Researchers have introduced a statistical method that allows accurate forest monitoring using satellite images with missing data. The hybrid estimator works directly with flawed data, bypassing the need for complex and uncertain data repair processes. This approach achieved over 90% sampling precision, meeting national forest inventory standards, and performed as well as techniques requiring complete satellite imagery. This provides a cost-effective way to leverage decades of archived satellite data for reliable forest and carbon stock assessment, supporting vital climate and conservation efforts.

Arousal by the brainstem and subcortical regions, and awareness from cortical regions combine to produce consciousness in the brain. While arousal or wakefulness is regulated by the ascending reticular activating system of brainstem, the exact mechanism by which brainstem injuries lead to disorder of consciousness (DoC) remains unelucidated. Now, researchers reveal the roles of four nodes in the brainstem in DoC, and describe therapies targeting these nodes and their networks to aid recovery.

This study develops an electrocorticography (ECoG) device named NeuroCam, which boasts up to 4096 recording channels with only 128 leads for signal fan-out, supporting large-scale manufacturing. This innovation delivers a pivotal breakthrough in overcoming the key bottlenecks of existing ECoG devices, including limited channel counts, low density, complicated wiring, and challenges in scaling production. It provides a novel tool for decoding complex neural activities, supports the breakthrough development of advanced brain-machine interface (BMI) technology, and opens up opportunities for neuroscience research as well as the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy.

China, Tianjin-Researchers at Nankai University have 3D-printed soft hydrogel thermocell “power patches” that can hug skin and devices, turning gentle temperature differences into electricity. By Combining 3D printing and immersion activation strategies, they “sculpt” microstructured hydrogel thermocell surfaces that grip rough, moving heat sources and boost power output several-fold. These patches can also serve as self-powered touch and motion sensors, suggesting that customizable wearable power supplies could quietly harvest waste heat from bodies and irregular heat sources for future sustainable, human-integrated electronics.

A recent study published in National Science Review revealed detailed crustal structures of the Eastern Himalayas, showing a local stress field of dominantly north-south horizontal compression, low-angle subduction of the crust-mantle boundary and flat-ramp geometry of the Indian plate beneath the Eurasian plate. These results have important implications for understanding the regional tectonics, the broad uplift of the mountains and  generation of thrust and strike-slip earthquakes in this continental collision zone.