In a study published in Advanced Materials, a research team led by Academician YU Shuhong from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported a structure-function integrated design of nacre-mimetic alumina (Al2O3)-based (NMA) composites. This NMA composite material not only has unique color tunability and excellent wave transparency, but also achieves lightweight, high strength, high toughness, and outstanding impact resistance.

A research team from Yunnan University has developed a novel liquid metal-assisted heteroepitaxy method to grow high-quality perovskite crystals within mesoporous scaffolds. This breakthrough enables printable mesoscopic perovskite solar cells to reach a champion efficiency of 20.2% while maintaining 97% performance after 3000 hours under harsh conditions. The approach offers a scalable pathway to efficient, stable, and low-cost printable photovoltaics.

This study provides structural insights that inform the design and development of next-gen antidiabetic drug.

This study aims to examine how paeoniflorin alleviates depression-like behaviours in rats subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) by modulating the function of gut–brain axis, and explore the connections between gut microbiota, metabolites and MDD.

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a team of researchers investigated a fine-scale lightning forecasting approach based on weather foundation models (WFMs) and proposed a dual-source data-driven forecasting framework that integrates the strengths of both WFMs and recent lightning observations to enhance predictive performance. Furthermore, a gated spatiotemporal fusion network (gSTFNet) is designed to address the challenges of cross-temporal and cross-modal fusion inherent in dual-source data integration. Experimental results demonstrate that the dual-source framework significantly improves forecasting performance compared to models trained solely on WFMs and outperforms both the ECMWF HRES lightning product and other deep-learning spatiotemporal forecasting models.

An accurate map of intracellular organelle pH is crucial for comprehending cellular metabolism and organellar functions. However, a unified intracellular pH spectrum using a single probe is still lacking. Now, writing in the journal Science China Life Sciences, a team of researchers from Jian-Sheng Kang developed a novel quantum entanglement-enhanced pH-sensitive probe called SITE-pHorin (single excitation and two emissions pH sensor protein), which features a wide pH-sensitive range and ratiometric quantitative measurement capabilities. They subsequently measured the pH of various organelles and their subcompartments, including mitochondrial subspaces, Golgi stacks, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), lysosomes, peroxisomes, and endosomes in COS-7 cells.

A new study shows that tree diversity consistently promotes productivity through fostering greater canopy structural complexity (CSC). Species complementarity is the main driver, with its positive effects strengthening over time.