A new global forest study that better reflects natural conditions has found that trees do not substantially alter their physiological traits to cope with prolonged drought. The study, led by researchers from the South China Botanical Garden (SCBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), is based on 40 throughfall reduction experiments conducted across forests worldwide and represents one of the most comprehensive field-based assessments of drought acclimation to date.

The 4-week individualized, dose-controlled HD-tDCS combined with foot core exercise intervention improved sensorimotor function, reduced cortical activation during dorsi-plantarflexion tasks, and enhanced functional connectivity (FC) within related brain regions in individuals with chronic ankle instability. Lower cortical activation and higher increased related FC are associated with better ankle force sense. These findings indicated that this kind of combined intervention—simultaneously targeting cerebral cortex and peripheral ankle dysfunction—offers greater benefits than traditional functional training alone.

This study provides the first comprehensive estimation of the lifetime risk (LTR) of digestive system cancers in China using the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 data. With a 11.36% LTR for incidence and 8.28% for mortality, the findings highlight a profound public health challenge. Significant male-to-female and regional disparities—particularly the high burden in East China—underscore the urgent need for geographically tailored screening programs and primary prevention to mitigate this escalating health threat.

A joint research team from China explored a new paradigm integrating physical models with deep learning, proposing “McLDI-INR: Mask-constraint Lensless Dynamic Imaging by Dual-Domain Collaborative Implicit Neural Representation.” This framework overcomes lensless imaging’s conventional reliance on multiple acquisitions, strong prior assumptions, and high-precision physical models in dynamic scenarios. It enables lensless imaging systems to recover clearer, higher-resolution images of moving samples, paving the way for more flexible and practical lensless imaging applications.

A recent review in the Chinese Medical Journal highlights how tryptophan metabolism regulates female reproductive health via three pathways—kynurenine, serotonin, and indole. These pathways influence ovarian function, immune regulation, and pregnancy outcomes. The review also proposes potential interventions including diet and microbiota modulation, while noting more research is needed for precise mechanisms and clinical applications.

This work presents the first demonstration of a parallel heterodyne light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy (PH-LITES) sensor for high-speed and high-sensitivity simultaneous multi-gas detection. By synergistically combining signal enhancement at the physical layer with intelligent decoupling at the information layer, the sensor achieves ppb-level simultaneous and fast multi-gas detection based on a single quartz tuning fork (QTF), providing an important reference for the future development of rapid and highly sensitive multi-gas sensing technologies.

Windows contribute significantly to energy inefficiency across global infrastructure. Overcoming complex trade-offs in multispectral optical responses, scientists in China have developed a physics-guided neural network to design energy-efficient thermochromic smart windows for directional privacy protection. These inverse-designed windows achieve ultrahigh simultaneous modulation of near-infrared transmittance and longwave infrared emissivity. Applied to electric vehicles and building envelopes, these customized smart windows demonstrate superior, climate-adaptive all-weather thermal management.

Researchers led by Profs. ZENG Changgan and CHENG Guanghui from the University of Science and Technology of China of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with the collaborators, have demonstrated for the first time that the vacuum fluctuations can enhance superconductivity, a significant advance in the control of quantum states of matter.

Foliar application of ZnO nanoparticles at booting outperforms ZnSO₄ in direct-seeded rice, simultaneously raising polished grain Zn, spikelets per panicle and 1000-grain weight while lowering amylose and chalkiness. Transcriptomics links these gains to upregulated α-amylase genes (OsAmy1C, OsRAmy1A) and suppressed cytokinin-degrading OsCKX2, revealing a nano-specific transcriptional rewiring that breaks the yield–quality trade-off.