The article conducts an in-depth analysis of the history, key indicators and difffculties of water ecological assessments in typical countries and organization around the world. It points out the significance of water ecological assessments , and provides future implications for advancing water ecological assessment practices. Research indicates significant progresses have been made in the study and application of water ecological assessments globally. The study highlights the key to effective water ecological assessments lies in establishing a comprehensive and scientifically robust indicator system. Over time, water ecological assessments have gradually shifted from relying on single water quality metrics to adopting holistic ecosystem health assessments. The research proposes that future water ecological assessments should integrate the management of water resources, water ecology, and water environment. It improves the management of water environment in key river basins, and establishes a new framework for systematic governance.

Chinese scientists have discovered that fragile swamp forests in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region suddenly collapsed around 2.1 thousand years ago (ka)—with human activity as the cause.

A new review paper in Engineering delves into silicon carbide (SiC)-based pressure sensors. SiC, a third-generation semiconductor, shows great potential for high-temperature applications. The report covers SiC’s material properties, key technologies in sensor development like piezoresistive effect, ohmic contact, etching, and packaging, along with future research directions.

In the realm of smart manufacturing and digital engineering, a new technology named Data-Model Fusion (DMF) is gaining traction. A review paper in Engineering details how DMF integrates model-based and data-driven methods, addresses their limitations, and finds applications across the product lifecycle. It also explores DMF’s future directions, showing its potential to reshape industrial processes.

In a recent study published in Engineering, researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong University have developed a self-adaptive core-shell dry adhesive with a “live core”. This new adhesive addresses the long-standing issue of weak adhesion under non-parallel contact in engineering operations, offering improved performance and potential applications in various fields such as robotic gripping and optical component assembly.