Conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), which use carbon-negative electrodes, are prone to catching fire due to the similar operating potentials of carbon and lithium. Recently, Wadsley–Roth phase oxides, like the TiNb₂O₇ (TNO), have received considerable attention as potential alternative negative electrode materials that have higher operating potentials than lithium, reducing the risk of fire. In this study, researchers investigated the atomic configuration and network structure of TNO, unveiling key insights for developing safer, high-performance LIBs.

Helical structures are ubiquitous across biology, from the double-stranded helix of DNA to how heart muscle cells spiral in a band. Inspired by this twisty ladder, researchers from Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering have developed an artificial polymer that organizes itself into a controlled helix. Helical structures are ubiquitous across biology, from the double-stranded helix of DNA to how heart muscle cells spiral in a band. Inspired by this twisty ladder, researchers from Hiroshima University’s Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering have developed an artificial polymer that organizes itself into a controlled helix. 

Pretrained large-scale AI models need to ‘forget’ specific information for privacy and computational efficiency, but no methods exist for doing so in black-box vision-language models, where internal details are inaccessible. Now, researchers from Japan addressed this issue through an innovative strategy based on latent context sharing, successfully getting an image classifier to forget multiple classes it was trained on. Their findings could expand the use cases of large-scale AI models while safeguarding end users’ privacy.

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University showed that agricultural land preserved around river confluences can help mitigate floods. They make a case for Eco-DRR, an approach that uses existing environmental resources to improve resilience against flooding. Statistical analysis showed that municipalities with agricultural land in areas with high water storage potential suffered fewer floods, with stronger correlation when agricultural land was situated near river confluences. The team hope their findings inform effective land usage.