The Skala AI model, developed by Microsoft Research AI for Science, is now available through the CP2K software ecosystem. Thanks to Skala, researchers can perform quantum mechanical simulations of larger molecular systems while achieving a higher level of accuracy. In early 2026, Microsoft’s research division and the CP2K team at the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf started a collaboration to integrate the Skala AI model into CP2K. The global CP2K community is expected to test the AI model’s applicability to a wide variety of problems in chemistry, physics, materials science, and engineering.

A new spatial assessment across 21 seagrass meadows in Indonesia – a world seagrass hotspot – has revealed not just hotspots but also degraded coldspots and vulnerable outliers. The research team, led by Professor Rohani Ambo-Rappe from Hasanuddin University, used the Seagrass Ecological Quality Index (SEQI), integrating five ecological indicators, to map this ecological mosaic. These findings provide a spatial framework to guide seagrass conservation and restoration and protect Indonesia’s important blue carbon ecosystems.

PCOS is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age, imposing substantial health and economic burdens worldwide. In a recent large-scale study involving more than 14 million pregnant women across Chinese Mainland, researchers explored how the prevalence of PCOS has increased since the implementation of the universal two-child policy. The article discusses how pregnant women with PCOS face higher risks of various adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes, highlighting the need for targeted obstetric management.

Earth's inner core, composed primarily of iron with a small percentage of light elements, may enter a superionic state at extreme pressure and temperature, according to experimental results from researchers at Science Tokyo. Using laser-heated and electrically wired diamond-anvil cells, the researchers identified experimental signatures of superionic iron hydride at conditions relevant to Earth’s core. These findings provide new insights into the composition and dynamics of Earth's deep interior.

Robot-assisted knee replacement surgery is more precise than a surgeon on their own, but does not currently lead to improvements in patient outcomes, according to the RACER-Knee trial, the world's largest clinical study of its kind. This trial makes an important contribution to the evidence on robotics in health care and where future advances and research should focus. The trial, coordinated by the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, is published in The Lancet, the world's oldest and best-known general medical journal.

Researchers have developed a plug-and-play technology that enables customised biomaterials to be created using blue light, vitamin B2 and common biological building blocks.

- KAIST research team led by Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho identifies the ‘molecular lock’ that keeps cells trapped in an altered state

- Team develops technology to release the lock and restore cells to their original condition, opening new possibilities for cancer and aging research

CHANGWON, South Korea — Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), led by President Chul-jin Choi, announced that a research team led by Principal Researcher Sung Mook Choi of the Energy & Environment Materials Research Division, in collaboration with research teams led by Professor Min Ho Seo of Pukyong National University and Professor Won Bae Kim of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), has developed a highly durable platinum–nickel (PtNi) hydrogen evolution catalyst that suppresses nickel (Ni) leaching through atomic ordering. Nickel leaching is a major cause of performance degradation in catalysts used for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE). The research addresses a longstanding problem in water electrolysis catalysts, which typically lose performance during prolonged operation, by stabilizing the catalyst structure at the atomic level.

Hydrogels have become essential to modern biomedicine, enabling advances in drug delivery, tissue engineering and wearable healthcare. Researchers have proposed an architecture-based framework for designing high-performance hydrogels beyond conventional, randomly crosslinked networks. Their review defines hydrogels with high-order structures, outlines four construction routes, including phase separation, molecular self-assembly, nanocomposite integration and polymer crystallization, and links multiscale organization to mechanical robustness, transport control and integrated biomedical functions.