Recently, a pharmaceutical research team led by Prof. LIU Qingsong at the Institute of Health and Medical Technology, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Tongji University, identified a natural compound, Timosaponin AIII (TAIII), that selectively eliminates CAR-T regulatory T cells.

A collaborative research team led by the High Magnetic Field Laboratory at the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with Anhui University, Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany, and Wuhan University of Technology, has developed an atomic-column-resolved electron magnetic circular dichroism (EMCD) method capable of imaging antiferromagnetic order at the atomic scale.

In cases involving serious criminal offenses, the police are permitted to conduct acoustic surveillance of telephones, private premises, or vehicles to record conversations of suspected offenders or to analyze chat communications. When criminal groups communicate in languages other than German, language mediators or so-called intercept interpreters-translators (IITs) are tasked with rendering the content into German. Their role extends beyond mere linguistic transfer to include the communication of additional information relevant to the investigation. The results of their work also serve as evidence in court proceedings. To ensure effective crime prevention and prosecution, the police, the prosecuting attorneys, and courts depend on precise intercept interpreting and translation. This is the very topic of the new research project on "Qualified language mediation for efficient forensic communication surveillance", QSEK for short, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space with around EUR 880,000 through its Validation of the Technological and Social Innovation Potential of Scientific Research (VIP+) program.

Researchers at Tampere University have demonstrated that light can be used to precisely reshape soft materials without mechanical contact. They have developed light‑responsive hydrogel thin films that enable programmable surfaces with high sensitivity, rapid response, precise spatial control and reversibility. The technology opens new possibilities for tunable devices in photonics, sensing and biomedicine. 

A research team led by Prof. ZHANG Jian at the Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. XIAO Chong from the University of Science and Technology of China and Prof. ZHANG Yongsheng from Qufu Normal University, achieved a peak ZT value of 2.03 at 873 K in chalcopyrite-based thermoelectric materials using a novel dual antisite defect strategy.

Asteroids and comets are scientifically valuable targets for understanding the early Solar System and promising objects for future in situ resource utilization. However, operating robots on these small bodies remains extremely challenging because of microgravity, irregular terrain, uncertain surface properties, and very low escape velocities. A review article published in SmartBot by researchers from China University of Mining and Technology, Soochow University, and the University of Oxford provides a comprehensive overview of three core technologies for small-body sampling robots: sampling, mobility, and anchoring. The review further highlights that the success of future missions depends not only on improving each individual module, but also on understanding and optimizing their dynamic coupling as an integrated robotic system.

As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc and lives were at stake, the advice experts gave to decision-makers became indispensable. At the same time, heated debates arose when researchers’ calculations led to differing conclusions on everything from face masks to school closures. A new handbook on mathematical models has now been produced jointly by Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and several Swedish government agencies. The handbook is intended to pave the way for better decision-making and greater preparedness for the next pandemic.