This study pioneers the integration of electrochemical neutralization energy (ENE) into the electrocatalytic methane conversion (EOM) electrolytic system through a pH-asymmetric electrolyzer design, converting chemical potential differences from industrial wastewater into reaction driving forces. By constructing an asymmetric acid/alkaline electrolyte environment (Figure 1), researchers achieve the first synergistic enhancement of EOM with the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), overcoming traditional energy barriers (voltage reduction of 0.7 V). The NiO/Ni heterostructure catalyst delivers a liquid product yield of 2.7 mmol gNiO^–1 h^–1 under ambient conditions, with mechanistic studies confirming that dynamically formed Ni^III–O^Ÿ–Ni^III–O^– centers accelerate C–H bond cleavage. The system demonstrates exceptional stability (<2% voltage fluctuation over 48 h) in simulated industrial wastewater, concurrently producing high-value C3 oxygenates (>50% selectivity) and green hydrogen (>90% Faradaic efficiency). This breakthrough integrates methane valorization-wastewater treatment-green hydrogen production into a unified carbon-neutral pathway, highlighting significant energy and economic advantages while identifying enhanced methane-to-oxygenate efficiency as the key commercialization target. This innovative strategy offers a high-efficiency, low-energy, and cost-effective approach for distributed methane conversion and industrial wastewater valorization.

In the field of natural language processing, the rapid development of large language model (LLM) has attracted increasing attention. LLMs have shown a high level of creativity in various tasks, but the methods for assessing such creativity are inadequate. Assessment of LLM creativity needs to consider differences from humans, requiring multiple dimensional measurement while balancing accuracy and efficiency. This paper aims to establish an efficient framework for assessing the level of creativity in LLMs. By adapting the modified Torrance tests of creative thinking, the research evaluates the creative performance of various LLMs across 7 tasks, emphasizing 4 criteria including fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. In this context, researchers develop a comprehensive dataset of 700 questions for testing and an LLM-based evaluation method. In addition, this study presents a novel analysis of LLMs′ responses to diverse prompts and role-play situations. Researchers found that the creativity of LLMs primarily falls short in originality, while excelling in elaboration. In addition, the use of prompts and role-play settings of the model significantly influence creativity. Additionally, the experimental results also indicate that collaboration among multiple LLMs can enhance originality. Notably, their findings reveal a consensus between human evaluations and LLMs regarding the personality traits that influence creativity. The findings underscore the significant impact of LLM design on creativity and bridge artificial intelligence and human creativity, offering insights into LLMs′ creativity and potential applications.

In a paper published in Earth and Planetary Physics, a team of scientists from China presents a novel technique that can invert the parameters of a dipolar magnetic field, such as the geomagnetic field, based on a sampled magnetic field dataset.  

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA  Physics,Mechanics & Astronomy, researchers discovered that the long sought cubic polymeric nitrogen was synthesized using lithium azide as a precursor. The work achieves the quantitative synthesis of cg-N with a higher mass content at near ambient pressure, owing to the inclusion of the lightest metal, lithium in the product. With respect to the fact that lithium has excellent ignition performance, the approach is promising for applications of polymeric nitrogen as a high energy density material.

Understanding the molecular basis of fruit ripening is essential for improving shelf life and quality. In this study, researchers uncovered a critical role of the histone deacetylase gene SlHDA7 in regulating tomato fruit ripening. 

Achieving high specific detectivity at room-temperature, comparable to background-limited mid-infrared (MIR) performance, has been a longstanding challenge in the MIR optoelectronics. Towards this goal, scientist in Singapore designed a bipolar-barrier tunnel heterostructure, which effectively suppresses dark current while facilitating the tunneling of photogenerated carriers, enabling high-sensitivity mid-infrared photodetection. The design will open new avenues for advancement of next-generation infrared optoelectronic devices.

Neuroblastoma, a deadly childhood cancer, has long defied precise predictions due to its biological complexity.