News from Science China Press

Using 15.5 million tree records and a forest dynamics model, researchers examined harvesting strategies in China through 2100. Compared with current management, carefully timed and targeted harvesting could increase total forest and wood-product carbon storage by 4.2% and timber production by 38%, while reducing losses from tree mortality. The findings suggest that protecting forest carbon and supplying wood need not always be competing goals.

A new review in Medicine Plus reframes cGAS-STING as a context-sensitive signaling network rather than a simple immune switch. It explains how DNA source, cell type, signal duration and downstream pathway activation can shift the pathway from host defense and tumor surveillance to chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, fibrosis and cancer progression, and surveys emerging oral, CNS-accessible, metal-based and targeted protein-degradation strategies.

Researchers at West China Hospital, Sichuan University, developed DNA nanomachines that use molecular fillers to improve sensing performance and detect trace circulating tumor DNA without amplification. Clinical plasma studies showed good agreement with qPCR for selected lung and thyroid cancer mutations, supporting potential use in rapid mutation analysis. Exploratory findings also suggested potential for disease monitoring, pending further clinical validation.

A large UK Biobank study shows that a cumulative score integrating 15 social determinants of health is associated with higher risks of incident chronic kidney disease (CKD), cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality among people with CKD. Exploratory multi-omics analyses suggest that plasma metabolomic and proteomic signatures may partly explain these associations, with the proteomic signature showing the more consistent mediation signal. The score may help identify high-risk groups for earlier monitoring, but it is not a diagnostic tool.

A review published in Science China Materials provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in lanthanide-based luminescence thermometry, covering fundamental photophysics, materials design, and emerging applications. Spanning six classes of materials, the review highlights strategies for overcoming thermal quenching and approaches to comprehensive performance evaluation, while outlining key challenges and future perspectives for the development of reliable luminescent thermometers.

Researchers from Chongqing University and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University revealed how eggshell membranes (ESMs) promote rapid biomineralization via shared interfacial features. Inspired by this, they designed a biomimetic fibrous membrane (b-FM) with superior crystallization-inducing capacity. In a 30-day cooling-water test, the b-FM achieved low-energy water softening and suppressed pipe scaling, offering a sustainable industrial water-treatment strategy.

In February–March 2025, Arctic sea ice extent reached a record low despite a decadal slowdown in ice loss. A weak La Niña alone could not explain this event. Using observations, reanalysis data and a linear baroclinic model, researchers show that La Niña and a concurrent South Indian Ocean warm anomaly jointly triggered a northeast-propagating Rossby wave, producing an anticyclonic anomaly over the Sea of Okhotsk that accelerated ice melt.

A recent study published in National Science Review has reconstructed glacier mass balance across High Mountain Asia from 1975 to 2013 using historical satellite imagery, revealing a 54% acceleration in glacier mass loss after 2000 and striking regional contrasts. The findings suggest that the so-called "Karakoram anomaly" may instead be centered around the circum-Tarim Basin, challenging its traditionally recognized geographic extent and providing a new benchmark for understanding long-term glacier changes.