A recent work published in National Science Review report the first realization of a higher-order Weyl exceptional ring semimetal in a 3D lossy acoustic metamaterial. This study systematically analyzes the non-Hermitian topological properties of such metamaterial, and focuses on two types of higher-order topological phenomena: topological hinge states and hinge-dependent skin effect.

Achieving in situ dynamic tracking of neurotransmitters in the complex intestinal lumen remains a major technical challenge in gastroenterology and biosensing. The research team developed a general sensing architecture that integrates a one-dimensional nanoconductive network with supramolecular host-guest recognition, and on this basis constructed a stretchable electrochemical sensing platform. This platform offers a systematic solution to three key obstacles in the in situ detection of small molecules in the gut lumen: adaptation to mechanical deformation, suppression of biofouling, and selective recognition of structurally similar molecules. Using this framework, the team revealed for the first time the central role of enterochromaffin cells (ECs) in immune-mechanical signal integration by electrochemical strategy. Under stimulation by microbial mimetics and their metabolites, ECs integrate multiple external signals and reset their response threshold through dual regulation: enhancing neurotransmitter synthesis and storage while increasing sensitivity to mechanical stimulation.

The significance of this study lies not only in validating sensing performance in the intestinal setting, but also in proposing a practical strategy to address a long-standing and widely shared challenge in in vivo electrochemical monitoring. More importantly, by emphasizing the coordinated design of sensing material structure and function, this work moves beyond optimizing a single performance metric in stretchable devices and instead establishes a systematic framework for accurate chemical information acquisition in complex mechanical and biochemical environments. Although the intestinal lumen serves here as a particularly challenging validation scenario, the underlying design principles are expected to be applicable to other in vivo monitoring systems.

This study establishes a general design platform for narrowband emitters via precise control over molecular skeletal engineering. By directing π‑electron reorganization, aromaticity is rationally tuned from global delocalization to discrete local localization, which restricts long‑range π‑electron delocalization, suppresses vibrational coupling in the excited state, and diminishes vibronic shoulder features, thereby enabling intrinsically narrowband emission. OLED devices incorporating representative emitter achieve both exceptional color purity and high electroluminescence efficiency, with CIE coordinates that closely match the BT.2020 standard for red emission.

A new review maps out how polymer-based electrodes could help solve persistent safety, stability, and sustainability problems in solid-state metal-ion batteries. Unlike conventional designs that rely on flammable liquid electrolytes and rigid inorganic materials, polymer electrodes offer mechanical flexibility, chemical tunability, and superior interfacial contact. The analysis synthesizes recent advances in conducting and redox-active polymers, highlighting their potential to enable all-organic solid-state batteries that are lightweight, intrinsically safe, and compatible with low-energy manufacturing. The authors also identify key design strategies—including molecular engineering, composite formation, and interface modification—that could accelerate the transition from laboratory prototypes toward practical, scalable energy storage devices.

A research team led by Academician Peisong Hu from the China National Rice Research Institute has identified the key gene OsSD7, which controls seed dormancy and pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) resistance in rice. The study reveals that OsSD7 encodes an F-box protein that forms an SCF E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, targeting the jasmonate repressor OsJAZ9 for degradation, thereby relieving suppression of the ABA signaling pathway. ABA induces the transcription factor OsTRAB1, which activates OsSD7 expression. A natural SNP (3,744,951) in the OsSD7 promoter distinguishes two haplotypes: Hap A (high expression, strong dormancy and PHS resistance) and Hap G (low expression, weak resistance). The Hap A allele has been artificially selected in modern Xian varieties. Using CRISPR to convert Hap G to Hap A successfully improved PHS resistance in rice, and overexpression of OsSD7 in wheat also enhanced seed dormancy, indicating a conserved mechanism across monocot crops. This study provides valuable genetic resources for breeding PHS resistance in rice, wheat, and other cereals.

Researchers have achieved the first real-space imaging of altermagnetic domains in RuO₂ using a novel thermal imaging technique. By combining lock-in thermography with the spin-dependent Peltier effect, the team visualized micrometer-scale magnetic domains and demonstrated controlled domain manipulation through magnetic field cooling. This breakthrough provides robust experimental evidence for altermagnetism in RuO₂ and establishes a new approach for characterizing this emerging class of magnetic materials, with significant implications for future spintronic devices.

Promoters are key DNA regions that control gene transcription, but their activity varies greatly across different cell types. This heterogeneity makes it difficult for existing computational methods to identify promoters reliably. A team led by Professors Zhangyu Mei and Hao Wu from Shandong University, China, has developed MuSE‑Promoter, a deep ensemble learning framework that combines multi‑scale feature fusion, transformer attention, and a learnable weighted ensemble of neural network and random forest. The system outperforms state‑of‑the‑art methods on human cell lines from different tissues and on Arabidopsis thaliana datasets, and shows excellent generalization in cross‑cell‑line and promoter–enhancer discrimination tasks.