Researchers developed a palladium-engineered nickel phosphide catalyst for selective bio-oil upgrading. In anisole tests at 200 ℃, NiPdP achieved near-complete conversion and 97.28% selectivity to cyclohexane; with m-cresol at 250 ℃, selectivity to methylcyclohexane reached 95.72%. Palladium altered catalyst formation, lattice strain and electronic structure, helping suppress unwanted carbon–carbon bond cleavage, sintering and coke formation while supporting reuse over 10 cycles.

This study analyzes 30 surface-water metagenomes from four functionally distinct waterbody types in Beijing, revealing starkly differentiated antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) landscapes. Urban rivers sustained the highest ARG burden, while relatively isolated urban lakes exhibited the lowest. Notably, receiving waters linked to the South-to-North Water Diversion Project maintained an intermediate load yet displayed the strongest coupling between ARGs and mobile genetic elements (R²=0.965), signaling elevated mobilization potential at these hydrological interfaces. The findings provide a foundational ecological framework for tracking resistance transport and informing risk-oriented management of megacity aquatic networks.

A comprehensive in silico scan of human respiratory viruses identified 3CLpro cleavage motifs within influenza NP and PA. Experimental validation confirmed that 3CLpro-mediated cleavage triggers rapid protein degradation and cytoplasmic mislocalization. Consequently, both ectopic 3CLpro expression and SARS-CoV-2 replication effectively inhibit replication across diverse influenza virus strains, revealing a broad-spectrum antiviral mechanism.

A new study published in Biomedical Analysis reports a protein-coated nanoparticle platform that combines the powerful light-to-heat conversion ability of copper sulfide with the biological compatibility of albumin, offering a potential strategy for safer photothermal cancer therapy.

A new study in Energetic Materials Frontiers provides a detailed picture of how aluminum combustion evolves after detonation and how this process contributes to the sustained thermal and blast-wave effects of CL-20-based thermobaric explosives. By combining high-speed infrared thermography, blast-wave measurements and theoretical modeling, the researchers show that thermobaric explosives differ fundamentally from TNT in the spatial organization and temporal evolution of their fireballs. More importantly, the work identifies a key transition around 30 ms after detonation, when the dominant contribution shifts from early oxygen-deficient aluminum combustion to secondary post-combustion involving entrained atmospheric oxygen.

Researchers have developed a dimethyl-substituted energetic molecular perovskite, DAP-DM4, by rationally modifying the A-site cation of the DAP-4 framework. Single-crystal analysis reveals that double methylation induces a structural transformation from the conventional three-dimensional perovskite network to a one-dimensional chain architecture, while simultaneously eliminating labile N–H bonds. This molecular passivation raises the decomposition temperature to 373.5 °C and improves friction insensitivity, providing a new strategy for designing ultra-heat-resistant perovskite energetic materials.