Dialogic pedagogy has been highly valued and promoted in classrooms globally over the past few decades. However, there persists a stereotype that view Chinese classrooms as authoritative and full of rote learning. A new study has systematically reviewed several dialogue-based teaching interventions implemented in Chinese elementary and secondary schools. This review suggests that these interventions were mostly integrated with school subject fields and exert both cognitive and noncognitive effects on Chinese students

Diamond, an ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor material, is promising for solar-blind ultraviolet photodetectors in extreme environments. However, when exposed to high-temperature conditions, diamond photodetector surfaces are unavoidably terminated with oxygen, leading to low photoresponsivity. To address this limitation, single-crystalline diamond nanowires (DNWs) embedded with platinum (Pt) nanoparticles were developed using Pt film deposition followed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) homoepitaxial growth. During the CVD, Pt nanoparticles (approximately 20 nm in diameter) undergo dewetting and become uniformly embedded within the single-crystalline DNWs. Photodetectors fabricated with these Pt nanoparticles-embedded DNWs achieve a responsivity of 68.5 A W^-1 under 220 nm illumination at room temperature, representing an improvement of approximately 2000 times compared to oxygen-terminated bulk diamond devices. Notably, the responsivity further increases with temperature, reaching an exceptional value of 3098.7 A W^-1 at 275 °C. This outstanding performance is attributed to the synergistic effects of the one-dimensional nanowire structure, deep-level defects, the localized surface plasmon resonance effects induced by embedded Pt nanoparticles, and localized Schottky junctions at the Pt/diamond interface, which enhance optical absorption, carrier generation, and separation efficiency. These results highlight the significant potential of Pt nanoparticles-embedded DNWs for advanced deep ultraviolet detection in harsh environments, including aerospace, industrial monitoring, and other applications.

Scientists studied the obstacle-clearing behavior of longhorn crazy ants, where a subset of workers temporarily specializes in removing tiny objects blocking the path between the nest and large food items. Experiments revealed that serial clearing behavior can be triggered by a single pheromone mark, which happened to be deposited near an obstacle by a forager recruited to a large food item. Clearing mostly occurs in the context of collective transport, which typically stalls in front of obstacles. The authors concluded that obstacle-clearing is a form of ‘swarm intelligence’ which emerges at the colony level, and which does not require understanding by individual ants.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have achieved a milestone in brain imaging by detecting near-infrared light that traveled completely through an adult human head. Using high-powered lasers and sensitive detectors, the team measured photons that passed from one side of the head to the other—something previously thought impossible due to the brain’s highly scattering tissue. Simulations confirmed that light followed specific paths through low-scattering regions like cerebrospinal fluid, reaching deep brain areas. This breakthrough could lead to new, noninvasive tools for imaging parts of the brain that are currently out of reach, with potential applications in diagnosing strokes, brain injuries, and other conditions.