An Osaka Metropolitan University-led team has developed a method that makes it easy to measure the wrinkles in thin membranes used on large spacecraft using just a single camera.

Scientists have long considered ketones (a fundamental chemical class) and esters (molecules formed when an acid reacts with an alcohol) to be locked treasure chests of possibilities. Ubiquitous as pharmaceutical intermediates, ketones and esters are widely used for the synthesis of drug molecules. Yet both share a critical limitation: Generally, only two specific sites within their structure—the carbonyl carbon and the alpha position—are easily accessible to conventional chemical reactions. The remaining carbon sites are protected by stable carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds that don’t readily interact with catalysts—substances that speed up chemical reactions and allow scientists to alter molecular structures. Thus, the C-H bonds make it difficult to modify ketones and esters. But now chemists at Scripps Research have uncovered the key to unlocking these molecules’ untapped potential.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have recently achieved a significant breakthrough in the development of next-generation carbon-based quantum materials, opening new horizons for advancements in quantum electronics.

The innovation involves a novel type of graphene nanoribbon (GNR), named Janus GNR (JGNR). The material has a unique zigzag edge, with a special ferromagnetic edge state located on one of the edges. This unique design enables the realisation of one-dimensional ferromagnetic spin chain, which could have important applications in quantum electronics and quantum computing.

The research was led by Associate Professor Lu Jiong and his team from the NUS Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with international partners.

Microplastics can go right through wastewater treatment plants, and researchers have engineered bacteria commonly found in there to break down this pollution before it can persist in the environment.

Researchers from the University of Waterloo added DNA to several species of bacteria found in wastewater, allowing them to biodegrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a common plastic found in carpet, clothing and containers for food and beverages.

A research team led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has achieved a groundbreaking quantum simulation of the non-Hermitian skin effect in two dimensions using ultracold fermions, marking a significant advance in quantum physics research.