Researchers at Peking University share the results of their 30-year investigation in tackling the long-standing mystery of turbulence initiation. Their study identifies soliton-like coherent structures as the key mechanism in driving the transition from laminar to turbulence in shear flows. This discovery provides promising directions for the development of advanced predictive models and technologies for improved control of turbulence.

Photocatalytic seawater splitting is an attractive way for producing green hydrogen. Significant progresses have been made recently in catalytic efficiencies, but the activity of catalysts can only maintain stable for about 10 h. Here, we develop a vacancy-engineered Ag₃PO₄/CdS porous microreactor chip photocatalyst, operating in seawater with a performance stability exceeding 300 h. This is achieved by the establishment of both catalytic selectivity for impurity ions and tailored interactions between vacancies and sulfur species. Efficient transport of carriers with strong redox ability is ensured by forming a heterojunction within a space charge region, where the visualization of potential distribution confirms the key design concept of our chip. Moreover, the separation of oxidation and reduction reactions in space inhibits the reverse recombination, making the chip capable of working at atmospheric pressure. Consequently, in the presence of Pt co-catalysts, a high solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 0.81% can be achieved in the whole durability test. When using a fully solar-driven 256 cm² hydrogen production prototype, a H₂ evolution rate of 68.01 mmol h⁻¹ m⁻² can be achieved under outdoor insolation. Our findings provide a novel approach to achieve high selectivity, and demonstrate an efficient and scalable prototype suitable for practical solar H₂ production.

Computer simulations revealed the detailed mechanism of how the protein "dynamin" works to form small vesicles within cells.

While dynamin uses GTP hydrolysis energy to change shape, it was unclear how this leads to membrane constriction. Simulations showed that instead of simply tightening, dynamin "loosens" (expands) at a certain stage to generate the force needed to narrow the surrounding membrane tube.

This study provides a clearer explanation for membrane deformation and vesicle formation processes in cells, offering insights for artificial nano-device design.