Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) refer to a group of man-made chemicals that are widely used due to their water- and stain-resistant properties and exceptional chemical stability. However, they often accumulate in the environment, causing environmental and health hazards. A team of researchers has recently shown how zinc oxide nanocrystals capped with specific ligands can efficiently defluorinate perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, a well-known perfluoroalkyl substance. This approach could solve PFAS recycling challenges.

The dental pulp is susceptible to microbial infection, which often results in inflammation, necrosis, and defects in the pulp-dentin complex. Traditional treatment strategies suffer from multiple limitations and do not promote neural regeneration. In a new International Journal of Oral Science study, researchers have now developed an injectable composite hydrogel containing bioceramics and gelatin methacrylate matrix with photo-crosslinking properties that promote neural differentiation and odontogenesis, opening doors to a new strategy for pulp-dentin complex repair.

Acute sepsis alters how intravenous fluids and vasoactive drugs function in the body. Using a sheep model, researchers examined how sepsis affects the distribution of crystalloid fluids and the effectiveness of vasoactive drugs. Results showed that sepsis reduced urine output, weakened drug responses, and caused fluid to accumulate in the interstitial “third fluid space.” These findings highlight how sepsis disrupts normal fluid regulation, complicating effective fluid and drug management during treatment.

Microscopy plays a pivotal role in modern biomedical research, enabling the visualization of fine structures in complex specimens. Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is a computational imaging technique that combines multi-angle illumination with numerical reconstruction to achieve both high resolution and a wide field of view on standard microscope hardware. However, for samples with thickness variation, tilt, or inherently three-dimensional structures, the limited depth of field means that only a narrow focal region appears sharp, while out-of-focus areas remain blurred. This fundamentally constrains the applicability of conventional FPM to real 3D biological specimens. To address this challenge, the authors propose an all-in-focus FPM framework that integrates three-dimensional implicit neural representations with a physics-based imaging model, enabling uniformly sharp reconstructions across the entire depth range and substantially improving the performance of downstream tasks such as image segmentation. This is particularly important for research that requires obtaining the full cell morphology, statistical feature distribution, or conducting large-scale cell behavior analysis. By significantly enhancing the usability of three-dimensional sample imaging, this method provides a more reliable image foundation for high-throughput cell phenotypic analysis, pathological screening, and other life science scenarios.

Ultra-light, super-flexible, highly insulating: An aluminum-coated polymer film is used to shield satellites from temperature extremes. Researchers at Empa have succeeded in making the material even more resistant by implementing an ultra-thin intermediate layer. The technology could in future also be used to improve flexible electronics and medical sensors.

Intense storms that sweep over the Southern Ocean enable the ocean to absorb more heat from the atmosphere. New research from the University of Gothenburg shows that today’s climate models underestimate how storms mix the ocean and thereby give less reliable future projections of our climate.