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).

Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in solar physics by providing the first direct evidence of small-scale torsional Alfvén waves in the Sun's corona – elusive magnetic waves that scientists have been searching for since the 1940s.

Octopuses, due to their flexible arms, marvelous adaptability, and powerful suckers, are able to effortlessly grasp and disengage various objects in the marine surrounding without causing devastation. However, manipulating delicate objects such as soft and fragile foods underwater require gentle contact and stable adhesion, which poses a serious challenge to now available soft grippers. Inspired by the sucker infundibulum structure and flexible tentacles of octopus, herein we developed a hydraulically actuated hydrogel soft gripper with adaptive maneuverability by coupling multiple hydrogen bond-mediated supramolecular hydrogels and vat polymerization three-dimensional printing, in which hydrogel bionic sucker is composed of a tunable curvature membrane, a negative pressure cavity, and a pneumatic chamber. The design of the sucker structure with the alterable curvature membrane is conducive to realize the reliable and gentle switchable adhesion of the hydrogel soft gripper. As a proof-of-concept, the adaptive hydrogel soft gripper is capable of implement diversified underwater tasks, including gingerly grasping fragile foods like egg yolks and tofu, as well as underwater robots and vehicles that station-keeping and crawling based on switchable adhesion. This study therefore provides a transformative strategy for the design of novel soft grippers that will render promising utilities for underwater exploration soft robotics.

A research team led by Associate Professor Changgui Zhao of Beijing Normal University reported the first intramolecular enantioselective, atropselective, and diastereoselective macrocyclization of quinone methylene (QM) with alcohols catalyzed by chiral phosphoric acid (CPA), successfully constructing planar chiral type III cyclophanes. This strategy, using 2-naphthol as a cofactor, significantly improved the reaction activity and stereoselectivity by generating the more reactive naphthoquinone methylene (NQM) intermediate. Thermodynamic studies demonstrated that the benzylic substituent significantly influences the conformational stability of the cyclophane: even when the ansa chain is extended by two carbon atoms, its planar chirality is maintained, indicating that the conformational stability of this type of cyclophane is controlled by both the macrocycle size and the position of the functional groups on the ansa chain. This study provides important insights into the relationship between the structure of cyclophanes and the mechanism of chirality. The article was published as an open access research article in CCS Chemistry, the flagship journal of the Chinese Chemical Society.

Published on September 17, 2025, in the open-access journal Carbon Research, this innovative study reveals how modified hydrochar, a carbon-rich material made from treated sewage sludge, can be fine-tuned to deliver phosphorus (P) to crops in a smarter, more sustainable way. And the secret lies in a simple choice: calcium or magnesium.