A research team has found that soil type strongly determines how agricultural microbial communities process added carbon and nitrogen and whether denitrification releases nitrous oxide (N₂O) or converts it to harmless dinitrogen (N₂).

A research team has found that overlapping yak urine and dung patches in an alpine meadow do not simply add together to increase soil nitrous oxide emissions. 

Carbon fixation continues through winter

A paper published in Carbon Research reports that microbial inorganic carbon fixation remains active in Qinghai Lake, the largest saline lake in China, during the ice-covered season. The work focuses on how microorganisms assimilate inorganic carbon beneath lake ice, a period that has received far less attention than the summer open-water season despite its importance for annual lake carbon cycling.

The team, led by corresponding author Xiaoyan Li of Beijing Normal University, examined both light-dependent carbon fixation and dark-dependent carbon fixation in under-ice waters. Qinghai Lake, located on the Tibetan Plateau, provides a natural setting for this question because it is a high-altitude saline lake with prolonged seasonal ice cover, low temperatures, and distinctive microbial habitats.

A research team has discovered that bacterial rather than fungal denitrification serves as the primary driver for increased nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions in paddy soils under warming conditions. 

A new study, published in Translational Exercise Biomedicine (ISSN: 2942-6812), an official partner journal of International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS), has found that adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) show fundamental differences in how their paraspinal muscles coordinate during trunk movement (DOI:10.1515/teb20260007).

Halide-based solid electrolytes (HSEs) have garnered substantial interest for all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) due to their wide electrochemical windows, moderate-to-high room-temperature ionic conductivity, and enhanced air stability over traditional sulfide and oxide-based SEs. This review consolidates recent advances in HSEs, focusing on the link between structure, compositions, and materials properties that influence the transport of lithium-ion (Li-ion) and post-lithium-ion (P-Li-ion) and their stability at the interface. Based on the chemistry of their central metal, HSEs are divided into five classes; key factors influencing ionic conductivity are examined. Nevertheless, despite these benefits, many challenges remain, including interfacial instability, the trade-off between ionic conductivity and electrochemical stability, mechanical challenges, and material costs. The main synthesis methods, mechanochemical, co-melting, and wet-chemical, are investigated for phase formation, scalability, and defect control. The link between synthesis, microstructure, and device-level performance metrics, including critical current density, area-specific resistance, and cycle life, is examined. The strategies, involving bilayer and dual-electrolyte design as well as interface engineering, are analyzed to reduce interfacial resistance and dendrite growth. The applications of HSE in Li-ion and P-Li-ion systems are examined. This review offers a detailed framework and delineates potential research paths to advance scalable, high-performance HSEs for next-generation ASSBs.

Researchers from Zhejiang University and Northeast Forestry University have developed an exhalation-responsive optoelectronic clip that turns human breath into a clear optical ON/OFF signal. The wearable device combines optical microfibers with nanocellulose films and can be used for touch-free alerts, coded communication, and respiratory monitoring.

Chitosan, a natural derivative of chitin, can alert plants to danger and is already used in crop-protection products, yet scientists have not fully understood how grapevines detect it.