GBIF marks its 25th anniversary having grown from 21 founding countries to a network spanning 70 participating countries, 42 other associate participants and crossing 3.8 billion biodiversity records. A new overview, published in the Biodiversity Data Journal, traces GBIF's evolution from natural history collections to DNA and survey data, its role underpinning 15,000+ research papers and major policy frameworks, and the persistent challenges, including geographic and taxonomic data gaps, that remain as the organisation looks toward its next 25 years.

A review published in Blockchain examines trust in both directions between AI agents and blockchain networks. It brings together 127 academic papers, 70 Ethereum proposals and standards, and 20 industry projects in a common framework. The analysis identifies unfinished standards and security questions that need attention as agents take on more autonomous roles.

No comprehensive global estimate of medical e-waste exists yet but research shows, for example, that 83 million wearable medical devices were placed on the European market in 2020 alone, on a trajectory to ~2 billion devices annually worldwide by 2050.

Unlike consumer electronics, many medical devices are classified as healthcare waste after use because of contamination concerns. Consequently, products containing valuable electronics, batteries, copper, gold, lithium and other critical materials are frequently incinerated even when components may remain reusable or recyclable.

The EU-funded Digital Health in the Circular Economy (DiCE) project report shows how to transform digital healthcare into a circular system that keeps products, components and valuable materials in use longer without compromising patient safety. "Digital health technologies are transforming healthcare. Millions of devices, from diabetes sensors and blood pressure monitors to advanced surgical instruments, are helping patients live longer, healthier lives while making care more personalised, efficient and effective. But the rapid growth of this market is creating a largely overlooked problem: a fast-growing stream of electronic waste. DiCE has shown how to mitigate that problem and recover increasingly precious and strategically critical raw materials."

Until now, organic light-emitting diodes have not been compatible with the high-precision, but chemically harsh manufacturing processes used in the semiconductor industry. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the University of Helsinki have developed light-emitting polymers that also serve as photoresists and can be precisely patterned using photolithography – an established process in the chip industry. This enables the production of tiny, coloured OLED pixels for screens, as well as precise light sources for research and medical technology.

Now, writing (DOI: 10.1016/j.esci.2025.100520) in the journal  eScience (Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2026), researchers from Jeju National University in South Korea, Queensland University of Technology in Australia, and Shivaji University in India report a humidity-sensitive memristive device built on a Au/Ni₂P₂O₇/fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) architecture. The device achieves analog resistive switching with tunable resistance states under varying relative humidity (RH) levels, and demonstrates non-contact synaptic responses using moisture from a human finger.

Now, a team of researchers from the University of Macau's Department of Electromechanical Engineering and Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics has published (DOI: 10.1016/j.esci.2026.100549) a comprehensive perspective on this very question. In the journal eScience (Volume 6, Issue 4, July 2026), the team lays out a roadmap for achieving embodied intelligence in insect‑scale robots—charting a course from laboratory prototypes to practical, intelligent systems.

Professor Ruibang LUO, Assistant Director (Learning Experience & Student Enrichment) and Associate Head of AI & Data Science Division in the School of Computing and Data Science (CDS) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has been awarded the 2026 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) in recognition of his pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for genomic analysis. Professor Luo was selected as the sole winner of this year’s prize by regional vote among nominees from APEC’s 21 member economies.