Materials' mission to reach strange new worlds. Using the moisture in our midst. Sensing how an embryo takes shape. Moiré materials keep on giving. Sexism in academia is bad for science and a waste of public funding. Rethinking biochar: black gold or not? Wood can be made superblack or transparent. 3D printing through tissues. A quirky mechanophore comes to light. Extreme light confinement and control in low-symmetry phonon-polaritonic crystals. The role of engineered materials in mucosal vaccination strategies. Advantages, challenges and molecular design of different material types used in organic solar cells. Human and environmental safety of carbon nanotubes across their life cycle. Co-catalytic metal-support interactions in single-atom electrocatalysts Breaking the limitation of van der Waals integration Cosy like a polar bear Diabetic wound dressings Making fibres fast Custom liver models to aid surgeons Soft sensing and haptics for medical procedures Adaptable navigation of magnetic microrobots Inside a materials science podcast Materials consideration for the design, fabrication and operation of microscale robots Non-classical crystallization in soft and organic materials Towards glycan foldamers and programmable assemblies Sustainable moisture energy How biofabrication can accelerate cultured meat's path to market Shaping the ethical, sustainable and policy-driven future of space exploration Vapour-deposited perovskite light-emitting diodes Beef paddies The potential and challenges of off-grid solar photovoltaics in resource-challenged settings: the case of sub-Saharan Africa Starch superstructures Perovskite–organic tandem solar cells Flat bands, strange metals and the Kondo effect Designing organic mixed conductors for electrochemical transistor applications Materials research will be central to India’s technology missions, but a culture shift is needed In vivo biomolecule corona and the transformation of a foe into an ally for nanomedicine Cost and performance analysis as a valuable tool for battery material research Author Correction: Human and environmental safety of carbon nanotubes across their life cycle (Nature Reviews Materials, (2023), 9, 1, (63-81), 10.1038/s41578-023-00611-8) Design and microstructuring of materials to boost spacecraft ion propulsion High-entropy materials for energy and electronic applications Living in a material world Chemotherapy delivery activated by radiation Thermoelectric copper selenide gets a boost External-pressure–electrochemistry coupling in solid-state lithium metal batteries Protein materials, by blueprint Engineering interlayer hybridization in van der Waals bilayers Hybrid perovskites unlocking the development of light-emitting solar cells 2D materials for durable and sustainable electric vehicles Leveraging next-generation materials for cancer neuroscience therapies in the central nervous system