EurekAlert! Chinese Academy of Sciences - News Releases from CAS Headquarters

News from CAS Headquarters

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Sep-2025 12:10 ET (21-Sep-2025 16:10 GMT/UTC)

Study of ancient rocks helps predict potential for future marine anoxia

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international team led by Prof. CHEN Jitao from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences studied ancient sedimentary rocks in Naqing, South China, to analyze their chemical compositions.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Scientists discover evidence of extensive human fire use 50,000 years ago

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), alongside collaborators from China, Germany, and France, analyzed the pyrogenic carbon record in a 300,000-year-old sediment core from the East China Sea. Their findings challenge the widely held belief that humans only began influencing environment with fire in the recent past, during the Holocene.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

New method revolutionizes beta-blocker production process

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Chinese scientists at the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a breakthrough process that significantly improves the efficiency and environmental friendliness of beta-blocker production—with a focus on the widely used compound propranolol, which plays a vital role in managing cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension, arrhythmia, and angina.

Journal: Matter

Key evidence links Harbin individual’s nearly complete skull to a Denisovan

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

“What Denisovans looked like, despite their genetic contributions to present-day East Asians and Oceanians?” This is one of the most important questions that has arisen since the discovery of the Denisovans 15 years ago. Now, recent research by a team led by FU Qiaomiei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and JI Qiang of Hebei GEO University has helped answer this question by confirming that a nearly complete hominin skull discovered near Harbin belongs to the Denisovan lineage. It dates back to at least 146,000 years ago.

Journal: Science

Study finds link between nighttime light exposure and depression via specific brain circuit in tree shrews

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study by Prof. XUE Tian from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Prof. YAO Yonggang of the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Prof. ZHAO Huan of Hefei University has revealed that chronic exposure to artificial light at night (LAN) can trigger depression-like behaviors by activating a specific neural pathway in the brain.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

New Chinese database bridges global gaps in plant trait data

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the Wuhan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have built the Chinese Seed Trait Database (CSTD), which has been published in New Phytologist. This innovation overcomes longstanding language barriers (e.g., Chinese-to-English data translation) and enhances the completeness of global seed trait data, providing an invaluable resource for advancing large-scale plant science research.

Journal: New Phytologist

USTC develops weakly space-confined all-inorganic perovskite light-emitting diodes

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Prof. XIAO Zhengguo's team from the University of Science and Technology of China of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has proposed a novel strategy based on weakly space-confined, large-grain crystals of all-inorganic perovskite to prepare perovskite films with larger crystalline grains and higher temperature resistance.

Journal: Nature

Scientists reveal gene pairs conferring resistance to wheat diseases

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A research team led by Prof. LIU Zhiyong at the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has identified two novel genetic mechanisms for disease resistance in wheat, offering promising strategies to enhance resilience against powdery mildew and stripe rust.

Journal: Nature Genetics

Dual-laser strategy revolutionizes breast cancer photothermal therapy

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team led by ZHANG Pengfei from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and collaborators, developed a dual-laser PTT (DLPTT) strategy for breast cancer therapy. This approach enhances tumor ablation while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues by using near-infrared photothermal agents with aggregation-induced emission properties.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Scientists discover new, extremely neutron-deficient isotope protactinium-210

Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators have synthesized a new isotope—protactinium-210—for the first time. It is the most neutron-deficient isotope of protactinium synthesized to date.

Journal: Nature Communications

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