Efficient electrochemical nitrate reduction to ammonia requires not only active catalysts, but also precise control over active hydrogen utilization under industrial operating conditions. By introducing cerium into Cu₂O, we constructed Cu⁰-Cu⁺ and Cu-O-Ce dual active sites, enabling the regulation of hydrogen transfer pathways and suppressing the competing hydrogen evolution reaction to promote the selective nitrate-to-ammonia conversion.

A chance discovery at Nagoya University in Japan has shown a well-known brain enzyme has a hidden ability: it builds a sugar chain on itself, becomes secreted from the cell and deactivates, then switches on outside the cell once the chain is removed. The finding, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, overturns a decades-old assumption about how polysialic acid, a sugar chain critical for brain development and function, is produced and shows a new way an enzyme can regulate its own activity.    

Researchers have released the conceptual design of the Huizhou Hadron Spectrometer (HHaS), a next-generation experiment to be built at the High-Intensity Heavy-Ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF) in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China. HHaS aims for an unprecedented event rate of 1–100 MHz, with ~1% momentum resolution, ~3% electromagnetic energy resolution, and mm-level track pointing precision. With one month of running, HHaS can record an η meson sample three orders of magnitude larger than the world’s total existing data—enabling sensitivity for new physics searches two orders of magnitude beyond current limits.

Kanazawa University, Japan – Researchers led by Associate Prof. Md. Shahiduzzaman and Prof. Tetsuya Taima in collaboration with Prof. Katsuhiro Maeda and Prof. Hiroshi Hasegawa developed a one-step recycling method for flexible perovskite solar cells. The technology enables highly efficient recovery of toxic Pb (99.7%) and valuable metals including Au and In from end-of-life devices. This environmentally responsible approach reduces environmental risks, conserves valuable resources and supports sustainable commercialization of next-generation perovskite solar energy technologies.

Imaging planets orbiting nearby stars is a key goal of NASA’s planned Habitable Worlds Observatory. Detecting these faint worlds requires processing techniques that remove the overwhelming glare of their host stars. Now, researchers have investigated how small optical changes in the telescope affect the performance of these methods. Their simulations show even tiny shifts between mirror segments can make planets difficult to detect, providing important guidance for the design of future telescope structures and instruments.

Biochar is often promoted as a long-lasting solution for improving soil fertility, raising soil pH, storing carbon, and helping crops access nutrients. But a new 8-year field study published in Biochar suggests that its benefits may be more temporary than many farmers and land managers expect.

A two-year tea field experiment in subtropical China shows that combining nitrogen transformation inhibitors with biochar can reduce harmful nitrogen gas emissions while supporting tea productivity.