Ammonia is essential for fertilizers and is emerging as a zero‑carbon energy carrier, but its industrial production via the Haber‑Bosch process is energy‑intensive and emits large amounts of CO₂. Meanwhile, nitrate pollution from agriculture and industry has contaminated groundwater worldwide, threatening ecosystems and human health. Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (NO₃RR) offers an elegant solution: using renewable electricity to convert nitrate waste into valuable ammonia.

This critical review evaluates pharmaceutical pollution in soil‑air environments—where prevalent contaminants are antibiotics, analgesics, NSAIDs, antidepressants and anticancer agents—that threatens terrestrial and microbial communities, and highlights an urgent need for interdisciplinary research to protect ecosystem health.

Recently, a research team led by Associate Professor Jian Chen at China Agricultural University developed two novel Type I-C CRISPR systems, Aca I-C and Cja I-C, that enable efficient genome editing in maize. The study establishes Type I-C CRISPR systems as additional platforms for plant genome engineering and highlights the potential of microbial genome mining for discovering editing tools. These technologies may contribute to future crop improvement by providing alternative strategies for targeted genome modification.

The study delineates the complete pathway of calcium action: from macroscopically improving stem structure, to microscopically remodeling cell wall components, and to molecularly regulating gene networks—ultimately strengthening the stem from the inside out to achieve superior traits.

A study of OsSTP26 reveals that both gene knockout and overexpression can enhance productive tiller formation through distinct carbon-signaling routes.

An analysis of 500 S&P 500 companies revealed that traditional sector labels only partially explain firms’ financial structures. Machine-learning models predicted sectors from accounting ratios, achieving a maximum validation accuracy of 49.3%. However, an unsupervised analysis identified nine financially interpretable groups that crossed sector boundaries. This suggests that, when comparing profitability, leverage, liquidity, and cash-generation patterns, accounting-based peer groups can complement sectors.

Researchers recovered five multidrug-resistant Stutzerimonas nitrititolerans isolates from 60 geese fecal samples collected at a farm in Yangzhou, China. Genome sequencing showed that all five carried chromosomal tmexC2D2-toprJ2 and bla_PST-2 resistance-associated determinants. Across 104 available genomes, complete tmexCD-toprJ clusters were uncommon, and only nine genomes carried both a complete tmexCD-toprJ cluster and bla_PST, five of which were the geese isolates.

Researchers used combinatorial solid-phase peptide synthesis and infrared thermography to screen 300 tripeptide sequences for interactions with CO₂. Two tripeptides, His(Boc)-Phe-Asn and Phe-Ala-Glu(OtBu), showed reproducible thermal responses after CO₂ exposure. The signals were reproduced on glass, functionalised cellulose, and Rink-amide resin, indicating that thermographic screening can help identify peptide candidates for further development as bioinspired CO₂-binding materials.