Researchers at University of Tsukuba have discovered that rainwater runoff in the highly rugged sedimentary rock mountains of Japan's Southern Alps is governed by two processes: "deep infiltration" and "shallow drainage via landslides." These processes are dictated by the inclination of geological strata. Based on these findings, the researchers propose a conceptual framework, termed the "structural ground system," to explain how the bedding structure regulates rainwater runoff.

Disorder is emerging as a powerful design principle in nanophotonics, enabling optical functionalities beyond periodic architectures. Researchers from the University of Florence and the University of Southampton, in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology show that hyperuniform disordered photonic networks host an unusually rich modal landscape, combining spectral level repulsion, distinct Anderson and Lifshitz-like localized states, and controlled hybridization of defect modes within a single architecture, opening new routes toward programmable disorder-based photonic devices.

- Postdoctoral researcher Chungha Lee from Professor YongKeun Park’s research group in the Department of Physics receives the Basic Science Award for poster presentation at ESHRE 2026, the world’s largest reproductive medicine meeting

- Joint research by KAIST, CHA Bundang Medical Center, the UK-based fertility clinic Avenues, and Tomocube enables non-invasive, quantitative 3D analysis of live oocytes and embryos to predict their developmental potential at an early stage

Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a device that enables them to control the flow of electrons through a semiconductor using only laser light—no electrical power source required. 

A multimodal large language model framework converts scattered charts, reports, and regulatory records into a comprehensive dataset for assessing plastic chemical production, hazards, environmental behavior, and oversight

Built on the open-access publishing platform of NEW HORIZON PRESS LIMITED, NEW Community engaged in international outreach and scholarly exchange during the 2026 international geochemistry conference. Its activities centered on emerging topics including AI-ready geochemical data, carbon removal, enhanced rock weathering, biogeochemical cycles, contaminant transport and transformation, and climate change, with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary research networks.

To overcome a major challenge of understanding how magnetism and electrical current interact in nanoscale devices, an international team of researchers developed a single-spin quantum microscope to observe magnetic states inside atomically thin devices as they actively process electrical information. The findings introduce a conceptual shift in how magnetic transistors can be engineered, the team reports in Physical Review Letters. The team demonstrated an architecture using the magnetic semiconductor chromium sulfur bromide (CrSBr) that allows signals to be switched either by magnetism or voltage.

New analysis shows that a ‘pause’ in Arctic winter sea ice decline seen in the early 2020s has ended following record lows in 2025 and early 2026.