Researchers at Incheon National University explored how domestic public opinion influences foreign policy alignment decisions among U.S. allies during great power competition. Using a survey experiment centered on South Korea’s potential Quad membership, they found that leaders face audience costs when reversing alignment commitments, particularly from pro-U.S. constituents. The study highlights how shifting public preferences can strengthen or weaken alignment credibility in international politics.

The gigantic-oxidative atomic-layer-by-layer epitaxy (GOALL-Epitaxy) method substantially augments the oxidation power by orders of magnitude, enabling atomically precise construction of artificially designed metastable complex oxide structures.

Astronomers have developed a groundbreaking computer simulation to explore, in unprecedented detail, magnetism and turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) — the vast ocean of gas and charged particles that lies between stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Described in a new study published today in Nature Astronomy, the model is the most powerful to date, requiring the computing capability of the SuperMUC-NG supercomputer at the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre in Germany. It directly challenges our understanding of how magnetized turbulence operates in astrophysical environments.

From the ocean’s rolling swells to the bumpy ride of a jetliner, turbulence is everywhere. Yet despite its ubiquity, turbulence remains one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. It's especially complicated to understand how it behaves in space. By developing the world’s largest-ever simulations of magnetized turbulence, an international team of scientists has measured — with unprecedented precision — how turbulent energy moves across a vast range of scales. The result: it doesn’t match with long-standing theories. By simulating galactic-type turbulence in exquisite detail, the researchers found significant departures from the models that have guided astrophysical theory for decades. The findings could reshape how scientists understand the structure of the Galaxy, the transport of high-energy particles, and even the turbulent birth of stars. In practical terms, understanding and properly modeling turbulence and the transport of highly energetic particles can shed light on how to safely navigate space, at a time when commercial space flight is growing and attracting the interest of civilians and celebrities alike.

Researchers report on ionospheric sporadic E layer (Es) activity during the Mother’s Day geomagnetic storm. The team found that the Es layers were significantly enhanced over Southeast Asia, Australia and South Pacific, as well as the eastern Pacific regions during the recovery phase of the geomagnetic storm. They also observed a propagation characteristic in the Es enhancement region wherein the clouds were first detected in high latitudes and detected successively in lower latitudes as time progressed.

Focusing on the spatial cognitive capabilities of large language models (LLMs), researchers led by Prof. Danhuai Guo from Beijing University of Chemical Technology have introduced SRT4LLM, a standardized framework for testing the spatial cognition of LLMs. The framework systematically assesses LLMs across three key dimensions—spatial object types, spatial relations, and prompt engineering strategies—and establishes a unified testing process to support the development of native geographic LLMs.

Early online research in journals of the American Meteorological Society discusses the increased risk of urban heat stress for children and pets due to radiant heat from sidewalks, the effects of solar eclipse totality on wind and insects, an extension of the climate "warming stripes", thunderstorms and gamma rays, and more.