A novel S-scheme Mn_0.5Cd_0.5S/In₂S₃ photocatalyst efficiently degrades antibiotic pollutants in water. Its unique electron transfer mechanism enhances charge separation, boosting performance. The catalyst demonstrates high efficiency across various water types and excellent stability in a continuous-flow system. Toxicity assessments confirm the degradation process renders antibiotics harmless. This research provides a sustainable and effective strategy for combating antibiotic contamination, paving the way for advanced water purification technologies.

One in four adults over the age of 25 will have a stroke in a lifetime, according to the Global Stroke Fact Sheet 2025. Awareness remains key for early intervention and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Advances in genomic science are now offering a new lens to identify these risks early—sometimes decades before a stroke occurs.

Air pollution is a major environmental challenge of this century. In a recent Journal of Environmental Sciences review paper, scientists from the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have highlighted potential technologies for direct purification of air pollutants in the environment, including photocatalysis and ambient non-photocatalytic approaches. They also propose the novel concept of an ‘Environmental Catalytic City.’

Refractory hydrocephalus (RH) refers to cases of fluid buildup in the brain that resist standard treatment, leading to prolonged care and high complication rates. A new study offers a clear definition and classification system for RH, highlighting infection and low-pressure hydrocephalus as the most common subtypes. By refining diagnostic criteria and outlining patient-specific management strategies, the study paves the way for more effective and standardized care.

In a paper published in National Science Review, a research team led by Prof. Hao Sun at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has clarified how fluorinated electrolyte additives function in rechargeable sodium-chlorine (Na-Cl₂) batteries. The study found that these additives do not primarily protect the anode by forming a solid electrolyte interphase, as previously believed. Instead, they to spontaneously react with electrolyte components to generate aluminum fluoride (AlF₃) catalyst in situ at the cathode, accelerating the NaCl/Cl₂ redox reactions. Based on this mechanism, the team designed a polymerized ionic liquid cathode catalyst for the cathode, achieving an exceptional rate capability of 30,000 mA g⁻¹ and stable cycling performance over 300 cycles. This work establishes a new design principle to linking anode additives to cathode catalysis, advancing the development of next-generation high-energy, ultrafast-charging batteries.

Using six pairs of CMIP6 models with different horizontal resolutions, an IAP/CAS team analyzed how higher resolution improves the simulation of long-term summer precipitation trends (1951–2014) over High Mountain Asia and explored the physical mechanisms driving this improvement.

Prof. Guoying Gu team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University unveiled millimeter-scale soft robots today, solving a minimally invasive surgery hurdle: navigating narrow body orifices. They modified silicone with accelerators/thickeners to fix traditional bubble casting’s interfacial instability, making 1–3mm robots in 30 minutes via mini bubble casting. These robots can retrieve clots and check lungs; next, they’ll add sensors and hydrogel drug coatings for "in-body pharmacies."

Exploring topological singularities in non-Hermitian photonic systems has recently become a frontier in modern physics and engineering. Towards this goal, researchers in China have experimentally realized the transition from a bound state in the continuum (BIC) to an exceptional point (EP) in a terahertz metasurface by tuning the incident angle. Optical pumping modulates silicon’s carrier concentration, enabling dynamic EP switching and THz beam deflection for compact sensing and non-Hermitian photonic applications.

The study reveals a new regulatory mechanism controlling the biosynthesis of tanshinones and phenolic acids in Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), a key herb in traditional Chinese medicine. Researchers identified SmCSN5, a subunit of the COP9 signalosome complex, as a stabilizing partner of the transcription factor SmMYB36, which simultaneously promotes tanshinone synthesis and represses phenolic acid formation. SmCSN5 prevents SmMYB36 degradation through the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway and enhances its transcriptional activity under methyl jasmonate induction. This work uncovers a post-translational control layer coordinating secondary metabolism in medicinal plants, providing new insights for metabolic engineering to selectively enhance pharmacologically active diterpenoid compounds.

Salicylic acid (SA) plays a pivotal role in plant defense, yet its genetic regulation in tea remains largely unexplored. By analyzing 299 tea accessions through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), researchers uncovered a key gene—CsNCED1—that negatively regulates SA-mediated immune responses. Overexpression of this gene increased abscisic acid (ABA) levels and weakened pest resistance by suppressing SA biosynthesis and its receptor signaling pathway. The findings reveal the antagonistic interplay between ABA and SA in determining tea plants’ susceptibility to biotic stress, offering crucial genetic resources for marker-assisted breeding of insect-resistant cultivars.