Pure water only freezes at around minus 38 degrees Celsius. Tiny mineral dust particles act as so‑called ice nucleators—crystallization seeds on which ice crystals form. A research team at Bielefeld University and the University of Vienna in cooperation with researchers from Helsinki University has now demonstrated for the first time, at the molecular scale, why the mineral microcline is particularly effective at forming ice in clouds. Published in a renowned scientific journal, the study provides a new explanation for processes that influence climate and precipitation worldwide.

The Royal Society of Chemistry presented the Faraday Medal in Electrochemistry to Mari Lundström, Professor of Hydrometallurgy at Aalto University, in York (UK) on 24 August. The international honour acknowledges Professor Lundström’s pioneering work in hydrometallurgy and sustainable electrochemical processes for critical raw material recovery and recycling.  

Magnetic skyrmions are nanoscale spin textures that can behave like particles and move and diffuse in real space. This makes them promising information carriers for future memory and computing technologies. A new computational study in npj Spintronics shows how geometry and topology can guide asymmetric thermal diffusion of magnetic skyrmions, offering insights for unlocking unconventional computing paradigms, including future stochastic and neuromorphic computing devices for more efficient artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

An international collaborative team led by researchers from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Columbia University has delivered a comprehensive microscopic portrait of magnetic ordering and spin dynamics in Li(Zn,Mn)As, a landmark bulk diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) promising to overcome longstanding limitations of classic (Ga,Mn)As thin-film systems. Published in Materials Futures, the study leverages multi-geometry muon spin rotation/relaxation/resonance (µSR) to resolve three core unresolved puzzles surrounding the material’s ferromagnetism, offering quantitative benchmarks for bound magnetic polaron (BMP) percolation theories widely applied to DMS research.

Research teams from The University of Hong Kong, led by Professor Chunyi Zhi, have provided a focused review of aqueous Zn-based flow batteries for long-duration energy storage. The review identifies Zn anode reversibility loss and active-species crossover/shuttle as two coupled bottlenecks, and summarizes design strategies that integrate electrolyte regulation, interfacial engineering, electrode architecture, species chemistry, and membrane design.

Some of the world’s brightest colors don’t just reflect light, they create it. Scientists and museum conservators are now uncovering why these luminous pigments fade and how to preserve them for future generations. The findings could help museums protect artwork while informing the development of longer-lasting phosphorescent materials for a variety of applications, from fashion runways to airport runways. The researchers will present their results at ACS Fall 2026.

Researchers from the University of Osaka have developed a fast computational framework that predicts the optical performance of quantum color centers without being restricted to a specific host material. By replacing computationally intensive calculations with simple theoretical formulas and procedures, the method enables rapid screening of promising quantum materials spanning ultraviolet to telecommunication wavelengths.

Tide levels can vary by almost a metre across a single bay, according to a new study that uses decades of satellite images to measure tides at the scale of individual beaches.

Researchers at Technische Universität München and the University of Oxford have led the development of a new technique that can estimate tides along the coast at intervals of just 100 metres. This provides a level of local detail that is difficult to capture using existing tide gauges and satellite measurements.

The study has been published today (25 August) in Nature Communications: Earth and Environment.