Researchers from the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have developed two innovative deep-learning algorithms, ClairS-TO and Clair3-RNA, that significantly advance genetic mutation detection in cancer diagnostics and RNA-based genomic studies.

The School of Computing and Data Science (CDS) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) has embarked on a new chapter, launching its first-ever dual-site semester across Hong Kong and Shanghai. As the 2025–2026 academic year enters its second semester, CDS students in the exclusive Tech Immersion Fellowship programme can now split their studies between HKU’s main campus and the newly opened HKU-CDS Teaching and Research Site in Shanghai—a strategic move that redefines cross-border tech education.

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the South China University of Technology (SCUT) formalised a partnership through a Strategic Collaboration Agreement to establish the Hong Kong Base of the State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building and Urban Science (SKL-SBUS). A launch ceremony was held today (21 January) at the Convocation Room, HKU, marking a strengthened partnership between the two universities in the fields of architecture and urban science.

Talking to oneself is a trait which feels inherently human - but it’s not just humans who can reap the benefits of such self-talk. Published in Neural Computation, scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) have demonstrated the potential of inner speech to improve AI learning, showing how AI models can generalize across different tasks more easily when supported by both inner speech and short-term memory.

POSTECH, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of Tokyo control oxide electronic structures via local atomic arrangements at moiré interfaces.

Seeing chemistry unfold inside living cells is one of the biggest challenges of modern bioimaging. Raman microscopy offers a powerful way to meet this challenge by reading the unique vibrational “signatures” of molecules. However, cells are extraordinarily complex environments filled with thousands of biomolecules. To make specific molecules stand out, researchers often attach small chemical “probes,” such as alkyne tags, that produce signals in a so-called cell-silent spectral window where native cellular components do not scatter light. This allows Raman microscopes to selectively detect the tagged molecules against an otherwise crowded molecular background. Despite this advantage, the widespread adoption of Raman microscopy in biology has been limited by one fundamental problem: Raman signals are extremely weak. In a new study published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, TIFR researchers report a molecular design strategy that dramatically amplifies Raman signals, enabling the development of Raman sensors that can detect biomolecules using standard spontaneous Raman microscopes. These new Raman sensors enable sensitive, ratiometric imaging of biological molecules and ions, such as hydrogen peroxide molecules, copper ions, and pH, inside living cells. The work is supported by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, and the Japan Science and Technology Agency, with the research team comprising Prof. Ankona Datta and Sujit Das from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and Heqi Xi, Itsuki Yamamoto, and Prof. Katsumasa Fujita from the University of Osaka, Japan.

Time is almost up on the way we track each second of the day, with optical atomic clocks set to redefine the way the world measures one second in the near future. 

Researchers from Adelaide University worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the United Kingdom to review the future of the next generation of timekeeping.  

They found that development is happening at such a fast rate that optical atomic clocks are well positioned to become the gold standard for timekeeping within the next few years, provided some technical challenges can be addressed.  

An Osaka Metropolitan University-led research team analyzed residential energy consumption in ten cities across Japan from north to south and confirmed that significant energy savings can be achieved through enhanced insulation and innovative window design. 

Scientists have developed a model which can identify small mammals from their footprints. These animals are often crucially important to an ecosystem but hard to monitor, and many species which play very different roles in an ecosystem are very hard to tell apart without DNA analysis, which is expensive, invasive, and stressful for the animal. Now, by collecting images of footprints from two near-identical species of sengi — formerly called elephant shrews because of their long noses — and training a model to tell the difference between them, scientists have found a cheaper, simpler way of keeping an eye on these tiny mammals.