Announcing a new publication from Opto-Electronic Sciences; DOI   10.29026/oes.2026.260029.

The novel physics-constrained AI framework PHICS realizes a full closed loop spanning multiscale inverse design and experimental validation. Leveraging interface, phase, and carrier engineering, PHICS breaks long-standing material trade-offs to yield composite phase-change materials that achieve simultaneous enhancements in thermal conductivity and electrical insulation while maintaining high thermal storage density, paving new pathways for designing advanced electronic thermal management materials.

Embodied AI can act in the physical world, but the purpose guiding its actions often remains buried in prompts, rewards or predefined goals. In a Review published in National Science Review, Nanning Zheng proposes Intent-Driven Embodied Artificial Intelligence (IDEAI), a four-layer framework built around explicit, revisable and verifiable intent. Seven technical pillars map how that intent could shape knowledge, planning, safety and value alignment in real-world systems.

Mitochondrial transplantation is emerging as an organelle-level therapeutic strategy for diseases associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. A new Perspective in Science Bulletin discusses how engineered mitochondrial delivery systems may improve mitochondrial stability, targeting, and clinical translation.

What if cells that form scars after a spinal cord injury could become part of the repair process? Researchers have developed a genetic system that converts certain scar-forming cells into neurons, improving movement in mice and rats with spinal cord injuries.

GBIF marks its 25th anniversary having grown from 21 founding countries to a network spanning 70 participating countries, 42 other associate participants and crossing 3.8 billion biodiversity records. A new overview, published in the Biodiversity Data Journal, traces GBIF's evolution from natural history collections to DNA and survey data, its role underpinning 15,000+ research papers and major policy frameworks, and the persistent challenges, including geographic and taxonomic data gaps, that remain as the organisation looks toward its next 25 years.