Global data, field surveys and controlled experiments show more microbial necromass in karst than non-karst soils, with carbonate rock weathering as a key predictor. Weathering helps microbes process complex plant-derived carbon and turn simple carbon into microbial necromass more efficiently. Calcium helps microbial necromass bind to minerals and persist. This finding reveals how carbonate rock weathering supports soil organic carbon formation and protection, beyond inorganic carbon uptake.

Major advances in neuroscience are not simply isolated discoveries, suggests a review led by Professor Limin Rong's team at The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, China. Published in the Journal of Brain and Spine, the review examines 16 years of The Brain Prize (2011–2026), drawing on the work of 51 laureates. The authors propose five interacting modes of scientific progress, spanning experimental technologies, multiscale mechanistic insights, computational approaches, disease-oriented translation, and collective discovery. The review offers a historical perspective on how scientific ideas, methods, and research communities come together to shape lasting breakthroughs.

Researchers at Shandong University have developed a pathway-independent gene regulation system that acts like an automatic timer in bacteria. It does not need extra inducers; instead, it switches on different genes at different times based on the bacteria's own growth state. Using this method to produce 3-hydroxypropionic acid increased yield by 27% over traditional methods and improved bacterial growth. This study provides a universal platform for multidimensional dynamic regulation of complex metabolic networks.

Feeding an expanding global population under extreme climate threats requires a revolution in crop improvement. In a new review in SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences, scientists from China Agricultural University systematically evaluate how generative AI is shifting crop breeding from selecting natural genetic variants to de novo molecular creation. The authors establish the "DESIGN" framework (Discover, Engineer, Simulate, Integrate, Generate, Navigate), linking molecular generation to field trials in a closed-loop learn-design-build-test cycle to accelerate Breeding 5.0.

Caffeine and synthetic dyes are among the most widespread pollutants in municipal and industrial wastewater. From households and textile mills to the traditional batik industry, these contaminants are discharged in large volumes, and many conventional treatment plants remove them only incompletely. Once they reach rivers and drinking-water sources, they persist in the environment and raise long-term ecological and health concerns.

A metagenomic and quantitative PCR survey of Manila Bay shows its coastal waters carry a diverse bacterial community dominated by gut-associated taxa and a broad antibiotic resistome. Tetracycline, macrolide–lincosamide–streptogramin and aminoglycoside resistance genes predominate, while clinically important extended-spectrum beta-lactamase genes were detected at almost every site, marking the bay as a potential hotspot for the dissemination of resistance.

Recently, a research team led by Tianjin University, in collaboration with the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Southern University of Science and Technology, published a paper in National Science Review. They proposed a novel bilayer terahertz metasurface architecture based on S₄ point-group symmetry, achieving symmetry-protected quasi-bound states in the continuum (QBICs) with exceptional robustness against structural defects and fabrication imperfections. This breakthrough overcomes the longstanding bottleneck of conventional QBICs being highly sensitive to structural perturbations, providing a practical paradigm for the scalable manufacturing of high-performance terahertz photonic devices.