Researchers discovered that the magnetic component of light plays a direct role in the Faraday Effect, overturning a 180-year-old assumption that only its electric field mattered. Their findings show that light can magnetically influence matter, not just illuminate it. The discovery opens new possibilities in optics, spintronics, and quantum technologies.

Researchers from the SNI network have discovered a novel way to fuse lipid vesicles at neutral pH. By harnessing a fragment of the diphtheria toxin, the team achieved vesicle membrane fusion without the need for pre-treatment or harsh conditions. Their work, recently published in Communications Chemistry, opens the door to new applications in lab-on-a-chip technologies, biosensors, and artificial cell prototypes.

Producing this critical item consumes vast amounts of electricity, with current electrodes relying on noble metals that are costly and limited. However, a research group has used “volcano” modeling to identify new catalyst candidates that do not require scarce metals.

 Physicists at The University of Osaka have unveiled a breakthrough theoretical framework that uncovers the hidden physical rule behind one of the most powerful compression methods in laser fusion science — the stacked-shock implosion. While multi-shock ignition has recently proven its effectiveness in major laser facilities worldwide, this new study identifies the underlying law that governs such implosions, expressed in an elegant and compact analytic form.

Professor Zaifa Shi's team at Xiamen University developed an ultra-high temperature flash vacuum pyrolysis (UT-FVP) device to form giant fullerenes from single-carbon molecules within a short time (15 s) at extremely high temperatures (∽3000 ℃). Due to the strong intermolecular forces between giant fullerene molecules and soot, traditional ultrasonic or Soxhlet extraction methods cannot separate most giant fullerenes from soot in toluene. To overcome these strong intermolecular forces, two separation techniques—mechanical grinding and sublimation—were optimized to separate the giant fullerenes from the pyrolysis products, and laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-TOFMS) was used for comprehensive and thorough detection. These methods extended the mass distribution of synthesized giant fullerenes to 2760 Da (greater than C₂₃₀). Notably, the separation technology can also recover giant fullerenes that have long been neglected due to incomplete separation in flame and arc discharge methods. This separation strategy has broad applicability in the synthesis of giant fullerenes, providing a new perspective for the synthesis and utilization of these carbon materials. The article was published as an open access research article in CCS Chemistry, the flagship journal of the Chinese Chemical Society.

Researchers from Zhengzhou University have released the most comprehensive review to date on the rapidly expanding field of element doped biochar. The study explains how simple biowaste can be transformed into powerful engineered materials with exceptional performance in pollution control, energy storage, soil improvement and industrial catalysis. The findings highlight the growing importance of advanced carbon materials in global efforts to address environmental and energy related challenges.

Everyday life on the internet is insecure. Hackers can break into bank accounts or steal digital identities. Driven by AI, attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Quantum cryptography promises a more effective protection against cyber threats. It makes communication secure against eavesdropping by relying on the laws of quantum physics. However, the path toward a quantum internet is still fraught with technical hurdles. Researchers at the Institute of Semiconductor Optics and Functional Interfaces (IHFG) at the University of Stuttgart have now made a decisive breakthrough in one of the most technically challenging components, the ‘quantum repeater’. They report their results in Nature Communications.