A team led by researchers from the University of Osaka has revealed the first structure of an umami taste receptor. They found that the pufferfish receptor can sense many more amino acids than the human receptor, including some linked to flavors humans detect as sweet. This helps the fish to detect more types of savory chemicals in their food. The research also shows how the receptor’s structure makes this flexibility possible. The findings could help develop new umami flavors.

- A joint team from KAIST, Yonsei University, and other collaborators develops a ‘universal charge injector’ that injects charge into two different types of ultrathin semiconductors using a single material  

- A single injector material replaces separately optimized contacts for n-type and p-type semiconductors, boosting the maximum drive current of p-type transistors by more than 1,000-fold over conventional devices

- Opens the door to three-dimensional integration by stacking atomically thin semiconductors in multiple layers, expected to be used in next-generation AI and low-power semiconductors

Kyoto, Japan -- You may not know what roll waves are, but you've probably seen them on a rainy day. When it rains, these traveling waves appear on steep asphalt pavements, slowly making their way down the slope. Because roll waves propagate without deforming and are typically characterized by abrupt discontinuities, they play an important role in hydraulic engineering. Understanding unsteady flows like roll waves is crucial for the design, management, and safety of hydraulic structures such as dam spillway chutes.

However, despite one accurate line of research developed by mathematicians, the partial differential equations governing roll waves have remained a niche and "astonishingly" under-explored area of research, according to an international team of scientists at Kyoto University and German Jordanian University. This group realized that a rigorous mathematical investigation was not only compelling, but unavoidable.

"We noticed the striking gap between the mathematical and visual beauty of roll‑wave phenomena, and the civil engineering community's persistently superficial understanding of them," says first author Koichi Unami. "It became difficult to ignore how confidently steady‑state assumptions were repeated despite clear evidence to the contrary."

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and the Institut de Biologie Structurale have determined the structure and molecular characteristics of a remarkably heat-stable enzyme which turns nitrogen gas into ammonia. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, highlight new insights on how nature breaks the exceptionally strong N₂ triple bond to generate this important fertiliser and biofuel.

Chemical separation can be energy-intensive when molecules have similar sizes and properties. Researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, developed an interlayer adaptive crystal that changes its spacing to recognize specific molecules. The crystal showed appreciable CO₂ uptake at pressures as low as 2.0 Pa (195 K) and selectively separated CO₂ from nitrogen and methane at 303 K, even under highly humid conditions. It also preferentially captured benzene over several similar molecules, offering a new approach to molecular separation.

Topology imprinting of nonlinear metasurfaces is a new concept that enables replication and manipulation of structured light fields while preserving their topological characteristics across new frequencies. In a new study, researchers review this novel paradigm, discussing key experimental demonstrations, current limitations, and future research directions. The study highlights this concept as key for next-generation photonic platforms and its potential impact in different fields.