Plasmonic integrated modulators incorporating transparent conductive oxides offer micron-scale footprint and GHz bandwidth. However, extinction is limited with the ultrathin active region. Researchers from Skoltech (Russia) introduce Si-ITO plasmonic modulators operating on a multimode interference. This enables electro-optic intensity modulation with dual π-shifted output in a single silicon waveguide, facilitating balanced signal routing. The team compared AC/DC regimes of modulations and demonstrated post-fabrication tunability and switching between phase and amplitude modulation on the same device.

Disorder is emerging as a powerful design principle in nanophotonics, enabling optical functionalities beyond periodic architectures. Researchers from the University of Florence and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology show that hyperuniform disordered photonic networks host an unusually rich modal landscape, combining spectral level repulsion, distinct Anderson and Lifshitz-like localized states, and controlled hybridization of defect modes within a single architecture, opening new routes toward programmable disorder-based photonic devices.

Built on the open-access publishing platform of NEW HORIZON PRESS LIMITED, NEW Community engaged in international outreach and scholarly exchange during the 2026 international geochemistry conference. Its activities centered on emerging topics including AI-ready geochemical data, carbon removal, enhanced rock weathering, biogeochemical cycles, contaminant transport and transformation, and climate change, with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary research networks.

In the misty Huaiyu Mountains of eastern China, scientists have discovered a new salamander species—and its name carries a story as remarkable as the find itself. 

A new clinical study shows that electroacupuncture (EA) can significantly improve long-term facial paralysis symptoms and help regulate brainstem excitability, even when using minimal stimulation that patients can barely feel. 

Severe early childhood caries affects millions of children worldwide and remains one of the most destructive forms of tooth decay. Although bacteria are known to play a central role in the disease, identifying the microbes actively involved in lesion progression has remained a challenge. In a new study, researchers combined DNA and RNA sequencing to investigate microbial communities residing within carious lesions, offering new insights into the biological processes that drive this debilitating childhood condition.