Soft, shape-changing materials are attracting growing interest in applications ranging from robotics to wearable devices, but conventional 3D printing methods are limited to a single actuation mode in each printed component. A new study demonstrates the first 3D-printable smectic liquid crystal elastomer ink that can switch molecular alignment during printing, allowing the same filament to either elongate or contract when heated. The advance could enable more versatile soft robots, adaptive surfaces, and minimally invasive biomedical devices.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are promising, safer, and lower-cost alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. Recently, scandium (Sc) has been shown to be a promising dopant material for sodium-based cathodes, aimed at improving durability of SIBs. In a new study, researchers investigated how Sc doping and coating improves cycling performance of sodium-based electrodes. The study uncovers the underlying mechanisms and offers practical design guidelines for developing next-generation, long-lasting SIBs. 

Researchers at JGU have visualized the interaction of magnetic vortices and shown that antiferromagnetic skyrmions move in line with an applied current

On-chip photonic systems for generating vectorial optical fields (VOFs) are highly desired, yet conventional devices remain bulky and lack control capabilities. A class of surface-wave-excited complex-amplitude metasurfaces is proposed that can independently control the amplitude, phase, and polarization of locally scattered waves, thereby generating predefined VOFs. The platform significantly expands degrees of freedom in optical field manipulation, paving the way for integrated optics applications such as encrypted holography, augmented reality, super-resolution imaging, and information communication.

Researchers analyzed additive-derived chemicals in floating microplastics and larger plastic debris collected from coastal, offshore, riverine, and seafloor environments around Japan. They detected a wide range of chemicals, including antioxidants, plasticizers, ultraviolet stabilizers, and flame retardants, and identified Irgafos 168-related compounds, the plasticizer DEHP, and the flame retardant HBCD as chemicals of particular concern. These chemicals showed distinct environmental behaviors, including leaching from plastics, sorption from surrounding water and particles, and persistence during fragmentation and transport in marine environments. The findings show that fragmentation into microplastics does not necessarily reduce concerns about chemicals and highlight the need to consider the environmental fate of plastic-associated chemicals in risk assessment and management.

A research team has shown that returning rice straw to paddy fields increases soil organic carbon by strengthening soil aggregates and promoting stable chemical bonds between carbon and iron oxides. 

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem proudly congratulates Prof. Haim Sompolinsky, one of the world's leading theoretical physicists and neuroscientists, on being awarded the 2026 Dirac Medal and Prize by the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).

A research team has found that combining no-tillage, retained crop straw, and a high application rate of microbial organic fertilizer substantially increased soil organic carbon (SOC) in compact, carbon-poor albic soil.