Loss-enabled steering of photon propagation
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Oct-2026 02:16 ET (28-Oct-2026 06:16 GMT/UTC)
Researchers outline the future of regenerative medicine in a new comprehensive review, highlighting a crucial shift from traditional mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) transplants to innovative, cell-free therapies using extracellular vesicles. The study reveals how MSCs act as “regulatory hubs” that use a dynamic “yin-yang” mechanism to heal tissues, paving the way for safer, AI-optimized treatments for complex diseases.
Wastewater treatment plants in the San Francisco Bay are facing a $10 billion bill to reduce pollution. They could cut that cost nearly in half through coordinated regional infrastructure investments rather than individual plant upgrades, according to new research.
Protonic solid oxide electrolysis cells (P-SOECs) represent a promising technology for efficient and economical green hydrogen production. However, the development of high-performance anodes that simultaneously achieve excellent catalytic activity and mixed ionic–electronic conductivity remains a significant challenge. In this work, high-performance La0.9Ba0.1Co0.7Ni0.2Ag0.1O3−δ (LBCNA) anodes featuring the coexistence of three-phases—rhombohedral ABO3-type LBCNA, Ruddlesden–Popper type LBCNA, and Ag metal nanoparticles—were successfully constructed. The optimized LBCNA-900 anode exhibits exceptional catalytic activity, with an ultralow area-specific resistance (ASR) of 0.10 Ω·cm2 at 600 °C. When applied in P-SOECs, the LBCNA-900 anode demonstrates remarkable performance, achieving a high current density of 1.8 A·cm−2 at 1.3 V at 600 °C. Beyond its promising application potential, this synergistic strategy provides a novel design principle for developing advanced electrocatalysts, with potential implications for a broad range of energy conversion and storage technologies.
Synthetic dyes in industrial wastewater can threaten aquatic ecosystems and human health. Researchers at Doshisha University, Japan, developed a green, single-step co-pyrolysis method that converts bullrush agricultural waste into a zero-valent copper nanoparticle-enhanced bullrush activated carbon (ZVCu@BAC) composite. The material removed both cationic and anionic dyes in laboratory tests, while its preliminary production cost of ~¥1,800 JPY/kg and regeneration performance highlight its potential for sustainable wastewater treatment.
The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has discovered molecular mechanism of synaptic facilitation, instantaneous strengthening of synaptic transmission, which may be physiological basis of instantaneous memory. Synaptic facilitation has been known for a long time and studied by major physiologists. However, its mechanism and its biological meaning still remain ambiguous. This study revealed that intramolecular interaction of a calcium binding protein, Synaptotagmin 7 (Syt7) functions for synaptic facilitation, and the interaction between Syt7 domains is required for memory. This study using a fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, which is a model animal for genetic analysis, provides an insight for general mechanism of memory, which may suggest new designs of future ICT. Since this is the first elucidation of molecular mechanism of Syt7, this study has the potential in the future to be applied to diseases, which has been reported to be related to Syt7.
This achievement appeared in the “Calcium sensing by C2A domain of Synaptotagmin 7 is required through the linker for both synaptic facilitation and memory”, in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America on September 21, 2026.