Scientists at TU Wien have uncovered a surprisingly fast way for rocks to lock away CO₂: a thin layer of water on mineral surfaces can activate CO₂ and trigger its direct conversion into solid carbonate—without the slow dissolution steps long thought necessary. Using atomic-scale microscopy, they provide the first direct evidence for this mechanism. The finding helps explain why CO₂ can mineralize much faster in nature than expected—and could inform more efficient carbon storage technologies.

Spintronic devices enable data processing with significantly lower energy consumption. They are based on the interaction between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers. Now, a team from Freie Universität Berlin, HZB and Uppsala University has succeeded in tracking, for each layer separately, how the magnetic order changes after a short laser pulse has excited the system. They were also able to identify the main cause of the loss of antiferromagnetic order in the oxide layer: the excitation is transported from the hot electrons in the ferromagnetic metal to the spins in the antiferromagnet.

Professor Apala Majumdar, Professor of Applied Mathematics at The University of Manchester, has been elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (LSW).

Researchers at the University of Oxford have created ultrathin liquid crystal Fresnel lenses whose focusing power can be switched ON and OFF electrically. Using 3D femtosecond-laser printing inside a liquid crystal layer, the team are able to create  a smooth continuous phase profile that significantly boosts optical efficiency compared with that of a binary lens. A secondary design feature enables switching between two focal lengths, enabling compact varifocal optics for AR/VR, imaging, and adaptive optics.

Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo have developed a simple and efficient method for synthesizing polyfunctionalized biaryls without transition-metal catalysts or complex multistep prefunctionalization. Through an innovative substrate design strategy, the researchers achieved a benzidine-type sigmatropic rearrangement of nitroarenes that efficiently produces the desired biaryls in high yields. This approach offers precise control over the reaction pathway, enabling the synthesis of diverse organic compounds, thereby benefiting many industries.

A research team led by Professor XU Guosheng from the Institute of Plasma Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have for the first time demonstrated, in a metal-wall environment, a plasma regime that simultaneously achieves partial divertor detachment, an edge-localized-mode (ELM)-free high-confinement mode (H-mode), and high pedestal performance.

A research team led by Prof. YIN Huajie from the Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a high-performance chlor-alkali electrode catalyst that combines outstanding activity with long-term stability.

Researchers at Tampere University have demonstrated that light can be used to precisely reshape soft materials without mechanical contact. They have developed light‑responsive hydrogel thin films that enable programmable surfaces with high sensitivity, rapid response, precise spatial control and reversibility. The technology opens new possibilities for tunable devices in photonics, sensing and biomedicine.