A new study shows that tree diversity consistently promotes productivity through fostering greater canopy structural complexity (CSC). Species complementarity is the main driver, with its positive effects strengthening over time.

A team of scientists from Southern University of Science and Technology has published a paper highlighting the importance of human exploration in the three deeps – deep space, deep sea, and deep Earth. Their paper is published in the journal Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Research on September 11, 2025.

Some industrial processes used to create useful chemicals require heat, but heating methods are often inefficient, partly because they heat a greater volume of space than they really need to. Researchers including those from the University of Tokyo devised a way to limit heating to the specific areas required in such situations. Their technique uses microwaves, not unlike those used in home microwave ovens, to excite specific elements dispersed in the materials to be heated. Their system proved to be around 4.5 times more efficient than current methods.

Temperature sensing plays a pivotal role in controlling and monitoring industrial, chemical, and biomedical systems. There are some complex internal space structures such as porous and zigzag in microscale or constrained environments. Traditional temperature measurement techniques such as thermocouples, infrared sensors, and fiber optics face larger challenges in such specific environments. This is not only due to their size but also because of limitations in mechanical flexibility, spatial adaptability, or contact requirements restrictions. To overcome these challenges, researchers have explored various nanoscale thermometers, including quantum dots, lanthanide-doped nanoparticles, and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. These temperature measurement methods offer high spatial resolution and a broad temperature measurement range, but they typically require continuous light excitation and real-time fluorescence detection. It makes them difficult to implement effectively in complex porous structures or confined internal spaces.

Using a global network of telescopes, astronomers have detected the lowest-mass dark object yet found in the universe. Finding more such objects and understanding their nature could rule out some theories about the nature of dark matter, the mystery substance that makes up about a quarter of the universe. 

A world-first discovery of binary stars could be the first step in building a more complete picture of how our galaxy formed, according to astronomers from The Australian National University (ANU).   

The discovery is part of an ambitious 10-year program to scan the entire southern sky every few nights.  

Mars has experienced multiple ice ages, with each one leaving less ice than the last. By studying craters that serve as “ice archives,” researchers traced how the red planet stored and lost its water over hundreds of millions of years. These frozen records not only reveal Mars’ long-term climate history but also identify hidden resources beneath the surface that could provide drinking water, oxygen, and even rocket fuel for future astronauts.