A research team investigated how high-volume fly ash replacement affects concrete’s early-age characteristics and hardening properties. Tests with 0%–60% fly ash replacing cement show that fly ash improves flowability but delays early hydration. While early strength drops with higher fly ash, 10%–40% replacement delivers superior long-term mechanical performance. The team recommends 40% fly ash as the optimal cement replacement, balancing environmental sustainability, cost efficiency, and structural performance for green concrete engineering.

Climate extremes are adversely affecting cacao production. A recent study by Hasanuddin University highlights the potential of multistrata shade structures in addressing these challenges. Researchers show how a mix of shade trees—such as coconut, banana, and Gliricidia sepium—can help cacao plants grow better and become more resilient. These trees can improve soil fertility and help cacao plants cope with environmental variability—offering a pathway toward more resilient and sustainable smallholder agriculture.

How food is shared inside ant colonies has long been invisible in real time. Researchers in Japan have now used a highly sensitive radioactive imaging technique to watch food move from ant to ant, minute by minute. The method reveals unexpected patterns in how resources spread through a group and could help scientists detect early warning signs of stress or imbalance in insect societies, crucial to ecosystems and agriculture.

Vocalization feedback monitoring, i.e., listening to one’s vocalizations during vocal production, plays a pivotal role in vocal production control and learning in humans and other mammals. So far, the auditory system has been routinely studied using playback experiments on restrained, non-vocalizing animals. Now, writing in the journal SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences, a team of researchers from Jinhong Luo – Central China Normal University established an ethological paradigm and recorded the single-unit activities of inferior colliculus (IC) in unrestrained, vocalizing bats that could move their head and ears freely. The data suggest the IC as a crucial auditory center for distinguishing between self-produced vocalizations and external sounds.