A new study shows that fish embryo toxicity tests using the Chinese rare minnow may provide a promising alternative to conventional acute fish toxicity tests. By testing 26 fragrance ingredients, researchers found that malformation-based endpoints in rare minnow embryos were more closely aligned with juvenile fish toxicity than lethality-based endpoints, supporting the use of embryo tests to reduce animal use in chemical registration and ecotoxicological assessment.

A research team has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled method that can map river depth across long reach with high sediment concentration, where conventional satellite bathymetry often struggles. 

Chinese researchers have discovered that curcumin, the natural compound that gives turmeric its bright yellow color, can stabilize the high-precision 3D printing of microscopic ceramic parts.

The energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials. Big takeaways：

A new desalination method produces drinking water from seawater without chemical additives.

The solar-powered system uses specially engineered black metal to absorb sunlight.

Its self-cleaning surface separates and collects salts, instead of dumping them as harmful brine waste.

From the salts, the system can extract lithium, a key material for rechargeable batteries.

The approach could help address global water shortages and growing mineral demand.

For children recovering from surgery for complicated acute appendicitis, a familiar safety step may offer less protection than many clinicians assume.

Photocatalytic water splitting for H₂ evolution is expected to be a feasible strategy to alleviate environmental and energy pressure. A defect-engineered TiO₂-Ov/Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S S-scheme heterojunction is designed and constructed by in situ growing Zn_0.5Cd_0.5S nanoparticles on flower-like TiO₂ microspheres with oxygen vacancies. The defect-engineered S-scheme heterojunction with dual charge transfer pathways endows excellent light absorption ability, effective spatial separation and transfer of photo-induced charge, and superior redox capacity, thus achieving high-efficiency photocatalytic H₂ evolution.