Radio-photovoltaic cells, as a kind of nuclear battery, have a high energy density but low energy conversion efficiency (ECE). Scientists in China have developed a high-efficiency RPVC using multilayer-stacked GAGG:Ce scintillation waveguides and ⁹⁰Sr radioisotopes, which achieves a record ECE of 2.96%. Remarkably, the cells retain 86.2% of its initial performance after exposure to 50 years of equivalent irradiation at a milliwatt-level output. This breakthrough provides a maintenance-free power solution for extreme environments such as deep-sea exploration and space missions.

A University of Queensland researcher has developed a new mathematical model to explain the evolution of the universe which for the first time includes collapsing regions of matter and expanding voids.

Remote passive drone detection in the presence of strong background noise is challenging, since they are point objects and cannot be recognized by their contour detection. To achieve this goal, scientists in China introduced a new passive single-photon dynamic imaging method using quantum compressed sensing. The method captures the broadband dynamic features of the point object through sparse photon detection and exhibits exceptional performance in noisy environment applications. Due to the dynamic features of the rotor blades of the drone, a successful demonstration of drone detection up to 10 kilometers was achieved.

An international group of chemists led by Johns Hopkins University details a photobiocatalytic approach to carbon-nitrogen bond formation that bypasses the need for fossil fuels, using a copper-substituted nonheme enzyme.

A University of Vermont physicist and his student wondered if there are systems in the atomic scale that behave like the vibrating motion of a guitar string in the Newtonian world. They found that the answer is yes—and solved Lamb's Model at the atomic scale—a 90-year-old problem in quantum physics.