We present new data from the debris-rich basal ice layers of the NEEM ice core (NW Greenland). Using mineralogical observations, SEM imagery, geochemical data from silicates (meteoric 10Be, εNd, 87Sr/86Sr) and organic material (C/N, δ13C), we characterize the source material, succession of previous glaciations and deglaciations and the paleoecological conditions during ice-free episodes. Meteoric 10Be data and grain features indicate that the ice sheet interacted with paleosols and eroded fresh bedrock, leading to mixing in these debris-rich ice layers. Our analysis also identifies four successive stages in NW Greenland: (1) initial preglacial conditions, (2) glacial advance 1, (3) glacial retreat and interglacial conditions and (4) glacial advance 2 (current ice-sheet development). C/N and δ13C data suggest that deglacial environments favored the development of tundra and taiga ecosystems. These two successive glacial fluctuations observed at NEEM are consistent with those identified from the Camp Century core basal sediments over the last 3 Ma. Further inland, GRIP and GISP2 summit sites have remained glaciated more continuously than the western margin, with less intense ice-substratum interactions than those observed at NEEM.

The rise of neurotechnologies, especially in combination with artificial intelligence (AI)-based methods for brain data analytics, has given rise to concerns around the protection of mental privacy, mental integrity and cognitive liberty – often framed as “neurorights” in ethical, legal, and policy discussions. Several states are now looking at including neurorights into their constitutional legal frameworks, and international institutions and organizations, such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe, are taking an active interest in developing international policy and governance guidelines on this issue. However, in many discussions of neurorights the philosophical assumptions, ethical frames of reference and legal interpretation are either not made explicit or conflict with each other. The aim of this multidisciplinary work is to provide conceptual, ethical, and legal foundations that allow for facilitating a common minimalist conceptual understanding of mental privacy, mental integrity, and cognitive liberty to facilitate scholarly, legal, and policy discussions.

Jurassic carbonate strata in the eastern Paris Basin exhibit several generations of faults, tension gashes and stylolites. Although their relative chronology can sometimes be determined according to cross-cutting relationships, the duration of major deformation phases and their influence on fluid flow and carbonate cementation are still uncertain. This contribution aims to clarify the timing of brittle deformation and associated calcite cementation. Tension gashes filled by calcite in Jurassic carbonates were sampled in outcrops and boreholes and dated through U–Pb geochronology. Almost all the sampled fractures were cemented during the Cenozoic period. Continuous deformation spread from c. 50 to 30 Ma. Tension gashes oriented N10° to N20° dated at 48–43 Ma show the main Pyrenean contractional stage. A second set of calcites were dated at c. 35–33 Ma and document a Late Eocene – Oligocene extension. A transition from the compressional to the extensional regime is expressed by tension gashes dated between 43 and 35 Ma. Finally, tension gashes oriented N150° to N175°, dated between 32 and 18 Ma, may result from the propagation of the horizontal stress generated by the Alpine orogen or by late Pyrenean deformation. Clumped isotope thermometry on five samples revealed both low crystallization temperatures (from 27 to 53 °C) and the meteoric origin of calcite-precipitating fluids. Our research therefore documents a continuous fracturing from Ypresian to Rupelian times, and less expressed brittle deformation during the Miocene period.

Increasing interest in three-dimensional nanostructures adds impetus to electron microscopy techniques capable of imaging at or below the nanoscale in three dimensions. We present a reconstruction algorithm that takes as input a focal series of four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) data. We apply the approach to a lead iridate, Pb$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$, and yttrium-stabilized zirconia, Y$_{0.095}$Zr$_{0.905}$O$_2$, heterostructure from data acquired with the specimen in a single plan-view orientation, with the epitaxial layers stacked along the beam direction. We demonstrate that Pb–Ir atomic columns are visible in the uppermost layers of the reconstructed volume. We compare this approach to the alternative techniques of depth sectioning using differential phase contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (DPC-STEM) and multislice ptychographic reconstruction.

Deformation in intraplate domains is usually considered as a consequence of tectonic events at plate boundaries. Nevertheless, the occurrence of intraplate earthquakes such as the recent Le Teil event in the south of France along the Cévennes Fault System (CFS), on 11 November 2019, Mw = 4.9, questions whether this far-field deformation only occurs during tectonic pulses at plate boundaries, or if it corresponds to low-intensity but regional continuous deformation through time. To address this question, we have coupled U–Pb geochronology of fault-related calcites with structural analysis along a major fault system (the CFS) in the South-East Basin, France. We evidence (1) an Albian activity of the CFS and (2) a continuous compressional activity of the CFS and satellite structures during the whole Eocene and probably during the Late Cretaceous – Palaeocene, including periods (e.g. Lutetian) usually considered as phases of tectonic quiescence. We thus demonstrate that the tectonic reactivation of this intraplate fault system is not restricted to periods of high rates of deformation at plate boundaries.

Argentotetrahedrite-(Zn), Ag6(Cu4Zn2)Sb4S13, has been approved as a new mineral species by the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (IMA-CNMNC) using samples from Kremnica, Slovak Republic (hereafter KR), and Lengenbach, Switzerland (LE). Additionally, it was also identified at the small deposit of Zvěstov (Stříbrnice), Czech Republic (ZV). At the Slovak locality, it occurs as anhedral grains up to 0.1 mm in size, steel-grey in colour, with a metallic lustre, in association with ‘argentotennantite-(Fe)’ and tiny chalcopyrite grains in quartz gangue. At Lengenbach, it was found as domains of tristetrahedral crystal of tetrahedrite-(Zn), up to 1 mm in size, associated with dolomite. At Zvěstov, it occurs as irregular aggregates, up to 0.2 mm in size, partly rimmed by kenoargentotetrahedrite-(Fe). Argentotetrahedrite-(Zn) is isotropic, grey in colour, with blue-greenish tints. Reflectance data for COM wavelengths in air (KR sample) are [λ (nm), R (%)]: 470, 30.1; 546, 29.8; 589, 29.8; and 650, 28.3. Chemical formulae of the samples studied, recalculated on the basis of ΣMe = 16 apfu (atoms per formula unit), are: (Ag3.27Cu2.69)Σ5.96[Cu4.00(Zn1.69Fe0.23Cu0.05Cd0.02Hg0.01)Σ2.00](Sb3.86As0.17)Σ4.03S12.73 (KR), (Ag3.17Cu2.79)Σ5.96[Cu4.00(Zn1.55Cd0.23Fe0.16Cu0.05Hg0.01)Σ2.00](Sb3.71As0.32)Σ4.03S12.77 (LE) and (Ag3.27Cu2.67)Σ5.94[Cu4.00(Zn1.39Fe0.50Cu0.07Cd0.03Hg0.01)Σ2.00](Sb4.03As0.04)Σ4.07S13.08 (ZV). Argentotetrahedrite-(Zn) is cubic, I$\overline 4$3m, with a = 10.5505(10) Å, V = 1174.4(3) Å3 and Z = 2 (KR); a = 10.5155(13) Å and V = 1162.8(4) Å3 (LE); and a = 10.5663(12) Å and V = 1179.7 Å3 (ZV). The crystal structure of argentotetrahedrite-(Zn) has been refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to a final R1 = 0.035 on the basis of 327 unique reflections with Fo > 4σ(Fo) and 22 refined parameters (sample KR). Argentotetrahedrite-(Zn) is isotypic with other members of the tetrahedrite group. The structural relationship between argentotetrahedrite-(Zn) and other members of the freibergite series are discussed and previous findings of this species are briefly reviewed.

Cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the building blocks of life since it provides the unique opportunity to study molecules and membrane architectures in the context of cellular interaction. In particular, the combination of fluorescence imaging with focused ion beam (FIB) milling allows the targeting of specific structures in thick cellular samples by preparing thin lamellae that contain a specific fluorescence marker. This technique has conventionally been time-consuming, as it requires sample transfer to multiple microscopes and presents several technical challenges that currently limit its success. Here we describe METEOR, a FIB-integrated microscopy solution that streamlines the correlative cryo-ET workflow. It protects the sample from ice contamination by minimizing handling steps, thus increasing the likelihood of high-quality data. It also allows for monitoring of the milling procedure to ensure the molecule of interest is captured and can then be imaged by cryo-ET.

Tennantite-(Hg), Cu6(Cu4Hg2)As4S13, was approved as a new mineral species (IMA2020-063) from the Lengenbach quarry, Imfeld, Binn Valley, Canton Valais, Switzerland. It was identified as an aggregate of black metallic tetrahedral crystals, less than 0.1 mm in size, intimately associated with sinnerite, and grown on realgar. In reflected light, tennantite-(Hg) is isotropic, grey in colour, with creamy tints. Minimum and maximum reflectance data for COM wavelengths in air are [λ (nm): R (%)]: 470: 29.1; 546: 29.1; 589: 28.5; 650: 27.7. Electron microprobe analysis gave (in wt.% – average of 7 spot analyses): Cu 32.57(42), Ag 6.38(19), Tl 0.29(14), Zn 0.04(5), Hg 17.94(2.27), Pb 0.70(51), As 17.83(61), Sb 0.34(8), S 24.10(41), total 100.19(1.04). The empirical formula of the sample studied, recalculated on the basis of ΣMe = 16 atoms per formula unit, is (Cu4.69Ag1.04Tl0.03)Σ5.76(Cu4.35Hg1.58Pb0.06Zn0.01)Σ6.00(As4.20Sb0.05)Σ4.25S13.26. Tennantite-(Hg) is cubic, I$\overline 4$3m, with a = 10.455(7) Å, V = 1143(2) Å3 and Z = 2. The crystal structure of tennantite-(Hg) has been refined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction data to a final R1 = 0.0897 on the basis of 214 unique reflections with Fo > 4σ(Fo) and 22 refined parameters. Tennantite-(Hg) is isotypic with other members of the tetrahedrite group. Mercury is hosted at the tetrahedrally coordinated M(1) site, in accord with the relatively long M(1)–S(1) distance (2.389 Å), similar to that observed in tetrahedrite-(Hg). Minor Ag is located at the triangularly-coordinated and split M(2) site. Other occurrences of tennantite-(Hg) are briefly reviewed and the Lengenbach finding is described within the framework of previous knowledge about the Hg mineralogy at this locality.