News from Science China Press

Professor Wenkun Zhu and Professor Tao Chen’s research group at Southwest University of Science and Technology has published a research article in Science Bulletin demonstrating the development of an atomically dispersed U−O−Ti bimetallic photoanode material (U/TiO₂ NRA). Utilizing a facile photodeposition method, the team successfully anchored uranium single atoms directly from uranium-containing wastewater onto TiO₂ nanorod arrays rich in oxygen vacancies. The as-fabricated catalyst exhibits exceptional photoelectrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance, offering a novel strategy for both the high-value utilization of depleted uranium resources and the design of efficient photoelectrocatalytic materials.

A study led by Professor Bing Liu and Researcher Ang Li reveals that neuroticism contains two distinct dimensions with opposing health effects. While general neuroticism is linked to mental disorders, a newly identified dimension called ERIS shows that individuals prone to worry actually live longer—suggesting different dimensions of neuroticism serve distinct evolutionary missions: “ensuring survival” versus “pursuing happiness.”

Vocalization feedback monitoring, i.e., listening to one’s vocalizations during vocal production, plays a pivotal role in vocal production control and learning in humans and other mammals. So far, the auditory system has been routinely studied using playback experiments on restrained, non-vocalizing animals. Now, writing in the journal SCIENCE CHINA Life Sciences, a team of researchers from Jinhong Luo – Central China Normal University established an ethological paradigm and recorded the single-unit activities of inferior colliculus (IC) in unrestrained, vocalizing bats that could move their head and ears freely. The data suggest the IC as a crucial auditory center for distinguishing between self-produced vocalizations and external sounds.

A study published in Science Bulletin identifies tRF-Glu-TTC-013, a tRNA-derived fragment, as a key driver of colorectal cancer liver metastasis. The researchers found that the molecule promotes tumour progression by enhancing glutamate metabolic reprogramming through a newly defined CREB3L1–AMDHD1 pathway.

Hydrogen in solids may not always need to climb over energy barriers in the classical manner. A new study published in Science Bulletin reveals that in LaH₃, hydrogen can traverse barriers via quantum tunneling, with crossover temperatures reaching liquid-nitrogen conditions for concerted migration and near room temperature for single-ion migration. The findings suggest that nuclear quantum effects are not merely a minor correction, but rather a central component of hydrogen transport in materials.

A recent study probes fractional quantum Hall states in GaAs quantum wells using a cryogen-free nuclear adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator. The researchers devised an innovative polar representation to organize all odd-denominator states into a pattern. Experimental data is analyzed using the composite fermion and hierarchy theories with a more natural description achieved by the former. This work provides essential insights into strongly correlated electrons and could serve as a powerful empirical framework in the endeavor of searching for new fractionalized states.