Grassland degradation fundamentally reshapes how biodiversity supports ecosystem multifunctionality, shifting it from being plant-dominated to being mediated by soil microbes, according to a new study led by Prof. YANG Yuanhe from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS).

Astronomers have uncovered a previously unknown, extreme kind of star factory by taking the temperature of a distant galaxy using the ALMA telescope. The galaxy is glowing intensely in superheated cosmic dust while forming stars 180 times faster than our own Milky Way. The discovery indicates how galaxies could have grown quickly when the universe was very young, solving a long-standing puzzle for astronomers. 

The first generations of stars formed under conditions very different from anywhere we can see in the nearby universe today. Astronomers are studying these differences using powerful telescopes that can detect galaxies so far away their light has taken billions of years to reach us.  

Now, an international team of astronomers led by Tom Bakx at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has measured the temperature of one of the most distant known star factories. The galaxy, known as Y1, is so far away that its light has taken over 13 billion years to reach us.  

Organic semiconductors (OSCs) have been found as prominent group of optoelectronic materials extensively researched for more than forty years due to their ability to tune capabilities by modifying chemical structure and simple processing. Their performance has been significantly improved, advancing from the fast development in design and synthesis of new OSC materials. The spectral response of OSCs was extended from ultraviolet (UV) to near infrared (NIR) wavelength region. There are reports on detectivity (D^*) higher than the physical limits set by signal fluctuations and background radiation. Authors attempted to explain the organic photodetectors’ peculiarities when confronted with typical devices dominating the commercial market.

Photon avalanche (PA) upconversion, driven by a positive feedback loop that couples nonresonant ground-state absorption (GSA), resonant excited-state absorption (ESA), and highly efficient cross-relaxation (CR), gives rise to a threshold-triggered ultrahigh optical nonlinearity accompanied by uniquely prolonged rise-time dynamics. From spark to surge, this phenomenon can deliver tens to even hundreds of nonlinear orders at the nanoscale, redefining opportunities in imaging, sensing, and optical computing while opening a new paradigm for interrogating light–matter interactions.

Researchers have developed an eco-friendly method to create gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using microalgae. This "green synthesis" avoids harsh chemicals, resulting in nanoparticles that are more stable than conventional ones. When activated by a laser, these AuNPs effectively destroy cancer cells while showing lower toxicity to healthy cells. This breakthrough promises a more sustainable and safer approach to photothermal cancer therapy and other applications in nanomedicine.

New research in Angewandte Chemie reveals the importance of abrasion within mechanochemical catalysis processes, prompting researchers to reexamine their assumed reaction mechanisms.

Scientists at Japan's Institute for Molecular Science have achieved a 1,000-fold enhancement in white-light generation inside water by using non-harmonic two-color femtosecond laser excitation. This previously unexplored approach in liquids unlocks new nonlinear optical pathways, enabling a dramatic boost in supercontinuum generation. The breakthrough lays a foundation for next-generation bioimaging, aqueous-phase spectroscopy, and attosecond science in water.

Scientists have developed a fast, energy-efficient method to create an iron-carbon (Fe/C) catalyst that can remove antibiotic pollutants from both water and soil by using oxygen from the air. The study, published in Sustainable Carbon Materials, introduces a self-heating synthesis approach that could pave the way for greener environmental cleanup technologies.