News from Science China Press

A research team led by Professor Dong Zhang and Guangyong Sun at Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital has identified IFITM1 as a key regulator of the potent anti-tumor activity of TCRαβ⁺CD4^-CD8^- double-negative T cells (DNTs). IFITM1 recruits p62/SQSTM1 to mitochondria and promotes mitophagy, thereby preserving mitochondrial homeostasis, energy metabolism and the tumor-killing capacity of DNTs.

Using a highly sensitive two-coil mutual-inductance technique, we systematically track the evolution of the phase stiffness in interfacial superconducting LaAlO₃/KTaO₃(111) and its correlation with the superconducting transition temperature as a function of electrostatic gating. A crossover from Bose–Einstein-condensate-like to Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer-like behavior is revealed, suggesting that superconductivity at the two extremes is limited by the establishment of phase coherence and the formation of Cooper pairs, respectively. This behavior is consistent with the emergence of superconducting granularity in two dimensions, which is further supported by the observation of a paramagnetic Meissner effect.

Seawater zinc-air batteries (SZAB) could provide safe, high-energy power for marine applications, but Cl⁻ in seawater can poison the catalysts that drive oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Researchers from Hainan University and collaborators designed an FeSn dual-single-atom catalysts (FeSn-DSACs) in which Sn neighbors tune Fe active sites through p-d orbital hybridization. The catalyst simultaneously accelerates ORR and suppresses Cl⁻ adsorption and corrosion. In SZAB, it delivered a peak power density of 255.6 mW cm⁻² and operated for more than 500 h, offering a design strategy for durable seawater ORR catalysis.

A data-knowledge dual-driven machine-intelligence framework enables experiment-efficient, full-chain synthesis of 2D dendrites. It achieves rapid process optimization within one week, constructs high-fidelity recipe-morphology mappings, and deciphers multifactorial growth mechanisms, requiring <70 experiments, which covers <1.5% of the total parameter combinations.

Thermochromic smart windows can automatically adjust solar and thermal radiation in response to temperature, offering a passive route to reduce building energy demand and improve indoor comfort. A new review published in Science Bulletin examines why these windows have not yet achieved large-scale application, despite rapid materials progress. The authors identify key challenges in spectral regulation, switching temperature, response speed, durability, scalable fabrication, glazing integration, lifecycle impacts, and building control. They argue that future development should shift from isolated material optimization toward deployment-oriented design and system-integrated adaptive building envelopes.

GBD 2021 data were used to assess trends, SDI-related distributions and DALY drivers from 1990 to 2021. Cardiovascular diseases had the highest mortality and DALY rates in 2021. Communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional (CMNN) burdens remained concentrated towards lower-SDI settings but gradients weakened, whereas NCD burdens remained concentrated towards higher-SDI settings and gradients strengthened. Population growth and ageing mainly drove the 577 million rise in NCD-related DALYs.

Researchers at Soochow University have demonstrated a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell with a lab efficiency of 34.0%. An independently certified device achieved a steady-state efficiency of 33.5% and an open-circuit voltage of 2.014 V. Discrete zirconia nanoparticles at the buried interface promoted uniform, void-free perovskite growth and suppressed non-radiative recombination through field-effect passivation without hindering charge extraction. The encapsulated device retained 84% of its initial efficiency after 2000 h of continuous operation.

Solar-driven water splitting offers a carbon-neutral path to green hydrogen, but its reliance on freshwater has long raised sustainability concerns. Seawater — covering 97% of Earth’s water — presents an abundant alternative, yet its chloride ions have traditionally been seen as a major obstacle, causing corrosive side reactions and sluggish kinetics. Now, a team led by researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University has turned this challenge into an opportunity. They developed a noble-metal-free photocatalyst — MnOₓ(OH)_y/GaN nanowires supported by a silicon wafer — that splits natural seawater efficiently under sunlight, achieving a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 6.15% without any sacrificial agents. The catalyst delivers a hydrogen production rate of 15.2 mol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ in natural seawater and operates stably for over 360 min. Surprisingly, the team discovered that chloride ions in seawater are not detrimental but actively beneficial: they reduce the Coulomb attraction energy between photogenerated electrons and holes, and simultaneously lower the energy barrier for water oxidation. Meanwhile, the hydroxyl groups inherent to the manganese oxyhydroxide cocatalyst undergo dynamic exchange with water molecules, further accelerating the formation of key reaction intermediates. Outdoor tests under concentrated natural sunlight confirmed the system’s practical feasibility.