Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators developed the first intercity nuclear-spin-based quantum sensor network, thereby experimentally exceeding astrophysical observation constraints on dark matter associated with axion topological defects.

A new study  led by Prof. FENG Xiaojuan from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reports that climate warming can increase soil carbon accumulation in boreal Sphagnum peatlands by boosting plant productivity, protecting iron, and inhibiting microbial decomposition. These responses contrast sharply with warming-enhanced soil carbon mineralization—the process by which carbon is released as CO₂—in boreal forests and tundra.

Raise your hand if you dreaded chemistry lessons at school. Apart from a few exceptional cases, this discipline is often perceived as difficult, abstract and removed from real life. This affects students’ motivation and choices, discouraging them from pursuing academic and professional careers in this important and, in fact, fascinating field.

In a new article published in JCOM, a team of Brazilian researchers — Ariane Carolina da Rocha, Ana Carolina Steola and Ana Cláudia Kasseboehmer, all from the Instituto de Química de São Carlos (Universidade de São Paulo) — worked with numerous public school classes of various types to show how non-formal education methods, such as those used in science museums, can support traditional educational pathways and improve students’ motivation.

Osmotic energy, existing between the seawater and river water, is a renewable energy source, which can be directly converted into electricity by ion-exchange membranes (IEM). In traditional IEMs, the ion transport channels are formed by nanophase separation of hydrophilic ion carriers and hydrophobic segments. It is difficult to realize high-density ion channels with controlled spatial arrangement and length scale of ion carriers. Herein, we construct high-density 1D ion wires as transmission channels. Through molecular design, hydrophilic imidazole groups and hydrophobic alkyl tails were introduced into the repeat units, which self-assembled into 1D ion transporting core and protecting shell along the main chains. The areal density of the ionic wire arrays is up to ~ 10¹² cm⁻², which is the highest value. The ionic wires ensure both high ion flux transport and high selectivity, achieving an ultrahigh-power density of 40.5 W m⁻² at a 500-fold salinity gradient. Besides, the ionic wire array membrane is well recyclable and antibacterial. The ionic wires provide novel concept for next generation of high-performance membranes.

An international research team has uncovered the next frontier in monitoring brain health, and the key is in technology that millions of people are already using every day – earbuds.

Israel E. Wachs, the G. Whitney Snyder Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Lehigh University, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional honors in the field of engineering. Wachs was recognized “for establishing fundamental structure–activity/selectivity rules governing molecular engineering of mixed oxide catalysts” that guide the rational design of solid catalysts (materials that accelerate and control chemical reactions) for air pollution remediation, sustainable energy, fuels, chemicals, plastics, and pharmaceuticals.

An international research collaboration co-led by UCLA has developed a nickel-iron battery, reviving a chemistry favored by Thomas Edison.

In the study, the team grew extremely tiny clusters of metal using proteins, then embedded them in an ultrathin carbon-based conductor to make electrodes.

The resulting battery charged in seconds and kept working after more than 12,000 cycles of draining and recharging, suggesting a potential application in storing renewable energy. 

Building on their groundbreaking 2018 research into how some of the body’s cells, such as neurons and cardiac tissue, communicate via ions that flow through cellular channels, chemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst demonstrated a “leakiness” to a particularly mysterious type of channel, known as a “big potassium,” or BK channel. This leakiness is key to further study the body’s electrical infrastructure, which, when it goes haywire, can result in maladies like epilepsy and hypertension.