Cotton genome editing, especially in elite varieties, has proven difficult. Now, in a study published in The Crop Journal, researchers from China have successfully demonstrated CRISPR/Cas genome editing in nonregenerative cotton via sexual hybridization. This work opens up a novel technical avenue for the genetic improvement of elite cotton varieties that are recalcitrant to tissue culture, advancing agriculture and biotechnology.

Researchers have developed a family of carbonyl rich carbon spheres with surface wrinkle structure for the efficient electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide. This unique wrinkled design significantly expands the accessible active area and utilizes carbonyl moieties to deliver exceptional H₂O₂ selectivity (>97.5%). The study provides a valuable surface modulation strategy for designing advanced heteroatom-doped carbon electrocatalysts.

Integrated wearable thermal management technologies have greatly enhanced human adaptability to complex environments. However, conventional thermal management strategies, which lack environmental risk perception and stable human–machine interaction, are increasingly inadequate for ensuring personal health. Here, we introduce a hierarchical modular design strategy to develop a wearable intelligent thermal management film with robust electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding capabilities. A sensitive biomimetic serpentine dual-mode temperature–humidity sensing module is coupled with a low-power electro-/photothermal conversion module to enable intelligent thermal regulation. The resulting thermal management system offers stable and sensitive front-end temperature–humidity monitoring, alongside low-power electrothermal (51.79 °C at 1.5 V) and photothermal (56.38 °C at 45.51 mW cm⁻²) temperature regulation capabilities. Additionally, the system exhibits outstanding EMI shielding performance, with an EMI SE/t value of 1600 dB mm^–1 at a thickness of just 35 μm, ensuring stable signal transmission. The hierarchical modular design enables functional allocation with higher, thereby optimizing material performance while enhancing the decoupling and synergistic effects between different functionalities. These findings provide a scalable and practical pathway for the multifunctional integration and performance optimization of next-generation flexible wearable electronic composites.

A new study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences has successfully utilized machine learning techniques to develop China's high-precision, 1 km resolution soil moisture dataset spanning 2000 to 2025. This dataset enables daily monitoring of soil dryness and wetness conditions across the country, providing critical support for drought early warning, flood forecasting, and agricultural management.

Monolithic microcavity-metalens interfaces offer a promising strategy for realizing high-performance quantum light sources. By integrating quantum-dot-micropillars with ultra-thin metalenses, this platform delivers single-photon sources with high brightness, high purity, and near-unity indistinguishability, together with flexible control over radiation divergence, emission directionality, polarization, and orbital angular momentum (OAM). It also enables the generation of polarization-OAM entanglement and single-photon skyrmions with topologically robustness. The study points to new possibilities for integrated quantum photonics and meta-optics.

A new study led by Prof. YAN Xiaoyuan from the Institute of Soil Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has overturned the long-held assumption about nitrogen loss in agriculture. Published in PNAS on April 22 as a cover article, the study reveals that most nitrogen gas (N₂) emissions from rice paddies originate from soil organic nitrogen (SON), rather than applied fertilizers.

Every stroke begins with a sudden interruption of blood flow in the brain. But what happens afterward—why neurons continue to lose function and die over the following days—has remained one of the most important unanswered questions in neuroscience.

A research team led by Director C. Justin LEE at the Center for Memory and Glioscience within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in collaboration with Professor RYU Seungjun of Eulji University, has now uncovered a previously unknown mechanism that drives this delayed brain damage. Their findings show that stroke is not only caused by the initial loss of blood flow, but also by a chain reaction within the brain that unfolds over time.