Zn-I₂ batteries have emerged as promising next-generation energy storage systems owing to their inherent safety, environmental compatibility, rapid reaction kinetics, and small voltage hysteresis. Nevertheless, two critical challenges, i.e., zinc dendrite growth and polyiodide shuttle effect, severely impede their commercial viability. To conquer these limitations, this study develops a multifunctional separator fabricated from straw-derived carboxylated nanocellulose, with its negative charge density further reinforced by anionic polyacrylamide incorporation. This modification simultaneously improves the separator’s mechanical properties, ionic conductivity, and Zn²⁺ ion transfer number. Remarkably, despite its ultrathin 20 μm profile, the engineered separator demonstrates exceptional dendrite suppression and parasitic reaction inhibition, enabling Zn//Zn symmetric cells to achieve impressive cycle life (> 1800 h at 2 mA cm⁻²/2 mAh cm⁻²) while maintaining robust performance even at ultrahigh areal capacities (25 mAh cm⁻²). Additionally, the separator’s anionic characteristic effectively blocks polyiodide migration through electrostatic repulsion, yielding Zn-I₂ batteries with outstanding rate capability (120.7 mAh g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹) and excellent cyclability (94.2% capacity retention after 10,000 cycles). And superior cycling stability can still be achieved under zinc-deficient condition and pouch cell configuration. This work establishes a new paradigm for designing high-performance zinc-based energy storage systems through rational separator engineering.

By coupling cryogenic X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (cryo-XPs) with argon gas cluster ion beam (GCIB)sputtering, Prof. FU Qiang's team enables depth-resolved analysis of the vitrified solid electrolyte interphaseunder electrolyte conditions in Li metal batteries without inducing chemical damage.

Milestone results released by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) on November 16 have solved a decades-old mystery about the cosmic ray energy spectrum—which shows a sharp decrease in cosmic rays above 3 PeV, giving it an unusual knee-like shape.

With the advancement of Internet applications, the global demand for broadband satellite communication services is incessantly escalating. Furthermore, there exists an exponential surge in the requisition for the capacity of satellite communication systems. In response to this evolving demand, the domain of satellite communication technology is progressively evolving toward the realm of high-throughput satellite (HTS) communication systems. The typical technical characteristics of HTS are: (a) the satellite adopts multibeam technology for beam overlapping coverage of the service area, which improves the quality of the wireless link while realizing the spatial dimension segmentation; (b) based on this, the system adopts multiple frequency multiplexing to improve the communication capacity of a single satellite; (c) gateway stations are tightly coupled with user beam clusters to complete two-hop communication, which makes multiple gateway stations share the communication resources of the same satellite, forming a spatial isolation of the gateway stations, and once again realizing the frequency multiplexing of the gateway station links. A key requirement for future multibeam broadband satellite communication systems is the ability to flexibly adjust beam capacity according to changes in business distribution, in order to meet time-varying business requirements. Beam hopping technology provides an efficient solution to achieve the efficient use of frequency resources and power resources. At the same time, the use of beam hopping makes the beam hopping of satellite payload need to match the business signals of ground signal stations, bringing about the need for synchronization of beam hopping between satellite and ground.

The grapevine variety Vitis vinifera cv. Mgaloblishvili, native to Georgia’s Southern Caucasus, exhibits unique resistance to downy mildew, a devastating disease caused by Plasmopara viticola.

Tanshinones, bioactive compounds in Salvia miltiorrhiza (Chinese sage), hold significant therapeutic value, particularly in treating cardiovascular diseases. 

This study investigated the mechanism of Wuda granule (WDG) on gastrointestinal (GI) motility in beagle dogs. Stress sensors implanted in the stomach, duodenum, jejunum, and colon recorded contractile activity. Lateral ventricular administration of WDG (5mg) significantly enhanced contractile motility in all recorded GI regions in awake dogs; this effect was attenuated under intravenous anesthesia. The prokinetic effect of central WDG was completely blocked by intravenous atropine infusion [50 μg/(kg·h)]. Bilateral cervical vagotomy prolonged the migrating motor complex cycle, weakened gastric phase III contractions, and abolished the WDG-induced enhancement specifically in the stomach. However, WDG still enhanced motility in the duodenum, jejunum, and colon post-vagotomy. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed no intestinal structural changes induced by WDG. WDG enhances GI contractility centrally, primarily via activation of vagal cholinergic pathways for the stomach, while exerting effects on the lower GI tract through additional, non-vagal mechanisms.

Carrot color is influenced by its carotenoid content, and understanding the genetic mechanisms behind this trait is crucial for breeding more nutritious carrots. 

A research paper by scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine presented BioCompNet—an end-to-end deep learning workflow that integrates dual-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences (water/fat) with a hierarchical U-Net architecture to enable fully automated quantification of 15 biomechanically critical BC components..

The research paper, published on Aug. 20, 2025 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems.