Global warming could make "east-dominated" Indian Ocean Dipole events 80% more frequent

A research paper by scientists at Zhejiang University of Technology presented a bioinspired perceptual sensor (BPS) capable of spatiotemporally decoding haptic and pain information by integrating artificial mechanoreceptors with synaptic transistors..

The research paper, published on Sept 26, 2026 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems.

Dentin formation, a crucial process during tooth development, results from the secretion of organic matrix from specialized cells called odontoblasts. However, the roles of the mechanosensitive channels Piezo1 and Piezo2 in odontoblast differentiation are unclear. Now, researchers from the University of Maryland addressed this knowledge gap using Piezo1/Piezo2 conditional knockout mice. Piezo1/Piezo2 double knockout impaired odontoblast differentiation and Wnt signaling. This study indicated that Piezo1 and Piezo2 contribute to odontoblast terminal differentiation, at least in part, by modulating Wnt signaling.

An analysis of Global Burden of Disease data from 1990 to 2023 shows pancreatic cancer prevalent cases reached 103,000 in China versus 66,000 in the United States in 2023, though China had lower age-standardized rates. High fasting plasma glucose surpassed tobacco as the leading attributable risk factor in the US, underscoring the rising role of metabolic risk. 

An international research team systematically reviews immune regulation, novel vaccines, biomarkers, and combination strategies with biologics.

Researchers at Fudan University have developed a crosslinked potassium polyacrylate skin membrane that lets microrobots generate electricity by walking on metal or silicon surfaces. The membrane uses atmospheric moisture and oxygen to convert environmental chemical energy into power, achieving 133 mW cm⁻² on zinc. It also senses substrate material and roughness, enabling active energy pursuit. The system powered over 10,000 walking steps and remained stable after 1,000,000 steps.

A packaged self-injection-locked fiber Fabry–Pérot Kerr microcomb was used to generate coherent terahertz signals for both wireless transmission and multi-carrier operation. The system demonstrated 5-meter free-space communication at terahertz using 16-QAM and 64-QAM modulation at symbol rates up to 15 GBd, while also generating a coherent terahertz frequency comb. The results highlight the potential of compact microcomb sources for scalable high-capacity terahertz communication and related photonic applications.

Rock weathering is an important process regulating atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and long-term climate evolution, yet how enhanced erosion affects rock weathering and its carbon effects remains poorly understood. Focusing on the Lancang River basin on the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, the authors quantitatively reveal the differential responses of silicate, carbonate, and sulfide weathering to changes in erosion. The results show that, as erosion intensifies, silicate weathering rates decrease while sulfide oxidation rates increase, causing weathering in the basin to tend toward a net carbon source. The related findings have now been published in Science China Earth Sciences.

An international team of researchers led by Dr. Meng Li at Shenzhen University has conducted a comprehensive survey of fungal communities across seven representative Chinese mangrove wetlands. Using high-throughput sequencing of 300 sediment samples, the team discovered that over one-third of fungal diversity remains unclassified at the phylum level, making mangrove sediments a major reservoir of uncharacterized fungal life. The study reveals that fungal community assembly is governed by a hierarchical framework operating across three scales: macro-climatic filtering by temperature and dispersal limitation, local edaphic filtering by salinity and nutrient stoichiometry, and micro-scale biotic interactions through cross-kingdom co-occurrence networks. These findings, published in Mycology, provide a theoretical foundation for understanding microbial community stability in coastal ecosystems under global change.