EurekAlert! Chinese Academy of Sciences

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-May-2026 18:15 ET (28-May-2026 22:15 GMT/UTC)

27-May-2026

Chang'e-5 Regolith studies reveal nanoscale space-weathering processes

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A collaborative team jointly led by Prof. YIN Zongjun from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), together with Profs. SHEN Bing and ZHOU Jihan from Peking University, has conducted systematic studies of impact-glass particles associated with Chang'e-5 lunar regolith grains.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

25-May-2026

Study reveals precipitation threshold regulating ecosystem nitrogen retention

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by Prof. LIU Lingli from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences identified a mean annual precipitation (MAP) threshold of approximately 700 mm, beyond which the dominant controls on ecosystem nitrogen retention shift.

Journal: Nature Geoscience

21-May-2026

Scientists discover thriving hard-substrate fauna in Oceania’s deep sea

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the crushing darkness of the hadal zone—deep ocean trenches plunging 6,000 m to nearly 11,000 m—scientists have uncovered a hidden community. A study published in Science on May 14 reports the discovery of a protist-dominated hard-substrate fauna across seven hadal regions in Oceania, highlighting an overlooked yet highly active carbon “hotspot.”

Journal: Science

21-May-2026

New passivation strategy boosts perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell performance

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of Chinese scientists from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering has developed a new passivation strategy that significantly improves both the efficiency and operational stability of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells.

Journal: Matter

19-May-2026

AI-driven framework enables precise prediction of RNA splicing and isoform usage

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the China National Center for Bioinformation, a research center affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led by Professor GAO Yuan, have developed an AI-driven framework that enables highly accurate prediction of RNA splicing and isoform usage by integrating genomic sequence features with tissue-specific RBP expression profiles.

Journal: Nature Computational Science

15-May-2026

Study: Climate warming drives sustained oxygen loss in global rivers

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

According to a study published in Science Advances on May 15, global rivers are undergoing widespread and sustained deoxygenation driven by climate warming, among which tropical rivers are the most vulnerable ecosystems, with an urgent need to combat oxygen loss.

Journal: Science Advances

13-May-2026

Slower winds help grasslands enhance carbon gain while saving water

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Grasslands, covering 40% of the Earth’s vegetated surface, play a crucial role in the global carbon balance but are increasingly threatened by climate-driven water scarcity. A new study published in Science Advances finds, however, that a widespread wind speed decline—a phenomenon known as “terrestrial stilling”—is enhancing the ability of global grasslands to absorb more carbon while minimizing water loss. This shift offers a crucial buffer for these water-limited biomes under climate change.

Journal: Science Advances

13-May-2026

Researchers reveal new clues about H. erectus evolution while advancing paleoproteomics

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered new information suggesting a potential connection between Homo erectus and modern humans, while also developing new, less invasive paleoproteomics methods of fossil research.

Journal: Nature

13-May-2026

Storms, dryness accelerate Amazonian forests' biomass turnover

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a recent study of Amazonian forests, researchers from the South China Botanical Garden (SCBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Cornell University and several international research institutions, found that the residence time of carbon in Amazonian vegetation will continue to shorten as atmospheric drying intensifies and convective storm activity increases, thereby undermining the forests’ long-term carbon storage capacity.

Journal: Nature Climate Change

12-May-2026

Scientists uncover how mid-latitude westerlies contribute moisture to Asian water towers

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by Profs. GAO Jing and YAO Tandong from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with international scientists, has determined how the westerlies integrate their moisture into the local water cycle under non-precipitating conditions.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

News from CAS Institutes

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-May-2026 18:15 ET (28-May-2026 22:15 GMT/UTC)

28-May-2026

Beyond fences: Africa’s biodiversity depends on working landscapes, not just protected areas

South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study argues that protected areas alone cannot safeguard Africa’s biodiversity, urging a shift to inclusive, community-centered conservation across human-managed landscapes.

Journal: Biological Diversity

28-May-2026

Wildfire dark brown carbon has strong global warming effects, study finds

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research reveals that a previously underestimated aerosol—dark brown carbon—is widespread in wildfire plumes and may warm the climate as much as black carbon.

Journal: Nature Geoscience

28-May-2026

Soil vapor transport improves soil moisture simulations in drylands

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This study introduced a simplified soil vapor transport scheme into the Community Land Model version 5 (CLM5). Under extremely dry surface conditions, upward liquid water movement becomes very weak or nearly ceases. As a result, near-surface soil layers may dry too slowly in models, leading to unrealistic wet biases.

Journal: Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters

27-May-2026

Continued improvement in China’s air quality in 2025 despite challenges of high-impact events

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

This paper analyzes the mean fine particulate (PM_2.5)and ozone (O₃)levels in 2025, and high-impact air-pollutant events and compound events in China.

Journal: Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Letters

27-May-2026

Tropical primary forest plants up-regulate root exudation to adapt to long-term high nitrogen deposition

South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Based on a 20-year field nitrogen addition experiment, this study demonstrates that long-term high nitrogen deposition does not reduce belowground carbon allocation in tropical forest plants; rather, it induces a physiological adaptation—upregulation of root exudation—to actively mobilize soil phosphorus, thereby sustaining productivity and offering a key mechanistic explanation for the persistence of tropical forest carbon sinks under chronic nitrogen enrichment.

Journal: Global Change Biology
Funder: Guangdong S&T Program, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Guangdong Science and Technology Plan Project

27-May-2026

Skyrmions become colorful now!

Light Publishing Center, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics And Physics, CAS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Optical skyrmions are poised to revolutionize data transmission as robust information carriers, but their use has been hindered by narrow-band generation limits. Now, an international team in China and Singapore has unveiled an on-chip platform based on ferroelectric spherulites. This breakthrough device generates stable optical skyrmions across the entire visible spectrum, shattering previous bandwidth barriers. The advance paves the way for ultra-high-capacity optical communications and next-generation topological quantum light sources.

Journal: eLight
Funder: NSFC, Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF, Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) AcRF Tier 1 grants, Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) MTC Individual Research Grants, Nanyang Assistant Professorship Start Up grant, National Research Foundation, Dieter Schwarz Foundation

News from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Trending News Releases

News from CAS Headquarters

Chang'e-5 Regolith studies reveal nanoscale space-weathering processes

Study reveals precipitation threshold regulating ecosystem nitrogen retention

Scientists discover thriving hard-substrate fauna in Oceania’s deep sea

New passivation strategy boosts perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell performance

AI-driven framework enables precise prediction of RNA splicing and isoform usage

Study: Climate warming drives sustained oxygen loss in global rivers

Slower winds help grasslands enhance carbon gain while saving water

Researchers reveal new clues about H. erectus evolution while advancing paleoproteomics

Storms, dryness accelerate Amazonian forests' biomass turnover

Scientists uncover how mid-latitude westerlies contribute moisture to Asian water towers

News from CAS Institutes

Beyond fences: Africa’s biodiversity depends on working landscapes, not just protected areas

Wildfire dark brown carbon has strong global warming effects, study finds

Soil vapor transport improves soil moisture simulations in drylands

Continued improvement in China’s air quality in 2025 despite challenges of high-impact events

Tropical primary forest plants up-regulate root exudation to adapt to long-term high nitrogen deposition

Skyrmions become colorful now!

Scientists unlock secret behind strong acidity in fluorinated aluminas

Scientists identify key structural units in neutral boron oxide clusters

Researchers develop first gas-solid hydride ion battery for efficient ambient hydrogen storage

Research team quantifies SO₂ emissions following March 2026 refinery fires in Tehran, Iran