News from Science China Press

Researchers from Zhejiang University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong have discovered that silk sericin—long considered a mere glue coating silk fibers—actively orchestrates the self-assembly of silk fibroin into ordered nanofibrils. Published in Science Bulletin, the study shows that sericin drives liquid-liquid phase separation to create dynamic micro-compartments that concentrate, stabilize, and guide fibroin proteins through a multi-stage maturation process. The findings provide a new mechanistic framework for silk fiber formation and offer design principles for bioinspired programmable materials.

Low thermal conductivity of β-Ga₂O₃ can restrict power density and accelerate device degradation of β-Ga₂O₃-based power electronics. To alleviate the thermal management problem, researchers developed a Ga-assisted strategy to realize high-quality β-Ga₂O₃ film epitaxy on diamond. The constructed β-Ga₂O₃/Diamond heterostructure presents superior thermal boundary conductance (165.4 MW⋅m⁻²⋅K⁻¹) and ultra-high interfacial fracture strength (> 2.09 GPa). The identified new interfacial phonon mode at ~60 meV can significantly enhance the phonon transport between diamond and β-Ga₂O₃.

It has been a challenge that Dirac points in topological acoustics are typically pinned in reciprocal space, restricting versatile applications for wave steering and manipulation. Now, an article shows that Dirac points can be moved arbitrarily across the Brillouin zone by independently adjusting coupling strengths in a 2D sonic crystal. This enables a full-space scanning topological antenna and an acoustic heterostructure for fully angle-tunable Klein tunneling. Both passive devices surmount the angle-tuning barrier, offering a new paradigm for classical wave control.

A research team has developed an interphase activator strategy to improve lithium-ion transport in garnet-polymer composite solid electrolytes. The strategy uses SbF₃ to reconstruct the surface of LLZTO garnet particles and regulate the surrounding PVDF-based polymer phase, creating a continuous pathway for lithium ions across the ceramic-polymer interface. The optimized electrolyte shows high lithium-ion conductivity, stable lithium-metal cycling, and strong full-cell performance at 30 ℃, highlighting its promise for safer and higher-energy solid-state lithium-metal batteries.

Human biological evolution typically unfolds over millennia, while artificial intelligence can undergo major advances within years. This growing disparity in rates of change raises a fundamental question: How should humanity respond as technological change increasingly outpaces biological adaptation?

Addressing this question, a team led by Professor Tian-Ling Ren of Tsinghua University has published a Position Paper titled “Transcending Natural Evolution in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” in SCIENCE CHINA Information Sciences. The paper describes this disparity as an “evolutionary tempo mismatch” and examines how artificial intelligence could extend from the digital realm into physical environments, the human body, and neural tissue. It also introduces two related concepts, the “embodiment threshold” and “transcending natural evolution”, and outlines how flexible bioelectronics and brain-computer interfaces could support human-machine integration. The paper further considers the risk of “biological-technological stratification” under constraints in compute capacity, energy, materials, and technological access, and proposes a phased, trigger-based framework for adaptive governance.

Researchers at Westlake University have developed a new anion exchange membrane for water electrolysis that combines long-term chemical stability with easier large-scale manufacturing. The material reduces reliance on corrosive superacids during synthesis and performs efficiently in both lab-scale devices and kilowatt-scale hydrogen-producing stacks.