Wuhan, China – A landmark study published today in National Science Review introduces "Pore Science and Engineering" as a transformative paradigm for designing porous materials. Led by Prof. Bao-Lian Su (Wuhan University of Technology) and Prof. Ming-Yuan He (East China Normal University), the research systematically classifies two evolutionary stages of porous materials while proposing quantitative design principles for future applications in energy, catalysis, and environmental remediation.

A soft, LEGO-like hydrogel system enables reversible 3D information encoding through supramolecular assembly and orthogonal stimulus responses, allowing over 800 billion data configurations in a 5×5 array. This low-cost, reconfigurable platform supports dynamic data storage, masking, and rewriting.

New research by MIT scientists raises the possibility that a so-called ionic liquid could support life in worlds without water. Lab experiments show that ionic liquids can form from chemical ingredients that likely exist on the surface of some rocky planets and moons.