The High Intensity heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF), which began trial operations on July 21, has enabled Chinese scientists to observe an extremely rare isotope, hafnium-153. The observation marks the first physics result achieved during HIAF’s commissioning phase, highlighting the facility’s capability to explore the boundaries of the nuclear landscape.

LI Yanda, a Ph.D. student at the University of Bristol and Prof. CAI Chenyang of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a remarkably well-preserved 100-million-year-old beetle fossil that provides a rare glimpse into the evolution of the intricate sensory and communication systems used by fireflies and their relatives today. Fireflies belong to the order Coleoptera, which includes all beetles.

An international research team has discovered the earliest known siphuncle-bearing cephalopod from the early Cambrian of South China, providing new insights into the group’s early origin and evolutionary history.

A new study has revealed that lake ice loss accelerates sharply once winter temperatures cross critical thresholds, leaving many mid-latitude lakes on the brink of heightened vulnerability. If emissions stay high, the winter ice-cover season of Northern Hemisphere lakes could be 40 days shorter by the end of this century.

A new study published in Chem Catalysis has revealed how dynamic Cu and Ti active sites in single-atom Cu-TiO₂ catalysts cooperate under light to reduce CO₂ to CO. The researchers from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, conducted an experimental study of the dynamic interactions of CO₂ and H₂O molecules at the surface active sites of single-atom Cu-TiO₂ catalysts by integrating in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with infrared spectroscopy.

A team led by Prof. GAO Caixia from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology (IGDB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a programmable platform for on-demand design of synthetic plant immune receptors (SPIRs) that recognize proteins from diverse plant pathogens.

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.

The High Intensity Heavy-ion Accelerator Facility (HIAF), a major national science and technology infrastructure project in China, has completed construction and passed its technological acceptance review on July 21. The facility is now commencing trial operations.