Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are promising candidates as stationary storage systems for power-grid applications due to their high safety and low cost. The practical implementation of Zn-ion batteries currently still faces formidable challenges because of Zn dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, and inadequate environmental adaptability. Herein, to address these challenges, a strategy of regulation of water molecules coordination in electrolyte is proposed via developing a cross-linked hydrophilic hydrogel polymer electrolyte. Within this system, the continuous hydrogen bond among H₂O molecules is disrupted and the isolated H₂O molecules are strongly bound with a polymeric matrix comprised of polyacrylamide, carboxymethyl cellulose, and ethylene glycol, which can restrain the activity of H₂O molecules, thus effectively alleviating Zn dendrite growth and hydrogen evolution and enhancing the anti-freezing ability. With this electrolyte, the Zn||Cu cell presents a high coulombic efficiency of 99.4% over 900 cycles and Zn||Zn symmetric cell exhibits high cycling stability, maintaining plating/stripping for over 1,700 h. Moreover, the assembled Zn||PANI device also demonstrates outstanding electrochemical performance over a wide-temperature range, including a long cycling life over 14,120 cycles at room temperature and an ultralong cycling surpassing 30,000 cycles even at − 40 °C. This showcases the manipulation of water coordination chemistry for advanced, highly adaptable batteries.

In Physics of Fluids, researchers use computational fluid dynamics and aerodynamic experiments to explore the phenomenon of the controversial badminton “spin serve.” The researchers used simulated the trajectories of a shuttlecock during serves under three conditions: without pre-spin, with pre-spin in the direction of the shuttlecock’s natural spin, and with pre-spin against the natural spin. They found that the shuttlecock undergoes three phases during the serve: the turnover phase, the oscillation phase, and the stabilization phase.

In APL Bioengineering, researchers introduce a simple way to improve our sense of smell using radio waves, which can directly target the part of our brain responsible for smell, without causing pain. In the test, a small radio antenna was placed near volunteers’ foreheads and emitted radio waves to reach the smell-related nerves deep in the brain. The team found that their method improved subjects’ sense of smell for over a week after just one treatment.

Scientists and chefs have collaborated on a new study that demonstrates how fermented foods can be used to drive participatory science projects that both engage the public and advance our understanding of microbial ecology. The study focused on working with food experts and the public to examine the microbial communities associated with kombucha, kimchi and chow chow.

Shock wave/boundary layer interaction (SWBLI) has long been a challenge in compressible flow simulations due to its complex multi-scale and non-equilibrium characteristics. Particularly, the simulation of multi-scale SWBLI under near-space conditions poses significant challenges to traditional continuum models such as the Navier–Stokes (NS) equations. To address this, researchers employed a mesoscopic Discrete Boltzmann Method (DBM) to investigate the discrete effects and non-equilibrium behaviors in SWBLI which are beyond the NS description. Given that different interfaces such as temperature and density will provide different characteristic scales, correspondingly, will provide local Knudsen (Kn) numbers of different perspectives. From one perspective, the Kn number is increasing, but from another perspective, it may be decreasing. Therefore, the early understanding based on the definition of the Kn number from a single perspective was one-sided or even wrong. Therefore, researchers proposed the concept of the local Kn number vector: each component of it is a Kn number from one perspective. Based on the developed DBM theory and method, they discovered a series of kinetic features and new mechanisms in rarefied laminar SWBLI.

By focusing on adaptive aerodynamics, the ice-tolerance concept with variable drooping leading edge technology could revolutionize how planes handle icing skies. An ice tolerance solution based on the variable camber leading edge of iced wings is proposed, where the leading edge adapts its camber to counter ice effects. Compared with traditional aerodynamic design for ice tolerance, this concept not only strikes a balance between safety and functionality, but also boosts efficiency even under severe icing conditions.