News from Science China Press

With artificial intelligence (AI) workloads driving rising demands for computing power, bandwidth, and energy efficiency, integrated photonic neural networks (PNNs) offer a promising route beyond electronic bottlenecks. This review surveys emerging PNN technologies from devices and computing architectures to integration, packaging, and systems, highlighting optoelectronic co-design, key challenges, and their potential as next-generation AI accelerators.

Researchers developed DexAnyTwist, a learning framework that enables dexterous robotic hands to twist many everyday objects, from bottles and valves to screwdrivers and light bulbs. By identifying different modes and assigning expert policies to them, the system improved simulation performance and transferred zero-shot to real-world objects.

Researchers have updated the classic nonsolvent induced phase separation (NIPS) theory. By optimizing a fluid observation cell, the team decoupled the formation of macrovoids and cellular pores and revealed their distinct formation mechanisms. A new thermodynamic parameter was proposed for accurate pore prediction. The developed ultrathin membrane delivered outstanding performance in vanadium flow batteries, outperforming commercial counterparts.

Chinese scientists have identified five major fundamental scientific questions for extreme complex geological disaster chains: “disaster gestation through multi-sphere interactions, disaster regulation by multi-interface control, disaster propulsion by multi-dynamic coupling, disaster initiation by extreme events, and disaster amplification through multi-disaster chain interactions.” They further reveal the core characteristics of disaster chains from the three dimensions of time, space, and human activities, and construct a coherent “mechanism–prediction–prevention and control” research framework.

Weyl topological superconductivity is a rare state promising for quantum computing, but it usually requires complex band properties like strong spin-orbit coupling. Researchers have now shown that transitioning from a 2D square to a 3D cubic lattice, simple repulsive interactions between electrons create geometric frustration. This naturally forms a unique octupolar Weyl superconducting state. By removing the need for spin-orbit coupling, this opens a simpler, universal path for discovering new quantum materials and realizing unconventional 3D superconductivity

For decades, scientists have observed that the mass diffusion coefficient D and viscosity η governing momentum diffusion violate their expected inverse scaling relationship in glass-forming liquids implied by the widely assumed Stokes-Einstein relationship derived from Brownian motion theory. A recent article in National Science Review reveals that this so-called‘decoupling’ phenomenon does not arise from the inherent dynamic heterogeneity of glass-forming liquids, as often assumed, but rather simply from differences in the activation free energies of D and η already present in liquids at elevated temperatures where no appreciable dynamic heterogeneity exists. Dynamic heterogeneity is a symptom rather than the cause of decoupling.

Sperm carry far more than DNA. As they develop in the testis and mature in the epididymis, they also carry a shifting set of chemical marks on RNA — a molecular layer that may help shape fertility and influence how paternal experiences are passed to the next generation.

Now, researchers have produced a detailed map of this changing “sperm RNA modification code.” In a study published in Science China Life Sciences, the team profiled 27 types of RNA modifications across mouse testis development, purified spermatogenic cells, sperm collected from different regions of the epididymis and a typeⅡdiabetes mellitus mouse model. The work reveals that sperm RNA modifications are not static labels, but a dynamic program that is written, erased and reorganized as sperm move toward maturity.