News from Science China Press

A recent study published in National Science Review has revealed new insights into the global riverine carbon cycle. This study constructed global maps of riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, along with its radiocarbon (Δ¹⁴C) and stable carbon isotope (δ¹³C) signatures, based on a comprehensive global database and machine learning approaches. It systematically elucidates the sources, spatial distribution, and age characteristics of riverine DOC, quantifies the contributions of different endmembers, and reveals how its age and origin are dynamically regulated by climate conditions, hydrological processes, and soil properties. The results show that soil carbon residence time plays a key role in determining the age of dissolved organic matter transported by global rivers. In particular, warming-induced permafrost thaw is accelerating the release of long-preserved “old carbon” into river systems. Once mobilized, this aged carbon can be transported downstream and participate in aquatic biogeochemical processes, potentially enhancing carbon cycle feedbacks to the climate system.

To address the long-standing challenges of difficult mass-production and low phase purity in high-entropy sodium vanadium fluorophosphates (HE-NVPF), this study developed a microfluidic system integrated with in-situ Raman spectroscopy. This setup allows for the high-throughput optimization of reaction conditions, achieving an iteration efficiency 400 times higher than traditional methods. Based on these insights, the author developed a microfluidic-assisted spray drying technique, enabling the kilogram-scale production of various HE-NVPF cathode materials . The resulting cathodes demonstrate record-breaking rate performance in sodium-ion batteries, proving the universal potential of this microfluidic synthesis platform.

Boundary states in topological states of matter are determined by bulk topological invariants. The conventional bulk–boundary correspondence typically maps a single invariant to a specific boundary mode, which complicates the description of systems hosting multiple coexisting topological phases. Now, writing in the journal National Science Review, researchers proposed a unified characterization of strong, weak, and higher-order topological boundary states in two-dimensional Floquet systems using three complementary one-dimensional winding numbers, offering new insights into the prediction and manipulation of complex topological phases.

Professor Wenkun Zhu and Professor Tao Chen’s research group at Southwest University of Science and Technology has published a research article in Science Bulletin demonstrating the development of an atomically dispersed U−O−Ti bimetallic photoanode material (U/TiO₂ NRA). Utilizing a facile photodeposition method, the team successfully anchored uranium single atoms directly from uranium-containing wastewater onto TiO₂ nanorod arrays rich in oxygen vacancies. The as-fabricated catalyst exhibits exceptional photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance, offering a novel strategy for both the high-value utilization of depleted uranium resources and the design of efficient photoelectrocatalytic materials.

A study led by Professor Bing Liu and Researcher Ang Li reveals that neuroticism contains two distinct dimensions with opposing health effects. While general neuroticism is linked to mental disorders, a newly identified dimension called ERIS shows that individuals prone to worry actually live longer—suggesting different dimensions of neuroticism serve distinct evolutionary missions: “ensuring survival” versus “pursuing happiness.”

Vocalization feedback monitoring, i.e., listening to one’s vocalizations during vocal production, plays a pivotal role in vocal production control and learning in humans and other mammals. So far, the auditory system has been routinely studied using playback experiments on restrained, non-vocalizing animals. Now, writing in the journal SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences, a team of researchers from Jinhong Luo – Central China Normal University established an ethological paradigm and recorded the single-unit activities of inferior colliculus (IC) in unrestrained, vocalizing bats that could move their head and ears freely. The data suggest the IC as a crucial auditory center for distinguishing between self-produced vocalizations and external sounds.

A study published in Science Bulletin identifies tRF-Glu-TTC-013, a tRNA-derived fragment, as a key driver of colorectal cancer liver metastasis. The researchers found that the molecule promotes tumour progression by enhancing glutamate metabolic reprogramming through a newly defined CREB3L1–AMDHD1 pathway.