A research team has measured how length relates to weight in 13 freshwater fish species in Xinjiang's Upstream Reservoir, creating a baseline for a fishery that has experienced a steep decline. 

A research team has developed a virus-based tool that lets scientists temporarily reduce gene activity in cowpea and investigate what those genes do. The system produced long-lasting gene silencing across seven genetically diverse varieties and helped reveal how four related genes influence defense hormone accumulation after insect attack. 

A research team has mapped a broad network of potential genetic switches involved in how rice seedlings respond to cold, offering new clues to differences between cold-sensitive and cold-tolerant varieties. 

With the rapid advancement of electronic skin and wearable health-monitoring technologies, flexible sensors are evolving from single-parameter detection towards the synergistic sensing of multiple parameters, such as temperature, pressure, and physiological signals. Conventional multi-parameter devices typically require the integration of distinct sensing units alongside independent electrodes and signal transmission lines; this often results in complex device architectures, cumbersome manufacturing processes, and limited system integration. In contrast, functional materials exhibiting both thermoelectric and piezoresistive effects can independently distinguish between temperature and pressure by utilising voltage changes induced by temperature gradients and resistance changes caused by external forces, respectively, offering the potential to simplify device structures while enhancing multi-parameter sensing capabilities.

Persistent inflammation and oxidative stress can reinforce each other, damaging oral tissues and hindering repair. A new review examines how tetrahedral framework nucleic acids—tiny, programmable DNA structures—could both neutralize harmful reactive oxygen species and deliver therapeutic molecules to affected tissues. Promising laboratory and animal studies point toward future approaches for periodontal disease, jawbone damage and oral mucosal disorders, although major challenges remain before clinical use.

High-entropy carbides are promising noble-metal-free catalysts for hydrogen evolution, yet the nanocrystals reported so far have all been dense solids, and their metallic constituents have been drawn mainly from groups IVB–VIB metals. Recently, a team of materials scientists led by Wen Ma from Inner Mongolia University of Technology, China, reported the first synthesis of hollow rare-earth-containing high-entropy carbides via a one-pot electroreduction process in molten salt at 800 °C. Simply changing the carbon source tailors the architecture from solid to hollow. In 1.0 M KOH, the dual-rare-earth carbide (HfNbTaTiZrCeY)C delivers an overpotential of 167 mV at 10 mA·cm^-2, a Tafel slope of 58.8 mV·dec^-1 and a charge-transfer resistance of 2.7 Ω, outperforming its single-rare-earth counterparts. This work provides a novel strategy for the design of high-performance non-noble metal-based catalysts.

How a layered boride behaves depends on both its atomic structure and the way it is made. A comprehensive review of MAB phases connects those factors with reported mechanical and functional properties, including oxidation-assisted crack healing and magnetocaloric behavior. It also examines how certain parent compounds yield two-dimensional MBenes. The review describes current limits in synthesis, product identification and testing as researchers explore structural ceramics and functional devices.