A new commentary in Engineering presents a clear four-stage roadmap for shifting the global energy system toward carbon neutrality. Unlike past energy transitions, this transformation demands joint advances in technology, policy, and society. It also introduces the T-ESGO framework to integrate energy, material, carbon, and information flows, stressing innovation, cross-disciplinary work, and global cooperation to drive practical, sustainable progress.

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), with help from a ‘natural telescope’ formed by gravity, have identified the source of a neutrino burst. The team expected a supermassive black hole to be the engine driving the remarkably bright galaxy. Instead, the team found that the galaxy was driven by vigorous star formation. This result provides important observational evidence to help explain the mysterious origin of cosmic neutrinos.

Paddy soils are critical ecosystems for global food security, yet also significant contributors to atmospheric greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide. These unique wetland environments, characterized by prolonged flooding, play a complex role in the global carbon cycle. Scientists at the Guangdong Academy of Sciences and South China Normal University undertook a detailed investigation to understand the specific biogeochemical turnover of organic carbon fractions within these soils during flooding. This work aims to unravel the intricate mechanisms that govern carbon's fate, helping to predict and manage emissions from these vast agricultural lands.

The world faces an urgent challenge to achieve carbon neutrality, demanding innovative solutions for managing strategic gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and hydrogen (H₂). CO₂ capture is vital for emissions reduction, CH₄ requires careful valorization and control due to its potent global warming impact, and H₂ is rapidly emerging as a cornerstone of future energy systems. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of porous materials recognized by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, are rapidly changing possibilities for strategic gas management due to their exceptional tunability.

A new review in Carbon Research provides a critical and integrated assessment of MOFs' potential across these three domains. Led by Reda Elkacmi from Sultan Moulay Slimane University, the authors detail how MOFs’ unique attributes—including surface areas exceeding 6000 m² g⁻¹, tunable pore environments, and modular coordination chemistry—enable significant CO₂ uptakes, high methane storage capacities, and impressive hydrogen volumetric densities. These properties empower MOFs to address multiple environmental and energy challenges simultaneously.