Achieving high hardness and toughness simultaneously remains a major challenge in advanced structural ceramics. Silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) ceramics provide a promising platform because their α, β, and γ polymorphs exhibit complementary strengthening and toughening characteristics. However, differences in transformation kinetics and rapid volume shrinkage during phase transitions hinder the formation of uniform multiphase microstructures with strong interfacial bonding. Here, a novel phase-transition-regulated precipitation–densification strategy was developed to construct triphase Silicon nitride in-situ composite ceramics with synergistic mechanical properties. This approach provides a new pathway for overcoming the hardness–toughness trade-off and advancing high-performance structural ceramics for demanding engineering applications.

^99mTc-HMPAO leukocyte scintigraphy is an improved, lower-radiation method playing a critical role in early diagnosis and subsequent monitoring of the rare and serious disease of necrotizing external otitis (NEO). Results, though garnered through a small study, show high specificity and sensitivity for diagnosis and later monitoring of disease progression or recurrence.

This systematic review evaluates the efficacy and safety of integrative and complementary treatments for vitiligo. Evidence from randomized controlled trials suggests that interventions such as Ginkgo biloba, topical turmeric, fire needle therapy, and microneedling-assisted drug delivery may improve repigmentation, reduce lesion area, or stabilize disease progression. These approaches were generally well tolerated, with mostly mild and manageable adverse events. Although the findings support their potential as adjunctive options, the overall certainty of evidence remains limited. The study therefore provides an updated evidence-based perspective on how complementary strategies may be incorporated into individualized vitiligo management.

As electronic devices become increasingly connected, hardware authentication must move beyond stored digital secrets that can be copied or emulated. Researchers developed a graphene-based optical physical unclonable function that uses different combinations of red, green, and blue light as programmable challenges. A transformer-based model converts the resulting diffraction patterns into compact binary response units, demonstrating a route toward spectrally programmable optical authentication for future hardware security in connected devices and edge systems.

Researchers have developed a chip-scale platform for ultrawide-angle, two-dimensional optical beam steering. The system integrates a silicon photonic integrated circuit, freeform micro-optical reflectors, and a metasurface to transform guided light into high-quality free-space beams and direct them across a measured 161° field-of-view while maintaining nearly diffraction-limited beam quality. This compact, scalable architecture offers a pathway toward inter-satellite optical links, airborne LiDAR, point-to-point optical wireless communications, and other applications requiring agile, wide-angle beam control.

It is widely recognized that the southern part of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau has experienced significant southeastward extrusion since the Late Eocene. However, recent paleomagnetic studies indicate that the northern part may have undergone northward motion, although the magnitude and timing of this motion remain debated. Paleomagnetic investigations of the Eocene Dongwang Formation red beds in the Deqin area, located in the central part of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, suggest that this region was situated at 34.4°N during the Eocene and experienced no significant latitudinal displacement relative to Eurasia. Integrating regional structural geology and paleomagnetic data, differential north–south motion has occurred along the southeastern Tibetan Plateau since the Late Eocene: the southern part experienced significant southeastward extrusion, the northern part underwent only limited northward displacement, and the central Deqin area constitutes the northernmost boundary of Southeastward Extrusion. The overall motion was likely accomplished by clockwise rotation centered on the Deqin area.

In a recent study published in Science China Earth Sciences, researchers from the Research Group of Seismic Anisotropy and Deep Tectoncis, the Institute of Earthquake Forecasting, China Earthquake Administration, present a lithospheric azimuthal anisotropic model in the E margin and SE margin of Tibetan Plateau (model AniCD-L). The model reveals distinct north–south zonation of lithospheric anisotropy and provides evidence that the southwestern boundary of the South China block extends at least to the vicinity of the Red River Fault at the upper mantle scale. The model AniCD-L provides new seismological constraints on intracontinental deformation mechanisms associated with the India–Eurasia collision.

A new review in SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences maps how different types of RNAs regulate growth, development, and stress responses in plants. The authors synthesize decades of research and provide a roadmap for harnessing RNA-based strategies to address food security and sustainable agriculture in a changing climate.

Researchers observed an anomalous splitting of image-potential states on higher-order topological Bi(111). By tuning film thickness and substrate screening, they linked the splitting to a radial active electric field and the development of Bi(111) surface states. The anomaly provides a possible spectroscopic signature of a monopole-like topological magnetoelectric response.