A noble‑metal‑free photocatalyst, Co-Ni(OH)₂/CdS, has been developed to efficiently convert benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde while simultaneously producing hydrogen under visible light. The study reveals a photon–heteroatom synergistic mechanism. Using a Pickering emulsion system, the team achieved gram‑scale synthesis, producing 12.4 g of high‑purity benzaldehyde. This work offers a promising strategy for sustainable chemical synthesis and clean energy production.

Renowned energy storage scientist Professor Shirley Meng will join Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) as its next Vice President (Industry).  She formally begins her tenure on 1 July 2026. Professor Meng is currently the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME). She leads the Energy Technologies Initiative, anchored at UChicago PME, which serves as a core part of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth (ICSG). She will maintain a partial appointment at UChicago PME for a transitional period and continue to be involved in the University’s Energy Transition Network, a programme established by her to safely, quickly, and cost-effectively transition the globe from fossil fuels through a collaborative approach.

The National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology – OncoRay is receiving around 1.1 million euros in funding from the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space under the program “Nuclear Safety and Radiation Research” for the joint project MEDABIS-PRO. The funding will be provided for a period of four years, shared between the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the Carl Gustav Carus Faculty of Medicine at TUD Dresden University of Technology.

Scientists in Sweden have taken an important step toward fighting potato late blight, a plant disease that once triggered an historic famine in Ireland and now threatens to spread globally due to climate change. 

A new study reports the synthesis of a peptide that specifically attacks Phytophthora infestans (P. infestans) to protect potato and tomato crops—without harm to other plants. The work was carried out by researchers at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in collaboration with research partners in Italy, India and Australia.

Biodegradable plastics are great. They provide the ductility of plastics whilst reducing the materials environmental downsides. However, in the quest for greater degradability, improving durability has received scant attention. A research group recently rectified this with the development of a new bamboo composite that emphasised both biodegradability and strength. The group also developed a means to predict how the material breaks down in water.

Australian scientists have developed an injectable therapy that helps clear blocked airways in flat-faced dogs.