Scientists from the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), in collaboration with DESY, have developed a promising new filter material to remove harmful PFAS “forever chemicals” from wastewater. These filters are made from covalent organic frameworks (COFs) produced using a sustainable mechanochemical process involving a high-speed ball mill. Real-time experiments at DESY’s PETRA III X-ray facility helped optimize the production technique, enabling the team to observe the filter material forming at the molecular level. The new filters are metal-free, environmentally friendly, and could eventually be used in industrial wastewater systems or even household taps.

Marine vessels significantly impact global economy and air quality. Quantifying their emissions is crucial. Existing imaging methods lack accuracy and spatiotemporal resolution. Scientists in China developed a fast-hyperspectral imaging technique for precise NO₂ and SO₂ quantification from ships. This innovation aids in pollution control, offering a new path for improving marine atmospheric environment and supporting carbon reduction efforts.

External quality assessment (EQA) is a cornerstone of laboratory quality management, ensuring the accuracy, comparability, and reliability of test results across institutions. In the Republic of Korea, the Korean Association of External Quality Assessment Service (KAEQAS) has played a leading role since its inception in 1976, expanding from a small-scale clinical chemistry program to over 90 nationwide schemes across all disciplines. This article reviews the historical evolution, operational framework, and scope of KAEQAS, highlighting its contribution to standardization and accreditation. Current challenges include nonmandatory participation, persistent standardization gaps, the need for more category 1 accuracy-based programs, modernization of data analysis and reporting systems, and the establishment of a specimen bank. Future prospects emphasize policy reform, global harmonization, and technological innovation, positioning KAEQAS to further strengthen laboratory quality both nationally and internationally.

This review elucidates the central role of metabolic reprogramming in renal fibrosis associated with IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), highlighting key pathways such as mitochondrial dysfunction, enhanced glycolysis, and impaired fatty acid oxidation. The study emphasizes the potential of targeting metabolic nodes for antifibrotic therapy and discusses the promise of metabolomics in precision medicine.

A discovery involving researchers at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has, for the first time, unveiled millisecond pulsations hidden within a powerful cosmic explosion known as a gamma-ray burst (GRB). A collaboration among HKU, Nanjing University, and the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) detected a brief but highly coherent oscillation in the GRB designated GRB 230307A on 7 March 2023. The signal, spinning nearly a thousand times per second, points to the birth of a “millisecond magnetar”—a rapidly rotating neutron star with an ultra-strong magnetic field. The findings have recently been published in Nature Astronomy, marking a milestone in astrophysics and providing the clearest evidence yet that magnetars can power some of the most luminous explosions in the universe.

A research team led by Prof. TAN Peng from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed the temperature regulation mechanism of lithium-mars gas batteries (LMGBs), providing a theoretical foundation for the design of next-generation deep space exploration energy batteries. The study was published in Advanced Functional Materials.