An automatic diagnosis system based on wearable augmented reality (AR) glasses and an artificial intelligence (AI)model was developed to assess leafminer damage levels, and it achieved 92.38% accuracy. The DeepLab-Leafminer model incorporated an edge-aware module and the Canny loss function into the DeepLabv3+ model, which enhanced its ability to segment the leafminer damaged area in leaves.A mobile application and a web platform were developed to display the diagnostic results of leafminer damage levels for surveyors to guide their scientific decisions for leafminer prevention and control.

Solar-driven interfacial desalination has long faced challenges such as huge heat loss, relatively low efficiency, and easy coating shedding. Now, Wang Zhenxing's team from Nanchang University has successfully developed a new type of bionic cracked metal phenolic coating inspired by crocodile skin and plant veins. The unique crack structure enables ultra-thin water layer transport and compression resistance, with a high evaporation rate of 3.2 kg m^-2 h^-1 and efficient photocatalytic degradation of pollutants. The results, published in Science Bulletin, provide a breakthrough solution to the global freshwater crisis.

Researchers at the Institute of Chemistry, CAS, have developed a light-driven catalytic system based on Au/NiCo₂O₄ photoanodes that efficiently converts styrene to epoxide using water as the sole oxygen source. This work highlights the critical role of plasmon-induced photothermal effects in improving mass transport and catalytic performance under solar illumination.

In a new paper published in Science Bulletin, led by Professor Haibo Wang from Jilin University (P.R. China) and co-workers have utilized a bifunctional additive strategy to precisely regulate the film growth process. This approach enables the formation of perovskite films with preferential crystal orientation, full coverage and large grains. As a result, the fabricated FETs exhibit high hole mobility of ~40 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹ and excellent operational stability.

The localized high-concentration electrolytes developed by introducing the antisolvent to dilute the high-concentration electrolyte is the most promising electrolyte for high-energy-density lithium metal batteries. For a long time, the antisolvent has been regarded as an inert component that does not participate in the solvation structure and interfacial chemical processes. However, the antisolvents with high content in the electrolyte is not absolutely non-polar, and their exact role in regulating the performance of lithium metal batteries has not received sufficient attention and remains unknown. Now, a team of researchers from Nanjing University have published an article in the journal National Science Review, systematically reporting the regulatory mechanism of aromatic hydrocarbon anti-solvents on the performance of lithium metal batteries.

A research paper just published in Science China Life Sciences reports that Bcmads1 and BcAMT1 synergistic regulation of the balance between asexual development and sexual reproduction of Botrytis cinerea by affecting the accumulation of N-vanillylnonanamide, thereby providing a regulatory mechanism by which fungi adapt their development to changing light environment.

Flowering Chinese cabbage, a staple leafy vegetable across Asia, has undergone decades of breeding to improve adaptability, productivity, and quality. 

Innovative use of HfO₂-based high-dielectric-permittivity materials could enable their integration into few-nanometre-scale devices for storing substantial quantities of electrical charges, which have received widespread applications in high-storage-density dynamic random access memory and energy-efficient complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor devices. During bipolar high electric-field cycling in numbers close to dielectric breakdown, the dielectric permittivity suddenly increases by 30 times after oxygen-vacancy ordering and ferroelectric-to-nonferroelectric phase transition of near-edge plasma-treated Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ thin-film capacitors. Here we report a much higher dielectric permittivity of 1466 during downscaling of the capacitor into the diameter of 3.85 μm when the ferroelectricity suddenly disappears without high-field cycling. The stored charge density is as high as 183 μC cm^-2 at an operating voltage/time of 1.2 V/50 ns at cycle numbers of more than 10¹² without inducing dielectric breakdown. The study of synchrotron X-ray micro-diffraction patterns show missing of a mixed tetragonal phase. The image of electron energy loss spectroscopy shows the preferred oxygen-vacancy accumulation at the regions near top/bottom electrodes as well as grain boundaries. The ultrahigh dielectric-permittivity material enables high-density integration of extremely scaled logic and memory devices in the future.

Developing biomass platform compounds into high value-added chemicals is a key step in renewable resource utilization. Herein, we report porous carbon-supported Ni-ZnO nanoparticles catalyst (Ni-ZnO/AC) synthesized via low-temperature coprecipitation, exhibiting excellent performance for the selective hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). A linear correlation is first observed between solvent polarity (E_T(30)) and product selectivity within both polar aprotic and protic solvent classes, suggesting that solvent properties play a vital role in directing reaction pathways. Among these, 1,4-dioxane (aprotic) favors the formation of 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) with 97.5% selectivity, while isopropanol (iPrOH, protic) promotes 2,5-dimethylfuran production with up to 99.5% selectivity. Mechanistic investigations further reveal that beyond polarity, proton-donating ability is critical in facilitating hydrodeoxygenation. iPrOH enables a hydrogen shuttle mechanism where protons assist in hydroxyl group removal, lowering the activation barrier. In contrast, 1,4-dioxane, lacking hydrogen bond donors, stabilizes BHMF and hinders further conversion. Density functional theory calculations confirm a lower activation energy in iPrOH (0.60 eV) compared to 1,4-dioxane (1.07 eV). This work offers mechanistic insights and a practical strategy for solvent-mediated control of product selectivity in biomass hydrogenation, highlighting the decisive role of solvent-catalyst-substrate interactions.