Perovskite-based photovoltaic devices have garnered significant interest owing to their remarkable performance in converting light into electricity. Recently, the focus in the field of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has shifted towards enhancing their durability over extended periods. One promising strategy is the incorporation of two-dimensional (2D) perovskites, known for their ability to enhance stability due to the large organic cations that act as a barrier against moisture. However, the broad optical bandgap and limited charge transport properties of 2D perovskites hinder their efficiency, making them less suitable as the sole light-absorbing material when compared to their three-dimensional (3D) counterparts. An innovative approach involves using 2D perovskite structures to modify the surface properties of 3D perovskite. This hybrid approach, known as 2D/3D perovskites, while enhancing their performance. Beyond solar energy applications, 2D perovskites offer a flexible platform for chemical engineering, allowing for significant adjustments to crystal and thin-film configurations, bandgaps, and charge transport properties through the different organic ligands and halide mixtures. Despite these advantages, challenges remain in integration of 2D perovskites into solar cells without compromising device stability. This review encapsulates the latest developments in 2D perovskite research, focusing on their structural, optoelectronic, and stability attributes, while delving into the challenges and future potential of these materials.

Ultraprecise fluorescence nanoscopy techniques such as MINFLUX and RASTMIN are enabling molecular-scale imaging and tracking in biologically relevant conditions. However, their implementation is challenging and requires stabilizing the position of the sample during the relatively long measurement times of minutes or tens of minutes. Scientists have developed an open-source system based on commonly available hardware that achieves sub-nanometric stabilization of the sample position for hours, opening the way for widespread application of single-molecule localization with true nanometer precision.

With climate change and higher incidence of crop diseases, global cocoa production and supply is being threatened. A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS), motivated by these reports, set out to enhance the taste of carob, making it a more appealing and sustainable alternative to cocoa.

The NUS team, led by Associate Professor Liu Shao Quan from the Department of Food Science and Technology at the NUS Faculty of Science, has developed two innovative techniques to enhance the taste of carob pulp.

“Our carob-based innovation meets the relatively untapped and nascent market of alternative chocolate sources. Additionally, our new techniques improve the taste of carob itself, without the use of additives such as flavourings. So, consumers can have the best of both worlds – better flavour and a simple ingredients list. With these innovations, we aim to make a meaningful contribution towards addressing the current challenges and needs of the chocolate industry,” said Assoc Prof Liu.

Researchers led by Prof. Zihan Geng at Tsinghua University and collaborators have developed a hybrid noise analysis method for single-pixel imaging in complex environments. By integrating physically consistent degradation modeling with structured training, the method overcomes illumination fluctuations, blurring, jitter, and detection noise, enabling high-quality image reconstruction under complex degradations. This advance enhances the stability of single-pixel imaging in real-world settings, laying a foundation for applications in life sciences, industrial inspection, and remote sensing.

For decades, nuclear physicists believed that “Islands of Inversion” — regions where the normal rules of nuclear structure suddenly break down — were found mostly in neutron-rich isotopes. In these unusual pockets of the nuclear chart, magic numbers disappear, spherical shapes collapse, and nuclei unexpectedly transform into strongly deformed objects. So far, all such islands found were exotic nuclei such as beryllium-12 (N = 8), magnesium-32 (N = 20), and chromium-64 (N = 40), all of which are far away from the stable nuclei found in nature.

But now, a study recently carried out by an international collaboration of the Center for Exotic Nuclear Studies, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), University of Padova, Michigan State University, University of Strasbourg and other institutions have uncovered something no one had seen before: an Island of Inversion hiding in one of the most symmetric regions of all, where the number of protons equals the number of neutrons.