It is known that the antiepileptic drug valproate increases the risk of developmental disorders in unborn children. A study conducted by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the University of Tübingen, and the University Heidelberg using lab-grown tissue models of the human brain gives new insights into the effects this drug has on early brain development. They open up new avenues for research to mitigate the risk during pregnancy. The study has been published in the Molecular Psychiatry journal.  (DOI: 10.1038/s41380-026-03585-5)

A team of researchers from the Max Born Institute, the Ferdinand Braun Institute, the University of Augsburg, and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin has now succeeded in directly imaging the effect of short current pulses on a skyrmion. The researchers used a special form of x-ray microscopy with extremely short x-ray flashes at the synchrotron-radiation source PETRA III at DESY in Hamburg. This yielded a movie consisting of picosecond-short snapshots of the magnetization during and after a current pulse, with a spatial resolution of just a few nanometers. To capture these fleeting processes at all, the team used a focused helium-ion beam to prepare a spot of only 100 nanometers in the sample. At this spot, a skyrmion of about the same size is reliably created with every current pulse.

Quantum particles in imperfect or quasiperiodic environments may spread, become localized, or enter critical states with fractal wave functions. These behaviors can combine into seven fundamental localization phases, but a unified framework for all of them has been missing. A team led by Prof. Xiong-Jun Liu at Peking University has now developed a generic spin-1/2 quasiperiodic system that captures all the fundamental phases, proves three theorems, constructs new exactly solvable models, and proposes the implementation with ultracold atoms in optical Raman lattices.

Biomolecules, also known as organic molecules, include sugars, proteins and lipids and are the building blocks of all life. They play a role in the structure and metabolism of all living organisms. To make them visible under a microscope, researchers use special dyes to make them glow. A research team at the University of Göttingen has now developed a new method to do this better. Unlike conventional approaches, the luminescent dye is not added to the sample as a ready-made product. Instead, it only begins to glow as it binds to the target molecule. This solves the old problem of pre-made dyes remaining in the sample even when they are not bound to the target molecule, which interferes with imaging. The research was published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

What if some of the most important scientific discoveries are already hidden in data collected years ago? Researchers at Tohoku University are exploring how AI and data-driven science can reveal new insights from past experiments and scientific literature. Their review highlights how old data could help accelerate discoveries in chemistry and materials science. 

Researchers at Kyoto University and Tohoku University have developed a new porous polymer gel that selectively recognizes specific molecules (referred to as ‘guests’ in the study) through coordination chemistry and converts these invisible molecular-scale interactions into strikingly visible, macroscale deformation. The study demonstrates how subtle differences in molecular structure can directly alter the shape, color, and mechanical properties of a soft material, opening new possibilities for “smart” stimuli-responsive materials and molecularly programmable soft matter that can sense and react to its environment.

Biochar, a charcoal-like substance added to soil, is widely seen as a tool for improving crop yields and locking away carbon. When added to soil, it creates a unique micro-environment known as the charosphere, where complex chemical reactions take place. A new investigation from Northwest A&F University now shows that this zone can become a hotspot for reactive oxygen species (ROS)—highly unstable molecules that can influence critical soil processes. The findings demonstrate that how biochar is produced determines the type of ROS created, with significant consequences for its ability to mitigate greenhouse gases.

The research team, led by corresponding author Hanzhong Jia, conducted controlled incubation experiments to track chemical changes in the soil immediately surrounding biochar. They produced biochar at two different pyrolysis temperatures—a lower 300°C and a higher 500°C—to see how this affected its properties. Using fluorescence imaging and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, they identified and quantified the different ROS being generated in the charosphere over time and space, linking them back to the specific particles released by each type of biochar.

A new study from Adelaide University has found that when ocean acidification makes reef habitat less complex, the fish living there gather in smaller shoals that offer less social protection.