This study investigates how 6:2 chlorinated polyfluorinated ether sulfonic acid (6:2 Cl-PFESA)—a widely used alternative to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)—exacerbates antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) proliferation during anaerobic digestion. The research demonstrates that PFESA exposure significantly increases both intracellular and extracellular ARGs, particularly tetracycline and sulfonamide resistance genes, through multiple mechanisms including enhanced mobile genetic element proliferation, extracellular polymeric substance restructuring that immobilizes DNA, oxidative stress-induced membrane damage, and selective enrichment of resistant microbial taxa. These findings reveal that emerging PFAS alternatives pose overlooked ecological and health risks by amplifying antimicrobial resistance spread in wastewater treatment systems, highlighting the need to incorporate resistance indicators into environmental risk assessment frameworks for persistent contaminants.

A team from Tsinghua University reports Au–TiO₂ metasurfaces that convert visible light into singlet oxygen at high speed and extremely high local density. By combining quasi-BIC field confinement with hot-carrier transfer across an ultrathin interface, the device produces molar-level singlet oxygen locally within seconds, which is surprisingly ~10⁶ times that achieved by conventional approaches. Besides, the on-chip generator enables wavelength- and pixel-selective cytotoxicity for targeted tumor cell killing in photodynamic therapy.

The article reframes dams as basin governance platforms through three interconnected pathways: engineering safety as the baseline, addressing sedimentation and structural risks; system operations as the core, shifting from single-purpose management to multiobjective coordination across safety, ecology, and public benefits; and digital-intelligent governance as the frontier, institutionalizing transparent and anticipatory decision-making. Drawing on China's experience with approximately 95,000 reservoirs, the authors demonstrate how this platform model can enhance resilience, ecological integrity, and public accountability. The framework offers transferable principles for global hydraulic infrastructure governance, contingent upon enabling institutional, financial, and data conditions.

A novel EMS-induced barley male-sterile mutant (N13401) was identified and characterized, and it shows defective pollen starch accumulation. The male sterility gene msg_N13401 was fine-mapped to a 576.9 kb region on chromosome 2H using a wild-cultivated barley cross to overcome the low polymorphism of cultivated barley.

Oxygen-dependent electrodynamic therapy is hindered by electron–hole recombination and hypoxia. This study provides a heterojunction-induced Jahn–Teller distortion-enhanced spin-engineering Fe₃O₄–Ag₂S nanoplatform to address these limitations. The large interfacial lattice mismatch induces previously unrecognized Jahn–Teller distortions on high-spin Fe sites, modifying d-orbital splitting and enhancing spin-polarized catalytic activity. This lattice–spin–carrier coupling synergistically amplifies catalase-, peroxidase-, and glutathioneox-like pathways. Under near-infrared irradiation, the photothermal effect of Fe₃O₄ activates the thermoelectric response of Ag₂S and drives continuous hot-carrier injection. Thermoelectric fields drive hot holes to boost catalase activity through Jahn–Teller effect-enhanced spin catalysis sites and drive hot electrons to convert O₂  to cytotoxic O₂^.− and ¹O₂ under the Jahn–Teller distortion, promoting and forming a self-amplifying catalytic loop. Fine structure characterization and density functional theory calculations collectively verify strain-driven Fe–O bond differentiation and spin-state reconfiguration. The heterojunction achieves potent thermoelectric–enzyme co-catalysis with 95% tumor inhibition under near-infrared irradiation and supports dual-mode imaging. This work establishes a framework for designing high-performance photothermal–thermoelectric catalysts through crystal field/spin-state modulation in p–n heterojunctions, synergistically boosting multi-enzyme activity and catalytic efficiency for hypoxia-resistant therapy.

Organic lithium salts are promising cathode candidates for sustainable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their synthetic simplicity and environmental friendliness. However, their practical application is often thwarted by active material dissolution and sluggish redox kinetics, stemming from limited conjugation and deficient electronic conductivity. Herein, we report a naphthalenediimide-based lithium salt (NDI-OLi) designed with a robust π-conjugated structure and high aromaticity to enhance electronic transport. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that the relatively high electronic conductivity, rapid reaction kinetics, and stable delocalized electronic geometry of the NDI-OLi cathode are key factors enabling sufficient coordination between carbonyl sites and lithium ions. As a result, the NDI-OLi electrode presents a high reversible capacity of 160 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹, excellent rate performance (99.9 mAh g⁻¹ at 8 A g⁻¹), and exceptional cycling stability with 85% capacity retention after 5000 cycles at 1 A g⁻¹. This work opens up new avenues for developing highly conductive and stable organic salt cathodes toward high-performance and durable LIBs.

In a major legislative move, China has adopted its first comprehensive Ecological and Environmental Code (EEC), a unified legal framework designed to address the interconnected global crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. A commentary in the journal Carbon Research analyzes the significance of this new code, which takes effect on August 15, 2026. Authored by Jin Ma, Xiaoli Zhao, and Fengchang Wu from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, the piece outlines how the EEC provides a systematic legal solution for sustainable development and offers a new model for global environmental governance.

For decades, China’s environmental laws were fragmented across numerous statutes and regulations, a common challenge for many nations. The new EEC addresses this by systematically integrating more than 30 national laws and over 1,000 local regulatory documents into a single, coherent system. This “moderate codification” approach balances legal stability with the flexibility needed to address new environmental challenges, moving governance from passive, end-of-pipe remediation to proactive source prevention and control.