Nanographenes can be considered as molecular fragments of graphene, a 2D conductive material in which carbon atoms are connected in a honeycomb pattern. Because their electronic and photophysical properties vary depending on the size and shape of the molecule, nanographenes are expected to find applications in OLEDs, organic solar cells, organic field-effect transistors, and more. For this, simple methods to synthesizing nanographenes that avoid complex multi-step processes are desired. Now, a team of scientists from WPI-ITbM at Nagoya University and from RIKEN have established a new two-step annulative p-extension (APEX) method that generates structurally diverse nanographenes. This research was published online in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition on August 25.

A flexible metal–organic framework developed by researchers from Institute of Science Tokyo enables the structural determination of large “beyond rule of 5” molecules from microgram-scale samples. Using APF-40 as a crystalline sponge, the researchers determined the structures of 12 pharmaceutical-related molecules, including the 899 Da drug molecule doramectin and trace ivermectin derivatives. The method could aid drug discovery, natural products research, and the characterization of rare compounds available only in very small quantities.

Digital pathology relies on high-resolution imaging for accurate cancer diagnosis, yet high-magnification systems remain slow and costly for large-scale screening. Meanwhile, standard AI super-resolution often generates hallucinated cellular artifacts that risk diagnostic accuracy. To overcome this, researchers developed a hybrid bright-dark field computational framework using fast LED illumination to provide physical guidance. This physics-guided approach doubles spatial resolution, reduces reconstruction artifacts by 84%, and boosts AI cancer screening sensitivity by 11.14%.

8 September 2026/Kiel/Taliarte. A seven-week experiment led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel is starting today on Gran Canaria. In collaboration with international partner institutions, twelve mesocosms are being deployed in the sea. These will be used to investigate whether ground concrete rubble can be used to increase the alkalinity of seawater and what effects this has on marine life. Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) is a promising method for increasing the ocean’s CO₂ uptake whilst simultaneously buffering acidification.

Researchers at The University of Manchester have developed a physics-based artificial intelligence framework that, for the first time, enables global-scale predictions of dissolved organic carbon cycling between seawater and marine sediments. The approach reveals a previously unquantified component of Earth's carbon cycle and could improve climate models, support research into ocean-based climate mitigation strategies, and provide new insights into the long-term storage of carbon in marine environments.

By combining the most successful features of previous molecular magnet designs, researchers have created high-performing lanthanide-based molecules that could support future ultra-high-density data storage technologies. 

Researchers from the Department of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), led by Professor Jian HE and collaborators, have developed a new light-driven method for constructing three-dimensional molecular building blocks that could give medicinal chemists greater flexibility in designing new drug candidates. The approach broadens the range of starting materials that can be used while suppressing unwanted polymerisation, overcoming key limitations of existing synthetic methods. The findings have been published in Nature Chemistry.