Cement production, responsible for 7.5% of global CO₂ emissions, faces decarbonization challenges. A novel strategy uses methane to co-produce syngas and clinker via a steel waste-derived iron-based catalyst, mimicking cement's inherent components. This approach slashes emissions by about 80% versus conventional methods and eliminates catalyst separation. Future integration with green power promises further reductions, positioning industrial waste as a potential player in sustainable cement manufacturing.

Researchers from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with collaborators, uncovered a promising role for the neuronal guidance factor Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) in significantly slowing the progression of knee osteoarthritis by inhibiting nerve infiltration and maintaining cartilage health.

A metasurface-based approach is proposed for single-shot optical imaging that simultaneously captures all the three parameters of optical fields with arbitrary intensity, phase, and polarization distributions.

Researchers from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences constructed a library of live attenuated influenza A vaccines that utilize diverse E3 ubiquitin ligases to degrade viral proteins and achieve virus attenuation, and developed the next-generation proteolysis-targeting (PROTAR) strategy, PROTAR 2.0.

The study, the result of a collaboration between the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, Graz University of Technology, CSGI and the University of Florence, opens up new scenarios in the field of electronics. “Using simple and low-cost materials, we can develop innovative applications such as physical, chemical or environmental sensors on any surface,” says Francesco Greco, associate professor of bioengineering

Those who climb indoors are doing something for their health. But climbing shoes contain chemicals of concern that can enter the lungs of climbers through the abrasion of the soles. In a recent study, researchers from the University of Vienna and EPFL Lausanne have shown for the first time that high concentrations of potentially harmful chemicals from climbing shoe soles can be found in the air of bouldering gyms, in some cases higher than on a busy street. The results have been published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Air.

Enhancing wheat plants’ sugar signalling ability could deliver increased yields of up to 12%, according to researchers from Rothamsted, Oxford University and the Rosalind Franklin Institute in a study published today in the journal Nature Biotechnology. That is an order of magnitude greater than annual yield increases currently being achieved through breeding.