Magnetic quantum oscillations have been unexpectedly observed in insulators, where freely moving charge carriers are not expected to exist. A joint study by researchers from Tokyo University of Science, The University of Tokyo, and Kobe University investigated this puzzling behavior in the Kondo insulator YbB₁₂ using ultrasound. While no oscillations were detected in the insulating state, clear signals emerged after the material became metallic, offering new insight into unusual quantum behavior in next-generation materials.

Kyushu University researchers have overcome a long-standing challenge of efficiently converting visible light into UV in solid materials through precise molecular design. By adding side chains to the sp³ carbon atoms of an organic molecule, they achieved high luminescence and efficient energy transfer in the solid state. The system reaches 1.9% conversion efficiency under weak light intensity comparable to sunlight, opening the door to applications including solar-driven photocatalysts, indoor air purification, OLEDs, and 3D printing.

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) scientists have used a classic optical phenomenon known as the “Poisson spot” to create stable patterns of light called “optical skyrmions”. Optical skyrmions are tiny, swirling configurations in the properties of light – akin to the spikes of a hedgehog. The team used a laser directed at a small circular disc, instead of the complex and costly engineered materials commonly used to generate these skyrmions. This new method gives scientists a much simpler way to generate, study and adjust optical skyrmions.

Skyrmions are currently a hot scientific subject as they hold potential to store information, paving the way for future data storage, communications and computing systems. Published in a leading scientific journal, Optica, the discovery was led by Nanyang Assistant Professor Shen Yijie from NTU’s School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. 

The utilization of light as an external stimulus to promote the generation of hot electrons in plasmonic heterostructures and thus augment their catalytic efficacy presents significant potential for bacterial biofilm eradication. Towards this goal, Scientist in China engineered a Ti/ePt-Au NBPs/RGDC implant, which not only brought the redshift of the NIR absorption peak, but also accelerated charge separation. The proposed strategy holds tremendous promise for developing next-generation smart coatings to combat implant-associated biofilm infections.

A new mechanism based on Yangxinshi Tablet and its core active ingredients (senkyunolide H, apigenin, astragaloside IV, and astragaloside VII) to ameliorate post-myocardial infarction heart failure with reduced ejection fraction by inhibiting the FOXO1/PDK4 signaling pathway to improve the tricarboxylic acid cycle and restore energy homeostasis is provided, and a new strategy for metabolic targeted therapy of heart failure is opened.