Scientists have made major progress in explaining friction, but predicting and controlling it still depends heavily on experiments. A comprehensive review examines the physics-based models behind friction, highlights why friction remains difficult to predict, and identifies key challenges that could make friction control more precise and reliable.

PFAS, often called “forever chemicals,” are a growing global concern because they persist in water, are difficult to remove, and have been linked to health risks, including certain cancers. A new review by researchers from Hanyang University shows that the length of a PFAS molecule’s fluorinated carbon chain is a key predictor of its environmental behavior and treatment response. The study found that short-chain PFAS are generally more mobile and harder to remove, providing a practical framework for improving water treatment and contamination cleanup.

In the modern era marked by rapid technological advancements, ferroelectric materials have gradually emerged as highly promising candidates for a wide range of applications, due to their distinctive polarizationcharacteristics. A common strategy to address the low ferroelectric polarization caused by lattice mismatch between the substrate and ferroelectric film is the insertion of a buffer layer. By precisely controlling the thickness of the buffer layer, the maximum polarization was increased from 126.3 μC/cm² to 142.6 μC/cm², providing robust support for accurate recognition in an intelligent traffic-intersection recognition system.

A dynamically modulated radar/infrared stealth composite is integrated by combining polyimide (PI) foam in its bottom, PI foam/carbon nanotube (CNT)/anisotropic iron (Fe)/vanadium dioxide (VO₂) in its middle, and VO₂ coating on its top. The unique phase transition characteristic of VO₂ effectively promotes significant changes in the conductivity, emissivity, and electromagnetic parameters of the composite foam, thereby motivating the intelligent regulation of radar/infrared stealth performance. Moreover, the bottom-designed polyimide thermal barrier layer can effectively block thermal radiation, thereby contributing to reducing surface temperatures. Meantime, VO₂ coating on the surface exhibits lower infrared emissivity after phase transition. The synergistic effect of reduced surface temperature and infrared emissivity contributes to the realization of intelligent infrared stealth. The present work proposes a promising strategy for designing actively adjustable stealth materials to cope with multi-band military detection in complex operational scenarios. 

Researchers have developed a novel “corn-shaped” AgPd@Cu nanowire catalyst that efficiently converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) into ethylene (C₂H₄), a crucial chemical feedstock. This unique structure, synthesized via a confined etching and epitaxial growth strategy, achieves a high Faradaic efficiency of 38.80% for ethylene production, marking a significant step towards sustainable fuel and chemical production from CO₂.

New experimental evidence demonstrates that discrete space-time crystals can be realized in classical soft-matter systems, thereby moving beyond the traditional complexities of quantum mechanics.