A study led by Prof. LI Ming from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) reveals that CRISPR-Cas plays a broader role. Rather than acting alone like a solitary sniper shooting at phages, it also serves as a central command center, directing a network of diverse innate immune systems.

Researchers have developed a breath detector with a chemical sensor that sniffs out when your body is burning fat through a single exhale. Reporting on July 22 in the Cell Press journal Device, the handheld, smartphone-assisted device measures acetone—a molecule that is released into the breath when the body burns fat—in about 90 seconds with laboratory-level accuracy. The technology could help people monitor their metabolism and allow clinicians to personalize treatments for obesity, diabetes, epilepsy, and other metabolic conditions. 

A new international study published in Nature Food reveals that age plays an important but often overlooked role in shaping global food-related greenhouse gas emissions. Effective mitigation of dietary emissions therefore requires age-sensitive approaches.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will lead a critical fusion energy research project and partner on seven other initiatives for the first phase of the Genesis Mission: the national initiative to harness artificial intelligence for scientific discovery.

As nations worldwide confront the urgent challenge of climate change, China's "Dual Carbon" goals prioritize significant decarbonization across all economic sectors. While industrial and energy sectors often receive primary attention, the agricultural sector, particularly livestock farming, represents a substantial source of potent greenhouse gases like methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). Local governments in China have implemented stringent environmental regulations, such as "Livestock-Free Zones," to curb agricultural pollution. However, the overall effectiveness of these spatially targeted policies, especially regarding their potential to displace environmental burdens, remains a subject of considerable debate.

A recent study investigated the impacts of the "Livestock-Free Zone" policy in Guangdong Province, China's largest provincial economy. Researchers utilized county-level panel data from 2014 to 2023, employing a sophisticated combination of spatial Durbin models, continuous difference-in-differences models, and network analysis. This approach allowed for a precise quantification of the policy's local effects and any subsequent spatial spillover, addressing gaps in understanding policy-induced pollution transfers within land-intensive agricultural sectors and at subnational scales.

A UC Davis study shows how combining AI with laboratory experiments could speed the development of more reliable, low-cost solar energy technologies.