Published today (Jan. 5) in Nature Geoscience, the findings suggest that this high point on the northwest section of the ice sheet is highly sensitive to the relatively mild temperatures of the Holocene, the interglacial period that began 11,000 years ago and continues today. 

Digital twin (DT) technology is emerging as a core solution for future marine development and intelligent ocean management. The review systematically reviews digital twin applications in the marine field, clarifies its concept, proposes a five-layer framework, and summarizes key technologies, including sensing, data management, modeling, simulation, and monitoring. It highlights DT’s ability to synchronize physical marine systems with virtual models in real time, enabling simulation, prediction, optimization, and decision-making. The authors further outline challenges and development prospects, showing how DT can support deep-sea resource exploitation, offshore wind energy, marine engineering, vessel autonomy, environmental monitoring, and system reliability assessment.

Underwater wireless power transfer is emerging as a key technology for enabling long-duration, maintenance-free operation of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This review provides the most comprehensive overview to date of magnetic-coupling-based underwater wireless charging, addressing challenges such as eddy current losses in seawater, misalignment caused by ocean dynamics, and the growing need for simultaneous transfer of power and data. By comparing transmitter–receiver coil structures, compensation networks, and control strategies, the research identifies design pathways that significantly enhance efficiency, stability, and tolerance to dynamic marine conditions. The work also highlights emerging simultaneous wireless power and data transfer (SWPDT) methods that could reshape the future of marine sensing and robotic operations.

A five year field study in southern China shows that a single application of biochar combined with reduced nitrogen fertilizer can boost sugarcane growth, reshape soil life around the roots, and cut carbon dioxide emissions from the field for years without additional fertilization.

This study is undertaken by the research teams led by Prof. Hu Yaowu from the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology and Institute of Archaeological Science at the Fudan University, and led by Prof. Liu Daiyun in Shanxi Academy of Archaeology. They conducted stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of 36 human bone samples from 25 individuals of the Sixteen Kingdoms period (including long bones and ribs from the same individual) from tombs of Phases II and III of the Xi’an Xianyang Airport site (XXA (SKP)).