It has long been recognized that chiral materials can selectively transport electron spins, yet their role in electrochemical energy storage remained unclear. Now, writing in National Science Review, researchers led by Prof. Hongsen Li at Qingdao University demonstrate that regulating the chiral asymmetry factor enhances spin polarization at catalytic sites, accelerates sulfur redox reactions, and significantly improves the electrochemical performance of lithium–sulfur batteries.

Researchers identified functional noncoding variants in an enhancer of TBX1 that may contribute to tetralogy of Fallot, the most common cyanotic congenital heart defect. Using whole-genome sequencing in 428 patients and blood vessel organoids, the study shows that disruption of this enhancer reduces TBX1 expression and impairs vascular development linked to the cardiac outflow tract.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a research team led by Professor Chengbang An reconstructed 4,000 years of dietary evolution in the central-eastern Eurasian Steppe from the Bronze Age to the Tang Dynasty, revealing synchronized dietary shifts across multiple regions: increased millet and meat consumption from the Early Iron Age to the Han Dynasty, followed by a return to wheat- and barley-based C₃ diets during the Jin-Tang periods. The study further demonstrates that these transitions were jointly driven by climate change, intensified interregional interaction among pastoralist groups, and innovations in grain processing technology. This work provides a critical reference for understanding human-environment interactions in the Eurasian Steppe.

Chronic hepatitis B is difficult to completely eradicate because current antiviral therapies cannot eliminate viral covalently closed circular DNA. Researchers now summarize how combining classical hepatitis B virus markers with emerging biomarkers, including hepatitis B core-related antigen, serum hepatitis B virus RNA, and quantitative anti-hepatitis B core antibody, substantially improves prediction of functional cure. The proposed evidence-based clinical framework could support individualized treatment decisions, optimize monitoring strategies, improve hepatitis B surface antigen clearance, and reduce healthcare costs.

Halide cathode materials are reshaping all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs) by enabling multi-electron reactions that dramatically boost energy density. A new review traces their evolution from liquid to solid-state systems, spotlighting single-phase electrode designs that eliminate inactive components and the rational design of multi-electron cathode materials. Looking ahead, it highlights AI-driven material discovery and integrated architectures to overcome energy challenges, charting a course toward cheaper, higher-energy ASSLBs.

Shaping electromagnetic waves at will is a long-standing goal in modern science and engineering. Programmable metasurfaces offer a promising route, but existing schemes are often too simple and fixed for real-time, task-oriented, and diverse control. A team from Zhejiang University has now developed a deep-learning-enabled temporal sequencing framework that maps target illusion patterns to modulation sequences, enabling rewritable and customizable electromagnetic illusions in experiments. This work is published in National Science Review.

Three-dimensional (3D) vision is undergoing a profound transformation. Recently, Zhoujie Wu and Qican Zhang from Sichuan University, together with Gunther Notni from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering IOF, published a review paper in Light: Advanced Manufacturing to systematically summarize over four decades of development in fringe projection profilometry (FPP) and reveal a paradigm shift from traditional geometric triangulation toward computational 3D imaging.

A team led by Academician Ge Junbo and Professor Sun Aijun at Fudan University reveals that environmental eustress attenuates doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity while enhancing antitumor effects via a hypothalamus-heart-tumor axis. Eustress upregulates hypothalamic BDNF, which activates TrkB receptors on cardiac resident macrophages to inhibit CCL2 secretion, thereby reducing pro-inflammatory Ly6C^high monocyte/macrophage infiltration into heart tissue. In hepatocellular carcinoma models, eustress also downregulates tumor microenvironment CCL2, decreasing immunosuppressive G-MDSCs and M2 macrophages while increasing cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and M1 macrophages. CCL2 is identified as a core dual target for cardio-oncology intervention, providing a safe and accessible non-pharmacological strategy for preventing chemotherapy-related cardiac toxicity in cancer patients.

Eye AI is moving fast, but will it work for people living at high altitude? In a study accepted by Science Bulletin, Dr. Wu Yuan’s team found that leading ophthalmic foundation models can lose accuracy across high-altitude retinal image cohorts. The team developed MIXFound, a lightweight way to combine several models and make AI diagnosis more robust in underrepresented settings.

On-chip photonic systems for generating vectorial optical fields (VOFs) are highly desired, yet conventional devices remain bulky and lack control capabilities. A class of surface-wave-excited complex-amplitude metasurfaces is proposed that can independently control the amplitude, phase, and polarization of locally scattered waves, thereby generating predefined VOFs. The platform significantly expands degrees of freedom in optical field manipulation, paving the way for integrated optics applications such as encrypted holography, augmented reality, super-resolution imaging, and information communication.