Metal oxides are abundant in nature and central to technologies such as photocatalysis and photovoltaics. Yet, many suffer from poor electrical conduction, caused by strong repulsion between electrons in neighboring metal atoms. Researchers at HZB and partner institutions have shown that light pulses can temporarily weaken these repulsive forces, lowering the energy required for electrons mobility, inducing a metal-like behavior. This discovery offers a new way to manipulate material properties with light, with high potential to more efficient light-based devices.

The exploration of interplay between topology and nonlinearity leads to an emerging field of nonlinear topological physics. Now, based on the technology of momentum lattices, Chinese scientists synthesize a topological trimer array with tunable nonlinearities caused by atomic interactions, and observe the formation of nonlinear edge states in the density population evolution and participation ratio with increasing interaction. This work opens the avenue for exploring emergent nonlinear topological behaviors in ultracold atomic gases.

Due to their high mechanical compliance and excellent biocompatibility, conductive hydrogels exhibit significant potential for applications in flexible electronics. However, as the demand for high sensitivity, superior mechanical properties, and strong adhesion performance continues to grow, many conventional fabrication methods remain complex and costly. Herein, we propose a simple and efficient strategy to construct an entangled network hydrogel through a liquid–metal-induced cross-linking reaction, hydrogel demonstrates outstanding properties, including exceptional stretchability (1643%), high tensile strength (366.54 kPa), toughness (350.2 kJ m⁻³), and relatively low mechanical hysteresis. The hydrogel exhibits long-term stable reusable adhesion (104 kPa), enabling conformal and stable adhesion to human skin. This capability allows it to effectively capture high-quality epidermal electrophysiological signals with high signal-to-noise ratio (25.2 dB) and low impedance (310 ohms). Furthermore, by integrating advanced machine learning algorithms, achieving an attention classification accuracy of 91.38%, which will significantly impact fields like education, healthcare, and artificial intelligence.

Just like litter is a big problem on Earth, space junk is cluttering up outer space. To dispose of this junk, a Tohoku University researcher demonstrated the utility of a special plasma thruster.

Ultrafast fibre lasers, capable of generating ultrashort pulses with ultrahigh peak energy, are vital to contemporary optical research and industrial applications. To enhance their robustness and compactness, Chinese scientists have developed a novel core component, an application-level fibre-integrated two-dimensional (2D) nanocavity saturable absorber that enables stable single-pulse operation and high tolerance to intracavity polarization variations. This innovation will pave the way for high-performance, fully integrated all-fibre ultrafast laser systems suitable for complex environments.

Scientists have confirmed that East Antarctica's interior is warming faster than its coastal areas and identified the cause. A 30-year study, published in Nature Communications and led by Nagoya University’s Naoyuki Kurita, has traced this warming to increased warm air flow triggered by temperature changes in the Southern Indian Ocean. Previously considered an observation "blind spot," East Antarctica contains most of the world’s glacial ice. This newly identified warming mechanism indicates that current predictions may underestimate the rate of future Antarctic ice loss.