Researchers at the ESRF - the European Synchrotron-, together with CNRS, ENS Lyon and the Institute of Marine Research in Norway, have unveiled how Atlantic Bluefin tuna transforms the toxic form of mercury into less harmful forms. Their study, published in Environmental Science & Technology, shows that the tuna’s edible muscle contains not only toxic methylmercury, but also mercury bound in stable, non-toxic compounds.

Symmetric solid oxide fuel cells (SSOFCs) have emerged as promising energy conversion devices due to their low fabrication cost and outstanding durability. Ammonia (NH₃), a carbon‑free hydrogen carrier with high energy density and ease of storage, serves as an ideal fuel for such systems. In this study, a bifunctional electrode material, Pr_0.32Sr_0.48Fe_0.75Ni_0.2Ru_0.05O_3-δ (PSFNRu), is synthesized by doping 5 mol% Ru into the parent perovskite Pr_0.32Sr_0.48Fe_0.8Ni_0.2O_3-δ (PSFN). The resulting PSFNRu exhibits abundant oxygen vacancies and enables the in‑situ exsolution of alloy nanoparticles (ANPs) under reducing conditions, which act as additional active sites to enhance electrochemical performance. The PSFNRu‑based SSOFC delivers peak power densities of 736 mW cm^-2 with H₂ and 547 mW cm^-2 with NH₃ at 800 °C, significantly outperforming its undoped counterpart. Furthermore, the cell maintains stable performance for over 172 h at 700 °C under NH₃ fuel, confirming excellent operational durability. These findings underscore the potential of PSFNRu as a high‑performance symmetric electrode for direct ammonia SSOFCs (DA‑SSOFCs).

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI), Kanazawa University, report in ACS Nano, how proteins in cells can be controllably activated through heating, an effect that can be used to initiate programmed cell death.

While many plans for quantum computers transmit data using the particles of light known as photons, researchers from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) are turning to sound. In a new paper out today in Nature Physics, a team uniting UChicago PME’s experimentalist Cleland Lab and theoretical Jiang Group demonstrated deterministic phase control of phonons, tiny mechanical vibrations that, on a much larger scale, would be considered sound. By removing the randomness inherent in photon-based systems, this phase control could give sound an edge over light in building tomorrow’s quantum computers.

A new study has revealed the 3D structure of a barley root protein that protects plants from toxic aluminum in acidic soils. Unlike most transporters, this protein exports citrate—an anion that binds to harmful aluminum ions—thereby shielding the roots. The findings offer fresh insights into how plants adapt to hostile soils and could help guide the breeding of crop varieties capable of thriving on acidic farmland worldwide.