Examining complex heat transfer processes in detail, even under extreme conditions such as those found in power plants and industrial plants – this is now possible with the COSMOS-H research facility at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) which was opened on Thursday, May 8, 2025. For the first time, scientists have an infrastructure at their disposal to investigate flow and boiling phenomena in detail, even under realistic high-pressure conditions.

Magnesium silicate hydrate cement (MSHC), as an innovative low-carbon cementitious material, is considered a potential substitute for ordinary Portland cement (OPC). However, uncertainties in the carbon emission factors of raw materials and mix proportions pose challenges for assessing its life cycle carbon emissions. This study employs a probabilistic life cycle assessment (PLCA) to evaluate the carbon emission intensity of MSHC and analyze its uncertainties. Leveraging machine learning techniques, a predictive model for the carbon emission intensity of MSHC was developed, and sensitivity analysis was conducted on various characteristic parameters. The results indicate that although MSHC is regarded as a low-carbon material, it does not exhibit low-carbon characteristics in all scenarios compared to OPC. The carbon emission intensity of MSHC is closely related to its mix proportions. Depending on different mix proportions, the average carbon emissions of MSHC range from 0.174 to 1.419 kg CO2e/kg. L-MgO is a key factor influencing the uncertainty of MSHC carbon emissions. Notably, the Mg/Si ratio is a critical factor influencing the carbon emission characteristics of MSHC, with a low-carbon threshold range observed between approximately 0.8 and 1.0.

External walls of buildings are normally lifeless and have no additional function. An international team of researchers and companies, in which Carole Planchette from the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer is involved, wants to change this by adding microbial life to building façades. In the project “Archibiome tattoo for resistant, responsive, and resilient cities” (REMEDY), the consortium is working on integrating specifically composed communities of beneficial microorganisms into living ink that adheres to exterior walls made of concrete, wood, metal and other building materials. These living tattoos on buildings are intended to protect the façades from weathering, store CO₂ and filter pollutants from the air. The European Innovation Council is funding the four-year project with a total of almost three million euros as part of the Pathfinder funding programme.

Hydrogen, with its high combustion efficiency and environmentally friendly characteristics, has emerged as the most ideal energy source to replace traditional fossil fuels. However, its inherent flammability and explosiveness poses significant safety risks for large-scale, widespread applications, making the development of high-performance hydrogen sensors crucial. Compared to traditional electrical sensors, fiber-optic hydrogen sensors offer intrinsic safety, strong anti-interference capability, and remote detection advantages, demonstrating significant competitiveness in hydrogen detection.

Currently, fiber-optic hydrogen sensing mechanisms primarily include Fabry-Pérot (FP) interferometers, Mach-Zehnder interferometers, conventional or tilted Bragg gratings, and surface plasmon resonance. However, these sensors generally face challenges such as complex fabrication processes, limiting their widespread practical application. In contrast, Tamm plasmon polaritons (TPP) exhibit unique advantages: On one hand, their localized field enhancement effect significantly improves detection sensitivity; On the other hand, their resonance structure can be fabricated simply via thin-film deposition, offering advantages such as simple preparation, low cost, and mass production, paving the way for next-generation high-performance fiber-optic hydrogen sensors. Additionally, while traditional methods primarily rely on material optimization to enhance dynamic response performance, the photothermal effect provides an all-optical auxiliary strategy for rapid detection. However, related research remains in its early stages and requires further exploration.

POSTECH Develops World’s First Pixel-Based Local Sound OLED with Multi-Speaker Functionality on a Real Working 13-Inch Tablet sized OLED Display.

Research team from Nanjing University proposed FOCUS, a causal model-based offline RL algorithm, which uses causal structure to improve policy generalization, outperforming baselines in offline settings.