Xinjiang long-staple cotton is widely used in the production of high-end textiles due to its excellent quality. However, foreign fibers such as plastic film, cotton boll hull, human hair, and polypropylene fibers are easily mixed in during mechanical harvesting and processing.

Silver-based atomic switches that create stable electrical connections between individual molecules and electrodes have been developed by researchers from Japan, addressing a key challenge in wiring molecular electronics. The switch operates by forming and breaking silver atomic filaments when a voltage is applied and reversed, corresponding to the “on” and “off” states. This method enables the scalable integration of molecular components, paving the way for ultra-compact and energy-efficient circuits built from single molecules.

A new hydrogel-based breakthrough is transforming extracellular vesicle research. Using meso–macroporous PEGDA hydrogels with ~400 nm pores, researchers can now isolate EVs directly from raw biofluids like blood, urine, milk, and more without preprocessing or specialized equipment. The method is faster, scalable, and highly efficient, yielding up to 1,500× more for milk EVs than traditional techniques. Beyond isolation, EVs can be preserved, enriched, and applied in diagnostics, therapeutics, and industrial-scale research.