Robust single-mode operation is highly desirable for compact semiconductor lasers. Here, researchers demonstrate a robust single-mode laser by leveraging merging bound state in the continuum (BIC), enabling lasing up to 80 times the threshold power. They further realize an ultra-compact photonic crystal laser by combining BIC modes with edge engineering, achieving a 5×5 periodic array with a patterned area smaller than 15 μm². These results provide a promising pathway toward high-performance, miniaturized lasers for integrated photonics.

As winters grow milder across the globe, peach growers face a quiet crisis: without enough cold hours, buds fail to break dormancy, flowering becomes erratic, and yields collapse. 

Researchers have developed a greener plasma-based method to create multifunctional nanocomposite films with smart optical and antibacterial properties. The approach enables simultaneous control of vanadium oxide structures and in situ formation of gold nanoparticles, producing materials with temperature-responsive infrared modulation and efficient photothermal antibacterial activity. This work provides a sustainable route toward advanced smart coatings and functional materials.

Researchers have developed a polymer-based thermal interface material (TIM) using vertically aligned carbon fibers bridged by graphene oxide. The composite achieves a through-plane thermal conductivity of 7.61 W/m·K at 25.2 wt% filler loading, with an exceptional enhancement efficiency of 162.9%. It also maintains a low compressive modulus of 6.91 MPa, ensuring excellent compressibility for practical electronic cooling applications.

Lactylation, a recently discovered post-translational modification derived from lactate, has emerged as an important epigenetic mechanism linking metabolism to gene regulation. Accumulating evidence suggests that lactate-driven lysine lactylation plays critical roles in tumor progression, immune modulation, and therapy resistance. This review summarizes current knowledge of lactylation in cancer biology and discusses its potential as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target. The metabolic-epigenetic connection revealed by lactylation research opens new avenues for understanding cancer metabolism and developing targeted therapies.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive malignancy with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. Understanding the molecular drivers of SCLC is essential for developing effective therapies. This study identified FAK splicing variants as a novel feature of SCLC that promote tumor progression and confer therapy resistance. Targeting these variants sensitized SCLC cells to treatment, revealing a promising therapeutic vulnerability. These findings provide new insights into SCLC biology and suggest potential therapeutic strategies for this difficult-to-treat cancer.

Glycomics, the comprehensive study of glycans and glycoconjugates, has emerged as a powerful tool for disease biomarker discovery. Changes in glycosylation patterns accompany many pathological processes, reflecting alterations in cellular metabolism and function. This review presents insights from cohort studies that have linked specific glycan signatures to disease risk, progression, and outcomes. We discuss the potential of glycomics for precision medicine and early disease detection. The integration of glycomics with other omics approaches promises to enhance our understanding of disease mechanisms and improve diagnostic capabilities.

Chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) represent significant global health burdens. Genetic factors contribute substantially to ESRD susceptibility, yet much of the heritability remains unexplained. This X chromosome-wide association study (XWAS) identified novel loci on the X chromosome associated with ESRD risk. Our findings expand the genetic architecture of kidney disease and may inform future therapeutic targets. The study highlights the importance of including the X chromosome in genetic association studies, as it harbors variants that may contribute to disease susceptibility.

Topological corner states are protected against defects and structural imperfections that is beneficial for robust information or power transmission. In turn, vortex beams carrying orbital angular momentum can act as key carriers for information encoding. The integration of such states may enable robust topological photonic devices with large transmission capacity, yet fundamental barriers exist: zero-dimensional corner states reported so far in higher-order topological insulators with single-mode waveguides cannot readily accommodate vortices. In their article in Science Bulletin, a joint team of researchers from China and Russia has integrated them successfully and has shown that such states can exist in both linear and nonlinear regimes. According to the study, these corner vortex states exhibit outstanding robustness over a wide power range. Unlike vortex solitons in trivial lattices, they form without any power threshold, breaking the limitations of conventional vortex soliton generation. This work opens new avenues for topologically protected information transfer and wavefront control in topological photonics.

Researchers at Zhengzhou University have developed a Janus bioelectrode that protects weak body signals from electromagnetic interference. By combining a magnetic-dielectric aerogel with a liquid-metal conductive textile, the electrode records high-quality muscle and heart signals even in noisy electronic environments. When paired with machine learning, it enabled accurate recognition of human motions using fused EMG and ECG signals.