In a significant advance for carbon-negative biotechnology, researchers have engineered the chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Cupriavidus necator H16 to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) directly into p-coumaric acid (p-CA), a high-value phenolic compound. Published in Systems Microbiology and Biomanufacturing, this study marks the first demonstration of light-independent, de novo synthesis of p-CA from CO₂, presenting a sustainable alternative to traditional plant extraction and petrochemical synthesis methods.

This review systematically examines recent key advances in machine learning for carbon dots research, highlighting its current capabilities and limitations, and proposes a future-oriented pathway toward the interpretable and rational design of CDs.

Development of a novel single-atom-based electrode technology that significantly expands the operating voltage window of aqueous supercapacitors.

As AI systems increasingly process video, audio, and language data, reducing unnecessary computation has become a requirement. Researchers from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) developed an AI model that identifies important video segments and processes only relevant information. The model reduced processing time for 2-minute clips by 65%, from 52 to 18 seconds, while maintaining high accuracy. This approach could enable efficient, real-time AI coaching and communication tools on everyday devices.

Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have developed a new model that can explain why increasing ultrasound past a certain point hinders chemical reactions rather than continuing to boost them. Their simulations revealed that the interactions between ultrasound waves and cavitation bubbles create sounds that distort the acoustic field and reduce reaction efficiency.

Professor Hengshuang Zhao of the School of Computing and Data Science at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has been selected as one of the 2025 "35 Innovators Under 35 China" (TR35 China) by MIT Technology Review, a technology publication founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

On 19 July 2026, the Urban Systems Institute (USI) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), in collaboration with the Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality (ICCN) at HKU, the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building and Urban Science Hong Kong Base (SKL-SBUS-HK), the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society Hong Kong Chapter (GRSS-HK), successfully hosted the inaugural Urban Systems Forum under the theme "Advanced Modeling of Urban Systems for Sustainable Cities." The Forum served as a high-level international academic platform, fulfilling USI's core mission to advance the sciences of urban systems and deepen their practical applications.