A team led by Prof. DOU Xincun at the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences synthesized a new covalent organic framework (COF)—a crystalline material made of a light element such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, or oxygen, which can be customized at the molecular level. Using the new COF—dubbed tDACH—the researchers inserted cyclohexane-based linkers as conjugation "breakpoints," thereby engineering π-conjugated domains that enable intrinsic exciton confinement at the molecular scale.

Theanine, a distinctive amino acid responsible for the rich flavor and calming properties of tea, is surprisingly sensitive to the level of phosphorus in soil. 

Pancreatic cancer cachexia is a devastating syndrome marked by unintentional weight loss, skeletal muscle wasting, and metabolic dysfunction that severely impairs patient outcomes. Affecting over 60% of pancreatic cancer patients, cachexia contributes to reduced quality of life, therapy intolerance, and high mortality. In a new comprehensive review published in hLife, researchers from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health highlight how this condition arises not from malnutrition alone, but through complex systemic crosstalk among multiple organs. The review provides a detailed account of the biological drivers of cachexia—including inflammatory cytokines, TGF-β family ligands, catabolic mediators, and tumor-derived extracellular vesicles—and their roles in orchestrating multi-organ deterioration. It also explores cutting-edge animal models and proposes potential therapeutic targets that could disrupt the vicious cycle of body wasting. This work lays a foundation for future clinical strategies to diagnose, monitor, and treat cachexia as a systemic disease.

Glass-ceramic scintillators are attracting considerable attention as highly promising materials. However, increasing crystallinity inevitably enhances Rayleigh scattering, compromising their transparency. This creates a fundamental contradiction between achieving high crystallinity and high transparency. Resolving this contradiction is therefore critical, needing ongoing efforts in developing material design strategies.

In a paper published in Mycology, a Chinese team of scientists revealed a sophisticated chemical dialogue between a host fungus and symbiotic bacterium within Shiraia fruiting body. These findings provide unprecedented insights into microbial warfare strategies in specialized ecological niches while developing novel co-culture induction methodologies for the simultaneous biotechnological production of fungal hypocrellin A and bacterial carotenoids.

A collaborative team led by Researcher Chen Ruichong from Chengdu University, in partnership with Professor Qi Jianqi from Sichuan University and Researcher Wang Haomin from Taihang Laboratory, has achieved a groundbreaking advance in ceramic processing. By synergistically modulating nanoscale effects with the material’s intrinsic layered structure, the researchers demonstrated for the first time that water can serve as an effective transient liquid phase (TLP) for cold sintering of water-insoluble Li₂TiO₃ ceramics.

Under optimized conditions of 300°C and 700 MPa, the team successfully densified the ceramics to a relative density of 94.33%, while precisely maintaining an ultrafine grain size of 26.42 nm. This innovation provides a novel strategy for the low-temperature, environmentally friendly fabrication of water-insoluble ceramics, significantly broadening the scope of cold sintering technology. The findings hold promising applications in high-end fields such as energy storage and nuclear industries.

Sepsis continues to cause nearly one in five deaths globally, with little improvement despite existing guidelines. This editorial explores why current efforts fall short and outlines future directions for research and care. Key areas include AI-based early detection, faster diagnostics, personalized treatments, and improved trial designs. By closing the gap between evidence and bedside practice, these strategies offer a path toward reducing sepsis deaths and advancing global critical care.

A new study shows that the human gut microbiota can pinpoint whether an adult lives in Wuhan or Shiyan, two cities 500 km apart in China's Hubei Province, with 94 % accuracy. This microbial signature is strongly linked to each city’s characteristic diet.