With the intensifying space confrontation in geostationary orbit (GEO), the U.S. GSSAP (Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program) satellites have conducted hundreds of close-range observation operations on dozens of on-orbit satellites in the vicinity of GEO. The acquisition of multi-aspect information from non-cooperative targets has thus become a critical component of space security assessment. Close-range spacecraft operations, which employ relative motion configurations such as fly-around, hovering, and drifting flight, provide an effective technical means for approaching and observing targets to obtain multi-aspect payload information. However, existing studies predominantly focus on the control design of a single relative motion configuration, which fails to satisfy the complex mission requirements of multi-aspect observation. The combination of multiple models for observation presents multiple challenges, including smooth switching between modes, fuel optimization, strategy design algorithms, and analysis of payload parameter effects. Therefore, how to coordinately plan a sequential combination of multiple close-range operation models under minimum fuel constraints to efficiently acquire multi-aspect information of non-cooperative targets has become a key bottleneck in enhancing space situational awareness capabilities.

Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy (BCD) is a rare inherited retinal degenerative disease characterized by progressive night blindness, visual field constriction, and crystalline deposits in the retina and cornea. The disease is caused by mutations in CYP4V2, a gene involved in fatty acid metabolism. Traditionally, BCD has been viewed primarily as an ocular disorder. However, as CYP4V2-targeted gene therapies move into clinical exploration, a new question has become increasingly important: does BCD also involve measurable systemic metabolic changes, and could blood-based markers help monitor disease status and treatment-related metabolic safety?

A new study by researchers from the Eye and ENT Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai Proton and Heavy Ion Center, and collaborators provides fresh evidence from plasma metabolomics. Using a family-controlled design, the team enrolled 36 genetically confirmed patients with BCD and 49 unaffected first-degree relatives as controls. This design helped reduce the confounding effects of genetic background and shared environmental differences, which can be especially important in rare inherited diseases. Through untargeted liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry-based metabolomic profiling, the researchers found that BCD is associated not only with retinal degeneration, but also with systemic lipid metabolic rewiring, energy-related metabolic stress, and compensatory network changes.

Radome materials for hypersonic vehicles must simultaneously satisfy stringent performance requirements, including low dielectric constant, low dielectric loss, high mechanical strength, and excellent high-temperature resistance. However, achieving synergistic optimization between wave-transparent performance and load-bearing capacity has long remained a central challenge in material design. Research group from Sun Yat-sen University innovatively constructed three composite systems, namely Si₃N_4f/BN, Si₃N_4f/SiO₂, and Si₃N_4f/SiO₂–BN, and systematically elucidated the cross-scale mechanism by which material composition modulates the mechanical and dielectric properties of composites through tailoring interfacial bonding and thermal mismatch stress. This work provides important theoretical guidance and experimental support for the design optimization and interfacial engineering of high-temperature wave-transparent materials for hypersonic vehicle applications.

The booming electric vehicle industry is approaching a wave of spent lithium-ion batteries. Recovering critical metals—lithium, cobalt, and nickel—from battery cathodes efficiently and sustainably has become a critical issue for both resource security and environmental protection.

In a review article published in Materials Reports: Solidwaste and Ecomaterials, researchers at North China University of Science and Technology innovatively combine bibliometric analysis with technical assessment to map the full technological chain for cathode resource recovery. Their analysis reveals that while hydrometallurgy remains the dominant approach, it suffers from high energy consumption and secondary pollution. The authors argue that future technologies should prioritize green, low-carbon processes, intelligent sorting, and system integration to achieve a truly closed-loop recycling system.

Understanding the formation and evolution of double Schottky barriers during sintering is essential for controlling the electrical performance of ZnO varistor ceramics. Here, in-situ high-temperature dielectric spectroscopy is used to continuously track this process. Negative permittivity caused by electron plasma oscillations is observed above 700°C. Densification and grain growth occur mainly during heating and soaking, whereas barrier formation is concentrated at 800-650℃ during cooling and is further regulated by Bi-rich phase transitions at 650-500℃. These findings establish a direct link between sintering, microstructural evolution, and electrical functionalization in ZnO varistor ceramics.

High-performance structural ceramics are critical materials for extreme-service applications. Recently, high-entropy carbide ceramics have attracted great attention due to their exceptional hardness, wear resistance, and high-temperature stability, although their intrinsic brittleness still limits further applications. Among the various strategies available, the synergistic regulation of spinodal decomposition and precipitation has emerged as a promising approach to overcoming the hardness-toughness trade-off, enabling (Ti, Zr, V, Nb, Mo)C high-entropy carbide to achieve simultaneous increases of 36% in hardness and 45% in fracture toughness, respectively. This strategy provides a new route toward the design of damage-tolerant advanced ceramics with superior mechanical performance.

High-entropy design is widely used to tailor structural disorder and local polarization in ferroelectric ceramics, but whether it necessarily enhances relaxor characteristics in tetragonal tungsten bronze (TTB) systems remains unclear. Here, entropy-tunable K(NaPr)_1-x(SrBa)_xNb₅O₁₅ ceramics were constructed to decouple the factors governing diffuse phase transition and relaxor-ferroelectric evolution. Contrary to conventional expectations, increasing configurational entropy does not enhance relaxor behavior; instead, the system evolves from an ergodic relaxor state toward a ferroelectric-like state. This evolution is governed by crystal structure, BO₆ local environment, and polar nanoregions dynamics, whereas diffuse phase transition is associated with incommensurate modulation.

The journal Materials Reports: Solidwaste and Ecomaterials (MRSE) is welcoming submissions at this time. MRSE has a mission of communicating innovative and original research, interesting and critical thinking, development, and application of various solid wastes around the world. The editorial team will consider original research, reviews, progress reports, and communications that have the concept of turning solid wastes into unhazardous, useful, functional, and valuable ecomaterials. 

Engineers at the China Ship Scientific Research Center have developed an autoregressive deep-learning framework (VMD-BiGRU-QRNN) that predicts complex dynamic midship bending moments in severe ocean waves. Tested against physical tow-tank data from a 205,000 DWT bulk carrier, the system reached an average R² of 0.9533 and accurately captured high-frequency whipping peaks, providing crucial risk-assessment data to prevent structural catastrophic failures.

A field-based study from the Yunkai Mountains reveals divergent elevational diversity responses between overstory tree and understory plant communities, highlighting the necessity of integrating vertical stratification and full elevational gradients for tropical mountain biodiversity conservation.