Carbohydrate-based vaccines are an effective means for combating bacterial infections, particularly in the face of rising antibiotic resistance. This perspective provides an overview of carbohydrate vaccine against bacterial infections, from the earliest polysaccharide formulations to the latest synthetic constructs, and highlights the full engineering continuum encompassing carbohydrate antigen production, epitope mapping, conjugation chemistry, formulation, preclinical and clinical evaluation, and regulatory approval. By introducing the integrative framework of carbohydrate-based vaccine engineering (CVE), a unified perspective is provided to support both the optimization of current vaccine platforms and the rational design of next-generation glycoconjugate vaccines.

Electronic skin (e-skin), a stretchable, conformable, and multimodal sensing platform, is rapidly advancing in healthcare, robotics, and human–machine interaction (HMI). However, prolonged wear and sweat accumulation at the e-skin-skin interface can introduce signal artifacts, cause discomfort, and eventually lead to interfacial failure. Inspired by the unidirectional liquid transport of the Nepenthes peristome, we constructed an intelligent breathing e-skin (SPTL) featuring a Janus bilayer structure that creates a “liquid diode” effect for active sweat transport, achieving a remarkable cumulative one-way transport index of 956.36 while maintaining a dry interface even under profuse perspiration. This device exhibits a high tensile strain of 627%, a breathability of 20.02 mm s⁻¹, and a pressure sensitivity of 7.39 kPa⁻¹. Furthermore, the SPTL demonstrates versatile multimodal sensing capabilities, including real-time Morse code and non-contact capacitive sensing, while sustaining stable performance over 10,000 pressing cycles (capacitance decay < 3%). As a bio-integrated electrode, SPTL enables high-fidelity acquisition of electroencephalogram (EEG), electromyogram (EMG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) signals, significantly outperforming commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes. Integrated with machine learning algorithms and EMG signals captured by the SPTL, it facilitates precise teleoperation of a quadruped robot and handwritten letter recognition with over 95% accuracy. This bionic strategy provides a versatile solution for intelligent, breathable, and multimodal bio-integrated interfaces.

Australian scientists are calling for wildlife surveys to be conducted within hours of prescribed burns after new research revealed that evidence of animal deaths can disappear in less than two weeks, significantly underestimating the true toll of fire on the country's wildlife.

QUT researchers have overcome a challenge that has limited next-generation energy-harvesting materials for more than two decades, opening the door to more powerful wearable electronics and new ways of turning wasted heat into electricity.

• Professor Il-Kwon Oh’s team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering develops a wire-free, light-driven shape-memory alloy meta-morphing structure.

• A single UV-laser process programs both light absorption and mechanical motion without any additional coating.

• The technology could enable next-generation tactile applications, including shape displays and wearable haptic interfaces.terfaces.

Researchers developed a walking-support robot that uses large-area tactile contact at the waist and underarms to continuously follow movement intent and provide balance support. In tests with healthy adults, the same touch-based interaction enabled forward, backward and turning assistance, responded to mild balance disturbances, and reduced hamstring activity compared with handle-based support.

Hydrogen produced by water electrolysis is widely regarded as a promising clean energy carrier, but developing efficient and durable electrocatalysts without relying on large amounts of precious metals remains a major challenge. In a recent study published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, researchers developed a wood-derived carbon-supported high-entropy alloy catalyst using a rapid carbothermal shock strategy. The work demonstrates that regulating the electronegativity of alloy components, together with enhanced graphitization at the alloy–carbon interface, significantly improves catalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Among the investigated compositions, the Mn-containing catalyst exhibited the best performance, requiring only 28 mV overpotential to reach 10 mA cm^-2 in alkaline electrolyte while maintaining remarkable long-term stability. The study further combines advanced characterization and density functional theory calculations to reveal how electron redistribution optimizes water dissociation and hydrogen adsorption, providing a new strategy for designing sustainable biomass-derived electrocatalysts.

Beijing, China – A recent field experiment reveals how applying biogas slurry as a topdressing can profoundly influence soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), a critical component of soil health and carbon cycling, particularly in dryland agricultural settings. Published in Carbon Research, new findings from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences provide a comprehensive understanding of how this sustainable agricultural practice reshapes carbon transformation and stabilization across different maize growth stages and soil depths.

Biogas slurry, a nutrient-rich byproduct of anaerobic digestion, offers significant potential for sustainable agriculture by recycling organic waste and partially replacing chemical fertilizers. Despite its known benefits, the specific mechanisms by which biogas slurry topdressing (BSTD) regulates soil DOC dynamics under real-world field conditions, considering both crop growth and varied soil layers, remained largely unclear. Soil DOC is a highly mobile carbon fraction that fuels microbial activity and influences nutrient availability, making its precise management vital for robust agroecosystems.

Journal of Cyborg and Bionic Systems received its Impact Factor of 20.9, ranking 2^nd in the category of "Robotics", ranking 4^th in the category of "Engineering, Biomedical" in the Journal Citation Report 2025.