This review elaborates how environmental nucleic acids shift ecological biomonitoring from static state snapshots toward trajectory-centered assessment to support adaptive environmental management.

Researchers at Fraunhofer IAF have developed a laser-enhanced quantum sensor that combines high magnetic-field sensitivity with a large dynamic range. Using laser threshold magnetometry, they improved the ratio of sensitivity and dynamic range by a factor of up to 590 compared with state-of-the-art approaches. The breakthrough is enabled by the first demonstration of 100 percent optical contrast, combined with strong laser readout signals. The results, published in the journal Nature Communications, open up new prospects for medical diagnostics, navigation, and resource exploration.

Colored polyester is difficult to recycle because the dyes are hard to remove without using large quantities of chemicals, water, or energy. Researchers developed a supercritical carbon dioxide treatment that redistributes existing dyes between polyester fibers, creating uniform colors without removing the original dyes. By controlling fiber proportions, they tuned shades and developed a model that accurately predicted color strength. This approach could support sustainable polyester recycling, although testing with real textile waste is needed.

Do cosmic radiation doses near the Moon differ significantly from those received by astronauts in low Earth orbit? Experimental lithium fluoride detectors, installed aboard the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis I mission, have now made it possible to obtain preliminary estimates.

A review in Science China Chemistry, jointly written by 15 research groups in China, summarizes key advances in CO₂ capture and utilization. It covers capture methods and electrocatalytic, photocatalytic and thermocatalytic conversion, discusses current challenges and future directions, and provides a reference for researchers and industry.

A hybrid intelligent strategy driven framework is developed for high-dimensional orbital angular momentum (OAM) comb multicasting, enabling simultaneous one-to-many optical communication through a single phase-only hologram.This work enables multi-channel high-dimensional OAM-comb generation using a single phase-only hologram and introduces a mixed unary–binary encoding strategy to improve transmission security. Experiments achieve 4/6/8-channel 1024-ary OAM multicasting with BER below 7×10⁻⁵ and demonstrate a one-to-six optical data transmission system.

Researchers have developed a groundbreaking electrocatalytic system that purifies contaminated water by generating its own oxygen supply internally. By spatially decoupling oxygen capture and electron donation sites on the catalyst, the design overcomes critical bottlenecks in conventional water treatment. This "self-aeration" system achieves near-100% selectivity in producing highly reactive singlet oxygen to destroy pollutants. The innovation eliminates the need for energy-intensive external aeration, cutting electricity costs by 95% and offering a robust, eco-friendly solution for tackling global water pollution.