Famed for its deep purple berries and potent antioxidant properties, black wolfberry (Lycium ruthenicum) thrives in harsh desert climates and holds significant nutritional and medicinal value. 

A new genomic study has unlocked the genetic secrets behind the breeding of flowering Chinese cabbage—a popular leafy vegetable in Asian cuisine. 

Cr-Nb containing refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs) excel in high strength beyond 1200℃ but a low density close to Ti-based alloys, which endow them promising for applications in aero engines. However, oxidation is the bottleneck that limits their practical applications. Recently, CrNbO₄ has been found to effectively protect them from oxidation. Nevertheless, little is known about this oxide. To elucidate the protection mechanism of CrNbO₄ and explore its properties, we report herein for the first time the microstructure, mechanical, and thermal properties of CrNbO₄.

Pre-eclampsia (PE), a hypertensive disorder during pregnancy, impairs maternal endothelial function, leading to inflammation and oxidative stress that may increase the risk of severe brain conditions like stroke. This study investigated whether a history of PE causes long-term vascular dysfunction and worsens stroke outcomes during the postpartum period in rats. The findings reveal persistent effects of PE on the maternal brain and offer insights into the underlying mechanisms driving these adverse outcomes.

Nowadays, plastic wastes have seriously endangered human health and ecological safety. Recycling plastics is a promising ap-proach to achieve multiple uses of carbon resources. In this review, photocatalysis is introduced for the conversion of plastics into various valuable chemicals. The state-of-the-art photocatalytic techniques for plastics conversion are divided into two categories of direct and indirect photoconversion. Researchers summarize in detail the photocatalytic small organic molecules conversion from polyeth-ylene terephthalate (PET), polylactic acid (PLA) and polyethylene (PE) through the alkaline-assistant and hydrothermal pretreat-ments. Then, they overview the effective strategies of direct photoconverting PE, PLA and polyvinyl chloride into chemicals via the two-step process, amination strategy, and single reactive oxygen species-assistant strategy. Finally, they present some outlooks of the current challenges and propose some potential solutions in the future.

Nanomaterials with catalytic properties that are derived from Chinese herbs are called ‘herbzymes’. Herbzymes are nanomaterials from Chinese herbs that mimic natural enzymes like peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). For a deeper understanding of herbzymes, researchers from China present a comprehensive review of different types of herbzymes and their mode of synthesis, while detailing their biomedical applications, current challenges faced, and potential directions for their development. 

Buzz pollination, a process where bees vibrate flowers to release pollen, occurs in more than 20,000 plant species, including tomatoes and blueberries. The most extreme cases occur in Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae) wildflowers, whose “Elephant-Nose” shaped flowers depend on bumblebees’ buzzing them for pollination. Although different elephant nose species bloom together and share the same bumblebees, hybridization among co-blooming Pedicularis species is rare. How do bumblebees harvest pollen from elephant-nose flowers? In a multidisciplinary research article published in SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences, researchers from the Kunming Institute of Botany (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Sun Yat-sen University, along with researchers from the United States and Sweden, unveiled the biomechanical secrets behind their fascinating interactions.

Terahertz (THz) devices, owing to their distinctive optical properties, have achieved myriad applications in diverse domains including wireless communication, medical imaging therapy, hazardous substance detection, and environmental governance. Concurrently, to mitigate the environmental impact of electronic waste generated by traditional materials, sustainable materials-based THz functional devices are being explored for further research by taking advantages of their eco-friendliness, cost-effective, enhanced safety, robust biodegradability and biocompatibility. This review focuses on the origins and distinctive biological structures of sustainable materials as well as succinctly elucidates the latest applications in THz functional device fabrication, including wireless communication devices, macromolecule detection sensors, environment monitoring sensors, and biomedical therapeutic devices. We further highlight recent applications of sustainable materials-based THz functional devices in hazardous substance detection, protein-based macromolecule detection, and environmental monitoring. Besides, this review explores the developmental prospects of integrating sustainable materials with THz functional devices, presenting their potential applications in the future.