According to a study by the Department of Physics and the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), the Mar Menor saltwater lagoon in Murcia, Spain, the largest in Europe, contains sediments with levels of lead, arsenic, zinc, mercury, copper, and silver that exceed toxicity thresholds and values reported for similar coastal ecosystems worldwide.  

A team of physicists the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw, the Centre for New Technologies at the University of Warsaw and Emory University (Atlanta, USA) analysed how atoms’ mutual interactions change the way they collectively interact with light. In a paper just published in Physical Review Letters, the researchers extend established models of this phenomenon. By showing that direct atom–atom interactions can strengthen a collective burst of light known as superradiance, the team points to new opportunities for quantum technologies.

The translation of terahertz (THz) technology into clinical practice is hampered by the lack of endoscopic systems capable of THz-wave delivering to hard-to-access bio-tissues. Addressing this challenge, the authors begin with a brief overview of THz-based diagnosis of neoplasms. The article then reviews the two existing principles of THz endoscopy: the use of fiber-coupled photoconductive antennas and THz optical fibers. Finally, notable examples of THz endoscopic systems with different guiding mechanisms, material platforms, and manufacturing strategies are discussed.

Meta-holograms with nano-structured metasurfaces enable efficient light recording, offering high capacity for information storage and imaging. Scientists in China provided a full-modulation metasurface strategy for robust and scalable multi-dimensional multiplexing meta-holography. This metasurface allows independent and arbitrary control of amplitude, phase, and polarization of spatial light, enabling precise construction of multiplexed holograms. The method showcases a potential for optical information storage, transmission, and encryption applications.

Researchers from Wuhan University of Science and Technology and the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences have jointly published a paper in Research entitled “Mechanistic Insight into Serine Flux Regulation through Nanoscale Organization of Glucose and Serine Transporters by Substrate Probe-based dSTORM Imaging.” The study developed a small-molecule substrate-based fluorescent probe (Ser-probe) derived from the structure of serine.

With growing concerns over fossil fuel depletion and the environmental impacts of petrochemical production, scientists are actively exploring renewable strategies to produce essential industrial chemicals. A collaborative research team—led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee, Senior Vice President for Research, from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, together with Professor Sunkyu Han from the Department of Chemistry at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)—has developed an integrated chemobiological platform that converts renewable carbon sources such as glucose and glycerol into oxygenated precursors, which are subsequently deoxygenated in the same solvent system to yield benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and p-xylene (BTEX), which are fundamental aromatic hydrocarbons used in fuels, polymers, and consumer products.

Laser-driven near-infrared II (NIR-II) light sources comprising luminescent ceramics represent a promising research frontier. A non-equivalent cation substitution strategy was presented to fabricate high-efficiency translucent MgO:Ni²⁺,Cr³⁺ NIR-II luminescent ceramics. The co-doping of Cr³⁺ induces structural distortion at Ni²⁺-occupied octahedral sites, effectively breaking the parity-forbidden d-d transition constraint while enabling efficient energy transfer from Cr³⁺ to Ni²⁺. When integrated into laser-driven NIR-II light sources, the system achieves record-breaking performance of 214 mW output power under 21.43 W/mm² blue laser excitation.