A novel measurement cell allows, for the first time, soft and hard X-ray investigations under high pressures of up to 20 bar and temperatures of up to 400°C. This provides new insights into thermocatalytic processes, such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for producing synthetic fuels. The development of the measurement cell is considered a significant achievement within the Care-O-Sene project.

Textile properties often depend as much on yarn entanglement as on the material itself, with these underlying patterns influencing mechanical behavior. Researchers have developed a mathematical framework that classifies periodic textile structures and identifies the features that define knittable textiles through the propagation of defects. The findings could help design fabrics with tailored mechanical properties and provide insights into how the underlying structure affects the properties of other entangled materials, from polymers to soft robotics.

Driving an electric current through a molecule can create a magnetic field. Yet in practice, such fields are often too weak to be detected experimentally. Through theoretical modeling, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) show how quantum effects can turn single molecules into effective magnets—including one shaped like a microscopic soccer ball, just in time for the FIFA World Cup final. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

The Reticular Science Prize for Emerging Scholars and Innovators, launched by Nobel Laureate Professor Omar Yaghi and Atoco, Inc., is a new international award recognizing outstanding early-career contributions to reticular chemistry, open to researchers with ten years or less of experience post PhD degree. The inaugural award will be presented at EuroMOF 2027 and includes a silver medal, US$2,500 and a dinner with Professor Yaghi and the selection committee.

Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo discovered that hydrogen behaves either as a quantum wave or as a classical particle inside vanadium, depending on its concentration and the crystal structure of the material. By combining hydrogen diffusion measurements with theoretical calculations, crystal symmetry was identified as a key factor controlling hydrogen tunneling. The findings provide a new framework for designing materials for future energy technologies.

New study reveals that two widely studied ultrathin superconducting materials are more sophisticated than they appear. Although they seem to behave like simple superconductors with a single energy gap, they actually contain two strongly interacting superconducting states that work together and disguise themselves as one. This finding resolves a long-standing mystery about how these materials behave, providing new insight into superconductivity that could help scientists design better superconducting materials for future technologies such as quantum computers, ultra-efficient electronics, and advanced sensors.

This review synthesizes the evolution of aquatic ecosystem health assessment and proposes a paradigm shift from descriptive monitoring to predictive, intelligent governance. Led by Yong Liu from Peking University, the research team introduces a gene-to-landscape framework that integrates multi-omics, environmental DNA, ecological observation, and AI-enabled remote sensing to enable early warning, causal attribution, and anticipatory decision support for freshwater ecosystems under global change.

This review summarizes flexible electromagnetic induction-type tactile sensors that convert touch-induced magnetic-flux variation into electrical signals. It establishes an integrated framework linking magnets, coils, soft materials, signal processing and circuits, and discusses their relevance to wearable electronics, medical monitoring, human-machine interfaces and intelligent robotics.