To support the continued development of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology (ENCECO), the journal is launching its Youth Talent Program. The initiative aims to bring together outstanding early career researchers in environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology, foster collaboration and knowledge exchange with leading international experts, and cultivate the next generation of editorial talent to help shape the journal's future.

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University have uncovered the hidden mechanism behind a molecular switch—a molecule that can change between different structural states in response to a chemical signal. Their study, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reveals how molecules can gradually switch between alternative states, a process that could help scientists design future molecular machines, smart materials, and molecular information technologies. To make the discovery, Shigehisa Akine and colleagues created a specially designed molecular cage that changes shape unusually slowly. This allowed them to observe, for the first time, the sequence of molecular events that occurs after the molecule receives a chemical input. The study provides one of the clearest views yet of how molecular recognition triggers structural change and demonstrates that the response speed of a molecular system can itself be engineered through molecular design. 

Since 2017, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) has annually organized the Global Engineering Frontiers strategic consulting program to assess major trends in engineering science and technology, identify emerging frontiers, and guide the development of engineering-driven industries. The program is supported by CAE’s nine disciplinary divisions and the Engineering Journal series.

Grazing animals return most of the nitrogen they consume back to the land through urine and dung. In grasslands, these nutrient-rich patches can become hotspots for nitrous oxide, or N₂O, a powerful greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance. But what happens when urine and dung overlap in the same place, as often occurs where animals gather near shelters, water points, or resting areas?

A new study shows that an intelligent optimization strategy can make hybrid residential microgrids cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable by coordinating solar power, wind power, diesel backup, and battery storage.

Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are the first to directly utilize orbital currents without the need for conversion of the orbital current into a spin current. “We have thus realized the first purely orbitronic device approach,” said Dr. Christin Schmitt, a scientist in the research group of Professor Mathias Kläui at the JGU Institute of Physics. Orbitronics is a promising technology for future memory devices, as it could enable the realization of large-scale storage media with extremely low energy consumption.

About 14 percent of merging black holes in the universe may be second-generation black holes that formed from the previous merging of two smaller black holes, according to a new study. The research suggests this “hierarchical merger” formation pathway is more common than previously thought. 

Researchers from the Molecular Physics and Physical Chemistry Departments of the Fritz Haber Institute have shown how two highly synchronized infrared (IR) laser beams can control molecules as they switch between different structural conformations. Their technique provides a new window into how molecules rearrange themselves during chemical reactions, offering fundamental insights into the microscopic processes that govern chemistry.

A UC Davis study reveals the extent a queen bee will go to survive, even offloading contamination to her eggs.