For decades, nuclear physicists believed that “Islands of Inversion” — regions where the normal rules of nuclear structure suddenly break down — were found mostly in neutron-rich isotopes. In these unusual pockets of the nuclear chart, magic numbers disappear, spherical shapes collapse, and nuclei unexpectedly transform into strongly deformed objects. So far, all such islands found were exotic nuclei such as beryllium-12 (N = 8), magnesium-32 (N = 20), and chromium-64 (N = 40), all of which are far away from the stable nuclei found in nature.

But now, a study recently carried out by an international collaboration of the Center for Exotic Nuclear Studies, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), University of Padova, Michigan State University, University of Strasbourg and other institutions have uncovered something no one had seen before: an Island of Inversion hiding in one of the most symmetric regions of all, where the number of protons equals the number of neutrons.

Recently, addressing the inherent timescale mismatch challenge between fast and slow responses in optoelectronic sensors, a collaborative team from Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), Chinese Academy of Sciences (Yukun ZHAO, Shulong LU, Min JIANG), Fudan University (Lifeng BIAN), and Suzhou University of Science and Technology (Jianya ZHANG) has proposed an innovative monolithic integration scheme. By combining surface defect introduction and local contact interface design with a gallium nitride (GaN) nanowire lift-off technique that eliminates the interference from the underlying silicon substrate, the team integrates fast and slow responses into a single device. This results in a transparent bifunctional device capable of self-driven detection and neural synaptic integration, with omnidirectional (360°) detection capability. As a photodetector, the device demonstrates the millisecond-level response speeds, while it exhibits the second- to minute-level relaxation time as an artificial synapse, achieving an over 1000-fold contrast in response dynamics. The device has been validated in the intelligent perception systems for humanoid robots successfully, advancing the development of multifunctional monolithic optoelectronic devices and providing a solid foundation for further research in related fields.

 

The work entitled "A dual-mode transparent device for 360° quasi-omnidirectional self-driven photodetection and efficient ultralow-power neuromorphic computing" was published in Light: Science & Applications.

Coherent diffractive imaging (CDI), with its lensless geometry and theoretically perfect transfer function, is considered as one of the most promising paradigms to achieve the Abbe resolution limit. Towards this goal, Chinese scientists developed a novel computational framework termed ‘rigorous Fraunhofer diffraction’ that eliminates the Ewald sphere effect in CDIs, particularly for high NAs. It has achieved a k = 0.501 imaging factor in nearly 0.9NA CDI, pushing the Abbe resolution diffraction limit for the first time in ultra-high-NA scenarios. Leveraging this the ultra-high NA and the Abbe-limit k-factor, it demonstrates a record-high imaging resolution of 0.57 λ for CDIs.

Metallenes are atomically thin metals, whose unique properties make them extremely promising for nanoscale applications. However, their extreme thinness makes them also flimsy. Now, researchers at the Nanoscience Center of the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) have succeeded in identifying the principles that can maximize their stability. The solution may open up opportunities in materials design, nano-electronics, energy production, and biomedicine. 

An Osaka Metropolitan University researcher quantitatively evaluated the optimal approach for a tomato harvesting robot using image recognition and statistical analysis to maximize the success rate of fruit picking.

Recently, Prof. Andrea Alù from the City University of New York and Dr. Guangwei Hu from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore summarized previous representative work in the field of terahertz topologies and reconfigurable metamaterial devices, discussed design and integration methods for existing reconfigurable terahertz topology platforms, and explored potential avenues for future research and development. The findings were published as the cover paper titled “Topological and Reconfigurable Terahertz Metadevices” in Research (Research, 2025 DOI: 10.34133/research.0882).