Tanshinones, bioactive compounds in Salvia miltiorrhiza (Chinese sage), hold significant therapeutic value, particularly in treating cardiovascular diseases. 

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have applied ideas from polymer physics to illuminate the mechanism behind a key pathology in Alzheimer's disease, the formation of fibrils of tau proteins. They showed that fibril formation is preceded by the birth of large protein clusters, mirroring the crystallization of polymers. Crucially, dissolving these clusters helped to prevent fibrils forming in solution. Their work signals a paradigm shift for the development of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

Ferroelectric materials are used in devices ranging from ultrasounds to miniature speakers in cell phones. The materials commonly used today, however, are lead-based and therefore toxic.

Accurate measurements of dual parameters of phase retardance and retardance axis of birefringent materials are of fundamental importance to their fabrication and applications. However, current techniques typically exhibit limited versatility, suffering from high complexity, insufficient accuracy, and low efficiency. In this study, an anisotropic laser feedback polarization effect is proposed and demonstrated for birefringence measurement, featuring simultaneous dual-parameter demodulation, unified polarization modulation-analysis architecture, high detection sensitivity, user-friendly operation, and versatile functionality. Importantly, such system can be self-calibrated with its own physical phenomena to reduce the installation derivation. To showcase the powerful effectiveness, we perform the static birefringence, dynamic birefringence variation, and spatial birefringence distribution, which remarkably exhibits the standard deviation of 0.0453° and 0.0939° for phase retardance and retardance axis azimuth, with the limit allowable sample transmittance around 10^-5. This work demonstrates comprehensive applicability across diverse birefringence scenarios, extending the application of anisotropic laser feedback polarization effect, while establishing a novel strategy for birefringence measurement.

This comprehensive review systematically links ML’s application in metal AM quality control, from multi-physics field prediction to real-time closed-loop control. It offers a novel roadmap for researchers, demonstrating how ML can decode complex process-structure-property relationships and enable adaptive, intelligent manufacturing.

Researchers from the University of Jaffna and Imperial College London have uncovered critical insights into optimizing Na₂FeSiO₄, a low-cost, abundant cathode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Published in Front. Energy, their computational study pinpoints ideal dopants and reveals favorable ion transport properties, bringing SIBs— a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries—closer to large-scale energy storage applications.

Researchers at Aalto University have demonstrated single-shot tensor computing at the speed of light –– a remarkable step towards next-generation Artificial General Intelligence hardware powered by optical computation rather than electronics