Driven by a new wave of technological revolution, materials science is transforming. To capture this momentum, the International Conference on Advanced Functional Materials and Technologies (ICAFMT) will be convened in Dongguan, China, from October 23-25, 2026.

ICAFMT26 is dedicated to bridge the gap between advanced materials and intelligent science. By providing a platform for in-depth discussion on new trends, it aims to promote international collaboration and drive global innovation.

POSTECH Research Team Led by Prof. Byoung Hun Lee Overcomes Performance Limits of Ultra-Thin Semiconductors with a Novel Localized Thick-Contact Desig.

A newly developed portable, point-of-care PET technology can image any organ, delivering high-quality results to guide interventional procedures. With real-time visual feedback, the bedside technology provides a cost-effective approach for hospitals to perform biopsies, tumor ablations, and other procedures in constrained clinical environments. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2026 Annual Meeting.

Biochar is often described as a climate-smart soil amendment because it can improve soil quality while storing carbon for long periods. But once biochar is added to soil, it does not stay unchanged. Rain, drying, minerals, oxygen, and microorganisms gradually alter its surface, chemistry, and environmental functions. For saline soils, where salt stress already limits crop production across many agricultural regions, scientists have had limited information about how biochar changes over time.

Tea is one of the world’s most widely consumed beverages, but the soils that sustain tea plantations are under growing pressure. Long-term fertilizer use, monocropping, soil acidification, nutrient loss, heavy metal contamination, and climate stress are threatening both tea productivity and environmental safety. A new review published in Biochar examines how biochar, a carbon-rich material produced by heating biomass under limited oxygen, could become a practical tool for more sustainable tea cultivation.

Rice feeds billions of people, but flooded paddy fields are also an important source of methane, a greenhouse gas far more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period. A new five-year field study suggests that the way biochar is applied may determine whether rice farming can achieve durable climate benefits.

The LEGO Foundation, in partnership with the Social Science Research Council, is opening applications for a new global research fellowship offering up to USD 300,000 over three years to as many as 10 early- and mid-career researchers studying how children thrive.