn nonlocal structural features involving long-distance intramolecular interactions. Here, to address this issue, we present a descriptor named TDiMS. TDiMS effectively summarizes the enumerated pairwise topological distances between molecular substructures, thus capturing nonlocal interactions. Our evaluation shows that TDiMS successfully identifies essential features of large structures and outperforms other representative descriptors in predicting properties for which distances between substructures are a primary factor. In addition, these identified features are highly interpretable for experts in materials discovery. A descriptor, TDiMS, is developed to summarize the enumerated pairwise topological distances between molecular substructures and identify interpretable molecular features for materials discovery.","PeriodicalId":74246,"journal":{"name":"Nature computational science","volume":"6 9","pages":"945-953"},"PeriodicalIF":20.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-026-01036-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148993005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}