In vivo biomolecule corona and the transformation of a foe into an ally for nanomedicine Materials research will be central to India’s technology missions, but a culture shift is needed Living in a material world Thermoelectric copper selenide gets a boost Chemotherapy delivery activated by radiation Non-classical crystallization in soft and organic materials Designing organic mixed conductors for electrochemical transistor applications High-entropy materials for energy and electronic applications Vapour-deposited perovskite light-emitting diodes The potential and challenges of off-grid solar photovoltaics in resource-challenged settings: the case of sub-Saharan Africa. Inside a materials science podcast. Starch superstructures. Beef paddies. Materials consideration for the design, fabrication and operation of microscale robots. Co-catalytic metal–support interactions in single-atom electrocatalysts. Towards glycan foldamers and programmable assemblies. Perovskite–organic tandem solar cells. How biofabrication can accelerate cultured meat's path to market. Soft sensing and haptics for medical procedures. Breaking the limitation of van der Waals integration. Adaptable navigation of magnetic microrobots. Custom liver models to aid surgeons. Diabetic wound dressings. Cosy like a polar bear. Making fibres fast. Reimagining undergraduate teaching in materials science and engineering. Responsive biomaterials: optimizing control of cancer immunotherapy. Fluorination in advanced battery design. Organic mixed conductors for bioinspired electronics. 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. Meet the spinaron. Sandwiched bismuthene. Stable 2D magnets. 3D to 2D perovskite conversion. Phase engineering of MoS2 heterostructures. Clean palladium nanosheets. New opportunities and old challenges in the clinical translation of nanotheranostics. Vapour-phase deposition of two-dimensional layered chalcogenides. Methylammonium-free wide-bandgap metal halide perovskites for tandem photovoltaics. Key molecular perspectives for high stability in organic photovoltaics. Clinical translation of metal–organic frameworks. Cleaning up oil spills.