A newly developed organic semiconductor device can both generate electricity from light and emit bright visible light, as reported by researchers from Science Tokyo. By carefully designing a material where energy losses are suppressed, the team achieved efficient power conversion and electroluminescence simultaneously, demonstrating a multifunctional platform with potential applications in displays, sensors, and energy-harvesting technologies.

Plastics are essential to modern life, but their inherent poor mechanical, thermal and electrical properties limit advanced applications. Researchers from the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics and partners reported in National Science Review a scalable in-situ CNT-polymer fusion and hot-working strategy. This method breaks the bottleneck of high-loading CNT incorporation into thermoplastic matrices, and develops novel CNT superplastics applicable to thermoplastic processing and 3D printing.

The Himalayas, often called the “Water Tower of Asia,” supply water to rivers that support nearly 2 billion people. However, new findings show that climate warming is threatening these river systems. Using satellite images and field observations from 1980 to 2020, researchers found that melting glaciers and thawing frozen ground are causing Himalayan rivers to shift course much faster than before, increasing the risk of flooding, erosion, and damage to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.

For the first time, therapeutically effective medications are now available for Alzheimer’s disease. Effective symptomatic therapies also exist for Parkinson’s disease. However, a prerequisite for successful treatment is early diagnosis – ideally through a simple blood test conducted as part of a preventive screening, even before clinical symptoms appear. A research team led by Professor Klaus Gerwert from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has developed just such a blood test. It is based on the immuno-infrared sensor, a novel platform technology to which the Journal of Physical Chemistry B dedicates its cover story in its issue from April 24, 2026.

AI tools can accelerate soil science by speeding up early-stage work, improving predictions to support decisions on land-use, carbon, and climate adaptation, handling complex data, and freeing scientists to focus on questions that require expert judgment.

EPFL researchers have developed a way to use holograms to guide laser light for ultra-efficient, fast, and precise volumetric 3D printing. The innovation enables cell-compatible, high-resolution 3D printing at scales suitable for biomedical applications.