Nature Communications · 7 September 2026 · From issue 33

Dynamic coupling enables impulsive ejection in a hydrogel catapult

In lab tests, a gel-based slingshot launched objects at over 16 meters per second.

Xin Wang, Neng Xia et al.

Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 8 September 2026. Read the source

The plain-language reading of this paper is in the full issue, for subscribers.

Read the full issue

Get it free, every two days

Five papers free every issue, about 15 emails a month. No spam. Leave in one click.

Also in issue 33 15 papers

Six blood-based aging tests agreed a lung drug trial lowered patients' biological age.
Nature Biotechnology
In a climate model, wildfire-risk days near Alberta power lines will rise by 8 to 15 days a year.
Geophysical Research Letters
In one black hole's X-ray flicker, two hidden signals hide inside what looked like a single beat.
The Astrophysical Journal
Engineered plant sensors detect virus, bacteria, fungus, and other pathogen proteins, and give plants disease resistance.
Science
In cells and mice, extra sugar let colorectal cancer stem cells dodge a diabetes drug by burning fat instead.
Nature Communications
In ricefield eels, warm water flips ovaries toward male tissue using one heat sensing cell channel.
eLife
Local fish beat outsiders twice as strongly as stream fish beat lake fish overall.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In lab crystals, hot particles jumped between two stacked layers and made a much more efficient laser.
Nature Communications
In lab tests, a turbine's best power setting shifts when wind hits it at an angle.
PNAS Nexus
A reduced scanning method finds trapped motion inside tiny spaces using only weak, cheap magnets.
PNAS Nexus
In worms and mice, omega-3 fat breakdown creates a brand new tag on proteins.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
In lab experiments, scientists mapped the exact steps that anchor a key cleanup protein to cell membranes.
Science Advances
A mica-rich rock in fault zones can trap earthquakes within one narrow depth band.
Science Advances
In lab studies, a drug breaks the HIV shell in two steps, starting at its curviest points.
Science Advances