Scientists have developed a novel fluorotellurite glass fiber that dramatically shrinks the size of ultrafast mid-infrared laser systems, a critical tool for science and industry. This new fiber, just centimeters long, replaces meter-long predecessors while offering superior stability and efficiency. The breakthrough paves the way for compact, robust laser sources operating beyond the 4 μm wavelength, opening new possibilities in spectroscopy, environmental sensing, and medical imaging.

The research group led by Ehime University have developed a luminescent propeller-shaped molecule that reverses its handedness depending on the solvent. The molecule, composed of six perylene diimide (PDI) units, exhibits bright circularly polarized luminescence whose sign switches between chloroform and dichloromethane. This solvent-induced chirality inversion, revealed through spectroscopy and theoretical studies, provides a new strategy for designing dynamic chiroptical materials and responsive molecular devices.

Efficiently characterizing the spatial-polarization non-separability of vectorial structured light is of paramount importance across numerous photonic applications. Towards this goal, scientists in China invented a coherent scheme for non-separability measurement, which efficiently detects the non-separability of vectorial structured light through coherent wavefront detection and digital modal decomposition. This work provides new insights for the characterization of vectorial light fields, and may pave the way for many applications based on vectorial structured light.

Researchers at University of Tsukuba have identified the source and the factors affecting the radioactive cesium (¹³⁷Cs) flow to the port of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant via its drainage channels. Using tritium in groundwater that leaked from contaminated water storage tanks as a hydrological tracer, they estimated that ~50% of ¹³⁷Cs comes from "roof drainage" of the rainwater falling on the reactor buildings.

Now, a new study published on September 22, 2025, in the open-access journal Carbon Research has cracked part of that code. By tracing the journey of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from riverbanks to estuaries, researchers have uncovered how land-based pollution and changing salinity team up to control the release of potent greenhouse gases—carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O).