In a study published in Science Bulletin, researchers developed a high-performance contactless solar evaporation design with a 3D solar-heating and vapor-escaping structure, addressing challenges in the scalable and durable contactless solar evaporation. The 3D design significantly improves the vapor transport, achieving a laboratory evaporation rate of 1.03 kg m^-2 h^-1 under one-sun illumination, 110% higher than conventional methods and 1.21 kg m^-2 h^-1 in outdoor tests under dilute solar flux (589.98 W m^-2). The design demonstrated excellent scalability, with minimal performance variation (3%) between small and large devices, offering a robust, contamination-resistant solution for sustainable water treatment.

In a paper published in Science Bulletin, a Chinese team of scientists revealed the complexities of hepatic SLC7A11 and the essentiality of SLC7A11-mediated nonessential amino acids in MASLD. Slc7a11 deficiency accelerated MASLD progression via classic cystine/cysteine deficiency–induced ferroptosis, while serine deficiency and a resulting impairment in de novo cysteine production were attributed to ferroptosis-induced MASLD progression in mice overexpressing hepatic Slc7a11. Researchers found that both serine supplementation and blocking ferroptosis significantly alleviated MASLD, and the serum serine/glutamate ratio might serve as a prognostic biomarker for MASLD in patients.

In a paper published in National Science Review, scientists present the first regional-scale assessment of the drainage effect on metal-organic carbon interactions in wetlands, an under-investigated mechanism mediating wetland soil carbon response to water-table drawdown. The team found that long-term drainage enhanced metallic protection of soil organic carbon in vascular plant-dominated (non-Sphagnum) wetlands in contrast to (Sphagnum) moss-dominated wetlands due to varied vegetational shifts.

In a paper published in National Science Review, a research team found a highly conservative and stable G-quadruplex (G4) in monkeypox virus (MPXV), which acts as a positive regulatory element for viral immunodominant protein expression. Furthermore, Λ enantiomer of metallo-supramolecular complexes MH3 Λ can selectively target mRNA G4 and enhance expression of the 39-kDa core protein encoded by the MPXV A5L gene. Given the pivotal role of the 39-kDa core protein in activating immune responses and facilitating virion maturation, modulation of MPXV G4 folding by MH3 Λ exhibits inhibitory effects on MPXV replication through enhancing immune response.

The year 2024 is on-track to be the hottest on record, and with it came some of the most challenging extreme weather conditions the modern world has witnessed.