Reactions are typically driven by heat. However, in recent years, light has also established itself as an energy source, as it allows chemical reactions to be controlled with exceptional precision. This process is known as photochemistry. The problem: Until now, this kind of reaction required ruthenium, osmium, or iridium – materials that are both rare and expensive, as well as environmentally harmful when mined. A research team at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has developed a novel metal complex based on the abundant and inexpensive manganese.

As a highlight of BIOHK2025—Asia's premier biotechnology conference and exhibition—Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage biotechnology company powered by generative AI, will partner with the Hong Kong Biotechnology Association to present a satellite forum themed "Exploring the Frontiers of AI in Drug Discovery, Development, and Beyond", entitled “Towards Pharmaceutical Superintelligence.”

Industrial emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) in production and daily life contribute to acid rain formation, which degrades soil and aquatic ecosystems while impairing human respiratory health.

Tuning magnetic properties in quasicrystals is limited by fixed elemental ratios set by stoichiometry. Now, researchers from Japan developed a “double hetero-valent elemental substitution” method, where atoms are replaced with others of different valency but similar size. Applying this to a Ga-based approximant crystal, they substituted gallium and platinum with gold, transforming the material’s magnetic state from spin-glass to ferromagnetic. The approach allows precise magnetic control, paving the way for advanced magnetocaloric materials.

Hydrogel-based devices—such as hydrogel pores—are widely used in miniaturized applications ranging from drug delivery to flexible electronics and robotics. Yet conventional designs with simple geometries often suffer from slow, unpredictable actuation and offer limited control. In a recent study, researchers introduced an origami-inspired “facet-driven folding” strategy using polygonal hydrogel pores to deliver highly controlled, programmable actuation, opening new possibilities for selective drug delivery and information encryption.

Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are ubiquitous today, and reducing their power consumption offers significant potential for global energy savings. However, lowering power usage often degrades display performance, which users find unacceptable. Among various LCD technologies, fringe-field switching (FFS) liquid crystal devices provide some of the highest image quality available.

Metal–carbon dioxide (CO₂) batteries hold great promise for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and are regarded as one of the most promising energy storage techniques due to their efficiency advantages in CO₂ recovery and conversion. Moreover, rechargeable nonaqueous metal–CO₂ batteries have attracted much attention due to their high theoretical energy density. However, the stability issues of the electrode–electrolyte interfaces of nonaqueous metal–CO₂ (lithium (Li)/sodium (Na)/potassium (K)–CO₂) batteries have been troubling its development, and a large number of related research in the field of electrolytes have conducted in recent years. This review retraces the short but rapid research history of nonaqueous metal–CO₂ batteries with a detailed electrochemical mechanism analysis. Then it focuses on the basic characteristics and design principles of electrolytes, summarizes the latest achievements of various types of electrolytes in a timely manner and deeply analyzes the construction strategies of stable electrode–electrolyte interfaces for metal–CO₂ batteries. Finally, the key issues related to electrolytes and interface engineering are fully discussed and several potential directions for future research are proposed. This review enriches a comprehensive understanding of electrolytes and interface engineering toward the practical applications of next-generation metal–CO₂ batteries.