An international team of researchers from École Polytechnique, Collège de France, and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has achieved a world first: the experimental realization of an all-optical photonic time crystal (PTC), a material whose optical properties can be strongly and periodically modulated in time at ultrafast scales.

Published in Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, the review systematically summarizes recent advancements in multifunctional paper-based smart packaging. It highlights core modification strategies—internal additive incorporation, impregnation, coating, surface functionalization, and layer-by-layer assembly—that transform paper from passive protection into active regulation and intelligent sensing platforms. The authors discuss matrix-specific synergistic systems tailored to fresh produce and high-protein foods, while critically analyzing challenges including the recyclability paradox of high-performance coatings, unpredictable migration safety, and the scalability gap between laboratory innovation and industrial production.

A research team led by Prof. MENG Guowen and Prof. HAN Fangming from the Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. WEI Bingqing from the University of Delaware, has developed a highly crystalline three-dimensional graphitic carbon tube grid (3D-GCTG) that significantly improves the performance of filtering supercapacitors with thick electrodes.

Three-dimensional atomic arrangements in nanoscale regions are essential information for the development of nanoscale devices and novel functional materials. Until now, however, there has been no method for observing them directly. In this study, the researchers developed an atom-holography microscope that measures a hologram from the region irradiated with a finely focused electron beam and performs holographic reconstruction to directly visualize the three-dimensional atomic arrangement. Because the microscope enables three-dimensional atomic arrangements in nanoscale regions to be measured anywhere, it is expected to be useful in the analysis of nanoscale devices and the development of novel functional materials.

Binghamton University chemists have discovered a new mechanism that could potentially lead to quicker outcomes in pharmaceutical research.

International research team shows how hydrogen affects Nickel-base superalloys at elevated temperatures. Latest results published in journal Nature Materials

Mechanical strain is one of the most common tools used to tailor the properties of materials. In piezoelectric materials, stretching or compressing a crystal generates an electrical polarization. In piezomagnetic materials, it induces magnetization. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) and the University of Oxford have now discovered that mechanical strain also induces chirality in non-chiral crystals, opening a new direction to control this property on demand and potentially imprint chiral electronic properties. This work has just been published in Nature.

Scientists at Imperial College London and The University of Manchester have developed a promising new way to create safer and more effective treatments for life-threatening fungal infections.