A new study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences has successfully utilized machine learning techniques to develop China's high-precision, 1 km resolution soil moisture dataset spanning 2000 to 2025. This dataset enables daily monitoring of soil dryness and wetness conditions across the country, providing critical support for drought early warning, flood forecasting, and agricultural management.

Monolithic microcavity-metalens interfaces offer a promising strategy for realizing high-performance quantum light sources. By integrating quantum-dot-micropillars with ultra-thin metalenses, this platform delivers single-photon sources with high brightness, high purity, and near-unity indistinguishability, together with flexible control over radiation divergence, emission directionality, polarization, and orbital angular momentum (OAM). It also enables the generation of polarization-OAM entanglement and single-photon skyrmions with topologically robustness. The study points to new possibilities for integrated quantum photonics and meta-optics.

A new study led by Prof. YAN Xiaoyuan from the Institute of Soil Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has overturned the long-held assumption about nitrogen loss in agriculture. Published in PNAS on April 22 as a cover article, the study reveals that most nitrogen gas (N₂) emissions from rice paddies originate from soil organic nitrogen (SON), rather than applied fertilizers.

Every stroke begins with a sudden interruption of blood flow in the brain. But what happens afterward—why neurons continue to lose function and die over the following days—has remained one of the most important unanswered questions in neuroscience.

A research team led by Director C. Justin LEE at the Center for Memory and Glioscience within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in collaboration with Professor RYU Seungjun of Eulji University, has now uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that drives this delayed brain damage. Their findings show that stroke is not only caused by the initial loss of blood flow, but also by a chain reaction within the brain that unfolds over time.

Nanographenes are organic semiconductor materials used in smartphones, OLED displays, and solar cells. At the molecular level, they are composed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which are a network of connected benzene rings (hexagon-shaped carbon molecules). Chemists can modify the electronic properties of PAHs by adding more benzene rings to them, changing their size and shape. As such, there is high demand for methods that can selectively extend specific sites of PAH molecules to allow greater versatility in technological applications. New research from Nagoya University introduces a new methodology for developing PAH molecules that has elucidated chemists for years.

Researchers have solved a mystery in fluid dynamics regarding high-speed particle collisions on wet surfaces. They discovered that at high speeds, cavitation (the sudden formation of vapor cavities) changes the liquid shape from a "bridge" to a "dome", releasing the liquid pull-back force. This causes particles to bounce back stronger than they would at lower speeds. Such a vital discovery would drastically improve the safety, design, and durability of ultra-fast motors in the aerospace and automotive industries.

Researchers from The University of Osaka have demonstrated that a wireless electroencephalogram transmission system can operate using energy harvested from the temperature difference between the human body and the ambient air. The low-power device successfully operated outdoors at high temperatures, demonstrating stable performance without external power or airflow. This technology could enable the development of maintenance-free sensing systems for health monitoring and infrastructure applications in the future.

Researchers from The University of Osaka used large-scale simulations and turbulence theory to study how dolphins swim so effectively. The team found that large vortices created by the dolphin’s tail provide most of the propulsion, while smaller vortices contribute little. This discovery improves our mechanical understanding of fast swimming and could guide the design of energy-efficient underwater robots and technologies for controlling turbulence.