Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) disposal is a major environmental concern. While defluorination presents an environmentally friendly approach for recycling PTFE, traditional defluorination methods are energy-intensive, require extreme conditions, and ignore fluorine recovery. Now, an international research team has developed an approach that enables room-temperature defluorination with high fluorine recovery yield under optimal conditions using sodium dispersion. The method is useful for recycling not only PTFE but also other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

Dark energy, which drives the accelerated expansion of the Universe, is assumed to be constant since the Universe began by today’s leading model. Researchers from Japan, Spain, and the U.S. explored the possibility of time-varying dark energy by conducting one of the largest cosmological simulations to date. Their results show that while dark energy variations have modest effects alone, variations in other parameters like matter density significantly alter galaxy formation and cosmic structure, aligning closely with the latest observations.

The demand for polymer-based dielectrics with a low dielectric constant and a low dissipation factor is rising, owing to the expansion of 5G and 6G telecommunications networks. However, polymer designs that satisfy both requirements have been difficult to realize. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a new family of ultralow dielectric loss polymers, presenting a new strategy for developing next-generation dielectrics that are suitable for future beyond-6G telecommunications.

Kyoto, Japan -- With their massive flapping ears and long trunks, it isn't hard to believe that elephants tend to rely on acoustic and olfactory cues for communication. They use gestures and visual displays to communicate as well, but we don't really know how much. Visual communication research has mainly focused on species that are primarily visual, like nonhuman primates.

A previous study demonstrated that African savanna elephants can recognize human visual attention based on a person's face and body orientation, but this had yet to be investigated in their Asian cousins. Asian elephants split from African elephants millions of years ago, so their behavior and cognition differ in some aspects.

Motivated to find out whether Asian elephants share this ability with African elephants, a team of researchers at Kyoto University turned their attention to elephants in Thailand.

Continuing angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers before non-cardiac surgery is linked to a reduced risk of postoperative mortality and functional decline, according to researchers from Science Tokyo. Using a Japanese nationwide registry of 2.6 million patients over 50 years old, the researchers compared outcomes between those who continued antihypertensive therapy and those who did not. Their findings highlight potential benefits of specific classes of antihypertensive drugs depending on type of surgery needed.