Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions in organisms - without which life would not be possible. Leveraging AlphaFold2 artificial intelligence, researchers at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now succeeded in analyzing the laws of their evolution on a large scale. In the journal Nature*, they describe the parts of enzymes that change comparatively quickly and the parts that remain practically unchanged over time. These findings are relevant to the development of new antibiotics, for example.

Researchers at Southern University of Science and Technology developed an adaptive beam shaping method for laser micro-grooving to shape tiny grooves with sub-micron accuracy—even in hard-to-machine materials like silicon carbide.

By combining smart simulations and real-time adjustments, their system “teaches” lasers to self-compensation deviation between experimental and target results caused by diffraction and polarization, achieving 5× higher precision than traditional patterned laser ablation methods.

“Here, you can think of the laser as a shaped knife, and you can achieve the desired groove shape with a single stroke”, says Prof. Shaolin Xu.

Researchers will study how ocean currents and river nutrients affect deep coral ecosystems on the West Florida Shelf – one of the Gulf’s largest and least-studied habitats. Funded by the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program, the project aims to support sustainable fisheries and conservation of these vital, little-explored habitats, which are home to economically important marine life. The research will guide science-based strategies for protecting the gulf coast’s long-term ecological and economic health.