Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have successfully traced the mechanism behind how an industrially important “superbase” catalyst is synthesized in a faster, microwave-assisted reaction. They took measurements using X-rays while the reaction occurred, uncovering how small precursor molecules were formed first before they clustered to create the final product. Their insights promise finer control over a promising technology for speeding up chemical synthesis in industry.

A research team at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is the first ever to observe a beta-delayed neutron emission from fluorine-25, a rare, unstable nuclide. Using the FRIB Decay Station Initiator (FDSi), the team found contradictions in prior experimental findings. The results led to a new line of inquiry into how particles in exotic, unstable isotopes remain bound under extreme conditions. Led by Robert Grzywacz, professor of physics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), the team included Jack Peltier, undergraduate student at UTK, Zhengyu Xu, postdoctoral researcher at UTK, Sean Liddick, professor of chemistry at FRIB and interim chairperson of MSU’s Department of Chemistry, and Rebeka Lubna, scientist at FRIB. The team published its results (“The evidence of N = 16 shell closure and β-delayed neutron emission from ²⁵F”) in Physics Letters B.

- University of Leicester engineers have developed a design framework for a magnetic cloak

- Designed to hide objects from magnetic fields, effectively making them ‘invisible’ to magnetic detection

- Allows magnetic cloaks to be created for objects of any shape for the first time

Researchers have taken a leap in understanding how kangaroos can increase their hopping speeds without incurring an associated energetic cost. Their study, first published in eLife as a Reviewed Preprint and appearing now as the final Version of Record, shows that changes in kangaroo posture at high speeds increases their tendon stress and energy storage and return. This increased energy storage/return counteracts the higher muscular force required at speed, explaining why the animals’ energetic cost remains unchanged.

A research team led by Prof. LI Xianfeng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) eveloped a novel bromine-based two-electron transfer reaction system to overcome key limitations of conventional zinc–bromine flow batteries. By introducing amine compounds as bromine scavengers, the team converts corrosive bromine (Br₂) into brominated amines, reducing Br₂ concentration to ultra-low levels (~7 mM). This enables a two-electron redox process that increases energy density while significantly lowering electrolyte corrosivity.