Microwave-assisted catalytic reactors can convert biomass into useful gases such as hydrogen much faster than conventionally heated ones, and researchers from Kyushu University, Japan have captured evidence of why. Using advanced X-ray techniques to observe the catalyst in real time, the team showed that microwaves create tiny, localized hot spots on nickel catalyst particles, accelerating the catalytic reaction. The team hopes to establish an electrified, high-efficiency pathway for carbon-neutral biomass conversion.

A force-responsive molecular system that reversibly switches circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) on and off at the single-molecule level has been developed, as reported by researchers from Japan. The team designed a platform consisting of a supramolecular mechanophore embedded in a polymer network gel, whose CPL emission is switched via swelling with a solvent. This approach provides an accurate way to evaluate force-induced CPL and expands the possibilities for next-generation mechanically responsive optical materials.

The ability to read facial expressions is a vital part of social communication and can be influenced by the observer’s emotional state. In a study, researchers examine whether positive emotions, induced by watching a comedy video, can help improve observers’ sensitivity to subtle positive facial expressions. The study also explores whether this effect differs when faces are covered by masks and whether individual traits, such as empathy and depressive tendencies, are related to these differences.

Researchers found that eye-level neighborhood characteristics and residents’ perceptions of their surrounding environment are associated with sleep health among working adults in Tokyo. Streetscapes with a greater sense of enclosure and perceived safety were linked to longer sleep duration, while greenery may support sleep indirectly by enhancing feelings of safety. 

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers successfully synthesized spherical Rh-Pd-Ir-Pt-Au HEA NPs with a mean diameter of approximately 10 nm in an aqueous mixed metal salt solution without any additional chemical reductants.

How dinosaurs digested food has long remained a mystery because soft tissues such as stomachs and intestines are rarely preserved in the fossil record. In a new study, researchers analyzed the shapes and wear patterns of gastroliths—stones preserved in the abdominal cavities of dinosaurs—and compared them with those of living birds and crocodilians. The results suggest that rounded, heavily worn gastroliths indicate the presence of muscular stomachs used to grind food, while angular gastroliths are associated with less muscular stomachs. Applying this framework to dinosaurs, the team found evidence that different groups evolved distinct digestive strategies. Some toothless theropods likely processed plant material using bird-like muscular stomachs, whereas herbivorous dinosaurs such as sauropods and ornithischians may have relied more on their teeth and prolonged intestinal fermentation than on gastrolith-assisted grinding. The study presents a new hypothesis for the evolution of dinosaur digestive systems and provides a framework for reconstructing feeding biology by integrating gastrolith evidence with other dietary indicators.